As appears above, this year as in previous years, the charge that numbered the most officials is that of neglect of duty, there being 78 counts, of which 29 were substantiated. The next in order is for violation of law, executive orders, and municipal ordinances, which numbered 67, 39 of which were substantiated. Next comes the charge for abuse of official position, there being 66 counts of this nature, of which 35 were found to be well founded. The charge for slander, disrespect, and use of bad language numbered 29, of which 12 were proven. The charges for ignorance and incapacity were 15, all of which except 2 were substantiated. Of the charges for bad habits 14 and immorality 9 were established. There were 12 charges for forgery and falsification, of which 4 were established. Of the 6 charges for bribery and kindred crimes 4 were substantiated. The number of charges for false arrest was 5, 3 of which were proven. The 3 charges for perjury and extortion as well as the 1 for robbery were all substantiated.

MUNICIPAL POLICE MATTERS.

Under section 18 of Act No. 2169, enacted on February 6, 1912, any member of the municipal police force dissatisfied with the decision of the provincial governor in the administrative case against him has the right to appeal therefrom to the governor general. To give the Provinces more autonomy this law was amended by Act No. 2561, enacted on February 2, 1916, and reproduced in section 2220 of the Administrative Code, by giving the right to appeal to the governor general only to the chiefs of police. Notwithstanding this change a good number of appeals were received during the year. In addition to such appeals various police matters generally relating to questions of legality, advisability, or propriety of appointments were handled by this office.

PROVINCIAL TREASURY SERVICE.

In order that the standard of the treasury service may be maintained and, if possible, improved, instructions were issued to provincial treasurers to exercise the greatest care in selecting their chief clerks so as to conform more or less to the requirements set forth in a circular of this bureau regarding the educational qualifications and office training of the persons who should be considered for appointment to these positions. A strict merit system has also been put in force regarding the appointment and promotion of chief clerks with the same end in view. Provincial treasurers have enthusiastically supported the policy of the bureau and have invariably in cases of vacancy left it to the executive secretary to recommend the persons to fill existing vacancies. The position of chief clerk is the stepping stone to a treasurership, and it is thus very important that only the best available are appointed to this position and the best of those in the service are promoted. In time appointments to treasurerships will be made from among the chief clerks of the first-class Provinces, as these, according to the merit system mentioned, will have reached there after having rendered service in Provinces of lower class. They will thus be the chief clerks senior in point of service and of tested ability.

SUPERVISION OVER PROVINCIAL TREASURERS.

Heretofore there has been some question as to whether the collector of internal revenue should not have the same power over provincial treasurers as the executive secretary, in so far as the collection of internal revenue in the Provinces and municipalities is concerned. It is true that the provincial treasurers are deputies of the collector of internal revenue under the law, but as provincial officials they are subject to the control of the executive secretary. Until, therefore, the powers of the two offices could be clearly defined administratively, the situation was somewhat anomalous. This also gave rise to misunderstanding between the office of the collector of internal revenue and the provincial treasurers, and to a certain extent with this office as well, and, consequently, that harmony so much needed in the operation of the government machinery was noticeably lacking and the collection work had to suffer delays which at times brought no little inconvenience to the taxpayers. To end this unsatisfactory condition, therefore, a circular was issued by the executive secretary on August 8, 1916, providing that "So much of the functions of the provincial treasurers as pertain to the collection of internal revenue, in accordance with the internal revenue law, devolve upon them as deputies of the collector of internal revenue and as such deputies they are subject to such orders and regulations as the collector of internal revenue may see fit to prescribe," and that "the provincial treasurers, their deputies, and employees are primarily provincial and municipal officials and employees and are, therefore, under the general administrative supervision of the executive secretary (see sec. 602 of the Administrative Code); hence all administrative matters not affected by the internal revenue laws and all questions affecting organization and discipline are under the control of the executive secretary." The issuance of this circular has, it is believed, served to remove whatever differences might have existed before and was accepted in whole by the bureau of internal revenue. No further conflicts of authority are anticipated and, consequently, the work of collection in the Provinces and municipalities are expected to proceed with greater harmony and promptness and produce generally satisfactory results.

PROVINCIAL PERSONNEL.

Section 2006 of the Administrative Code provides that "Subject to regulation by the executive secretary, the provincial board shall fix the number of assistants, deputies, clerks, and other employees for the various branches of the provincial government and the rates of salary or wage they shall receive." After a position has been authorized in what is termed locally the plantilla of personnel, which is to the Provinces what the appropriation act is to the insular government, in so far as salaries and wages are concerned, the chief of the office concerned makes the appointment, subject to the civil-service act and rules. By virtue of this section of the Administrative Code, the executive bureau has been able after years of experience to reduce the personnel of the provincial offices to what is absolutely needed. The policy is to know the needs of the Provinces and equip them with the personnel that will be adequate, but not excessive, for the proper performance of the work they are called upon to do. In fixing the rates

of salaries the importance of the position and the special conditions prevailing in the locality, such as those affecting the cost of living. etc., are taken into consideration. The person occupying the position is never considered, except in the case of very small offices, consisting of one or two men, where employees have no opportunity to secure promotion unless they be transferred to other offices. In such cases the special qualifications and aptitude of the persons filling the positions are considered; but a provision is always inserted to the effect that the extraordinary rate of salary allowed is for the present incumbent only. The work of the bureau in this connection, it is believed, is beneficial to the Provinces, inasmuch as in this way the personnel has been brought to a standard strength and the Provinces of equal rank have been placed, so far as is humanly possible, on an equal basis.

PRIVATE SECRETARIES TO PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS.

Under section 2007 of the Administrative Code provincial governors may now have private secretaries who are not required to be subject to the civil-service law, and it is expected that the provisions of this section will be taken advantage of by all provincial governors. It is hoped that with the employment of private secretaries to attend to matters of confidential and semiofficial nature the provincial secretaries will be relieved of duties heretofore required of them, which throw them into close relationship with the political friends of the governors, and thus serve to give their positions political color. The wholesome result, therefore, which may be expected of the employment of private secretaries is removal of these employees from a political atmosphere. A provincial governor need no longer judge the desirability and fitness of a prospective appointee to a provincial secretaryship on other than the merits of the person concerned. Heretofore it was necessary, to a certain extent, that the secretary of the provincial board be a man in whom the governor could place explicit confidence, not only in the discharge of his official but personal duties as well. For this reason men of the same political leanings were always preferred.

CADASTRAL SURVEY.

The following table gives the municipalities whose cadastral survey was authorized in 1916, with a statement of the approximate cost to the municipality, the Province, and the insular government:

The total number of municipalities authorized surveyed was 22. It is estimated the approximate cost of this work would be P68,200 for the municipality, P68,200 for the Province, and P68,200 for the insular government. If the surveys are completed within this estimate, the cost to the property owners would be approximately P477,400. Although this amount is considerable, if we take into consideration the fact that the property owners' portion is payable in five equal installments coincidently with the real property tax, the cost per property owner becomes almost insignificant as compared with the permanent benefit derived from such a survey.

TITLES TO LAND.

During the year 420 titles to land acquired by Provinces and municipalites and by the city of Manila were approved, of which 15 were submitted by the city of Manila.

HOMESTEAD, SALE, TOWN SITE, AND FREE PATENTS.

During the year 4,150 homestead, sale, town site, and free patents were submitted to the Governor General for execution.

CONDEMNATION PROCEEDINGS.

Twenty-eight authorizations for the institution of condemnation proceedings to acquire land under the provisions of Act No. 2249 were granted during the period covered by this report.

24426-WAR 1917-VOL. 3- -50