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sociation shall be organized in a city the population of which exceeds 50,000, with a capital of less than $200,000. Section 11 authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to receive any of the outstanding 5 per cent and 3 per cent bonds of the United States, and also any of the 4 per cents payable July 1, 1907, and to issue in exchange therefor 2 per cent gold bonds at not less than par, payable at the pleasure of the United States thirty years after date. The section also fixes the rate of exchange and provides that the premiums paid shall be held to be payments on account of the sinking fund created by law. Section 12 provides that National banking associations shall hereafter be entitled to receive circulating notes equal to the par value of the bonds deposited by them to secure such circulation; that not more than one-third of the circulating notes. of any bank shall be of the denomination of $5; that the total amount of notes issued to any banking association shall not exceed the amount of its capital stock actually paid in; that any association may substitute the 2 per cent bonds authorized by this act for any other bonds deposited by it to secure its circulating notes or deposits of public money, and repeals the provision of the act of July 12, 1882, which prohibits any National bank which makes any deposit of lawful money in order to reduce its circulation from receiving any increase of its circulation for the period of six months after such deposit. Section 13 provides that the tax on all National bank circulation secured by deposits of 2 per cent bonds issued under this act shall be onefourth of one per centum each half year upon the average amount of its notes in circulation. Section 14 provides: "That the provisions of this act are not intended to preclude the accomplishment of international bimetallism whenever conditions shall make it expedient and practicable to secure the same by concurrent action of the leading commercial nations of the world and at a ratio which shall insure permanence of relative value between gold and silver."

"An act making further provision for a civil government for Alaska, and for other purposes," was approved June 6, 1900. It comprises thirty-one chapters and four hundred and one sections. Section 1 constitutes Alaska a The Alaskan Act. civil and judicial district. Section 2 provides for the appointment of a Governor of the district, who shall be charged with the interests of the United States within the district; shall have authority to see that the laws enacted by Congress therefor are enforced, and to require of officials the faithful performance of their duties, and shall perform generally such duties and exercise such authority as pertains to the Governor of a Territory. Section 3 provides that the Surveyor-General shall be ex officio secretary of the district. Section 4 establishes a district court of general jurisdiction, civil, criminal, equitable and admiralty causes. This court is to be divided into three divisions, each presided over by a district judge. Three marshals and three district attorneys are to be appointed. The Surveyor-General, the district judges and the marshals and district attorneys are to be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The first thirty-three sections are devoted to the provisions for civil government and administration, and the remainder to the civil code for the district, a criminal code therefor having been provided by the LVth Congress. An act approved June 6, 1900, extended over the District of Alaska so much of the public land laws of the United States as relate to coal lands.

The act to provide a government for the Territory of Hawaii was approved April 30, 1900. It established a territorial government over what was known at the date of the passage of the joint resolution of annexation by ConThe Hawaiian Act. gress as the Republic of Hawaii. By Section 4 all persons who were citizens of the republic were declared citizens of the United States and of the Territory. All citizens of the United States resident in Hawaii who were resident there on or since August 12, 1898, and all citizens of the United States who shall hereafter reside there one year shall be citizens of the Territory of Hawaii. The Constitution, and except as herein otherwise provided, all the laws of the United States not locally inapplicable shall be in force in the new Territory: "Provided, that Sections 1,850 and 1,890 of the Revised Statutes shall not apply to the Territory of Hawaii." Section 1,850 is one which provides that laws enacted by the Governor and Legislature of a Territory shall be submitted to Congress and if disapproved shall be null and of no effect. Section 1,890 is one which provides that no corporation or association for religious or charitable purposes shall acquire or hold real estate in any Territory during the existence of the territorial government in excess of the value of $50,000. Section 6 provides that the laws of Hawaii not inconsistent with the Constitution or laws of the United States or the provisions of this act shall continue in force subject to repeal by the Territorial Legislature or by Congress. legislative power of the Territory is vested in a Senate and a House of Representatives, the former to consist of fifteen members and the latter of thirty members. Senator must be a male citizen of the United States; have attained the age of thirty years, and have resided in Hawaii not less than three years and be qualified to vote for Senators in the district in which he resides. A Representative must have attained the age of twenty-five years; must be a male citizen of the United States; must have resided in Hawaii not less than three years, and be qualified to vote for Representatives in the district in which he is elected. All legislative proceedings shall be in the English language. Forms of legislative procedure are prescribed similar to those observed in other territorial Legislatures of the United States, and legislative powers are defined. In order to be qualified to vote a person must be a male citizen of the United States; must have resided in the Territory not less than one year and in the legislative district not less than three months immediately preceding the time he offers to register; must have attained the age of twenty-one years; must have caused his name to be entered on the voters' registration list within the time prescribed by law,

