11. That the commission be given power to pass a general incorporation law for the conducting of legitimate businesses by corporations. 12. That the commission be given special authority to issue charters to commercial railroads, with power to make donations of lands, or guarantee the interest on the investments, or both; such grants to be subject to the approval of the President of the United States. 13. That Congress enact a general coinage law providing for the establishment of a gold standard, with local silver currency, and shall confer power upon the commission, by a gold reserve and otherwise, to maintain the parity between the gold standard and the local currency, as indicated in the body of the report. 14. That Congress shall enact a general banking law for the islands, providing for the establishment of national banks in the islands, with branches in various parts of the islands and in the United States, for the establishment of branches in these islands of national banks located in the United States, for the carrying on and supervision of other banks not national, and for the establishment of mortgage land banks; all as outlined in the body of this report. 15. That Congress shall enact a law authorizing the commission to appropriate the Spanish and insurrectionary seized funds now in the treasury of the islands to the making of a school fund, or for the use of the provinces in which such funds were captured. 16. That Congress shall provide a sum sufficient to reimburse the insular government for the actual value of the property purchased out of the funds of the insular treasury and turned over to the Army under General Order No. 65, Headquarters Division of the Philippines, 1901, and General Order No. 38, Office of the Military Governor, issued May 11, 1901. 17. That Congress shall enact a law appropriating a sum sufficient to reimburse the insular treasury for the amount expended in the purchase and fitting of certain Spanish gunboats turned over to the Navy and now used by that Department. WM. H. TAFT. DEAN C. WORCESTER. HENRY C. IDE. BERNARD MOSES. NOTE. The three Filipino commissioners were not installed in office until the 1st of September, 1901, and as the period covered by this report is from the 1st of December, 1900, until the 1st of October, 1901, it was agreed between the commissioners that it would be more just to make this report as the report of the original commission rather than that of the commission as at present constituted. The three Filipino commissioners, however, having read this report, agreed in the recommendations as to the form of a permanent central civil government to be established. LETTER TRANSMITTING DRAFT OF A MINING LAW FOR THE PHILIPPINES. MANILA, November 6, 1901. SIR: The commission begs to transmit to you herewith a draft of the mining law which it recommends for the Philippine Islands. It should accompany the report of the commission, already forwarded, as an exhibit. As was stated in the report, it was deemed advisable to use the draft of the mining code prepared by the chief of the mining bureau as a basis of public discussion, in order to draw out the views of those persons who are at present most vitally interested in the development of the mineral wealth of this archipelago, so that, before making final recommendation, the, commission might have the benefit of their opinions. With very few exceptions, the miners and prospectors at present in these islands are American citizens, and with hardly a dissenting voice their representatives urged that the mining laws of the United States be put in force here, in so far as they are applicable. The arguments brought forward by them have convinced the commission that this should be done. As the mining laws of Congress are embodied in numerous acts, a considerable number of the provisions of the Revised Statutes are necessarily inapplicable here; and as others require modification in the names of the officers designated to perform certain duties, in dates, or in other minor details, it seemed desirable that a draft combining all of the essential provisions of the United States statutes, with the minor modifications deemed necessary, should be prepared, rather than that the commission should make a general recommendation to the effect that the United States laws be put in force here so far as they are applicable. Those prospectors who had located claims in accordance with the provisions of the United States laws were at first strongly inclined to urge the insertion of a section providing for the recognition of their claims. This would, however, in the opinion of the commission, necessarily open the question as to the validity of claims attempted to be located subsequently to April 11, 1899, in accordance with the provisions of Spanish law, and would, it is believed, lead to endless litigation which would tie up for an indefinite period considerable tracts of mineral land, and which would greatly retard the development of the mining industry. It is believed that little, if any, hardship will be worked upon persons who have made bona fide discoveries, if all claims of whatsoever sort attempted to be located subsequently to April 11, 1899, and prior to the date of such Congressional action as may be taken, are ignored. If it is generally known here that Congress is likely to act, bona fide discoverers of mineral are almost certain to be in possession of their claims at the proper time, and will, therefore, be able to follow out the necessary procedure to obtain patents therefor. 