Public order. ances. Public order is excellent throughout the islands, with Moro disturb- the exception of minor disturbances in the Moro regions, due principally to energetic and sometimes overzealous efforts to hasten the placing of Moro children, especially girls, in the public schools, and to the too sudden imposition upon the disarmed Mohammedans of what amounts Inadequate to an absolute control by Christian Filipinos. It is also tion in local gov- due in part to failure to give adequate representation in local governments to Moros. Moro representa ernments. Various courts ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. Justice is administered in the Philippines by a supreme ofJustice. court, numerous courts of first instance, justice of the peace courts, and municipal courts. Filipino attitude toward courts. The supreme court has the respect and confidence of the Philippine people. The other tribunals do not enjoy an equal degree of confidence. In the lower tribunals, generally speaking, the administration of justice is dence in lower unsatisfactory, slow, and halting, and there is a widespread feeling among the people that political, family, and other influences have undue weight in determining issues. Lack of confi courts Courts under Commission. At present. cases pending. During the existence of the Philippine Commission, a most serious effort was made to secure the best available men for the bench, without regard to party affiliation, and the men appointed at that time as a rule enjoyed public confidence. In later years, the same care has not been exercised. There are pending in the courts of the islands to-day, Number of in round numbers, approximately 50,000 cases, including some 8,000 probate and guardianship cases. Conditions are growing steadily worse, and with the present personnel and methods the dockets will never be cleared. cases. Judges. The condition of the courts of first instance is generally Increase in deplorable. The number of cases filed has steadily inShortage of creased from year to year. The number of judges has not been increased proportionately and is insufficient to dispose of, promptly and efficiently, the great volume of business that they are called upon to transact. The abolition of the court of land registration imposed a heavy additional burden upon these courts. The judges in too many courts do not realize the necessity of reaching early and prompt decisions and are too ready to Inexperienced postpone hearings and trials. The clerks of the courts of first instance are too often without the necessary clerks. experience. There is no uniform system of filing records, Lack of system. and in many cases it is difficult for attorneys to secure records promptly. The justice of the peace courts are the weakest point in the judicial establishment. Complaints against these courts are numerous and come from all parts of the archipelago. Because of the remoteness and isolation of many of these tribunals, the want of frequent and effective supervision and inspection, many abuses are perpetrated. of Act 2098. A frequent cause of complaint is against extreme action taken under the provisions of Act 2098, which enables Unpopularity employers of labor to prosecute their laborers for breach of contract, and in many cases to hold them against their will, resulting in a kind of legalized peonage. The Peonage. laborers are kept in debt through the advance of money and supplies, and in return for these advances agree to work for definite periods of time and under certain conditions. Under the provisions of this act, should they leave before completion of contract they can be arrested and tried for violation of contract and for obtaining money or supplies under false pretenses. During the fiscal year 1918 there was a total of 3,266 cases of this nature, of which 1,456 were convicted. Another common cause of complaint is the initiation Confinement in of proceedings resulting in the arrest and confinement at remote places. remote places of people who are unable to give bond. This procedure results often in holding of men in confinement for months before the cases are acted upon by the judge of the court of first instance. The present condition results first, and above all, from Causes. the lack of proper inspection and prompt, corrective action where inefficiency and negligence have been shown, from an insufficient number of judges, insufficient pay and no provisions for retirement, and in some instances to lack of careful selection. Investigation also indicates very clearly that more care should be exercised in the selection of the fiscals, or prosecuting attorneys. ties can remedy The unsatisfactory condition in the administration of Insular authori justice can be corrected by the insular authorities. In defects. doing this, it is important to build up a strong public opinion in support of a prompt, effective and impartial Suggested imadministration of justice. Provisions should be made for the retirement of judges of the courts of first instance H. Doc. 325, 67-2- 4 provements. Land titles. vey. and the entire administration of justice must be placed outside the scope of political and other improper influences. In brief, the independence and stability of the judiciary must be established. It lies at the foundation of stable government. LAND TITLES. The land title situation in the Philippines is a serious one. It should be the policy of the Government to push Cadastral sur- forward the cadastral survey, determine titles to land as quickly as possible, and to facilitate in every possible manner the acquisition of titles by homesteaders. Importance of Nothing is more conducive to good government than having the people secure in the ownership of their land and possessing titles guaranteed by the Government, as is the practice under the Torrens system. Filipinos have the