tion of notices, shall be paid by the applicants, and they shall be at liberty to obtain the same at the most reasonable rates, and they shall also be at liberty to employ any such deputy mineral surveyor to make the survey. The chief of the Philippine insular bureau of public lands shall also have power to establish the maximum charges for surveys and publication of notices under this Act; and in case of excessive charges for publication he may designate any newspaper published in a province where mines are situated, or in Manila, for the publication of mining notices and fix the rates to be charged by such paper; and to the end that the chief of the bureau of public lands may be fully informed on the subject such applicant shall file with the provincial secretary, or such other officer as by the government of the Philippine Islands may be described as mining recorder, a sworn statement of all charges and fees paid by such applicant for publication and surveys, and of all fees and money paid the provincial treasurer or the collector of internal revenue, as the case may be, which statement shall be transmitted, with the other papers in the case, to the secretary of the interior for the Philippine Islands.

SEC. 47. That all affidavits required to be made under this Act may be verified before any officer authorized to administer oaths within the province or military department where the claims may be situated, and all testimony and proofs may be taken before any such officer, and, when duly certified by the officer taking the same, shall have the same force and effect as if taken before the proper provincial secretary or such other officer as by the government of the Philippine Islands may be described as mining recorder. In cases of contest as to the mineral or agricultural character of land the testimony and proofs may be taken as herein provided on personal notice of at least ten days to the opposing party; or if such party can not be found, then by publication at least once a week for thirty days in a newspaper to be designated by the provincial secretary or such other officer as by said government may be described as mining recorder published nearest to the location of such land and in two newspapers published in Manila, one in the English language and one in the Spanish language, to be designated by the chief of the Philippine insular bureau of public lands; and the provincial secretary or such other officer as by said government may be described as mining recorder shall require proofs that such notice has been given.

SEC. 48. That where nonmineral land not contiguous to the vein or lode is used or occupied by the proprietor of such vein or lode for mining or milling purposes, such nonadjacent surface ground may be embraced and included in an application for a patent for such vein or lode, and the same may be patented therewith, subject to the same preliminary requirements as to survey and notice as are applicable to veins or lodes; but no location of such nonadjacent land shall exceed

two hectares, and payment for the same must be made at the same rate as fixed by this Act for the superficies of the lode. The owner of a quartz mill or reduction works not owning a mine in connection therewith may also receive a patent for his mill site as provided in this section.

SEC. 49. That as a condition of sale the Government of the Philippine Islands may provide rules for working, policing, and sanitation of mines, and rules concerning easements, drainage, water rights, right of way, right of Government survey and inspection, and other necessary means to their complete development not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, and those conditions shall be fully expressed in the patent. The Philippine Commission or its successors are hereby further empowered to fix the bonds of deputy mineral surveyors.

SEC. 50. That whenever by priority of possession rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other purposes have vested and accrued and the same are recognized and acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of courts, the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be maintained and protected in the same, and the right of way for the construction of ditches and canals for the purposes herein specified is acknowledged and confirmed, but whenever any person, in the construction of any ditch or canal, injures or damages the possession of any settler on the public domain, the party committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or damage.

SEC. 51. That all patents granted shall be subject to any vested and accrued water rights, or rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights as may have been acquired under or recognized by the preceding section.

SEC. 52. That the Government of the Philippine Islands is authorized to establish land districts and provide for the appointment of the necessary officers wherever they may deem the same necessary for the public convenience, and to further provide that in districts where land offices are established proceedings required by this Act to be had before provincial officers shall be had before the proper officers of such land offices.

SEC. 53. That every person above the age of twenty-one years, who. is a citizen of the United States, or of the Philippine Islands, or who has acquired the rights of a native of said islands under and by virtue of the treaty of Paris, or any association of persons severally qualified as above, shall, upon application to the proper provincial treasurer, have the right to enter any quality of vacant coal lands of said Islands not otherwise appropriated or reserved by competent authority, not exceeding sixty-four hectares to such individual person. or one hundred and twenty-eight hectares to such association, upon

payment to the provincial treasurer or the collector of internal revenue, as the case may be, of not less than twenty-five dollars per hectare for such lands, where the same shall be situated more than fifteen miles from any completed railroad or available harbor or navigable stream, and not less than fifty dollars per hectare for such lands as shall be within fifteen miles of such road, harbor, or stream: Provided, That such entries shall be taken in squares of sixteen or sixtyfour hectares, in conformity with the rules and regulations governing the public-land surveys of the said Islands in plotting legal subdivisions.

SEC. 54. That any person or association of persons, severally qualified as above provided, who have opened and improved, or shall hereafter open and improve, any coal mine or mines upon the public lands, and shall be in actual possession of the same, shall be entitled to a preference right of entry under the preceding section of the mines so opened and improved.

SEC. 55. That all claims under the preceding section must be presented to the proper provincial secretary within sixty days after the date of actual possession and the commencement of improvements on the land by the filing of a declaratory statement therefor; and where the improvements shall have been made prior to the expiration of three months from the date of the passage of this Act, sixty days. from the expiration of such three months shall be allowed for the filing of a declaratory statement; and no sale under the provisions of this Act shall be allowed until the expiration of six months from the date of the passage of this Act.

