The sheriff is legal custodian of the courthouse and of the property of the court, with the exception of the books, records, and papers, which are under the safekeeping of the Iclerk of the court. The sheriff attends the sessions of the court, preserves good order, and carries into effect the orders of the court. He may arrest any person disturbing the court or violating the peace.

144. The Bureau of Justice. The Bureau of Justice is the legal branch of the Philippine governmental machinery. At the head of the Bureau of Justice is the Attorney-General, who acts as the general law officer of the Philippine Government.

The Attorney-General gives official opinions. His advice can be sought by any department of the Government on legal matters pertaining to it. The Philippine Legislature also, or either of the two Houses, can lawfully require the advice of the Attorney-General.

The Attorney-General appears in any court of justice in all cases in which the Government of the United States or the Government of the Philippine Islands or any officer thereof in his official capacity is a party. He has general supervision over provincial and city fiscals, and prepares rules for their guidance.

145. The Provincial Fiscal. Ordinarily there is a fiscal for each province. The provincial board can also authorize the appointment of a deputy provincial fiscal. Fiscals are appointed by the Governor-General with the consent of the Philippine Senate. The Attorney-General has supervision over fiscals.

The provincial fiscal is the law officer of the province. He represents the Government in the courts. He is the legal adviser of the provincial government and its officers and of the presidents and councils of the municipalities

of the province. Usually the fiscal also acts as register of deeds.

146. The General Land Registration Office. The General Land Registration Office, located in Manila, has charge of the land registration system of the Islands. It is under the general supervision of the judge of the fourth branch of the Court of First Instance of the City of Manila and is under the immediate control of the chief of the General Land Registration Office.

After the title to land has been secured in a court of first instance, the court orders the register of deeds to register the title and issue what is called a Torrens title, after the name of a man in Australia who invented the system. In the province, the fiscals are usually the registers of deeds, and as such are under the jurisdiction of the General Land Registration Office.

There are two ways in which land may be surveyed for registration purposes. One is by private survey, by hiring a surveyor authorized by the Government, and once the land is surveyed, by petitioning the Court of First Instance for its registration. The other method is for the Government itself to survey a large tract of land. This is called a cadastral survey. After it is surveyed, a special judge is assigned

to settle all claims to these lands and to issue titles.

147. The Bureau of Prisons. The Bureau of Prisons has general supervision over all insular prisons and penal settlements and provincial and subprovincial jails.

The most important of the insular prisons is the famous Bilibid Prison, located in Manila, the headquarters of the Bureau of Prisons. The Government also maintains two penal colonies, one the Iwahig Penal Colony at Puerto Princesa, Palawan, and the other the San Ramon Penal Farm near Zamboanga, Mindanao. There is also an insular prison

at Fort Mills on Corregidor Island and an insular jail at Bontok in the Mountain Province. Scattered throughout the Islands are about forty provincial and subprovincial jails. The City of Manila maintains a boys' reformatory school and a girls' reformatory school.

The aim of these institutions is to reform inmates and to prepare them for useful citizenship and an honorable position in the community upon their release.

148. The Public Utility Commissioner. - An administrative court, for the purpose of regulating public utilities, has been established under the name of Public Utility Commissioner. "Public utility" corporations or associations are those which operate common carriers, like railroads, street railways, automobile lines, steamboats, and other water craft, public warehouses, cold storage, gas, electric lights, and telephones. To be a public utility, it must be organized for a public use.

When a public utility desires to increase or reduce its rates, it must send a written notice to the Public Utility Commissioner twenty days prior to the effective date of the proposed increase or reduction, and the alteration shall not take effect unless the Commissioner approves it. The Commissioner also has jurisdiction over municipalities, provinces, and departments of the Government which operate public utilities. Any person who desires a franchise to conduct a public utility must first secure from the Public Utility Commissioner a certificate of the public necessity and convenience of such a franchise.

The decision of the Commissioner may be appealed to the Public Utility Commission, made up of the Commissioner, the Attorney-General, and the Director of Public Works. A further appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands.

149. Notaries Public. For the purpose of administering oaths for legal and other important documents, notaries public are appointed. There must be at least one notary public in each municipality. In the provinces, notaries public are appointed by the judge of the Court of First Instance for a term of two years. In Manila, they are appointed for the same period of time by the Supreme Court. To be a notary public, a person must be a citizen of the Philippine Islands or of the United States and over twenty-one years of age. He must also either have been admitted to practice law or be a graduate of a recognized law school, or have passed the examination for the office of justice of the peace. or clerk of court, or be a person who was qualified to be a notary public under the Spanish administration.

Besides notaries public, the following officers have authority to administer oaths: judges of courts; clerks of courts of first instance and the clerk of the Supreme Court; the secretary of the Senate; the secretary of the House of Representatives; registers of deeds; justices of the peace and the auxiliary justices of the peace; the governor of a province; the president of a municipality; and any other officer in the Philippine service appointed by the Governor-General or the President of the United States.

150. Suits against the Government. The Government of the Philippine Islands cannot be sued by an individual without its consent. The permission must be given by a special Act of the Legislature acknowledging the consent of the Government to be sued in the courts. Local subdivisions, however, such as provinces and municipalities, can sue and be sued, as expressly provided by law.

CHAPTER XVI

FINANCE

151. Two Systems of Finance. - Economists have ascertained that from ten to twenty per cent of the people's income goes to the Government. A detailed study of how the Government spends that large amount of money should therefore be of more than passing interest, especially in a democratic community like ours.

There are two principal systems of government finance in use. One is the so-called Congressional system, which until recently existed in the United States, and the other is the so-called budgetary system, which exists in practically every other country with a constitutional government. Before we can describe our system of finance, past and present, we must distinguish these two types.

152. The American Congressional System. - The American Congressional system has been built on the theory of the strict division of governmental powers. Under that system, Congress is supposed to initiate and be responsible for the fiscal measures of the Government, while another branch of the Government, the executive, is supposed to carry out those measures. The executive is entirely independent of the Legislature.

A rough sketch of the course of appropriation measures in the American Government is as follows: Each department files with the treasury an estimate of the money it desires to have. The treasury simply collects these estimates and sends them to Congress asking that the sums specified therein be appropriated. The Secretary of the Treasury acts only