Report of the governor general of the Philippine Islands. [1908]

REPORT OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION. a legal nature and those involving the consular functions of the insular collector of customs. In this work and in the supervision over the duties of his staff assignment, including the execution of the immigration, exclusion, and navigation laws and the licensing of vessels, he is assisted by 2 clerks. Immigration division.-The organization by means of which the physical enforcement of the immigration and exclusion laws is effected consists of 3 chief inspector, 5 immigration inspectors, 1 Chinese interpreter, and 8 other employees. It is the duty of the immigration inspectors to board incoming and departing vessels, of which 642 were visited during the year, for the purpose of verifying passenger and crew lists. In this work an actual count was made during 1908 of 20,759 persons representing vessels' complements and 3,704 transit passengers. All persons arriving who are suspected of coming within the excluded classes are transferred to and held at the immigration detention station pending a thorough investigation as to their rights and for subsequent action in accordance with the findings of the immigration board. Of these cases 921 were acted upon during the year. There were also considered by this board 3,797 applications from Chinese for laborers' certificates entitling them to reenter the islands after departure therefrom, as well as 1,042 merchants' affidavits, filed by Chinese desiring to depart from the islands, for investigation and indorsement as to the prima facie right of such persons to return. This division maintains a complete registry of all Chinese legally resident within the islands, under the provisions of Act No. 702, of which there were 53,543 at the close of the fiscal year. This record contains photographs and complete detailed descriptions of all such persons, constantly available for reference for identification and other purposes. Marine license division.-The work involved in carrying out the provisions of section 73 of Act No. 355, requiring the insular collector of customs to make and record all documents relating to the admeasurement, documentation, enrollment, and licensing of vessels built or owned in the Philippine Islands, is performed by this division with a personnel consisting of 1 chief of divison and 4 clerks. During the year this division prepared and recorded 851 licenses for vessels of various classes, 392 certificates of protection, ownership, transfer of ownership, change of name, and of other nature, besides selling 102 roll books and other documents required by the public. The division is also charged with the assignment of official numbers and signal letters to Philippine vessels, as well as the recording of all documents relating to mortgages, liens, and conveyances thereon. There has been established in the division during the year, and is now maintained, a complete card record system affording detailed information concerning all vessels licensed under Philippine law, embracing names of owners and vessels, class and tonnage, home port, date of construction, etc. The functions and volume of business performed by this division are further shown under the heading " Documentation of vessels." STAFF ASSIGNMENT OF THE CHIEF CLERK. The chief clerk, Manila custom-house, is charged with the direct supervision over customs correspondence, records, accounting, custody of property and supplies, compilation of commercial and other statistics, operation of coaling stations, maintenance of customs launches, and other miscellaneous minor responsibilities properly devolving upon his office. The immediate work pertaining to the above-mentioned functions is distributed as follows: Correspondence and record section.-All official communications addressed to the bureau of customs are delivered to the chief clerk for proper record and distribution to the several customs officials for necessary consideration or action. This work during the past year involved the receipt, indexing and recording, and distribution of an average of 355 letters and indorsements, with their accompanying documents, per day, as well as the dispatch, after proper record, of a daily average of 800 pieces of outgoing mail matter. These duties were performed under the personal direction of the chief of the correspondence and record section with the assistance of 18 Filipino clerks and 4 messengers. It was also the duty of this section, during the year, to mimeograph and distribute 80,000 copies of circulars and orders issued by the insular collector of customs, as well as to make typewritten transcriptions of numerous official documents of. which copies were required.

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Title
Report of the governor general of the Philippine Islands. [1908]
Author
Philippines. Governor.
Canvas
Page 718
Publication
Washington, D.C.
Subject terms
Philippines -- Politics and government

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"Report of the governor general of the Philippine Islands. [1908]." In the digital collection The United States and its Territories, 1870 - 1925: The Age of Imperialism. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/acx1716.1908.002. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 22, 2025.
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