shall cost not less than eighty thousana pesos, and the structure itself not less than sixty thousand pesos; that they will have placed underground conduit equivalent to one hundred thousand feet of single conduit; that they will begin the business of transmitting messages by telephone and will be fully equipped and ready to operate according to the terms of this franchise one thousand telephones in the city of Manila, the said grantees shall deposit at the time of such acceptance, with the Insular Treasurer, fifty thousand pesos or negotiable bonds of the United States or other securities, approved by the Governor-General, of the face value of fifty thousand pesos: Provided, however, That if the deposit is made in money the same shall be deposited at interest in some interest-paying bank approved by the Governor-General and all interest accruing and due on such deposit shall be collected by the Insular Treasurer and paid to the grantees, their successors or assigns, on demand: And provided further, That if the deposit made with the Insular Treasurer be negotiable bonds of the United States or other interest-bearing securities approved by the Governor-General, the interest on such bonds or securities shall be collected by the Insular Treasurer and paid over to said grantees, their successors or assigns, on demand. Should the said grantees, their successors or assigns, for any cause other than the act of God, the public enemy, usurped or military power, martial law, riot, civil commotion, or inevitable cause, fail, refuse, or neglect to construct the building or lay the conduit prescribed by this Act within eighteen months after its passage, or fail, refuse, or neglect to begin within eighteen months from the date of the passage of this Act the business of transmitting messages by telephone, or fail, refuse, or neglect to be fully equipped and ready to operate within eighteen months from the date of the passage of this Act one thousand telephones in the city of Manila according to the terms of this franchise, then the deposit prescribed by this section to be made with the Insular Treasurer, whether in money, bonds, or other securities, shall become the property of the Insular Government as liquidated damages caused to such Government by such failure, refusal, or neglect, and thereafter no interest on said bonds or other securities deposited shall be paid to the grantees, their successors or assigns: Provided, That a reasonable extension of time, for proper cause shown, may be granted by the Governor-General for the completion of the work. Should the said grantees, their successors or assigns, construct the building and lay the conduit as prescribed by this Act and begin the business of transmitting messages by telephone and be ready to operate according to the terms of this franchise one thousand telephones in the city of Manila within eighteen months from the date of the passage of this Act, then and in that event the deposit prescribed by this section shall be returned by the Insular Government to the grantees, their successors or assigns. SEC. 7. The books and accounts of the grantees, their successors or assigns, shall be subject to official inspection at any and all times by the Insular Auditor or his authorized representatives. SEC. 8. The rights herein granted shall not be exclusive, and the right and power to grant to any corporation, association, or person other than the grantees franchises for the telephonic, telegraphic, or electrical transmission of messages or signals shall not be impaired or affected by the granting of this franchise: Provided, That the poles erected, wires strung, or conduits laid by virtue of any franchise for telephone, telegraph, or other electrical transmission of messages and signals granted subsequent to this Act shall be so placed as not to impair the efficient and effective transmission of messages or signals under this franchise by means of poles erected, wires strung, or conduits actually laid and in existence at the time of the granting of said subsequent franchise: And provided further, That the grantees of this franchise may be required by the Governor-General to remove, relocate, or replace their poles, wires, or conduits, but in such case the reasonable cost of the removal, relocation, or replacement shall be paid by the grantees of the subsequent franchise or their successors or assigns to the grantees of this franchise or their successors or assigns. SEC. 9. The grantees of this franchise, their successors or assigns, shall hold the Insular, provincial, city, and municipal governments harmless from all claims, accounts, demands, or actions arising out of accidents or injuries, whether to property or to persons, caused by the construction or operation of the telephone, telegraph, or other electrical-transmission system of the said grantees their successors or assigns. SEC. 10. The city of Manila, and the municipalities in which the grantees, their successors or assigns, may establish telephone, telegraph, or any other system of electrical transmission of messages and signals shall have the privilege of using, without compensation, the poles of the grantees, their successors or assigns, for the purpose of installing, maintaining, and operating a fire and police telegraph or telephone alarm system, but the wires of such telegraph or