SEC. 56. That the three preceding sections shall be held to authorize only one entry by the same person or association of persons; and no association of persons, any member of which shall have taken the benefit of such sections, either as an individual or as a member of any other association, shall enter or hold any other lands under the provisions thereof; and no member of any association which shall have taken the benefit of such section shall enter or hold any other lands under their provisions; and all persons claiming under section fiftyeight shall be required to prove their respective rights and pay for the lands filed upon within one year from the time prescribed for filing their respective claims; and upon failure to file the proper notice or to pay for the land within the required period, the same shall be subject to entry by any other qualified applicant.

SEC. 57. That in case of conflicting claims upon coal lands where the improvements shall be commenced after the date of the passage of this Act, priority of possession and improvement, followed by proper filing and continued good faith, shall determine the preference right to purchase. And also where improvements have already

been made prior to the passage of this Act, division of the land claimed may be made by legal subdivisions, which shall conform as nearly as practicable with the subdivisions of land provided for in this Act, to include as near as may be the valuable improvements of the respective parties. The Government of the Philippine Islands is authorized to issue all needful rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this and preceding sections relating to mineral lands.

SEC. 58. That whenever it shall be made to appear to the secretary of any province or the commander of any military department in the Philippine Islands that any lands within the province are saline in character, it shall be the duty of said provincial secretary or commander, under the regulations of the Government of the Philippine Islands, to take testimony in reference to such lands, to ascertain their true character, and to report the same to the secretary of the interior for the Philippine Islands; and if, upon such testimony, the secretary of the interior shall find that such lands are saline and incapable of being purchased under any of the laws relative to the public domain, then and in such case said lands shall be offered for sale at the office of the provincial secretary or such other officer as by the said government may be described as mining recorder of the province or department in which the same shall be situated, as the case may be, under such regulations as may be prescribed by said Government and sold to the highest bidder, for cash, at a price of not less than three dollars per hectare; and in case such lands fail to sell when so offered then the same shall be subject to private sale at such office, for cash, at a price not less than three dollars per hectare, in the same manner as other lands in the said Islands are sold. All executive proclamations relating to the sales of public saline lands shall be published in only two newspapers, one printed in the English language and one in the Spanish language, at Manila, which shall be designated by said secretary of the interior.

SEC. 59. That no Act granting lands to provinces, districts, or municipalities to aid in the construction of roads, or for other public. purposes, shall be so construed as to embrace mineral lands, which, in all cases, are reserved exclusively, unless otherwise specially provided in the Act or Acts making the grant.

SEC. 60., That nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the rights of any person, partnership, or corporation having a valid, perfected mining concession granted prior to April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, but all such concessions shall be conducted under the provisions of the law in force at the time they were granted, subject at all times to cancellation by reason of illegality in the procedure by which they were obtained, or for failure to comply with the conditions prescribed as requisite to their retention in the

laws under which they were granted: Provided, That the owner or owners of every such concession shall cause the corners made by its boundaries to be distinctly marked with permanent monuments within six months after this Act has been promulgated in the Philippine Islands, and that any concessions the boundaries of which are not so marked within this period shall be free and open to explorations and purchase under the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 61. That mining rights on public lands in the Philippine Islands shall, after the passage of this Act, be acquired only in accordance with its provisions.

SEC. 62. That all proceedings for the cancellation of perfected Spanish concessions shall be conducted in the courts of the Philippine Islands having jurisdiction of the subject-matter and of the parties. unless the United States Philippine Commission, or its successors, shall create special tribunals for the determination of such controversies.

AUTHORITY FOR THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS GOVERNMENT TO PURCHASE LANDS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS AND OTHERS AND ISSUE BONDS FOR PURCHASE PRICE.

SEC. 63. That the government of the Philippine Islands is hereby authorized, subject to the limitations and conditions prescribed in this Act, to acquire, receive, hold, maintain, and convey title to real and personal property, and may acquire real estate for public uses by the exercise of the right of eminent domain.

SEC. 64. That the powers hereinbefore conferred in section sixtythree may also be exercised in respect of any lands, easements, appurtenances, and hereditaments which, on the thirteenth of August, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, were owned or held by associations, corporations, communities, religious orders, or private individuals in such large tracts or parcels and in such manner as in the opinion of the Commission injuriously to affect the peace and welfare of the people of the Philippine Islands. And for the purpose of providing funds to acquire the lands mentioned in this section said government of the Philippine Islands is hereby empowered to incur indebtedness, to borrow money, and to issue, and to sell at not less than par value, in gold coin of the United States of the present standard value or the equivalent in value in money of said Islands, upon such terms and conditions as it may deem best, registered or coupon bonds of said government for such amount as may be necessary, said bonds to be in denominations of fifty dollars or any multiple thereof, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding four and a half per centum per annum, payable quarterly, and to be payable at the pleasure of said government after dates named in said bonds not less than five nor more than thirty years from the date of their issue, together with