151 It has been the intention of the commission to avoid modifying the United States statutes except in the particulars above mentioned and in the following instances: The provisions of section 2324 of the Revised Statutes authorizing the miners of each mining district to make regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United States or with the laws of the State or Territory in which the district is situated, governing the location, manner of recording, and the amount of work necessary to hold possession of a mining claim subject to certain requirements of law, have been modified by providing that the commission, or its succesors, shall have this power, subject to similar limitations. It is believed that no necessity will exist for the making of such regulations in the Philippines by miners, and that the commission can examine the regulations in force in the several States, make such modifications therein as special conditions here may require, and publish regulations at the time the mining law is promulgated here which can be put in force throughout the entire archipelago. It will be noted that the references in the United States statutes to homestead rights are retained in the draft herewith submitted. This is done in the hope that Congress will either pass a homestead law for the Philippines or authorize the commission to do so. The provisions of sections 2330 and 2331 of the Revised Statutes, as to the size of placer claims that may be located by individuals, are in seeming contradiction, and it has therefore been deemed best to revise these sections in accordance with the rulings that have been made under them rather than to leave the text unchanged. A somewhat difficult question is raised by the Spanish concessions, complete and incomplete. The number and nature of these concessions have been given in the first report of the commission. As regards the completed concessions, the commission considers that the United States is bound to recognize them, and that their owners should be allowed to continue to exercise with reference to them the rights conferred by the provisions of Spanish law. Where proceedings are to be had for the cancellation of such concessions, however, it seems to the commission that they should be in the courts rather than before the chief of the mining bureau, as the Spanish law provides. It is difficult to foresee how much litigation will result in connection with these completed claims. Should it be considerable in amount, the creation of a special court to deal with it might be desirable. It will be noted that the commission has inserted a provision compelling owners of completed Spanish concessions to mark the corners of their boundaries with permanent monuments within ninety days after the promulgation of the proposed act in the Philippine Islands. It is believed that this provision will work no injustice and that it should be adopted in the interest of honest American prospectors, who would gladly keep off the territory covered by these concessions if it were marked in such a way that they could do so. At present there is nothing on the ground to show the location of these concessions, but the holders of them, while refusing to mark their boundaries, make frequent complaints that they are being trespassed upon, although such complaints are often delayed until the alleged trespassers have struck mineral in place. As to the incomplete Spanish concessions, it seems to the commission that no property rights are involved, and that they may therefore be left out of account. If this is done, it will greatly simplify matters here and will prevent a serious clog upon the development of the mining industry. During the last days of Spanish sovereignty proceedings were begun looking toward the securing of concessions covering a large part of the known mineral lands of the Philippines. While the proceedings had were, in many instances, illegal or fraudulent, and while few, if any, of the persons interested in such claims have fulfilled the requirements of Spanish law so as to establish any legal rights with reference to them, still if these claims were recognized in any way they would constitute a certain source of endless litigation. Very respectfully, The SECRETARY OF WAR, Washington, D. C. WM. H. TAFT. DEAN C. WORCESTER. AN ACT to promote the development of the mineral resources of the Philippine Islands. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that: SECTION 1. Mineral lands reserved.—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. 2. Mineral lands open to purchase, under certain conditions as to citizenship.-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 and purchase, and the land in which they are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the United States, natives of the Philippine Islands, and persons who have, under and by virtue of the treaty of Paris, acquired the political rights of natives of the Philippine Islands. SEC. 3. Length of mining claims upon veins or lodes.-Mining claims upon 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, may equal but shall not exceed one thousand five hundred feet in length along the vein or lode; but no location of a mining claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located. No claim shall extend more than three hundred feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, nor shall any claim be limited by any mining regulation to less than twenty-five feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights existing on the date of the passage of this act render such limitation necessary. The end lines of each claim shall be parallel to each other. SEC. 4. Proof of citizenship.