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and must be able to speak, read and write the English or Hawaiian language. Governor shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. He shall be not less than thirty-five years of age; shall be a citizen of the Territory; shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, and shall perform such duties and exercise such authority as do the Governors of other Territories of the United States. The other executive officers provided are a Secretary (who shall act as Governor in case of the death, removal, resignation, disability or absence from the Territory of the Governor), an Attorney-General, a Treasurer, a Commissioner of Public Lands, a Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, a Superintendent of Public Works, a Superintendent of Public Instruction, an Auditor and Deputy Auditor, Surveyor and a High Sheriff. Besides the Governor the officers to be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, are the Secretary of the Territory, the Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court and the Judges of the Circuit courts. All the other executive officers are to be appointed by the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of Hawaii. A Delegate to the United States House of Representatives shall be elected who shall possess the qualifications required of a Senator of Hawaii. A United States District Court for Hawaii is created, to consist of one Judge. The Territory of Hawaii shall constitute an Internal Revenue District of the United States and also a Customs District, with ports of entry at Honolulu, Hilo, Mahukona and Kahului. The salaries of the Governor ($5,000), the Secretary ($3,000), the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ($5,500), the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court ($5,000 each), and the Circuit Court Judges ($3,000 each) shall be paid by the United States. The salary of the United States District Judge shall be $5,000; that of the United States Marshal $2,500, and that of the United States District Attorney $3,000. By Section 93 the customs laws of the United States are extended over Hawaii. The United States Commissioner of Labor is required to investigate and report to Congress on industrial and labor conditions in the Territory. The United States Commisisoner of Fish and Fisheries is authorized and required to examine into the subject of fisheries and the laws relating to fishing rights in Hawaii and report to the President, and all laws of the Republic of Hawaii which confer exclusive fishing rights upon any person or persons are repealed and the fisheries are made free to all citizens of the United States, subject, however, to vested rights. The Supervising Surgeon-General of the Marine Hospital Service shall establish quarantine stations at such places as may be required in the Territory. All vessels carrying Hawaiian registers on August 12, 1898, and which were owned by bona fide citizens of the United States or the citizens of Hawaii shall be entitled to be registered as American vessels, and also to all the privileges of vessels engaged in the coastwise commerce of the United States. The crown lands are declared to be the property of the Hawaiian government free and clear from any trust and from any claim whatever, and subject to alienation and other uses as may be provided by law. For the purposes of naturalization under the laws of the United States "residence in the Hawaiian Islands prior to the taking effect of this act shall be deemed equivalent to residence in the United States and in the Territory of Hawaii, and the requirement of a previous declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States and to renounce former allegiance shall not apply to persons who have resided in said islands at least five years prior to the taking effect of this act; but all other provisions of the laws of the United States relating to naturalization shall, so far as applicable, apply to persons in the said islands." Section 101 provides that Chinese in the Hawaiian Islands when the act took effect (June 14) may within one year thereafter obtain certificates of residence as required by the act of May 5, 1892, as amended by an act approved November 3, 1893, and until the expiration of said year shall not be deemed to be unlawfully in the United States if found therein without such certificates. But no Chinese laborer, whether he hold such certificate or not, shall be allowed to enter any other part of the United States from the Hawaiian Islands. Section 102 repeals the laws of Hawaii relating to the postal savings bank and provides for the winding up of its affairs in the manner prescribed in the joint resolution of annexation, which required the payments of depositors to be made out of the Treasury of the United States. "An act temporarily to provide revenues and a civil government for Porto Rico" was approved April 12, 1900. The first section defines Porto Rico geographically and The Porto Rican Act.

the next four relate to raising revenue for the support of the new government. Section 2 provides that the same duties shall be imposed on articles imported into Porto Rico, with a few exceptions, from countries other than the United States, as are imposed on like articles imported from those countries into the United States. The exceptions are: Coffee, on which a duty of 5 cents a pound is levied; Spanish scientific, literary and artistic objects, which are to be admitted free of duty for ten years from April 11, 1899. This section also admits free of duty books and pamphlets from the United States. By Section 3 duties amounting to 15 per cent of the rates of duty under the United States tariff are imposed on articles coming into the United States from Porto Rico or into Porto Rico from the United States. Articles subject to internal taxation are to pay the same in addition to the customs duties. In addition to the articles on the free list of the United States tariff all articles which were admitted into Porto Rico free of duty by Executive order are to be hereafter so admitted when brought from the United States. The section also provides that the foregoing provisions shall cease to be in force as between the United States and Porto Rico on March 1, 1902, and sooner if the Porto Rican Legislature shall have enacted and put into operation an adequate system of local taxation. Section 4 provides that all the revenues collected under the foregoing provisions, whether in the United States or in Porto Rico, shall be used and applied for the benefit of the

