shall be the gold peso consisting of twelve and nine-tenths grains of gold, nine-tenths fine, said gold peso to become the unit of value when the government of the Philippine Islands shall have coined and ready for, or in, circulation not less than five million of the silver pesos hereinafter provided for in this Act, and the gold coins of the United States at the rate of one dollar for two pesos hereinafter authorized to be coined shall be legal tender for all debts, public and private, in the Philippine Islands.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 1, 32 Stat. 952.

Silver peso.

Sec. 2. That in addition to the coinage authorized for use in the Philippine Islands by the Act of July first, nineteen hundred and two, entitled "An Act temporarily to provide for the administration of the affairs of civil government in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes," the government of the Philippine Islands is authorized to coin to an amount not exceeding seventy-five million pesos, for use in said islands, a silver coin of the denomination of one peso and of the weight of four hundred and sixteen grains, and the standard of said silver coins shall be such that of one thousand parts, by weight, nine hundred shall be of pure metal and one hundred of alloy, and the alloy shall be of copper.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 2, 32 Stat. 953.

Act July 1, 1902, c. 1369, mentioned in this section, is set forth above.

Legal tender.

Sec. 3. That the silver Philippine peso authorized by this Act shall be legal tender in the Philippine Islands for all debts, public and pri vate, unless otherwise specifically provided by contract: Provided, That debts contracted prior to the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and three, may be paid in the legal-tender currency of said islands existing at the time of the making of said contracts, unless otherwise expressly provided by contract.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 3, 32 Stat. 953.

Sec. 4. [Amends Act July 1, 1902, c. 1369, § 77.]

This section amends Act July 1, 1902, c. 1369, § 77, and is incorporated into that section as set forth above.

Purchase of silver bullion; recoinage of silver coins; legal tender. Sec. 5. That the Philippine peso herein authorized and the subsidiary silver coins authorized by section seventy-seven of the Act of July first, nineteen hundred and two, as amended by the preceding section of this Act, shall be coined under the authority of the government of the Philippine Islands in such amounts as it may determine, with the approval of the Secretary of War of the United States, except as limited in section two of this Act, from silver bullion purchased by said government, with the approval of the Secretary of War of the United States: Provided, That said government may, in its discretion, in lieu of the purchase of bullion, recoin any of the silver coins now in or hereafter received by the treasury of the government of the Philippine Islands into the coins provided for in this Act or in the Act of July first, nineteen hundred and two, as herein amended,

at such rate and under such regulations as it may prescribe; and the subsidiary silver coins authorized by this Act and by the Act of July first, nineteen hundred and two, shall be legal tender in said islands to the amount of ten dollars.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 5, 32 Stat. 953.

This section re-enacts, with additional provisions, the provisions of section 78 of Act July 1, 1902, c. 1369, which section is repealed by section 13 of this act, set forth below.

Application of previous provisions to coinage authorized by act; maintenance of parity between silver peso and gold peso; issue of temporary certificates of indebtedness, redemption thereof, and use of proceeds.

Sec. 6. That the coinage authorized by this Act shall be subject to the conditions and limitations of the provisions of the Act of July first, nineteen hundred and two, entitled "An Act temporarily to provide for the administration of the affairs of civil government in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes," except as herein otherwise provided; and the government of the Philippine Islands may adopt such measures as it may deem proper, not inconsistent with said Act of July first, nineteen hundred and two, to maintain the value of the silver Philippine peso at the rate of one gold peso, and in order to maintain such parity between said silver Philippine pesos and the gold pesos herein provided for, and for no other purpose, may issue temporary certificates of indebtedness, bearing interest at a rate not to exceed four per centum annually, payable at periods of three months or more, but not later than one year from the date of issue, which shall be in the denominations of twenty-five dollars, or fifty pesos, or some multiple of such sum, and shall be redeemable in gold coin of the United States, or in lawful money of said islands, according to the terms of issue prescribed by the government of said islands; but the amount of such certificates outstanding at any one time shall not exceed ten million dollars, or twenty million pesos, and said certificates shall be exempt from the payment of all taxes or duties of the government of the Philippine Islands, or any local authority therein, or of the Government of the United States, as well as from taxation in any form by or under any State, municipal, or local authority in the United States or the Philippine Islands; Provided, That all the proceeds of said certificates shall be used exclusively for the maintenance of said parity, as herein provided, and for no other purpose, except that a sum not exceeding three million dollars at any one time may be used as a continuing credit for the purchase of silver bullion in execution of the provisions of this Act.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 6, 32 Stat. 953.

Silver coins previously in use receivable for public dues for limited time; preference to silver pesos and silver certificates.

Sec. 7. That the Mexican silver dollar now in use in the Philippine Islands and the silver coins heretofore issued by the Spanish Government for use in said islands shall be receivable for public dues at a rate to be fixed from time to time by the proclamation of the civil governor of said lands until such date, not earlier than the first day of January, nineteen hundred and four, as may be fixed by public proc

lamation of said civil governor, when such coins shall cease to be so receivable: Provided, That the public offices of the government of said islands shall give a preference for all public dues to the silver pesos and the silver certificates authorized by this Act, and may at any time refuse to receive such Mexican dollars and Spanish coins as may appear to be counterfeit or defective.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 7, 32 Stat. 954.

