172 



CONGRESS. (THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.) 



linquent shall fail or refuse to contribute his 

 proportion of the expenditure required by this 

 section his interest in the claim shall become the 

 property of his coowners who have made the 

 required expenditures. The period within which 

 the work required to be done annually on all un- 

 patented mineral claims shall commence on the 

 1st day of January succeeding the date of loca- 

 tion of such claim. 



" SEC. 37. That a patent for any land claimed 

 and located for valuable mineral deposits may be 

 obtained in the following manner: Any person, 

 association, or corporation authorized to locate a 

 da im under this act, having claimed and located 

 a piece of land for such purposes, who has or have 

 ((implied with the terms of this act, may file in 

 ili< office of the provincial secretary, or such other 

 officer as by the government of said islands may be 

 described "as mining recorder of the province 

 wherein the land claimed is located, an applica- 

 tion for a patent, under oath, showing such com- 

 pliance, together with a plat and field-notes of the 

 claim or claims in common, made by or under 

 the direction of the chief of the Philippine insular 

 bureau of public lands, showing accurately the 

 boundaries of the claim, which shall be distinctly 

 marked by monuments on the ground, and shall 

 post a copy of such plat, together w 7 ith a notice 

 of such application for a patent, in a conspicuous 

 place on the land embraced in such plat previous 

 to the filing of the application for a patent, and 

 shall file an affidavit of at least two persons that 

 such notice has been duly posted, and shall file 

 a copy of the notice in such office, and shall there- 

 upon 'be entitled to a patent for the land, in the 

 manner following: The provincial secretary, or 

 such other officer as by the Philippine govern- 

 ment may be described as mining recorder, upon 

 the filing of such application, plat, field-notes, 

 notices, and affidavits, shall publish a notice that 

 such an application has been made, once a w T eek 

 for the period of sixty days, in a newspaper to be 

 by him designated as nearest to such claim and 

 in two newspapers published at Manila, one in 

 the English language and one in the Spanish 

 language, to be designated by the chief of the 

 1'liilippine insular bureau of public lands; and he 

 shall also post such notice in his office for the 

 same period. The claimant at the time of filing 

 this application, or at any time thereafter within 

 the sixty days of publication, shall file with the 

 provincial secretary or such other officer as by the 

 Philippine government may be described as 

 mining recorder a certificate of the chief of the 

 Philippine insular bureau of public lands that 

 $500 worth of labor has been expended for im- 

 provements made upon the claim by himself or 

 grantors; that the plat is correct, with such 

 further description by such reference to natural 

 objects or permanent monuments as shall identify 

 the claim, and furnish an accurate description to 

 be incorporated in the patent. At the expiration 

 of the sixty days of publication the claimant shall 

 file his affidavit, showing that the plat and notice 

 have been posted in a conspicuous place on the 

 claim during such period of publication. If no 

 adverse claim shall have been filed with the pro- 

 vincial secretary or such other officer as by the 

 government of said islands may be described as 

 mining recorder at the expiration of the sixty 

 days of publication, it shall be assumed that the 

 applicant is entitled to a patent upon the pay- 

 ment to the provincial treasurer or the collector 

 of internal revenue of $5 per acre and that no 

 adverse r-laim exists, and thereafter no objection 

 from third parties to the issuance of a patent 

 shall lie hoard, except it be shown that the ap- 



plicant has failed to comply with the terms of 

 this act: Prodded, That where the claimant for 

 a patent is not a resident of or within the province 

 wherein the land containing the vein, ledge, or 

 deposit sought to be patented is located, the ap- 

 plication for patent and the affidavits required to 

 be made in this section by the claimant for such 

 patent may be made by his, her, or its authorized 

 agent where said agent is conversant with the 

 facts sought to be established by said affidavits. 



" SEC. 38. That applicants for mineral patents, 

 if residing beyond the limits of the province or 

 military department wherein the claim is situ- 

 ated, may make the oath or affidavit required for 

 proof of citizenship before the clerk of any court 

 of record, or before any notary public of any 

 province of the Philippine Islands, or any other 

 official in said islands authorized by law to ad- 

 minister oaths. 



" SEC. 39. That where an adverse claim is filed 

 during the period of publication it shall be upon 

 the oath of the person or persons making the same, 

 and shall show the nature, boundaries, and extent 

 of such adverse claim, and all proceedings, except 

 the publication of notice and making and filing 

 of the affidavits thereof, shall be stayed until the 

 controversy shall have been settled or decided 

 by a court of competent jurisdiction or the ad- 

 verse claim waived. It shall be the duty of the 

 adverse claimant, within thirty days after filing 

 his claim, to commence proceedings in a court of 

 competent jurisdiction to determine the question 

 of the right of possession, and prosecute the same 

 with reasonable diligence to final judgment, and a 

 failure so to do shall be a waiver of his adverse 

 claim. After such judgment shall have been 

 rendered the party entitled to the possession of 

 the claim, or any portion thereof, may, without 

 giving further notice, file a certified copy of the 

 judgment roll with the provincial secretary or 

 such other officer as by the government of the 

 Philippine Islands may be described as mining 

 recorder, together with the certificate of the chief 

 of the Philippine insular bureau of public lands 

 that the requisite amount of labor has been ex- 

 pended or improvements made thereon, and the 

 description required in other cases, and shall pay 

 to the provincial treasurer or the collector of in- 

 ternal revenue of the province in which the claim 

 is situated, as the case may be, $5 per acre for his 

 claim, together with the proper fees, whereupon 

 the whole proceedings and the judgment roll shall 

 be certified by the provincial secretary or such 

 other officer as by said government may be 

 described as mining recorder to the secretary of 

 the interior of the Philippine Islands, and a patent 

 shall issue thereon for the claim, or such portion 

 thereof as the applicant shall appear, from the 

 decision of the court, rightly to possess. Tin 

 verse claim may be verified by the oath of any 

 duly authorized agent or attorney in fact of the 

 adverse claimant cognizant of the facts staled: 

 and the adverse claimant, if residing or at the 

 time being beyond the limits of the province 

 wherein the claim is situated, may make oath \ 

 the adverse claim before the clerk of any court of 

 record, or any notary public of any province or 

 military department of the Philippine Islands, or 

 any other officer authorized to administer oaths 

 where the adverse claimant may then be. If it ap- 

 pears from the decision of the court that several 

 parties are entitled to separate and different por- 

 tions of the claim, each party may pay for his por- 

 tion of the claim, with the proper fees, and file the 

 certificate and description by the chief of the Phil- 

 ippine insular bureau of public lands, whereupon 

 the provincial secretary or such other officer as 