All

latter. Section 5 provides that the foregoing provisions shall apply on the day after the act goes into effect. The remaining thirty-six sections of the act relate to the civil government, the first eleven of them being general provisions. All the inhabitants residing in the island who were Spanish subjects on April 11, 1899, and their children born subsequent thereto, shall be deemed and held to be citizens of Porto Rico and as such entitled to the protection of the United States, except such as shall have elected before April 11, 1900, to remain subjects of Spain. The laws and ordinances of Porto Rico now in force shall so continue, except as otherwise provided in Section 8. vessels owned by Porto Ricans shall be nationalized and shall be admitted to all the rights and privileges of vessels of the United States under the navigation laws. Quarantine stations shall be established and maintained under the Superintendent of the Marine Hospital Service, and the quarantine laws and regulations shall be enforced. Section 11 provides for the retirement of the Porto Rican coins and the substitution therefor of coins of the United States. Section 12 provides that all expenses of the government of Porto Rico, except for public defences, barracks, harbors, lighthouses, buoys and other works undertaken by the United States, shall be paid out of the reve nues of the island. Section 13 provides that all public property and rights in Porto Rico ceded by Spain to the United States, not including harbor areas or navigable waters, shall be placed under the insular government and administered by it for the benefit of Porto Rico. Section 14 provides that the statutory laws of the United States not locally inapplicable except as herein before and hereinafter otherwise provided, and also except the internal revenue laws, shall have the same force and effect in Porto Rico as in the United States. Section 15 provides that the Legislative Assembly may amend, alter or repeal any law or ordinance continued in force by the act. Section 16 provides that all judicial process shall run in the name of "United States of America, ss.: the President of the United States," that all criminal prosecutions in the local courts shall be in the name of "The People of Porto Rico," and that all officials authorized by the act shall take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Porto Rico. The Governor shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and his term of office, duties and powers shall be the same as those of the Governors of Territories of the United States. The Executive Council shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. It shall consist of eleven members, at least five of whom must be native inhabitants of Porto Rico. Of the eleven one shall be the Secretary of Porto Rico, one the Attorney-General, one the Treasurer, one the Auditor, one the Commissioner of the Interior ,and one the Commissioner of Education, the duties of each being indicated by the title of his office. The Secretary shall act as Governor in case of the death, removal, resignation, disability or temporary absence of the incumbent of that office. All local legislative powers are vested in a Legislative Assembly consisting of two branches, one the Executive Council and the other a House of Delegates to consist of thirty-five members elected biennially. All citizens of Porto Rico shall be allowed to vote who have been bona fide residents for one year and who possess the other required qualifications. The system of legislative procedure is to be similar to that of Congress. All laws must be reported to Congress, which reserves the power and authority, if deemed advisable, to annul the same. The legislative authority shall extend to all legislative matters, including power to create, consolidate and reorganize the municipalities; to provide and repeal laws and ordinances therefor, and also the power to alter, amend, modify and repeal any and all laws and ordinances in force in Porto Rico, or any municipality or district thereof not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. But "all grants of franchises, rights and privileges or concessions of a public or quasi-public nature shall be made by the Executive Council, with the approval of the Governor, and all franchises granted in Porto Rico shall be reported to Congress, which hereby reserves the power to annul or modify the same." Section 33 provides that the judicial power shall be continued in the courts already established, except in the case of the Provisional Court established by military orders, the successor of which is the United States District Court for Porto Rico provided for by Section 34 of the act. The Chief Justice, Associate Justices and Marshal of the Supreme Court of Porto Rico shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and the judges of the district courts shall be appointed by the Governor by and with the consent of the Executive Council. The United States District Court shall have, in addition to the ordinary jurisdiction of district courts of the United States, "jurisdiction of all cases cognizant in the Circuit Courts of the United States, and shall proceed therein in the same manner as a Circuit Court. The laws of the United States relating to appeals, writs of error and certiorari, removal of causes, and other matters and proceedings as between the courts of the United States and the courts of the several States shall govern in such matters and proceedings as between the District Court of the United States and the courts of Porto Rico." Section 35 provides that writs of error and appeals from the final decisions of the Supreme Court of Porto Rico and the District Court of the United States shall be allowed and may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States in the same manner as from the Supreme Courts of the Territories of the United States, and shall be allowed in all cases where the Constitution of the United States, a treaty or an act of Congress is brought in question. The Supreme and District courts may grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the same are grantable by. the District and Circuit courts of the United States. Section 38 provides that no export duties shall be levied or collected on exports from Porto Rico, but taxes and assessments on property and license fees for franchises, privileges and concessions may be imposed; and where necessary to anticipate revenues and taxes, bonds and other obligations may be issued to meet expenditures authorized by law, to protect the

