Philippine Islands: Provided, That a single homestead entry shall not exceed sixteen hectares in extent.

SEC. 14. That the government of the Philippine Islands is hereby authorized and empowered to enact rules and regulations and to prescribe terms and conditions to enable persons to perfect their title to public lands in said islands, who, prior to the transfer of sovereignty from Spain to the United States, had fulfilled all or some of the conditions required by the Spanish laws and royal decrees of the Kingdom of Spain for the acquisition of legal title thereto yet failed to secure conveyance of title; and the Philippine Commission is authorized to issue patents, without compensation, to any native of said islands, conveying title to any tract of land not more than sixteen hectares in extent, which were public lands and had been actually occupied by such native or his ancestors prior to and on the thirteenth of August, eighteen hundred and ninety eight.

SEC. 15. That the government of the Philippine Islands is hereby authorized and empowered, on such terms as it may prescribe, by general legislation, to provide for the granting or sale and conveyance to actual occupants and settlers and other citizens of said islands such parts and portions of the public domain, other than timber and mineral lands, of the United States in said islands as it may deem wise, not exceeding sixteen hectares to any one person and for the sale and conveyance of not more than one thousand and twenty-four hectares to any corporation or association of persons: Provided, That the grant or sale of such lands, whether the purchase price be paid at once or in partial payments, shall be conditioned upon actual and continued occupancy, improvement, and cultivation of the premises sold for a period of not less than five years, during which time the purchaser or grantee can not alienate or encumber said land or the title thereto; but such restriction shall not apply to transfers of rights and title of inheritance under the laws for the distribution of the estates of decedents.

SEC. 16. That in granting or selling any part of the public domain under the provisions of the last preceding section, preference in all cases shall be given to actual occupants and settlers; and such public lands of the United States in the actual possession or occupancy of any native of the Philippine Islands shall not be sold by said government to any other person without the consent thereto of said prior occupant or settler first had and obtained: Provided, That the prior right hereby secured to an occupant of land, who can show no other proof of title than possession, shall not apply to more than sixteen hectares in any one tract.

SEC. 17. That timber, trees, forests, and forest products on lands. leased or demised by the government of the Philippine Islands under

the provisions of this Act shall not be cut, destroyed, removed, or appropriated except by special permission of said government and under such regulations as it may prescribe.

All moneys obtained from lease or sale of any portion of the public domain or from licenses to cut timber by the government of the Philippine Islands shall be covered into the insular treasury and be subject only to appropriation for insular purposes according to law. SEC. 18. That the forest laws and regulations now in force in the Philippine Islands, with such modification and amendments as may be made by the government of said islands, are hereby continued in force, and no timber lands forming part of the public domain shall be sold, leased, or entered until the government of said islands, upon the certification of the forestry bureau that said lands are more valuable for agriculture than for forest uses, shall declare such lands. so certified to be agricultural in character: Provided, That the said government shall have the right and is hereby empowered to issue licenses to cut, harvest, or collect timber or other forest products on reserved or unreserved public lands in said islands in accordance with the forest laws and regulations hereinbefore mentioned and under the provisions of this Act, and the said government may lease land to any person or persons holding such licenses, sufficient for a mill site, not to exceed four hectares in extent, and may grant rights of way to enable such person or persons to get access to the lands to which such licenses apply.

SEC. 19. That the beneficial use shall be the basis, the measure, and the limit of all rights to water in said islands, and the government of said islands is hereby authorized to make such rules and regulations for the use of water, and to make such reservations of public lands for the protection of the water supply, and for other public purposes not in conflict with the provisions of this Act as it may deem best for the public good.

MINERAL LANDS.

SEC. 20. That in all cases public lands in the Philippine Islands valuable for minerals shall be reserved from sale, except as otherwise expressly directed by law.

SEC. 21. That all valuable mineral deposits in public lands in the Philippine Islands, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration, occupation, and purchase, and the land in which they are found to occupation and purchase. by citizens of the United States, or of said Islands: Provided, That when on any lands in said islands entered and occupied as agricultural lands under the provisions of this Act, but not patented, mineral deposits have been found, the working of such mineral deposits

is hereby forbidden until the person, association, or corporation who or which has entered and is occupying such lands shall have paid to the government of said islands such additional sum or sums as will make the total amount paid for the mineral claim or claims in which said deposits are located equal to the amount charged by the government for the same as mineral claims.

SEC. 22. That mining claims upon land containing veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits, located after the passage of this Act, whether located by one or more persons qualified to locate the same under the preceding section, shall be located in the following manner and under the following conditions: Any person so qualified desiring to locate a mineral claim shall, subject to the provisions of this Act with respect to land which may be used for mining, enter upon the same and locate a plot of ground measuring, where possible, but not exceeding, one thousand feet in length by one thousand feet in breadth, in as nearly as possible a rectangular form; that is to say: All angles shall be right angles, except in cases where a boundary line of a previously surveyed claim is adopted as common to both claims, but the lines need not necessarily be meridional. In defining the size of a mineral claim, it shall be measured horizontally, irrespective of inequalities of the surface of the ground.

