munications. The bureaus under this department are the Bureau of Commerce and Industry, the Bureau of Supply, the Bureau of Public Works, the Bureau of Posts, the Bureau of Labor, and the Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey. 191. The Bureau of Commerce and Industry. The Bureau of Commerce and Industry has been established for the furtherance of commerce and industry. It compiles data on industrial and commercial information from abroad which is valuable to merchants in the Philippines, and carries on propaganda for the interests of Philippine commerce in foreign countries. At present there are two agencies to foster commerce between the Philippines and the United States, one in New York, and the other in San Francisco. The Bureau of Commerce and Industry registers corporations, trademarks, and patents. It acts as a Mercantile Register for the City of Manila. 192. The Bureau of Labor. The Bureau of Labor has been established for the promotion of better relations between capital and labor. It urges legislation for the moral improvement of the laborers. It compiles data on labor conditions and is empowered to inspect shops, factories, and other industrial and commercial establishments which employ labor. Many laborers engaged in a particular occupation organize themselves into labor unions. These unions in turn unite in a labor congress or association. An important work of the Bureau of Labor is then to settle differences between employers and labor unions. The Bureau acts as an arbitrator in questions affecting them, in order to avoid strikes or to settle strikes which have been called by the laborers. Under its auspices committees on conciliation and arbitration are often appointed, composed of either public officials or private citizens or both. The decision of the committee, in order to be binding, must be approved by at least two members of the representatives of each party. The committee can also appoint an arbiter whose decision shall be compulsory on both sides. The Bureau of Labor is empowered, through its attorney, to bring suits gratuitously for poor laborers when their attempts at peaceful and amicable settlement prove futile. It also maintains employment agencies where those who need work may apply, and superintends the interprovincial migration of laborers. 193. The Bureau of Public Works. One of the most extensive activities of the Government is that carried on by the Bureau of Public Works. The Bureau of Public Works advises the Governor-General, the Legislature, and the Secretary of Commerce and Communications upon matters pertaining to engineering work of all kinds. It makes investigations, plans, and specifications for the construction or repair of public works and improvements, whether pertaining to the Insular, provincial, or municipal government; constructs, repairs, and maintains all public buildings, port works, roads, bridges, waterworks, irrigation systems, electric plants, wireless stations, and all other public works requiring engineering skill; apportions and appropriates waters and water rights and inspects their use; and exercises supervision over motor vehicle traffic in the Philippines, the registration of automobiles, and the licensing of their operators. The Philippines are divided into engineering districts, generally coextensive with the territorial limits of the provinces. In each engineering district, an officer known as the district engineer has direct general supervision over the construction, maintenance, and repair of provincial public works of the district, and over all contracts connected with such work. He also acts as adviser to the municipalities and municipal districts on all engineering matters. LENGTHS OF ROADS IN EXISTENCE DURING TEN YEARS 194. The Bureau of Posts. The Bureau of Posts has exclusive control over all mail and postal business within the maritime jurisdiction of the Philippine Islands, of all telegraph and telephone lines and service belonging to the Insular Government, of the postal money order business, and of the postal savings bank. The Bureau of Posts has established money order and parcel post agreements with the postal administrations of many countries. 195. The Bureau of Supply. The Bureau of Supply is established to secure furniture, stationery, equipment, and supplies of all kinds required by the various departments and offices of the Insular Government, the provincial and municipal governments, and the cities of Manila and Baguio. 1 There is a purchasing agent in the United States for the purchase of supplies. For the proper care of the great stock of supplies carried for the general use of the government, concrete warehouses have been erected. The Bureau also manages a cold storage plant in Manila which supplies water and ice to government officials and the public. 196. The Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey. The Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Suvey is under the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. It surveys harbors, gulfs, bays and other water adjacent to the Philippines or pertaining thereto, and prepares charts and maps of the Philippine Islands. It determines and locates the geographic positions and marks the meridian lines. It makes tidal observations so as to have a complete record of tidal movements in the Philippines. It compiles all other data needed for pilots sailing in the Philippine Islands. (The activities under the Departments of Finance and of Justice have been discussed in the chapters on Finance and the Judiciary, respectively.) |