public credit and to reimburse the United States for money expended out of the emergency fund of the War Department for the relief of the industrial conditions produced by the hurricane of August 8, 1899. But no public indebtedness of Porto Rico or of any municipality thereof shall be authorized or allowed in excess of 7 per centum of the aggregate tax valuation of its property. Section 39 provides for the election, biennially, of a Resident Commissioner to the United States. No person shall be eligible who is not a bona fide citizen of Porto Rico, who is not thirty years of age and who does not read and write the English language. Section 40 provides for a commisison to consist of three members, one of whom shall be a native citizen of Porto Rico, to be appointed by the President, to compile and revise the laws of Porto Rico and report a plan for a permanent form of civil government. Section 41 provides that the act shall take effect and be in force on and after May 1, 1900.

By a joint resolution approved May 1, 1900, the act of April 12, to provide a government for Porto Rico, was amended. Provision was made for the administration of

Porto Rican Franchises.

civil affairs pending the appointment and qualification of the civil officers. Section 2 of the joint resolution provided that no railroad, street railway, telegraph or telephone franchise, privilege or concession granted in accordance with the act of April 12 should become operative until after its approval by the President. Section 3 limited the powers and functions of corporations organized or to be organized under said act, and also made the amendment apply, as far as practicable, to corporations not organized in Porto Rico, but doing business therein.

Porto Rican

Revenues.

An act approved March 24, 1900, provided: "That the sum of $2,095,455 88, being the amount of customs revenue received on importations by the United States from Porto Rico since the evacuation of Porto Rico by the Spanish forces on October 18, 1898, to January 1, 1900, together with any further customs revenue collected on importations from Porto Rico since January 1, 1900, or that shall hereafter be collected under existing law, shall be placed at the disposal of the President, to be used for the government now existing and which may hereafter be established in Porto Rico, and for the aid and relief of the people thereof, and for public education, public works, and other governmental and public purposes therein until otherwise provided by law."

An act approved February 10, 1900, provided that vessels owned by citizens of Cuba should thereafter be entitled in ports of the United States to the rights and privileges of vessels of the most favored nation. The act Cuban Vessels. also provided for the refund of any excess of tonnage taxes and light dues that had been exacted from such vessels

entering the ports of the United States since April 11, 1899.

An act approved June 6, 1900, authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to designate one or more banks or bankers in the Philippine Islands and in the islands of Cuba and

Public Moneys in the Islands.

An act approved June United States by adding

Amendment of Extradition Laws.

Porto Rico in which public moneys may be deposited, said depositories to give satisfactory security by depositing in the United States Treasury to an amount not less than the aggregate sum at any time deposited with them.

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6, 1900, amends Section 5,270 of the Revised Statutes of the thereto a proviso that whenever any foreign country or territory, or any part thereof, is occupied by or under the control of the United States, any person who shall violate or has violated the criminal laws in force therein "and who shall depart or flee, or who has departed or fled, from justice therein to the United States, any Territory thereof or to the District of Columbia, shall, when found therein, be liable to arrest and detention by the authorities of the United States, and on the written request or requisition of the military governor or other chief executive officer in control of such foreign country or territory shall be returned and surrendered as hereinafter provided to such authorities for trial under the laws in force in the place where such offence was committed. All the provisions of Sections 5270 to 5277 of this title, so far as applicable, shall govern proceedings authorized by this proviso: Provided further, That such proceedings shall be had before a judge of the courts of the United States only, who shall hold such person on evidence establishing probable cause that he is guilty of the offence charged: And provided further, That no return or surrender shall be made of any person charged with the commission of any offence of a political nature. If so held such person shall be returned and surrendered to the authorities in control of such foreign country or territory on the order of the Secretary of State of the United States, and such authorities shall secure to such a person a fair and impartial trial."