Silver certificates to be issued on deposit of silver pesos and to be receivable for public dues; reissue; lawful reserve of banking associations.

Sec. 8. That the treasurer of the Philippine Islands is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to receive deposits of the standard silver coins of one peso authorized by this Act to be coined, at the treasury of the government of said islands or any of its branches, in sums of not less than twenty pesos, and to issue silver certificates therefor in denominations of not less than two nor more than ten pesos, and coin so deposited shall be retained in the treasury and held for the payment of such certificates on demand, and used for no other purpose. Such certificates shall be receivable for customs, taxes, and for all public dues in the Philippine Islands, and when so received may be reissued, and when held by any banking association in said islands may be counted as a part of its lawful reserve.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 8, 32 Stat. 954.

Purchase of metal.

Sec. 9. That for the purchase of metal for the silver Philippine peso authorized by this Act, an appropriation may be made by the government of the Philippine Islands from its current funds, or as hereinbefore authorized, which shall be reimbursed from the coinage under said sections.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 9, 32 Stat. 954.

Similar provisions for the purchase of metal for the subsidiary and minor coinage authorized by Act July 1, 1902, c. 1369, are contained in section 80 of that act, set forth above.

Place of coinage.

Sec. 10. That the silver Philippine pesos hereinbefore authorized may be coined at the mint of the government of the Philippine Islands at Manila, or arrangements may be made by the said government with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States for their coinage or any portion thereof at any of the mints of the United States, at a charge covering the reasonable cost of the work.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 10, 32 Stat. 954.

Similar provisions as to the place of coinage of the subsidiary and minor coins authorized by Act July 1, 1902, c. 1369, are contained in section 81 of that act, set forth above.

Devices and inscriptions.

Sec. 11. That the silver Philippine peso hereinbefore authorized shall bear devices and inscriptions to be prescribed by the government of the Philippine Islands, and such devices and inscriptions shall express

the sovereignty of the United States, that it is a coin of the Philippine Islands, the denomination of the coin, and the year of the coinage.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 11, 32 Stat. 954.

Similar provisions as to the devices and inscriptions for the subsidiary and minor coins authorized by Act July 1, 1902, c. 1369, are contained in section 82 of that act, set forth above.

Preparation of drawings, designs, and plates, and execution of coinage, engraving, or printing of notes and certificates.

Sec. 12. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed, when requested by the government of the Philippine Islands, to cause to be made and prepared any drawings, designs, and plates, and execute any coinage, engraving, or printing of notes and certificates authorized by this Act, and to make a proper charge for the same, covering as nearly as may be the actual cost, which shall be defrayed from the revenues of said islands.

Repeal.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 12, 32 Stat. 954.

Sec. 13. That section seventy-eight of the Act of July first, nineteen hundred and two, and all Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, and all provisions of law in force in the Philippine Islands making any form of money legal tender after December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and three, except as provided in this Act, are hereby repealed.

Act March 2, 1903, c. 980, § 13, 32 Stat. 955.

Act July 1, 1902, c. 1369, mentioned in and repealed in part by this section, is set forth above.

Sec. 3570.

ACT MARCH 3, 1901, c. 872, § 1.

National Bureau of Standards established.

The National Bureau of Standards is transferred from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Commerce and Labor by provisions of the act establishing that department, Act Feb. 14, 1903, c. 552, §§ 4, 10, ante, under Title XII A, "The Department of Commerce and Labor."

An appropriation for a contribution to the maintenance of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is made by the diplomatic and consular appropriation acts for each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 1903, and June 30, 1904. Act March 22, 1902, c. 272, 32 Stat. 79, and Act Feb. 9, 1903, c. 530, 32 Stat. 811.

Sec. 3582.

TITLE XXXVIII.

THE

ACT MAY 31, 1878, c. 146.

CURRENCY.

Further cancellation or retirement of United States legal-tender notes

prohibited.

The appropriations for engraving and printing, contained in the deficiency appropriation acts for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1902, and June 30, 1903, Act Feb. 14, 1902, c. 17, 32 Stat. 8, and Act March 3, 1903, c. 1006, 32 Stat. 1040, and in the sundry civil appropriation acts for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1903, and June 30, 1904, Act June 28, 1902, c. 1301, § 1, 32 Stat. 435, and Act March 3, 1903, c. 1007, § 1, 32 Stat. 1097, are followed by provisions that no portion of the sum appropriated shall be expended for printing United States notes or treasury notes of larger denomination than those that may be canceled or retired, except in so far as such printing may be necessary in executing the requirements of Act March 14, 1900, c. 41, set forth in Comp. St. 1901, pp. 2356-2360.

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