Policy, purpose, and expedited enactment
- The act is enacted to enable the speedy disposition and conversion of seized and related financial assets into the Insular Treasury.
- Section 9 expedites enactment under Section 2 of “An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws”, passed September 26, 1900.
- The act’s operative framework centers on depositing proceeds and converting assets into usable government funds, including through sale, coinage, and transfers.
Coverage: covered assets and deposit categories
- The act covers Spanish seized funds, returns at the Treasury, and special deposits “now in his hands” of the Treasurer of the Philippine Archipelago under Section 1 to Section 4.
- Section 1 covers assets in specified forms: Mexican pesos, Spanish-Filipino pesos or fractional parts, Spanish-Filipino bank notes, or United States currency.
- Section 3 covers assets in specified forms for public sale, including Spanish gold coin, Spanish treasury bonds, Filipino Treasury bonds Series B, Spanish copper coin, Filipino gold coin, bar gold, gold dust, burned silver, burned silver pesos, copper, foreign bank notes, and foreign coins (except as otherwise provided in this Act).
- Section 3 excludes certain Filipino Treasury bonds Series B that belong to the “Carriedo Fund” for the benefit of the city of Manila.
- Section 4 covers special deposits consisting of enumerated small items, including jewelry and various metal articles and collectibles (and it includes an exception for specific insurrection-badge items).
Conversion into Insular Treasury: cash-like assets
- The Treasurer of the Philippine Archipelago is authorized and directed to deposit covered Spanish seized funds, returns, and special deposits into the Insular Treasury on account of “miscellaneous receipts” under Section 1.
- Deposit coverage under Section 1 applies when the assets are in the forms: Mexican pesos, Spanish-Filipino pesos (or fractional parts), Spanish-Filipino bank notes, or United States currency.
- The act requires the deposit accounting to be specifically on account of “miscellaneous receipts” under Section 1.
Collection and return of deposit instruments
- The Treasurer must deliver to the Attorney-General for the Philippine Islands all Spanish seized funds, returns, and special deposits that are in the form of deposit certificates, checks, or drafts, and the Treasurer takes receipt for them under Section 2.
- The Attorney-General has the duty to proceed to collect those deposit certificates, checks, and drafts “so far as may be practicable” under Section 2.
- Collected proceeds must be paid to the Treasurer, who must deposit them in the Insular Treasury on account of “miscellaneous receipts” under Section 2.
- Property impossible of collection must be returned by the Attorney-General to the Treasurer, and the Treasurer must transfer it to his property account under Section 2.
Public auction and private sale rules
- The Treasurer must advertise for sale to the highest bidder the Spanish seized funds, returns, and special deposits now in his hands in the forms listed in Section 3 under Section 3.
- The required advertisement schedule is once a week for six successive weeks, using two newspapers in Manila in the English language and two newspapers in Manila in the Spanish language under Section 3.
- Each advertisement must specifically describe each item of property to be sold and must allow bids for: (1) all advertised items, (2) any separate class, or (3) parts of any class; the right to reject all bids is reserved under Section 3.
- Bids must state the sum tendered in money of the United States and must be under seal, each accompanied by a certified check upon a bank that is a legal depository of Philippine Treasury funds, payable to the Treasurer, in an amount equal to ten per cent of the bid under Section 3.
- Bids must be opened on the date stated in the advertisement by the Treasurer, in the presence of the Secretary of Finance and Justice and the bidders (if they desire to be present) under Section 3.
- The Treasurer must accept the bids deemed most favorable for the Government, but acceptance requires approval of the Secretary of Finance and Justice under Section 3.
- The right to reject any and all bids remains expressly reserved under Section 3.
Coinage and disposition when bids fail
- If no satisfactory bids are received for Spanish gold, Filipino gold coin, bar gold, gold dust, burned silver pesos, burned copper and silver, these assets must be forwarded to the United States mint at San Francisco, California for coinage into United States coin, or coined into local coinage in the mint at Manila, as the Treasurer determines with the approval of the Secretary of Finance and Justice under Section 3.