By an act approved June 6, 1900, Section of the act of March 3, 1891, "to establish Circuit Courts of Appeals and to define and regulate in certain cases the jurisdic

Appeals.

tion of the courts of the United States" so as to provide that where, upon a hearing in equity in a District or Circuit Court, or by a judge thereof in vacation, an injunction shall be granted or continued, or a receiver appointed, by an interlocutory order or decree, in a cause in which an appeal from a final decree may be taken to the Circuit Court of Appeals, an appeal may be taken from such interlocutory order or decree to

the Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal must be taken within thirty days, and it shall take precedence in the Appellate Court; and the proceedings in other respects in the court below shall not be stayed, unless otherwise ordered by that court, or by the Appellate Court or a judge thereof, during the pendency of such appeal. The court below may, in its discretion, require an additional bond as a condition of the appeal. An act approved May 12, 1900, divides the State of New-York into four judicial districts, which shall be called the Western, Northern, Eastern and Southern Districts.

New-York Judicial

Districts.

The Western District includes the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, with the waters thereof. The Northern District includes the counties of Albany, Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Clinton, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Tioga, Tompkins, Warren and Washington, with the waters thereof. The Eastern District includes the counties of Richmond, Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk, with the waters thereof. The Southern District includes the residue of said State, with the waters thereof.

An act to amend Sections 2 and 3 of the act of June 27, 1890, known as the "Dependent Pension Act," was approved May 9, 1900. The important amendment to Sec

Amended Pension

Law.

tion 2 provides that in rating the pension "each and every infirmity" of the pensioner shall be duly considered, and that the aggregate of the disabilities shown shall determine the amount of the pension within the limits prescribed by law. Section 3, as amended, provides that a soldier's widow shall be entitled to a pension unless she has a yearly net income in excess of $250 in addition to the proceeds of her daily labor.

An act approved May 17, 1900, provides that settlers under the homestead laws upon agricultural lands acquired from various Indian tribes, who have resided or shall

Free Homestead

Law.

hereafter reside upon the tracts entered, for the period required by existing law, shall be entitled to patents for the same upon payment of the usual and customary land office fees. The right to commute any such entry shall remain in full force and effect. The Government is to indemnify the Indian tribes; and if the proceeds of the annual sales of public lands shall not be sufficient to meet the payments provided by law for the support of agricultural colleges and experiment stations such deficiency shall be paid by the United States.

By an act approved Twelfth Census.

February 1, 1900, to amend an act relating to the Twelfth and subsequent censuses, the Director of the Census is directed "to collect statistics relating to all of the deaf, dumb and blind," and also "information concerning the number and

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kinds of live stock not on farms.' Section 1 of an act approved May 25, 1900, enlarges the duties and powers of the Department of Agriculture so as to include "the preservation, distribution, introduction and restoration of game birds and other wild birds. Section Game and Other 2 prohibits the importation of any foreign wild animal or Wild Birds. bird except under special permit, except natural history specimens and cage birds, such as domesticated cage birds. The importation of mongoose, fruit bats ("flying foxes'), English sparrow and starling is absolutely prohibited. Section 3 prohibits interstate commerce in any animals or birds killed in violation of the law of the place where killed. Section 4 is a penal section. Section 5 provides that dead foreign animals or birds transported to or remaining in any State or Territory shall be subject to the laws enacted in the exercise of its police powers.

A joint resolution approved March 8, 1900, authorized and directed the Secretary of the Interior, at the earliest practicable date, to open negotiations for, and if possible procure, a bond upon the lands in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, California, occupied by what are known as the "Mammoth Tree Grove and South Park Grove of Big Trees," with sufficient adjacent lands for their preservation, management and control and submit the same to Congress for action.

California Big

Trees.

SOME SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS.

The Urgent Deficiency Appropriation act approved February 9, 1900, contained these special provisions: Observation of total eclipse of sun, May 28, 1900, $9,000.

Paris Exposition-For six additional commissioners, $18,000; for buildings, special exhibits and contingencies, $169,500.

The Agricultural Appropriation act approved May 25, 1900, contained these special provisions: To investigate adulterations of foods, drugs and liquors and stop delivery to consignees of imported articles found to be dangerous to health. To investigate the character of the chemical and physical tests applied to American food products in foreign countries. To continue irrigation investigations, for which purpose the sum of $50,000 is provided.

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