tioned in paragraphs numbered one, two, three, and four of section one of this Act shall be thereby abolished, so that all the present municipal officials shall cease to hold office as soon as the new officials shall have taken the oath of office. Until the officials elected for the new municipalities, as described in said paragraphs numbered one, two, three, and four of section one of this Act, shall have qualified, the present organization of the existing municipalities shall continue. SEC. 3. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1558.] AN ACT To increase the number of municipalities in the Province of Samar from twenty-five, as established by Act Numbered Nine hundred and sixty, to thirty-two. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. The twenty-five municipalities of the Province of Samar as established by Act Numbered Nine hundred and sixty, as amended, are hereby increased to thirty-two by separating the former municipality of Tarangnan and its barrios from the municipalities of Catbalogan and Gandara, the former municipality of San Antonio from the municipality of Allen, the former municipality of Bobon from the municipality of Catarman, the former municipalities of Paric, Sulat, and San Julian from the municipality of Taft, and the former municipality of Santa Rita from the municipalities of Basey and Villareal, reconstituting Tarangnan, San Antonio, Bobon, Paric, Sulat, San Julian, and Santa Rita as municipalities, each consisting of the territory of which it was constituted prior to the passage of Act Numbered Nine hundred and sixty, and providing that the municipalities of Catbalogan, Gandara, Allen, Catarman, Taft, Basey, and Villareal shall each consist of its present territory minus the territory of the municipality separated from it by this Act. The municipality of Paric hereafter shall be known as the municipality of Dolores. SEC. 2. The municipal elections for the reconstituted municipalities of Tarangnan, San Antonio, Bobon, Dolores, Sulat, San Julian, and Santa Rita shall be held at the time of the next regular municipal elections in the Province of Samar in accordance with the rules contained in Act Numbered Seven hundred and thirty, as amended by Act Numbered Nine hundred and twenty-eight, but the officers thus elected shall not take office nor shall the said reconstituted municipalities come into existence until the first Monday in January following said elections. The changes herein provided for shall in no way interfere with the number of officers to be elected or with the holding in the regular manner of the municipal elections in the municipalities of Catbalogan, Gandara, Allen, Catarman, Taft, Basey, and Villareal, unless through the operation of this Act the class of any such municipality, as fixed under section four of the Municipal Code, is raised or lowered, in which case the number of councilors elected shall be as prescribed in Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and thirtythree. SEC. 3. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1559.] AN ACT Amending Act Numbered Fifteen hundred and thirty-three, entitled "An Act providing for the diminution of sentences imposed upon prisoners convicted of any offense and sentenced for a definite term of more than thirty days and less than life in consideration of good conduct and diligence," by prescribing that the applications of diminution of sentences allowed thereunder shall be made on the basis of legal months of thirty days. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. For the purpose of computing, under Act Numbered Fifteen hundred and thirty-three, the diminution of sentences imposed on certain prisoners, and for no other purpose, the word "month" whenever used in said Act shall be construed to mean a legal month of thirty days, and Act Numbered Fifteen hundred and thirty-three is hereby amended accordingly. SEC. 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 3. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1560.] AN ACT Canceling one-half the amounts loaned to the Province of Cebu by Acts Numbered Thirteen hundred and forty-three and Thirteen hundred and eighty. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Of the amounts loaned to the Province of Cebu by Acts Numbered Thirteen hundred and forty-three and Thirteen hundred and eighty, one-half is hereby declared canceled on condition that the provincial government and each municipal government that received funds from said loans shall expend from their general funds for the support of schools an amount equal to one-half the amount received by them from said loans. SEC. 2. The appropriation of funds by the provincial board and municipal councils for the purposes of section one of this Act shall be subject to approval by the Governor-General in the case of provincial funds and by the provincial board in the case of municipal funds. SEC. 3. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1561.] AN ACT Authorizing the Governor-General to parole prisoners and providing for the enforcement of the conditions of such paroles. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. The Governor-General may, whenever he thinks best, authorize and direct the discharge from custody of any person convicted of crime under the laws of the Philippine Islands and suspend the sentence of such convict without granting a pardon, and prescribe the terms upon which a convict so paroled shall have his sentence suspended. SEC. 2. Upon the failure of any convict to observe the conditions of his parole, to be determined by the Governor-General, the GovernorGeneral shall have authority to direct the arrest and return of such convict to custody, and thereupon said convict shall be required to carry out the sentence of the court as though no parole had been granted him, the time between the parole and subsequent arrest not being taken as a part of the term of his sentence in computing the preriod of his confinement. SEC. 3. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1562.] AN ACT To prevent the failure of military justice, to authorize the swearing of witnesses before a military investigation, and to punish perjuries therein committed. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Any officer or clerk of any of the Departments lawfully detailed to investigate frauds on, or attempts to defraud, the Government, or any irregularity or misconduct of any officer or agent of the United States, and any officer of the Army detailed to conduct any investigation, and the recorder, and, if there be none, the presiding officer of any military board appointed for such purpose, shall have authority to administer an oath to any witness attending to testify or depose in the course of such investigation. SEC. 2. Any witness so testifying, who shall willfully, corruptly, and falsely testify as to any material fact relative to such investigation shall be guilty of perjury, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished with a penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum degree to presidio correccional in its medium degree and a fine of from six hundred and twenty-five pesetas to six thousand two hundred and fifty pesetas. SEC. 3. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1563.] AN ACT To amend act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-four, entitled "An Act creating the entry port of Sitanki, amending Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and sixteen, and for other purposes," by increasing the compensation of the deputy collector of customs and authorizing the employment of two boatmen at Sitanki. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. The last line of section four of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-four, entitled "An Act creating the entry port of Sitanki, amending Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and sixteen, and for other purposes," is hereby amended to read as follows: "Deputy collector of customs, class seven; one clerk, Class I; two boatmen, at twelve pesos per month each." SEC. 2. Payment of the salaries above authorized shall be made from the appropriation for the Bureau of Customs under Act Numbered Fifteen hundred and twenty-seven. SEC. 3. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1564.] AN ACT Refixing the weight and fineness of the silver coins of the Philippine Islands for the purpose of preventing the melting and exportation thereof as a result of an appreciation in the price of silver, providing for the recoinage of existing silver coins of the Philippine Islands at the refixed weight and fineness, to have the same value in gold as those of the corresponding denominations authorized by the Act of Congress approved March second, nineteen hundred and three, and prescribing a method for expediting the ready circulation of the new coins. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Pursuant to the authority given in the Act of Congress approved June twenty-third, nineteen hundred and six, entitled "An Act to amend an Act approved March second, nineteen hundred and three, entitled 'An Act to establish a standard of value and to provide for a coinage system in the Philippine Islands," and with the approval of the President of the United States, it is hereby enacted that for the purpose of preventing the melting and exportation of the silver coins of the Philippine Islands as a result of the high price of silver, the weight and fineness of the silver coins of the Philippine Islands hereafter coined shall be as follows: The peso shall contain twenty grams of silver eight hundred thousandths fine; The fifty-centavo piece shall contain ten grams of silver seven hundred and fifty thousandths fine; The twenty-centavo piece shall contain four grams of silver seven hundred and fifty thousandths fine; The ten-centavo piece shall contain two grams of silver seven hundred and fifty thousandths fine. The alloy of the above-mentioned coins shall be copper. SEC. 2. From time to time, in the discretion of the Philippine Commission, the existing silver coins of the Philippine Islands shall be recoined at the weight and fineness established by this Act when such coins are received into the Treasury or into the gold-standard fund of the Philippine Islands, and all such coins shall have the same value in gold as those of the corresponding denominations authorized by the Act of Congress approved March second, nineteen hundred and three, hereinbefore cited, and all the provisions of existing law applying to the silver coins authorized by said Act of Congress approved March second, nineteen hundred and three, shall apply to the coins authorized by this Act, except as herein otherwise provided. SEC. 3. The recoinage shall be effected at one or more of the United States mints, and all expenses connected therewith shall be chargeable against the gold-standard fund. SEC. 4. For the purpose of expediting the ready circulation of the aforementioned coins, the Insular Treasurer shall prepare a circular which shall be translated into the various languages and dialects of the Philippine Islands and distributed throughout the Islands. Said circular shall explain the reason for the recoinage and shall inform the public that the new coins will be received in payment of all taxes and Government dues, and will be legal tender for private debts as the equivalent of the old coins; that they will be receivable in Manila |