[ Act No. 467, October 06, 1902 ]
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR TAKING A CENSUS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that:
Section 1. A census of the population by name, age, sex, race or tribe, nativity, and literacy, of school attendance, of ownership of homes, and of industrial and social statistics for each province and municipality, and other civil divisions of the Philippine Islands, in accordance with the Act of Congress approved July first, nineteen hundred and two, shall be taken in the year nineteen hundred and three.
Section 2. There shall be established in the Department of Public Instruction a Census Bureau, the chief officer of which shall be the Director of the Census, who shall be appointed by the Civil Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Commission. The Director of the Census shall be charged with the collection, tabulation, and publication of the statistics required by this Act. He may be, with the consent of the President of the United States, a general officer of the United States Army. In case a general officer is thus appointed, he shall be paid, in lieu of all allowance Tor forage, fuel, and quarters, to which he would be entitled under the Army regulations, the sum of ten dollars per diem, payable out of the insular Treasury.
There shall also be two Assistant Directors of the Census, to be appointed by the Civil Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Commission, who shall be experienced, practical statisticians, and who shall be paid a salary of seven hundred and twenty dollars per month each, and whose appointment as Assistant Directors of the Census may be terminated by the Director of the Census as soon after their return to the United States as may be desirable: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to establish a permanent Census Bureau.
Section 3. During the absence or disability of the Director of the Director of the Census, one of the Assistant Directors, to be designated by the Director, shall perform the duties of the Director, and at all other times the Assistant Directors shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by the Director of the Census.
Section 4. There shall also be in the Census Bureau, to be appointed by the Director thereof, one chief clerk, who shall receive a salary at the rate of two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars per year; three secretaries, each at a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars per month; six clerks, each at a salary of one hundred and thirty-three dollars and thirty-three cents per month; and such number of clerks and skilled laborers, at a monthly salary of not more than eighty-five or less than sixty dollars per month, to be appointed from time to time, as may be found necessary for the prompt and proper performance of the duties herein required.
Section 5. The collection of the information required by this Act shall be made under the direction of the Director of the Census by supervisors, enumerators, and special agents, whose inquiries shall be restricted to the population, schools, agriculture, and industrial and social statistics, separately for each province and municipality and other civil divisions as the census schedules, approved by the Secretary of Public Instruction, may require: Provided, That whenever an official registration of mortuary or other statistics is and has been maintained, the Director of the Census may employ experts or special agents to investigate and ascertain such statistics, whether of manufacturing, railroad, fishing, mining, telegraph, express, transportation, insurance, banking, or of such other industries as the Secretary of Public Instruction may direct.
Section 6. The supervisors, enumerators, and special agents shall be appointed by the Director of the Census, by and with the advice and consent of the Civil Governor: Provided, That all insular, municipal, and provincial officials, and such officers and enlisted men of the Army as may be designated by the Commanding General, Division of the Philippines, shall be eligible to appointment.
Section 7. For the purposes of this census, the Director of the Census shall divide the Philippine Islands into fifty supervisors' districts, more or loss, the boundaries of which shall, whenever practicable, conform to the boundaries of the insular provinces. Each supervisor shall be duly commissioned by the Civil Governor, and before entering upon his duties, shall take and subscribe the following oath before any official authorized to administer oaths:
" I,................................................................................., supervisor of the ............................................ supervisors district, do solemnly swear that I recognize and accept; the supreme authority of the United States of America and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto, and that will, to the best of my ability, enumerate, or cause to be enumerated, all the inhabitants of such district, and will collect, or cause to be collected, the other statistical information within the same, as required by law or regulation, and will faithfully perform all the duties enjoined on me by law providing for the taking of the census. So help me God. "
This oath, when duly executed, shall be forwarded to the Director of the Census and duly filed in his office.
Section 8. Each supervisor of the Census shall be charged, within his district, with the performance of the following duties:
First. To consult with the Director of the Census in regard to the division of his district into enumeration districts most convenient for the purpose of enumeration, which districts and the limits thereof shall be fixed by the Director of the Census.
Second. To nominate to the Director of the Census suitable persons as enumerators and special agents within his district, one or more for each enumeration district, who shall be resident therein. In case it shall occur in any enumeration district that no person is qualified and willing to perform the duties of enumerator, the supervisor may nominate any fit person to be the enumerator of that district: Provided, That in no case shall a supervisor nominate as enumerator or special agent his father, mother, son, daughter, niece or nephew, or any other relative by blood or marriage within the fourth degree.
