act had provided that in organized provinces the duties of registrar of property might temporarily be performed by provincial treasurers.

On August 10, 1901, act No. 194 was passed, conferring upon justices of the peace and presidentes of municipalities the power to make preliminary investigation of criminal offenses and to hold to bail, for prosecution in higher courts, criminals against whom reasonable cause should be shown.

It will be observed that the acts heretofore referred to have dealt to a considerable extent with proceedings in civil actions, although provisions for jurisdiction over all proceedings, criminal and civil, have been made; but the new code of criminal procedure has not yet been enacted and the jurisdiction of justices of the peace to make preliminary investigations of alleged criminals, and to bind them over, was in great doubt under the code of criminal procedure that had been established by military General Order No. 58, which still constitutes the basis of legal procedure in criminal prosecutions. Act No. 194, therefore, was indispensable to meet those cases where prosecutions were had in the absence of the judge of the court of first instance. Act No. 82, providing for the organization of municipal governments in the Philippine Islands, gives the presidentes of the various municipalities certain powers to act as magistrates in the trial of offenders against municipal ordinances within their own municipalities.

Other minor acts have been passed relating to the officers and employees of the courts that it is unnecessary here to detail in order to obtain a complete view of the judicial system which has been established.

COMMENTS UPON THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM.

It will be seen from the foregoing statements that the system provides for trial of violators of municipal ordinances by the presidentes of municipalities; that the prosecutions for minor offenses and trials of civil actions involving small amounts and the preliminary investigation of higher crimes are confided to justices of the peace, one justice being provided for every town except the city of Manila; that courts of first instance are made courts of record and of general jurisdiction, one being provided for each province, but the city of Manila having two judges; that one court of first instance is provided for every province, with sessions at least twice in each year in each province, and in the more important provinces three or four times; that the whole archipelago is divided into 14 judicial districts, outside the city of Manila, and 1 judge for the court of first instance is provided for each judicial district, with a special tribunal for disposing of arrearages of litigation in the island of Negros; that the supreme court consists of a chief justice and 6 associate judges, and that adequate provisions are made for reporting the decisions of the supreme

court; for representation of the government, general and local, in all litigation, by the attorney-general, solicitor-general, and provincial fiscal; that the city of Manila has a special municipal system of courts, and that a notarial system for the archipelago is provided.

Some of the judicial districts contain very large populations, the largest being the eleventh, which includes the provinces of Cebu and Bohol, and contains approximately 752,000 people. The third, fourth, fifth, ninth, tenth and twelfth districts each contain populations exceeding 500,000 in number. Many of the inhabitants of all the districts are poor people, laborers employed upon haciendas, and having little or no civil litigation, but contributing in a degree to the criminal dockets of the several courts. It is not certain that the number of judges who have been appointed will be able to keep up with the litigation pending and to be pending in their several courts. The amount of civil litigation growing out of incidents connected with the war is becoming considerable in importance, while the criminal dockets are necessarily large at all times and more especially so from the unsettled conditions following war.

Under the Spanish régime, there was one judge for each province, and with that larger number of judges there was very great delay in the disposition of causes and criminals were confined for long periods awaiting trial. But the Spanish procedure was exceedingly slow. Everything that took place in the courts was reduced to writing in most voluminous form; the proceedings were hampered by constant appeals upon petty interlocutory matters and by the challenging of judges and magistrates; and the hours for working in the courts were very short. With a reformed criminal and civil procedure, largely based upon American lines, and with judges selected for capacity, ability, integrity and efficiency in the transaction of business, it is hoped that the present number of judges may be sufficient to keep the dockets clear and to furnish a speedy redress. The law organizing and establishing the system of courts only went into effect on the 16th day of June, 1901, and it is impracticable at this early date to say with certainty that the present number of judges will not be entirely sufficient to cope with all the litigation of the islands. If experience should demonstrate that more judges are necessary, the number can be readily increased and the districts rearranged by appropriate legislation. But it is already apparent that two judges of the court of first instance in the city of Manila are all that are there needed.

The selection and appointment of judges presented considerable difficulty. The inauguration of a new system of procedure entirely unknown to the residents of these islands in place of the slow and tedious processes that had heretofore been in vogue, and which are deeply rooted in the habits of all men here resident possessing a legal education, rendered it exceedingly undesirable that Filipino judges

only should be appointed; nor was it deemed fitting that the determination of the interests of citizens of the United States, as to their relations to one another and to the natives of the islands and to the United States, should be vested wholly in judges unfamiliar with our methods of procedure and theory of government. On the other hand, it was deemed unjust to impose upon the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands a judiciary composed wholly of citizens of the United States, unfamiliar with the institutions, language, customs and procedure here prevailing, and it was considered that a certain number of Filipino judges was indispensable, not only to meet the just aspirations of the Filipinos themselves, but also by reason of the superior knowledge of all previous laws and customs possessed by them. For political reasons that is, for the purpose of enabling the Filipino people themselves to feel that they were justly and fairly treated, and that their most highly educated men were recognized and their services availed of in important and responsible positions, and that the highest stations would be open to them as fast as they were fitted to fill them— it seemed highly expedient that as large a representation of Filipinos in the administration of justice as was practicable should be made.