-Proof of citizenship under this act may consist, in the case of an individual, of his own affidavit thereof; in the case of an association of persons unincorporated, of the affidavit of their authorized agent, made on his own knowledge or upon information and belief; and in the case of a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory thereof, or of the Philippine Islands, by the filing of a certified copy of their charter or certificate of incorporation. SEC. 5. Locutor's right of possession and enjoyment. The locators of all mining locations heretofore made or which shall hereafter be made on any mineral vein, lode, or ledge situated on the public domain, their heirs and assigns, where no adverse claim exists at the date of the passage of this act, so long as they comply with the laws of the United States, and with the laws and local regulations of the Philippine Islands not in conflict with the laws of the United States governing their possessory title, shall have the exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, or ledges throughout their entire depth the top or apex of which lies inside of such surface lines extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular in their course downward as to extend outside the vertical side lines of such surface locations. But their right of possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward as above described, through the end lines of their locations, so continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins or ledges: Provided, That in working a blanket ledge the locator or possessor of a mining claim shall be restricted to that portion of such ledge which lies inside of the surface lines of the claim extended downward vertically. And nothing in this section shall authorize the locator or possessor of a vein or lode which extends in its downward course beyond the vertical lines of his claim to enter upon the surface of a claim owned or possessed by another. SEC. 6. Owners of tunnels, rights of.—Where a tunnel is run for the development of a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins or lodes within three thousand feet from the face of such tunnel on the line thereof, not previously known to exist, discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface; and locations on the line of such tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made by other parties after the commencement of the tunnel, and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence, shall be invalid; but failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins on the line of such tunnel. SEC. 7. Regulations made by the United States Philippine Commission or its successors.— The United States Philippine Commission or its successors may make regulations, not in conflict with the provisions of this act, governing the location, manner of recording and amount of work necessary to hold possession of a mining claim, subject to the following requirements: The location must be distinctly marked on the ground, so that its boundaries can be readily traced. All records of mining claims hereafter made shall contain the name or names of locators, the date of location, and such a description of the claim or claims located, by reference to some natural object or permanent monument, as will identify the claim. On each claim located after the passage of this act, and until a patent has been issued therefor, not less than one hundred dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made during each year: Provided, That where a person or company has or may run a tunnel for the purpose of developing a lode or lodes owned by said person or company, the money so expended in said tunnel shall be taken and considered as expended on said lode or lodes, and such person or company shall not be required to perform work on the surface of said lode or lodes in order to hold the same. Where such claims are held in common, such expenditure may be made upon any one claim; and upon a failure to comply with these conditions the claim or mine upon which such failure occurred shall be open to relocation in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made, provided that the original locators, their heirs, assigns, or legal representatives have not resumed work upon the claim after failure and before such location. Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners to contribute his proportion of the expenditures required thereby, the co-owners who have performed the labor or made the improvements may, at the expiration of the year, give such delinquent co-owner personal notice in writing or notice by publication in the newspaper published nearest the claim, and in two newspapers published at Manila, one in the English language and the other in the Spanish language, to be designated by the chief of the Philippine insular bureau of public lands, for at least once a week for ninety days; and if, at the expiration of ninety days after such notice in writing or by publication, such delinquent shall fail or refuse to contribute his proportion of the expenditure required by this section, his interest in the claim shall become the property of his co-owners who have made the required expenditures. The period within which the work required to be done annually on all unpatented mineral claims shall commence on the first day of January succceding the date of location of such claim. SEC. 8. Patents for mineral lands, how obtained.-A patent for any land claimed and located for valuable mineral deposits may be obtained in the following manner: Any person, association, or corporation authorized to locate a claim under this act, having claimed and located a piece of land for such purposes, who has or have complied with the terms of this act, may file in the office of the provincial secretary of the province wherein the land claimed is located, or, if there is no provincial secretary, in the office of the adjutant-general of the commander of the military department wherein such land is located, an application for a patent, under oath, showing such compliance, together with a plat and field notes of the claim or claims in common, made by or under the direction of the chief of the Philippine insular bureau of public lands, showing accurately the boundaries of the claim or claims, which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground, and shall post a copy of such plat, together with a notice of such application for a patent, in a conspicuous place on the land embraced in such plat previous to the filing of the application for a patent, and shall file an affidavit of at least two persons that such notice has been duly posted, and shall file a copy of the notice in such office, and shall thereupon be entitled to a |