AN ACT

PROVIDING THAT THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION CONTINUE ITS SESSIONS TO ACCOMPLISH CERTAIN DUTIES.

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico: SECTION 1.-The joint committee on legislation, which was declared a standing committee until January, 1904, by a law approved March 12, 1904, shall continue its sessions with the object of arranging and compiling the Code of Civil Procedure, carefully correcting the Spanish translation and arranging the law in order of books, titles, chapters and sections, and including in the said Code those laws of procedure which they may deem proper; and said joint committee, together with the Secretary of Porto Rico, shall have full power and authority to compile and arrange in proper form all the statutes of Porto Rico and to put them in their proper places, with the exception of those statutes or parts of statutes which have been repealed; and are authorized, in carrying out such compilation and arrangement, to change the numbering of the parts, divisions, titles, chapters and sections. The committee shall also compile an index of the laws and statutes by order, and another alphabetical index by subjects.

SECTION 2.-The said Secretary and said joint committee are hereby authorized and instructed to prepare and arrange the said statutes for publication, and are authorized also to have published with them the Organic Act of Porto Rico, together with any and all Acts of Congress specially pertaining to Porto Rico; Provided, that the edition shall be prepared in one volume for the insertion of the statutes and another volume for the insertion of the codes, and in each volume both the Spanish and the English text shall be published in the same or similar type as that used for the printing of legislative bills.

SECTION 3.-The compilation and arrangement required for publication shall be completed as soon as practicable, and the Secretary shall contract for the

publication of the said arranged statutes and codes with the publisher who offers the lowest bid; Provided, such contract for printing shall specify that five hundred copies shall be printed, published and delivered to the Secretary of Porto Rico on or before July, 1904. The typesetting, printing and binding shall be done in Porto Rico.

SECTION 4.-A special edition in English and Spanish of the Code of Civil Procedure shall be made, which must be completed not later than the thirtieth day of next May, and shall be distributed immediately and may be sold in the manner which the Secretary of Porto Rico may determine.

SECTION 5.-On the certificate of the Secretary of Porto Rico that he has received five hundred copies, or at least one-half of said codes and statutes, printed and bound in accordance with the contract, the Auditor is directed to draw his warrant in favor of the publisher for the amount of money due him under the contract as is required by law, said amount being apropriated out of any funds in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

SECTION 6.-The publisher to whom the contract is awarded must execute a bond in favor of Porto Rico in the sum of two thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance of the contract,

SECTION 7.-The Secretary of Porto Rico, upon the receipt of the said published codes and statutes, shall distribute the same, or as many of them as may be necessary, in accordance with the law, and the surplus copies shall be sold at the price fixed by him, which shall conform as nearly as possible to the cost of publication.

SECTION 8.-The joint committee shall prepare and present to the next Legislative Assembly printed bills to revise and correct those laws and codes which, in the opinion of said committee, should be corrected or revised to put them in accord with the other laws and statutes and make them conform to the general spirit of the legislation;

Provided, that the joint committee shall report to the Legislative Assembly, through the proper channels, in accordance with this section, within the first thirty days of the next session.

SECTION 9.-In order that the joint committee may be complete with the five members who compose it, the presiding officers of both houses may appoint such substitute members from their respective branches as may be necessary, as they may be advised by the committee. The Attorney General shall be the chairman of said joint committee. Those members who are delegates to the House of Delegates shall receive a per diem of five dollars for each session held by the joint committee in performance of the labors entrusted to it by this Act, and an official letter directed by the chairman of the joint committee to the Treasurer of Porto Rico shall be sufficient authorization for the payment to each delegate forming part of the joint committee of such per diem, out of any moneys in the insular treasury not appropriated by law for other purposes.

SECTION 10.-This Act shall take effect from and after its approval.

Approved, March 10, 1904.

AN ACT

TO AUTHORIZE NEGOTIATION FOR AN INSULAR LOAN, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico:

SECTION 1.-That there is hereby created a commission, to be known as the "Insular Loan Commission," to consist of the Treasurer and Auditor of Porto Rico, and a third person to be selected by the Governor of Porto Rico, whose duty it shall be to consider ways and means for negotiating an insular loan of not less than three million dollars, and not more than five million dollars,

for the purpose of providing funds for making public improvements urgently needed within the Island of Porto Rico, such as the construction of roads, schoolhouses, harbor improvements, and the prosecution of other works of public utility. A majority of such commission may act in all matters within the terms of this Act.

SECTION 2.-That it shall be the duty of the said commission to confer with, and enter into negotiations with, bankers and financial institutions in Porto Rico or in the United States, with a view to the placing of said loan in manner and upon such terms as shall be deemed by the commission for the best interests of the Island of Porto Rico. It shall especially seek to have the Secretary of the Treasury undertake to designate said issue of bonds as bonds that will be accepted by him as security for the deposit of public moneys, and also to secure action by the Congress of the United States exempting such bonds from all taxation, federal, state or local, in the United States.

SECTION 3.-That the said commission is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to enter into all preliminary arrangements whereby such loan may be consummated and effected; Provided, that it shall not negotiate for the issuance of any bonds, or for the payment of any interest on any bonds that may be issued to secure such loan, by the Island of Porto Rico, at a higher rate of interest than four per cent per annum, or for the issue of any bonds at less than par, or for bonds running for a period of more than fifty years from and after the date of their issuance.

SECTION 4.-That the commission is directed, in preparing plans and making necessary arrangements for the issuance of said bonds, to make provisions for a sinking fund sufficient to meet the payment of the bonds upon their maturing; and to formulate ways and means for obtaining the money necessary for paying the interest on

said bonds and making the payments required for the sinking fund, and the said commission is hereby authorized to negotiate for the pledging of the good faith of the People of Porto Rico in such manner and form as may be deemed proper and best.

SECTION 5.-It shall be the duty of the said commission to report to the Governor of Porto Rico, not later than July 1, 1904, the results of its labors, and if the commission has negotiated for the loan it shall include in its report a draft of such legislative act as may be necessary to make legal and binding the negotiations which they may have entered into; Provided, always, that such negotiations shall not be valid and effective until approved by au enabling act to be passed by the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico in regular or extraordinary session; Provided, further, that at the same regular or extraordinary session of the Legislative Assembly suitable provision shall be made by law for the disposition of the proceeds of said loan.

SECTION 6.-That for the purpose of enabling the commission to proceed to the United States, if necessary, and otherwise to carry out the provisions of this Act, there is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars. The expenses of the commission shall be paid out of such appropriation upon vouchers duly approved by the Governor. All of the members of the said commission shall, during the time they are absent from Porto Rico and engaged upon the work of the commission, be reimbursed for necessary traveling expenses and receive a per diem of five dollars in lieu of board and lodging, and the third member of the commission, to be selected by the Governor, shall in addition be paid ten dollars for each day's necessary absence from the Island of Porto Rico in attendance upon the business of the commission.