The mind of educated Filipino people is well adapted to deal with legal questions. A number of the native lawyers of the country are highly educated in the learning of the profession and are expert in their knowledge of the civil law and procedure thereunder, and entirely competent to perform the duties of judges. From them it has been found possible to select men distinguished for learning, probity, and independence. The chief justice of the supreme court, Hon. Ceyatano S. Arellano, is a native of the islands, an able and distinguished lawyer, an upright man and was the chief justice of the provisional audiencia or supreme court organized under military authority. Two other Filipinos have been appointed as judges of the supreme court, Hon. Florentino Torres, who was attorney-general under the military régime and a judge under the Spanish régime, and Hon. Victorino Mapa. The chief justice and Judge Torres are Tagalogs. Judge Mapa is a Visayan, from Iloilo. He is a distinguished representative of his race and rendered very great service to our country in securing the pacification of the island of Panay.

The other four judges constituting the supreme bench are citizens of the United States. One is James F. Smith, a lawyer of distinction in San Francisco, subsequently a general in the Volunteer Army of the United States and military governor of the island of Negros, and later collector of customs of the islands and of the chief port. The other three were appointed from citizens of the United States not before in the Philippine Islands: Hon. Joseph F. Cooper, of Texas; Hon. Charles A. Willard, of Minnesota; Hon. Fletcher Ladd, of New Hampshire. The appointments of citizens of the United States to the bench of the

supreme court were made by the commission after the most careful investigation and examination of the recommendations and testimonials presented on behalf of those under consideration, of whom there were a very great number, and after local investigation in the United States under the direction of the Secretary of War. Political considerations did not enter to the slightest degree into the appointment of any judge to any court in the islands, the sole questions being the fitness, capacity and character of the appointee, the preference being given, other things being equal, to such persons as possessed a knowledge of the Spanish language.

Seven other citizens of the United States were also brought by authority of the commission from the United States to fill judicial positions, namely: Elias F. Johnson, of Michigan; Paul W. Linebarger, of Illinois; Henry C. Bates, of Vermont; Lyman J. Carlock, of Illinois; William A. Kincaid, of Texas; Arthur F. Odlin, of New Hampshire, and Libbeus R. Wilfley, of Missouri, the latter of whom was appointed attorney-general after his arrival in the islands. All the gentlemen last named were selected in the same manner as the judges of the supreme court hereinabove referred to. William F. Norris, of Nebraska, who had been in the islands for between one and two years serving as counsel of the Government of the United States before a commission appointed to investigate claims against the United States in the islands, was appointed judge of the special court for the island of Negros. Four other citizens of the United States who were appointed judges-James H. Blount, jr., of Georgia; Adam C. Carson, of Virginia; Warren H. Ickis, of Iowa, and George P. Whitsett, of Missouri-were young men of legal education and considerable legal experience both in the United States and in the Volunteer Army in the Philippine Islands, where they served as judge-advocates and provost judges, and were highly recommended for appointment by all the military officers under whom they acted.

Six Filipinos were appointed judges of courts of first instance: Isidoro Paredes, Manuel Araullo, Felix M. Roxas, Ignacio Villamor, Stanislaus Jusay and Juan de Leon. The Filipino judges selected were men of reputation, learning and distinction, and are rapidly acquiring a knowledge of the English language. It is likewise true that the American judges nearly all either speak or are rapidly acquiring the Spanish language. Gregorio Arenata, one of the ablest lawyers in the islands, formerly a member of the insular supreme court under military régime, was appointed solicitor-general, and Antonio Constantino, formerly an assistant in the office of the attorney-general, was appointed assistant attorney-general. All the officials above. named are now engaged in the regular performance of their duties and are apparently inaugurating a successful administration of justice. All these appointments were necessarily made in official form, subse

quent to the passage of act No. 136, organizing the judiciary system, although several of the judges brought from the United States had arrived in the islands before that date.

About the time act No. 136 was passed, and after the arrivial of several of the new judges from the United States, much feeling was displayed among the Filipinos at the importation of American judges and the supposed necessary removal of the Filipino judges who were then in office. Some extravagant things were said, both orally and in the native and Spanish local press, in regard to the supposed degradation to which the Filipinos were to be subjected by having only American judges. There was likewise considerable feeling among army circles that lawyers of good repute of the Volunteer Army in the Division of the Philippines who had served their country faithfully were entitled to appointment; but the appointments when finally made and promulgated most effectually quieted all dissatisfaction. It was seen that while the highest degree of efficiency had been aimed at, it had been possible at the same time to secure an adequate representation of Americans who had served in the army of the United States in the Philippine Islands, native Filipinos and distinguished lawyers from the United States. All the justices of the peace in the Islands are Filipinos. The ill feeling subsided and the reorganization of the judicial system now apparently meets the approval of all except those who were thereby deprived of official positions.

THE NEW CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE.

On the 7th day of August, 1901, act No. 190, entitled "An act providing a code of procedure in civil actions and special proceedings in the Philippine Islands," was enacted to take effect on the 1st day of September, 1901, which date was subsequently extended to the 1st day of October. This act, as before stated, was enacted after very full public discussion, in which the College of Advocates, embracing substantially all the Spanish and Filipino lawyers in the islands, took an active part through a committee appointed by that body for that purpose. Members of the American Bar Association likewise made useful suggestions. The public discussion resulted in important amendments, which materially promote the usefulness of the code.

Section 12 of the code, relating to the official language, was the occasion of much earnest discussion by the public. The American lawyers were urgent that English should be made the official language of the courts immediately, while the Filipino and Spanish lawyers urged that Spanish should be the official language, either permanently or for a period of ten years. It was finally determined that Spanish should be the official language of all the courts until the 1st day of January, 1906, and after that date that English should be the official language, but that the supreme court or court of first instance might,