Third. To communicate to enumerators and special agents the necessary instructions and directions relating to their duties as enumerators or special agents, taking care that they are perfectly understood.
Fourth. To examine thoroughly the schedules and other returns and reports of the enumerators and special agents, causing all discrepancies or deficiencies appearing on them to be corrected or supplied, and to forward them to the Director in such time and in such manner as shall be prescribed by him.
Fifth. To make such visits of inspection throughout his district as may be necessary to ascertain the progress and efficiency of the enumeration.
Sixth. To prepare and forward promptly at the close of each month to the disbursing officer designated to make payments in his district in behalf of the census, all accounts and voucher covering the service of himself, his clerk, his messenger, and each enumerator, as well as for other necessary expenses, which vouchers the supervisor shall certify to be time and correct. Payments on such vouchers may be made by check in favor of each person to whom payment is due, or in money, as may be most convenient. All accounts of special agents and enumerators shall be sworn to by them as correct and just before the same are submitted to the district supervisor for certification for payment by the designated disbursing officer.
The duties imposed on the supervisors by this Act shall be performed in any and all particulars in accordance with the instructions and directions of the Director of the Census, and any supervisor who may abandon, neglect, or improperly perform the duties required of him by this Act, may be removed by the Director of the Census.
Each supervisor shall receive a salary of one hundred and seventy-five dollars per month, such sum to be m full compensation for all services rendered and expenses incurred by him: Provided, however, That when he is traveling under orders or in serious emergencies arising during the progress of the enumeration in his district, or in connection with the enumeration of any subdivision, he may, in the discretion of the Director of the Census, be allowed the actual cost of transportation and one dollar and fifty cents per day, money of the United States, in lieu of subsistence, during his necessary absence from his place of residence in his district. He shall also be entitled to one clerk at a salary of sixty dollars per month, and one messenger at a salary of thirty dollars per month: Provided, That one-half of the salary due each supervisor shall be withheld and not paid him until after the schedules of other returns and reports required of him shall have been duly rendered to the Director of the Census.
Section 9. Each enumerator and special agent shall be commissioned by the Director of the Census, and before entering upon missions, his duties shall take and subscribe to the following oath before the supervisor of the district or any official having authority to administer oaths:
" I....................................................................., an enumerator (or special agent) of the ........................................................ supervisor's district, do solemnly swear that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the Ignited States of America, and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto, and that I will make a true and exact enumeration of all the inhabitants within the enumeration district assigned to me, and will also faithfully collect the other statistics therein in the manner provided by law for taking the census, and in conformity with all lawful instructions I may receive, and will make due and correct returns thereof in the manner prescribed. So help me God. "
This oath, when duly executed, shall be forwarded to the supervisor, and by him to the Director of the Census, and filed in his office.
Section 10. Each enumerator shall be charged with the collection, in his enumeration district, of the facts and statistics required by the population schedules, and such other schedules as the Secretary of Public Instruction may prescribe for use in connection with the census. It shall be the duty of each enumerator to visit personally each dwelling house in his district, and each family therein, and each individual living out of a family in any place of abode, and by inquiry made of the head of each family, or of the member thereof deemed most creditable and worthy of trust, or of each individual living out of a family, to obtain each and every item of information, and all the particulars required by the census schedules, and of such date as may be hereafter prescribed by the Commission as the day on which the census shall be taken. And in case no person shall be found at the usual place of abode of such family, or individual living out of a family, competent to answer the inquiries made in compliance with the requirements of this Act, then it shall be lawful for the enumerator to obtain the required information, as near as may be practicable, from the family or families, or person or persons, living nearest to such place of abode; and it shall be the duty of each enumerator to take in person, or forward by mail, as may be most expeditious and secure, the original schedule, duly certified, to the supervisor of census of his census district, and in the event of discrepancies or deficiencies being discovered in his said schedule, he shall use all diligence in correcting or supplying the same as the supervisor of his district shall direct. As far as practicable, each enumeration district shall be coterminous with municipalities, entire barrios, or incorporated cities, but when this is not practicable, and an enumeration district shall include a part only of a municipality, barrio, or incorporated city, it shall be the duty of the enumerator of such district clearly and plainly to distinguish, and separate in the population schedules, the inhabitants of all or any part of such municipality, barrio, incorporated city, from the inhabitants not included in his district. Each enumerator and special agent shall receive a salary of two dollars and fifty cents per diem, such sum to be full compensation for all services rendered, and all expenses incurred by him, the hire of boats when actually necessary excepted, for which he shall be allowed the actual and necessary cost if approved by the supervisor of his district: Provided, That eight hours of active enumeration shall constitute a day's work, and that one-half of the salary due each enumerator or special agent shall be withheld and not paid him until after the schedules or other returns or reports required of him shall have been duly rendered to the supervisor of his district.