SEC. 23. That a mineral claim shall be marked by two posts placed as nearly as possible on the line of the ledge or vein, and the posts shall be numbered one and two, and the distance between posts numbered one and two shall not exceed one thousand feet, the line between posts numbered one and two to be known as the location line; and upon posts numbered one and two shall be written the name given to the mineral claim, the name of the locator, and the date of the location. Upon post numbered one there shall be written, in addition to the foregoing, "Initial post," the approximate compass bearing of post numbered two, and a statement of the number of feet lying to the right and to the left of the line from post numbered one to post numbered two, thus: "Initial post. Direction of post numbered two. feet of this claim lie on the right and feet on the left of the line from number one to number two post." All the particulars required to be put on number one and number two posts shall be furnished by the locator to the provincial secretary, or such other officer as by the Philippine government may be described as mining recorder, in writing, at the time the claim is recorded, and shall form a part of the record of such claim.

SEC. 24. That when a claim has been located the holder shall immediately mark the line between posts numbered one and two so that it can be distinctly seen. The locator shall also place a post at the point where he has found minerals in place, on which shall be written.

1,000'

Discovery post.

"Discovery post:" Provided, That when the claim is surveyed the surveyor shall be guided by the records of the claim, the sketch plan on the back of the declaration made by the owner when the claim was recorded, posts numbered one and two, and the notice on number one, the initial post.

Discovery post.

1,000'

1,000'

Discovery
post.

SEC. 25. That it shall not be lawful to move number one post, but number two post may be moved by the deputy mineral surveyor when the distance between posts numbered one and two exceeds one thousand feet, in order to place number two post one thousand feet from number one post on the line of location. When the distance between posts numbered one and two is less than one thousand feet the deputy mineral surveyor shall have no authority to extend the claim beyond number two.

SEC. 26. That the "location line" shall govern the direction of one side of the claim, upon which the survey shall be extended according to this Act.

SEC. 27. That the holder of a mineral claim shall be entitled to all minerals which may lie within his claim, but he shall not be entitled to mine outside the boundary lines of his claim continued vertically downward: Provided, That this Act shall not prejudice the rights of claim owners nor claim holders whose claims have been located under existing laws prior to this Act.

SEC. 28. That no mineral claim of the full size shall be recorded without the application being accompanied by an affidavit made by the applicant or some person on his behalf cognizant of the factsthat the legal notices and posts have been put up; that mineral has been found in place on the claim proposed to be recorded: that the

1,000'

ground applied for is unoccupied by any other person. In the said declaration shall be set out the name of the applicant and the date of the location of the claim. The words written on the number one and number two posts shall be set out in full, and as accurate a description as possible of the position of the claim given with reference to some natural object or permanent monuments.

SEC. 29. That no mineral claim which at the date of its record is known by the locator to be less than a full-sized mineral claim shall be recorded without the word "fraction" being added to the name of the claim, and the application being accompanied by an affidavit or solemn declaration made by the applicant or some person on his behalf cognizant of the facts: That the legal posts and notices have been put up; that mineral has been found in place on the fractional claim proposed to be recorded; that the ground applied for is unoccupied by any other person. In the said declaration shall be set out the name of the applicant and the date of the location of the claim. The words written on the posts numbered one and two shall be set out in full, and as accurate a description as possible of the position of the claim given. A sketch plan shall be drawn by the applicant on the back of the declaration, showing as near as may be the position of the adjoining mineral claims and the shape and size, expressed in feet, of the claim or fraction desired to be recorded: Provided, That the failure on the part of the locator of a mineral claim to comply with any of the foregoing provisions of this section shall not be deemed to invalidate such location, if upon the facts it shall appear that such locator has actually discovered mineral in place on said location, and that there has been on his part a bona fide attempt to comply with the provisions of this Act, and that the nonobservance of the formalities hereinbefore referred to is not of a character calculated to mislead other persons desiring to locate claims in the vicinity.

SEC. 30. That in cases where, from the nature or shape of the ground, it is impossible to mark the location line of the claim as provided by this Act then the claim may be marked by placing posts as nearly as possible to the location line, and noting the distance and direction such posts may be from such location line, which distance and direction shall be set out in the record of the claim.

SEC. 31. That every person locating a mineral claim shall record the same with the provincial secretary or such other officer as by the government of the Philippine Islands may be described as mining recorder of the district within which the same is situate, within thirty days after the location thereof. Such record shall be made in a book to be kept for the purpose in the office of the said provincial secretary or such other officer as by said government described as mining recorder, in which shall be inserted the name of the claim,

53705-19- -10