telephone, fire, and police alarm shall be so placed, strung, stretched, and insulated as not to interfere with the efficient transmission of messages and signals by the grantees, their successors or assigns. In consideration of the city of Manila permitting drainage into the new sewers of the city from the ducts of the grantees, their successors or assigns, and in consideration of the said city permitting the grantees, their successors or assigns, to hang their wires and cables on its poles, the said grantees, their successors or assigns, shall give to the city free of charge the exclusive use of one duct throughout its underground conduits for its fire and police alarm wires: Provided, however, That any drainage from the ducts into the sewers shall be under reasonable rules and regulations prescribed by the Municipal Board of Manila, and in case permission to drain from the ducts into the sewers is not granted to the grantees of this franchise, or their successors or assigns, before construction work is commenced, then no free use of the duct shall be required as aforesaid: And provided further, That in case the grantees, their successors or assigns, shall hang their wires and cables on the poles of the said city of Manila, they shall be so placed, strung, stretched, and insulated as not to interfere with the efficient transmission of fire and police alarm messages and signals by the city of Manila, and the placing, stringing, stretching, and insulating of the wires and cables of the grantees, their successors and assigns, on poles of the city of Manila shall be done in accordance with regulations prescribed by the city of Manila. SEC. 11. Within sixty days after the passage of this Act the grantees shall file with the Secretary of Commerce and Police their written acceptance of the franchise granted by this Act and of all the terms and conditions thereof, and the grantees shall begin the construction of their telephone system in the city of Manila within eight months from the date of such acceptance and shall begin the business of transmitting messages by telephone and be fully equipped and ready to operate at least one thousand telephones in said city within eighteen months. from the date of the passage of this Act unless prevented by act of God, the public enemy, usurped or military power, martial law, riot, civil commotion, or inevitable cause. The failure, refusal, or neglect to comply with any of the terms and conditions required of the grantees, their successors or assigns, by this Act shall subject the franchise to forfeiture unless such failure, refusal, or neglect was directly and primarily caused by act of God, the public enemy, usurped or military power, martial law, riot, civil commotion, or inevitable cause. The time during which the grantees are prevented from carrying out the terms and conditions of this franchise by any of the causes cited herein shall be added to the time allowed by this franchise for compliance with its provisions. SEC. 12. The rates to be charged by the grantees, their successors or assigns, shall not exceed the following: (a) Subscribers for telephones other than residence telephones, having an individual and metallic circuit, with unlimited exchange switching, shall pay monthly in advance a flat rate not to exceed ten pesos; (b) Subscribers 'having residence telephones on an individual and metallic circuit, and unlimited exchange switching, shall pay monthly in advance a flat rate of not to exceed five pesos; (c) Subscribers for telephones, residence or otherwise, having a party wire, with not exceeding two subscribers on the same line, and unlimited exchange switching, shall each pay monthly in advance a flat rate of not to exceed sixty-five per centum of the rate charged subscribers for residence or other telephones, respectively, having individual and metallic circuits. These rates shall apply within the corporate limits of the city of Manila. No subscribers for telephones authorized by this Act shall be obliged to purchase instruments or to make any deposit whatever for telephone installation. SEC. 13. The right is hereby reserved to the Government of the Philippine Islands to regulate the rates to be charged by the grantees, their successors or assigns, but any rates which may hereafter be fixed shall be sufficient to yield a reasonable return to the grantees, their successors or assigns, upon the capital invested after making due allowance for the maintenance, operation, and other necessary ex penses. SEC. 14. The grantees may transfer, sell, or assign this franchise to the Automatic Telephone Construction Company, formed and organized under the laws of the State of California, and such company shall have the right to buy and to own said franchise, but the grantees shall not transfer, sell, or assign this franchise to any other person, firm, company, corporation, or other commercial or legal entity without the written approval of the Governor-General first had. Any corporation to which this franchise is sold, transferred, or assigned shall be subject to the corporation laws of the Philippine Islands, now existing or hereafter enacted, and any person, firm, company, corporation, or other commercial or legal entity to which this franchise is sold, transferred, or assigned shall be subject to all the conditions, terms, restrictions, and limitations