Section 11. In the event of the death of any supervisor, enumerator, or other officer or employee of the census, after his appointment and entrance on his duties, the Director of the Census is authorized to pay the legal representative of such deceased official or employee such sum as he may deem to be just and fair for the services rendered by said official or employee, not exceeding in any case the per diem allowance provided in the preceding section, for the days during which the deceased was actually employed.
Section 12. The district assigned to any enumerator shall not contain more than one thousand five hundred inhabitants for urban or more than one thousand inhabitants for suburban or rural districts, according to such estimates as may be considered reasonable by the Director of the Census, and the boundaries of all enumeration districts shall be as far as practicable those of barrios or other civil divisions, or rivers, roads, or other easily distinguished lines: Provided, That enumerators may be assigned for the special enumeration of institutions, when desirable, and that competent women may be employed in taking the census.
Section 13. Any supervisor of the census may, with the approval of the Director of the Census, remove any enumerator in his district and fill the vacancy thus caused or otherwise occurring. Whenever it shall appear that any portion of the enumeration and census provided for in this Act has been negligently or improperly taken, and is by reason thereof incomplete or erroneous, the Director of the Census may cause such incomplete and unsatisfactory enumeration and census to be amended or made anew under such methods as may, in his discretion, be practicable.
Section 14. The Director of the Census may employ, and may authorize and direct supervisors of the census to employ, interpreters to assist the enumerators of their respective districts in the enumeration of persons, the compensation of such interpreters not to exceed two dollars and fifty cents per day for each day actually and necessarily employed.
Section 15. No census clerk, interpreter, or messenger shall enter upon his duties until he has taken and subscribed to the following oath:
" I, ...................................................................., do solemnly swear that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America, and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto, and that will honestly and faithfully perform such duties in connection with the census of the Philippines as may be intrusted to me. So help me God. "
This oath, when executed, shall be forwarded through the census supervisor of the proper province to the Director of the Census and be duly filed in his office. No supervisor, supervisor's clerk, enumerator, or special agent shall be accompanied by, or assisted in the performance of his duties by, any person not duly appointed as an officer or employee of the Philippine Census, and to whom the oath or affirmation has not been duly administered. All appointees and employees provided for in this Act shall be appointed or employed solely with reference to their fitness to perform the duties of the position to which they may be appointed, and wherever practicable, shall be natives of the Philippine Islands, and such employees and appointees shall not be subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Act, Numbered Five, and the amendments thereto: Provided, however, That the Director of the Census is authorized to call upon the Civil Service Board in cases in which he deems it practicable and useful to certify an eligible list for any position to be filled by appointment in the Bureau, and it shall then be the duty of the Civil Service Board to make proper certifications as in other cases.
Section 16. The enumeration of the population required by this Act shall commence on such date as may be hereafter proclaimed by the Civil Governor, and shall be taken as of that date. The proclamation of the Civil Governor shall also specify general periods within which the schedules shall he returned to the proper supervisor. And it shall be the duty of each enumerator to complete the enumeration of his district and to prepare the schedules and returns hereinbefore required to be made, and cause the same to be delivered to the supervisor of the census of his district on or before the date which may be designated in said proclamation of the Civil Governor.
