[ Act No. 644, March 03, 1903 ]
AN ACT AMENDING ACT NUMBERED TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THREE, CREATING A BUREAU OF ARCHIVES, BY STATING MORE IN DETAIL THE DUTIES OF THE CHIEF OF SAID BUREAU, BY PROVIDING FOR THE FEES TO BE COLLECTED BY THE CHIEF OF THE BUREAU FOR COPIES OF DOCUMENTS OR PAPERS IN THE ARCHIVES FURNISHED TO PRIVATE PERSONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that:
Section 1. Sections two, three, and four of Act Numbered Two hundred and seventy-three, creating a Bureau of Archives, are hereby amended to read as follows:
"Section 2. There shall be a Chief of the Bureau of Archives, who shall receive an annual salary of three thousand dollars, and who shall be a notary public ex officio.
"Section 3. The duties of the Chief of the Bureau of Archives shall be:
"1. To have the care and custody of such public records as may, in accordance with law, or by direction of the Civil Governor, be deposited in the Insular Archives, and to properly arrange and index the same for easy reference.
"2. To have an official seal of suitable design and bearing the inscription 'Bureau of Archives, Philippine Islands,' and to use the same on all certified copies of documents and papers issued by the Bureau and all other papers upon which such seal may be required. When the Chief of the Bureau of Archives acts as notary public he shall use a seal which shall bear the legend 'Chief of the Bureau of Archives, ex officio Notary Public,' and fees received by him as such shall be treated as fees of the office and not of the officer.
"3. To furnish without charge, for official use, such information from the Insular Archives and such papers and copies of papers contained therein as may be requested in writing by the Civil Governor, any member of the Philippine Commission, the head of any Department, Bureau, of Office of the Insular Government, or by any provincial board or municipal council: Provided, That no original document or file copy of any document shall be delivered to the head of any Bureau or Office or to any provincial board or municipal council without Hie written approval of the Civil Governor or the Secretary of the Department under which such bureau or office is established.
"4. To certify to the correctness of all copies of documents or papers furnished to any officer of the Government for official use and to affix to such copies the seal of the Bureau.
"5. To furnish to any private person or persons making written application for the same one.or morn copies of any document or paper in the Archives in which such person or persons may be personally concerned and to which he or they may be entitled, and to certify to the correctness of same if required, on the payment of the following fees: For every search Tor anything above a year's standing, five cents for every past year; for every one hundred words contained in any copy, live cents: and for every certificate of correctness to which the seal of the Bureau shall be affixed, twenty-five cents. These fees shall be paid in money of the United States or its equivalent, in local currency at the authorized rate on the date of payment.
"6. To require a written receipt for each original document or paper or file copy of any document or paper delivered to any officer of the Government or to any other person or persons, and to file and safely keep such receipt until the return of such original document or paper or file copy, when the receipt shall be returned to the maker marked or stamped with the word 'void.' The officer of the Government or other person or persons to whom such original document or paper or file copy is delivered shall be held responsible for its proper care and custody while in his or their possession.
"7.1aшphi1 To keep a record of all papers or copies of papers furnished by the Bureau to any private person or persons, to make a monthly report to the Auditor for the Philippine Archipelago in such form as may be prescribed by said Auditor, showing the number of such papers and copies of papers furnished, the subject matter of each, whether certified or not, the number of words in each copy and the sum collected therefor, and such other information as may be required by the Auditor: and to send a duplicate of this report to the Secretary of Public Instruction.
"8. To keep a record of all papers or copies of papers furnished by the Bureau to officers of the insular, provincial, and municipal governments for use in connection with the duties of their several, offices.
"9. To make an annual report to the Secretary of Public Instruction covering the affairs and business of the Bureau of Archives in detail, and such other reports as may be required from time to time by the Secretary of Public Instruction.
"10. To perform such other duties in connection with the Bureau of Archives as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Public Instruction or necessary for the proper conduct of the Bureau.
"Section 4. The Chief of the Bureau of Archives shall be required to furnish a bond in accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered Two hundred and forty-nine, and shall deposit in the Insular Treasury and account for all fees coming into his hands under the provisions of this Act in such manner as may be prescribed by the Auditor for the Philippine Archipelago."
Section 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.
Section 3. This Act shall take effect on its passage.
Enacted, March 3, 1903.
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