of this franchise as fully and completely and to the same extent as if the franchise had been originally granted to said persons, firm, company, corporation, or other commercial or legal entity. Unless otherwise authorized by the Governor-General, the person, firm, company, corporation, or other commercial or legal entity to which this franchise may be transferred, sold, or assigned shall operate the automatic telephone system in the city of Manila during the life and under the terms of this franchise, and the property of the person, firm, company, corporation, or other commercial or legal entity concerned shall be security for the carrying out of the terms of this section and of this franchise; and for the failure to operate the automatic telephone system in the city of Manila in accordance with the terms of this franchise, and for the period for which this franchise is granted, all property of the grantees, or their successors or assigns, in the city of Manila shall become the property of the Government of the Philippine Islands as liquidated damages. SEC. 15. No private property shall be taken for any purpose under this franchise without just compensation paid or tendered therefor, and any authority to take and occupy land shall not authorize the taking, use, or occupation of any land except such as is required for the actual necessary purposes for which the franchise is granted. All lands or rights of use and occupation of lands granted to the grantees, their successors or assigns, shall, upon the termination of this franchise or upon its revocation or repeal, revert to the Insular Government or the provincial or municipal government to which such lands or the right to use and occupy them belonged at the time the grant thereof or the right to use or occupy the same was conceded to the grantees, their successors or assigns. The grantees, their successors or assigns, shall not issue stock or bonds except in exchange for actual cash or for property at a fair valuation equal to the par value of the stocks or bonds issued, and said grantees, their successors or assigns, shall not declare any stock or bond dividend. The grantees, their successors or assigns, shall not use, employ, or contract for the labor of persons claimed or alleged to be held in involuntary servitude. This franchise is granted subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the United States. SEC. 16. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 17. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [Nos. 1659, 1660.] ACTS OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION. [No. 1659.] "The AN ACT Amending Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine, entitled Corporation Law," as amended, by exempting certain corporations operating under special franchises granted by the Philippine Commission from compliance with the provisions of certain sections of said law. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: of SECTION 1. Any corporation operating at the time of the passage this Act under a special franchise granted by the Philippine Commission is hereby exempted from compliance with the provisions of sections sixty-eight, sixty-nine, seventy, and seventy-one of the Corporation Law: Provided, however, That the corporation so exempted shall be obliged to name an agent residing in the Philippine Islands authorized by the corporation to accept service of summons and process in all legal proceedings against the corporation and of all notices affecting the corporation and shall file its designation of such agent in the Division of Archives, Patents, Copyrights, and Trade-Marks of the Executive Bureau, together with a duly authenticated copy of its articles of incorporation, and pay a fee of fifty pesos for the filing of said designation and copy of articles of incorporation, on or before the first day of August, nineteen hundred and seven: And provided further, That any corporation by this section exempted from compliance witih sections sixty-eight, sixty-nine, seventy, and seventy-one of the Corporation Law, as above provided, shall file with the Division of Archives, Patents, Copyrights, and Trade-Marks of the Executive Bureau a statement of the amount of stocks and bonds actually issued and the cash or property consideration for such issue of stocks or bonds. In case stocks or bonds were issued in consideration of property transferred or conveyed to such corporation, then such statement shall contain a declaration of the fair valuation of such property: And provided further, That all other sections of the Corporation Law which are applicable to foreign corporations or to corporations not formed or organized under the laws of the Philippine Islands shall be applicable to corporations exempted by this section from compliance with the provisions of sections sixty-eight, sixtynine, seventy, and seventy-one of the said Corporation Law. SEC. 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 3. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1660.] AN ACT Making additional appropriations for sundry expenses of the Insular Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seven, and other periods. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. The following sums, or so much thereof as may be respectively necessary, are hereby appropriated, out of any funds in |