Section 17. If any person shall receive or secure to himself any fee, reward, or compensation for the appointment, employment, or retention of any person as enumerator or clerk or other employee, he shall be doomed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or be imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Section 18. If any supervisor, supervisor's clerk, enumerator, interpreter, special agent, or other employee, who, having taken and subscribed the oath of office required by this Act, shall, without justifiable cause, neglect or refuse to perform the duties enjoined on him by this Act, or shall, without the authority of the Director of the Census, communicate to any person, not authorized to receive the same, any information gained by him in the performance of his duties, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars; or if he shall willfully and knowingly swear or affirm falsely, he shall be doomed guilty of perjury, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished accordingly; or if he shall willfully and knowingly make a false certificate, or a fictitious schedule, or other return or report, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction of either of the last-named offenses he shall be fined not exceeding two thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding two years.
Section 19. Each and every person more than twenty years of age belonging to any family residing in any enumeration district, and in case of the absence of the heads and other members of any such family, then any representative of such family, shall be, and each of them hereby is, required, if thereto requested by the proper supervisor, or enumerator, or special agent, to render a true account, to the best, of his or her knowledge, of every person belonging to such family in the various particulars required, and whoever shall willfully fail or refuse to render such true account shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be lined in a Corporation or sum not exceeding one hundred dollars. And every president, treasurer, secretary, director, agent, or other officer of every corporation, and of every establishment of productive industry, or social or religions institution, whether conducted as a corporate body, limited liability company, or by private individuals, or the owner, lessee, agent, or manager of any farm, plantation, or hacienda, from whom answers to any of the schedules, inquiries, or statistical interrogatories, provided for by this Act, are herein required, who shall, if thereto requested by the Director, an Assistant Director, a supervisor, an enumerator, or a special agent, willfully neglect or refuse to give true and complete answers to any inquiries authorized by this Act, or shall willfully give false information, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not exceeding three thousand dollars, to which may be added imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year. No person shall be required to answer any questions for the census or shall be punished for willful failure to answer the same under this section if, upon demand, the person asking the same shall not first produce his lawful commission as supervisor, enumerator, or special agent authorizing him to make; such inquiries. Any person falsely impersonating a supervisor, enumerator, or special agent, or other Census officer or employee for the purpose of getting access to private premises or eliciting information or any other purpose, shall be fined not exceeding one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.
Section 20. The Director of the Census may authorize the expenditure of the necessary sums for the per diem and traveling expenses of the supervisors, enumerators, and special agents as hereinbefore limited, and also for the per diem and traveling expenses of other officers and employees of the census to be allowed for the purposes of this Act and the amount thereof to be fixed in the discretion of the Director of the Census.
Section 21. All mail matter of whatever class, relative to the Philippine census and addressed to the Director, Assistant Director, or any supervisor or enumerator of the census, and indorsed "Official business, Philippine census," shall be transported free of postage; and all telegrams relative to the Philippine census sent or received by the officials aforesaid, over all telephone and telegraph lines under public control in the Islands, shall be free of charge; and if any person shall make use of the postal or telegraph franking privileges herein granted, to avoid the payment of postage or telegraph charges on a private message, letter, package, or other matter sent by mail or telegraph, the person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject lo a fine of three hundred dollars. The Director of the Census is authorized to employ, in his discretion, couriers, at a compensation to be fixed by him, for the purpose of expeditiously conveying official census mail of any class to any locality.
Section 22. The disbursements in behalf of the Census Bureau in Manila shall be made by a disbursing officer appointed in accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered One hundred and forty-five.1aшphi1 The disbursements in each census district outside the city of Manila shall be made by the provincial treasurer located in that census district. In each census district outside of an organized province an officer of the United States Army shall be designated by the Civil Governor, with the consent of the commanding general of the division, to act as disbursing officer, and no bond shall be required of such Army officer.
Provincial treasurers and other disbursing officers shall perform their duties in accordance with law and render accounts to the Auditor for the Archipelago in accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered Ninety and its amendments.
Each provincial treasurer who performs the duties of a disbursing officer under the provisions of this Act shall receive from the appropriations for the Census Bureau compensation equal to seven per cent of his annual salary as such treasurer in addition to his salary as provincial treasurer from provincial funds.
Section 23. All insular, provincial, and municipal officials, if required, shall render such assistance to the Director, Assistant Directors, supervisors, enumerators, and special agents of the Census as may be practicable and necessary to enable the latter to execute the provisions of this Act.
Section 24. 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.
Section 25. This Act shall take effect on its passage.
Enacted, October 6, 1902.
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