- The proceeds from coinage and the proceeds of sales under accepted bids must be deposited in the Insular Treasury on account of “miscellaneous receipts” under Section 3.
- If no bids are accepted for Spanish treasury bonds, Filipino treasury bonds Series B, and the copper coins mentioned, the Treasurer may sell them (or any part) at private sale with the approval of the Secretary of Finance and Justice, on terms not less favorable to the Government than the most favorable of the rejected bids under Section 3.
Exemptions and special handling
- Section 3 provides that the act does not apply to silver and other metal seized from the steamer Don Juan and discovered from the same source by Spanish Government officers in July 1893; the disposition of that metal is governed by Act No. 573 under Section 3.
- In auction sales under Section 3, certified checks accompanying unaccepted bids must be returned to bidders under Section 3.
- Certified checks accompanying accepted bids must be deposited into the Insular Treasury as part of the purchase price and are treated as liquidated damages if the bidder fails to comply with the terms of the accepted bid under Section 3.
- Section 4 requires that special deposits consisting of insurrecto stick-pins, flags, medallions, cuff buttons, and other pins as badges of insurrection must be forthwith forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, and must not be exposed for sale under Section 4.
Sale of special small valuables
- The Treasurer is authorized and directed to sell at public auction, after due advertisement, at a place in the city of Manila he deems most suitable, all special deposits now in his hands that consist of small articles of gold, silver, or other metals and enumerated items under Section 4.
- Items covered in Section 4 include jewelry, finger rings, earrings, field glasses, Japanese or Chinese coin, combs, necklaces, watches, studs, watch chains, medallions, and pocketbooks.
- These items must be sold to the highest bidders singly or in classified lots, under the Treasurer’s direction, with advertisement duration and manner determined by the Treasurer with approval of the Secretary of Finance and Justice under Section 4.
- Sale proceeds must be deposited in the Insular Treasury on account of “miscellaneous receipts” under Section 4.
- The act applies specifically to the special deposits “now in his hands” under Section 4.
Transfers to government and city accounts
- The Treasurer must transfer to his property account all Philippine Treasury notes and Philippine Treasury provisional bonds now in his hands under Section 5.
- The Treasurer must transfer to the city of Manila ninety-four shares of the Banco EspaAol-Filipino and seventy-seven Filipino bonds, Series B, and must keep these as part of the “Carriedo fund” under Section 6.
- The income from the transferred Banco and bonds must be applied for the purposes provided in the foundation of the Carriedo fund under Section 6.
- The Treasurer must collect and transfer to the credit of the city of Manila all dividends and income due on the transferred bank shares and bonds under Section 6.
- The Treasurer must deliver to the Municipal Board of the city of Manila one box of Fire Department medals for disposal in the discretion of that Board under Section 6.
Records and naval discharges transfers
- The Treasurer must deliver to the Bureau of Insular affairs of the War Department, at Washington, all books and papers seized from insurgents in his possession that constitute records of insurgent forces under Section 7.
- The Treasurer must forward to the Secretary of the Navy at Washington all discharges of deceased enlisted men of the United States Navy in his possession under Section 7.
Claims adjustment process
- Claims against any property referred to in the act are adjusted by presentation to the Philippine Commission under Section 8.
- The Philippine Commission adjusts claims by allowance upon application under Section 8.
Repeal and transitory/procedural provisions
- General Orders No. 41, Office of the United States Military Governor in the Philippine Islands, dated September 27, 1899, which prohibited exportation of Spanish copper coin under prescribed penalties, is repealed only to the extent it applies to exportation of Spanish copper coin mentioned in Section 3 under Section 3.
- Section 9 sets an expedited legislative procedure for passage consistent with Section 2 of “An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws”, passed September 26, 1900.
- Section 10 provides that the act takes effect on passage (January 30, 1903).