An Act Providing for the Establishment of Government Laboratories for the Philippine Islands

July 1, 1901

ACT NO. 156

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GOVERNMENT LABORATORIES FOR THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

SECTION 1. A biological laboratory, a chemical laboratory, and laboratories for the production of vaccine virus and of serums and prophylactics shall be established and maintained by the Government of the Philippine Islands.

SECTION 2. The biological laboratory shall be situated at Manila, and shall afford adequate facilities for investigation into, and scientific report upon, the causes, pathology, and methods of diagnosing and combating the diseases of man and of domesticated animals, and of animals utilized for food, and of plants useful to man, as well as for such other biological work as may be deemed necessary by the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands, the Forestry Bureau, the Bureau of Agriculture, or any other Department or Bureau of the Government.

SECTION 3. The chemical laboratory shall be situated at Manila, and shall afford adequate facilities for investigation and report as to the purity of foods and drinks; as to the composition and properties of gums, resins, drugs, herbs, or other plant products of known or supposed commercial value; as to soils or fertilizers; as to the minerals and minero-medicinal waters of the Philippine Islands; and for such other chemical investigation as may be deemed necessary by the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands, the Department of Public Instruction, the Forestry Bureau, the Mining Bureau, the Bureau of Agriculture, the Customs Service, or any other Department or Bureau of the Government.

SECTION 4. Laboratories for the production of vaccine virus and of serums and prophylactics shall be established and maintained at Manila and at such other points in the Archipelago as the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands may advise and the central legislative body of the Islands may determine upon.

SECTION 5. There shall be a Superintendent of Government laboratories, at a salary of four thousand dollars per year. He shall have charge of the construction and equipment of all Government laboratories for the Philippine Islands, and of the purchase of all apparatus, supplies, and books which may be authorized for use in connection with such laboratories. He shall cause to be prepared and shall recommend to the central legislative body of the Islands as a basis for appropriation:

(a) Plans for a suitable building for the installation of the biological laboratory, the chemical laboratory, and a reference library;

(b) Plans for such laboratories for the manufacture of vaccine virus, serums, and prophylactics as may hereafter be authorized;

(c) Detailed estimates of the cost of constructing such laboratory building;

(d) Detailed estimates of the cost of properly equipping the several laboratories and of procuring an adequate reference library, which shall be housed in the same building with the biological and chemical laboratories.

SECTION 6. The Superintendent of Government Laboratories shall make a written report to the Chief Executive of the Insular Government on or before the thirtieth of June of each year, covering his work for the twelve months preceding that date, and shall include therein a statement of all moneys received and disbursements made during that period.

SECTION 7. (a) The Superintendent of Government Laboratories shall be the director of either the biological or the chemical laboratory, as the Commission shall determine, and the other laboratory shall be under the supervision of a director, who shall receive an annual salary of three thousand five hundred dollars. The two directors shall be experts in their respective lines of work, and shall personally carry on original investigations.

(b) They shall appoint all employees of their respective laboratories, subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Act, and of Act Numbered Twenty-five, shall prescribe their duties and shall assign to all persons carrying on investigations in their respective laboratories the necessary laboratory space, apparatus, appliances, and reagents.

SECTION 8. All biological and chemical laboratory work of the several Departments and Bureaus of the Government at Manila shall be carried on in the biological and chemical laboratories by their Directors and employees, or by employees of said Departments and Bureaus. Upon the request of the head of any Department or Bureau of the Government, the Director of the biological or chemical laboratory shall make adequate provision for the carrying out of any special investigation desired and duly authorized, either himself undertaking to have it made by the laboratory staff or allowing properly qualified employees of the Department or Bureau making the request to carry it out under his general supervision, as the head of such Department or Bureau may prefer.

SECTION 9. The Superintendent of Government Laboratories and the additional director provided for in section six shall be appointed by the Commission. The officers and employees of the laboratories for the manufacture of vaccine virus, serums, and prophylactics shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Public Health, subject to the provisions of Civil Service Act and of Act Numbered Twenty-five.

SECTION 10. The officers or employees in immediate charge of the laboratories for the manufacture of vaccine virus, serums, and prophylactics shall furnish the Superintendent of Government Laboratories from time to time with detailed lists of apparatus and supplies which are necessary for the adequate equipment and maintenance of their respective laboratories.

SECTION 11. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

ENACTED, July 1, 1901.