An Act to Authorize a Continuing Annual Appropriation to Aid in Developing Interisland Transportation and to Meet the Obligations of the Insular Government Incurred by Reason of Contracts Authorized by Act Numbered Thirteen Hundred and Ten, and by this Act, and for Other Purposes

February 1, 1912

ACT NO. 2118

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE A CONTINUING ANNUAL APPROPRIATION TO AID IN DEVELOPING INTERISLAND TRANSPORTATION AND TO MEET THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE INSULAR GOVERNMENT INCURRED BY REASON OF CONTRACTS AUTHORIZED BY ACT NUMBERED THIRTEEN HUNDRED AND TEN, AND BY THIS ACT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SECTION 1. A continuing annual appropriation of two hundred thousand pesos is hereby made, from any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, in lieu of the appropriation of two hundred and thirty thousand pesos made in Act Numbered Seventeen hundred and fifteen, which has expired by virtue of said Act, for the purpose of paying obligations of the Insular Government incurred by reason of contracts authorized by Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ten, and defined by resolutions of the Philippine Commission dated April thirtieth, May fifteenth, July eleventh, and July twenty-first, nineteen hundred and six, and August fourteenth, nineteen hundred and seven, and such other contracts as are authorized by this Act: Provided, However, That this appropriation shall terminate on the twenty-sixth day of July, nineteen hundred and fourteen.

SECTION 2. The Secretary of Commerce and Police is hereby authorized to modify or renew the aforesaid contracts when necessary, or to enter into new contracts at any time on the general terms and conditions set forth in section one of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ten: Provided, However, That —

(a) Bids therefor need not be advertised for in the United States;

(b) Such contracts shall be approved by the Governor-General in place of the Philippine Commission;

(c) No contract shall be entered into or renewed for a period extending beyond July twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and fourteen.

"Provided Further, However, That in order to avoid the disarrangement of the present system of transportation during the period from the expiration of the former contracts until the time of the execution of new contracts hereunder, the Secretary of Commerce and Police, with the approval of the Governor-General, is authorized to make temporary arrangements for the continuance in force on terms approved by him of such of the former contracts as he may deem advisable, from the date of the expiration of the former contracts until the time of the execution of the new contracts contemplated and authorized by this Act, and to authorize the payment during that time as subsidies for services rendered of an amount which shall not, however, exceed the proportion of the annual appropriation hereunder which the time covered by such temporary contracts forms of an entire year. Temporary contracts which may have been entered into of the kind herein specifically authorized are hereby confirmed.

Such contracts may contain a provision for the payment of subsidies from this appropriation to the contracting steamship companies: Provided, However, That the total subsidy payments called for by the terms of the contracts entered into under the authority of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ten and the resolutions mentioned in the first section of this Act, and the contracts authorized by this section, shall in no year exceed the funds available under the provisions of this Act. To be entitled to a subsidy under this Act on the route between Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu any steamship company must obligate itself to maintain a vessel or vessels having a minimum sustained speed of twelve miles an hour; equip such vessels with a number of first-class staterooms not less than twelve of such staterooms can accommodate four passengers each, or with a number of first-class staterooms not less than twenty-four if they can accommodate two passengers each only; and to provide good, first-class meals for first-class passengers and good, suitable meals for all other passengers, under the supervision of the superintendent of interisland and transportation. TIADCc

SECTION 3. This appropriation shall be available as of the first of July, nineteen hundred and eleven and shall be disbursed in accordance with the general provisions of law governing the disbursement of Insular funds and Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ten. All fines and payments collected under authority of this Act shall be paid into the Insular Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

SECTION 4. This Act shall not be construed to repeal any of the provisions of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ten which are not inconsistent herewith.

SECTION 5. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the same shall take effect on its passage, in accordance with section one of Act Numbered Nineteen hundred and forty-five of the Philippine Legislature.

ENACTED, February 1, 1912.