excellent trait of a strong, inherent desire to own their own land. titles. Inefficient administration. Former ciency. court of land The present unfortunate land title situation is largely due to an inefficient administration of the land office in recent years and to an increase in the number of problems which the Government has to handle. effi- In 1913 the insular government had a thoroughly efficient and trained bureau of lands and an experienced and effective court of land registration. To-day the inefficiency of the bureau of lands is due, in part, to lack of experienced and trained personnel, to inefficient Abolition of management and lack of funds. Delay in obtaining titles registration. is also due to the abolition of the court of land registration and to the transfer of land cases to the overloaded courts of first instance. This has resulted in an increase in the number of abuses by which the poor farmer and homesteader, ignorant of his rights, is forced off his land by his richer and unscrupulous neighbor. The situation tends to serious discontent and must be corrected. Recommenda tion. Prisons. An adequate court of land registration should be reestablished. PRISONS. The insular government maintains Bilibid Prison in Manila, the San Ramon Prison and Penal Colony combined near Zamboanga, the Iwahig Penal Colony near Puerto Princesa, on the island of Palawan; the Fort Mills Prison on Corregidor, and a prison at Bontok in the Mountain Province. The total number confined in all these prisons for 1920 was 5,254. Bilibid is the receiving station and distributing point Bilibid Prison. of all classes of criminals, except those of the Moro and Mountain Provinces, which are held at San Ramon and Bontok, respectively. Bilibid retains convicts which can not be worked outside and about 1,500 employed in industrial work. TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. finement. Prisoners, upon arrival in any of these prisons, are Prison methods. physically examined, treated if found necessary, given a period of training in drill and exercise movements and, if possible, assigned to work for which preference is expressed. The time of confinement in prisons under Term of conguard is determined by character and length of sentence and expressed desire of prisoner, governed by good conduct. Incentives are provided for good conduct in additional privileges, gratuities, by additional liberty through classification as "trusties" or penal colonists, and by automatic reduction of the time of sentence by reason of good behavior. Prisoners of excellent conduct who have served onefifth of their sentence at Bilibid may be sent to Iwahig, where five additional days per month are allowed for good time credit. Also, life sentence is commuted to 30 years in the cases of convicts who are sent to Iwahig, and good behavior counts so that life sentences can be served in about 22 years. Furthermore, at Iwahig, a convict by good conduct may become a settler and receive onehalf of what he produces, the land, tools, animals, etc., being provided for him. Rewards good conduct. Colony. for The Iwahig Penal Colony has a reservation of over Iwahig Penal 100,000 acres on the island of Palawan. It is a partially self-governing community, founded originally somewhat upon the principle of the George Junior Republic. It has a population of about 1,200 colonists and has proved to be a most successful institution, far advanced in reformatory methods and results, the number of convicts returned to prison after release from the colony being extremely small. PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL JAILS. Besides the above-mentioned prisons, most of the Provincial jails. provincial and municipal jails in the islands were carefully inspected. The provincial jails were generally overcrowded. There are little or no provisions for taking care of the sick. Marked favoritism is often shown to prisoners with influential friends. The food is generally good and sufficient. The condition of the clothing is fair. The prison guards are poorly trained and poorly disciplined. Municipal jails. The municipal jails are, as a general rule, unsatisfactory. They are small, dark, usually poorly ventilated and unsanitary. The municipal prisoners are poorly fed, poorly clad, and generally poorly cared for. In the great majority of municipal jails no proper provision is made for female prisoners. It was observed generally throughout the islands that there were a great number of prisoners awaiting trial for unusually long periods. PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. The Filipinos are deeply interested in public education. Their enthusiasm, their keenness to secure education for their children is beyond praise. The progressive development of the school system has been phenomenal. Indeed, enthusiasm has at times outrun prudence, and expansion has taken place so rapidly that efficiency has not been able to keep pace. However, such mistakes as have been made have resulted from enthusiasm in a noble cause—the education of the youth of the islands. The following gives an idea of the progress in this department: Annual enrollment of the public schools. School buildings. 1920. statistics. 1 4,504 200,000 1,914 746 6,141 479,978 621,030 935,678 316 7,234 20,691 In 1920 the public owned 4,063 and rented 1,163 school buildings. Expense in The total expenditures for administration and instrucUniversity tion were about $6,869,654.50 for 1920. The university had, in 1920, an enrollment of 4,130 with a teaching force of 379 professors and assistants. The cost of operation was $755,926.57. tude toward Parents' atti- As before stated, the self-sacrifice of the parents has education. been great. They have willingly deprived themselves of many necessities in order that they might aid in the voluntary building of schools and properly equip their |