200 The Philippine Journal of Science 1917 



cession fees shall be due on the first of January of each year and, if 

 tendered in quarterly installments, on or before the twentieth of January, 

 April, July, and October, or on or before the last days of said months in 

 remote provinces, in the discretion of the Collector of Internal Revenue, 

 shall be received without penalty; but any person first beginning to fish, 

 collect, or gather sponges under a concession, shall pay the first quarterly 

 installment before his concession shall be valid. If the fee due on any 

 concession is not paid within the period in which the payment may be 

 received without penalty, the amount of same shall be increased by ten 

 per centum, the increment to be a part of the fee. Should the concession 

 fee remain delinquent fifty days after the same becomes due, the concession 

 shall be canceled, without prejudice to cx-iminal proceedings against the 

 delinquent concessionaire under section twelve hereof. 



Of the sums collected under and by virtue of this Act, twenty per centum 

 shall accrue to the Insular Treasury and forty per centum to the province 

 and municipality, respectively, in which the concession is located. In case 

 a concession should be included within two or more provinces or munic- 

 ipalities, the distribution between the different provinces and municipalities 

 shall be made in proportion to the areas of the concession included within 

 the respective municipalities and provinces as aforesaid. 



Sec. 6. A temporary written permit to prospect for sponges in any 

 waters of the Philippine Islands, not itnder concession, may be granted by 

 any provincial treasurer with the concurrence of and countersigned by 

 the provincial governor, upon payment of a fee of five pesos. This 

 temporary prospector's permit shall not be valid for a longer period of 

 time than three months from date it is issued, and shall not be subject to 

 renewal. Such permit may be issued to any person or corporation subject 

 to the provisions of section two hereof. 



Under no circumstances shall more than fifty kilos of cleaned sponges 

 be gathered under such temporary permit. Should any such temporary 

 prospector's permits be found with defaced, erased, or illegible date of 

 issue, they shall be taken up at once by the first peace officer who becomes 

 aware of this fact. At the end of the period for which these temporary 

 prospector's permits are issued, they shall be retui-ned to the issuing treas- 

 urers, who shall keep the same on file marked "canceled." 



Sec. 7. Holders of a sponge concession shall have the privilege of erect- 

 ing the necessary plant for the development and exploitation of the sponge 

 industry such as houses, drying racks, corrals, landings, etc., on the shore 

 convenient to the concession for the proper curing of sponges: Provided, 

 hovjever, That the previous approval of the Secretary of Commerce and 

 Police should be had in accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered 

 Sixteen hundred and fifty-four before erecting structures herein referred 

 to. 



Sec. 8. All sponges shipped from the Philippine Islands shall be graded 

 as to variety and size and such grades must be placed in separate sacks 

 and truthfully marked. It shall be the duty of the Insular Collector of 

 Customs to enforce the provisions of this section in accordance with rules 

 and regulations issued under this Act. 



Sec. 9. Under penalty of the forfeiture of the concession and confis- 

 cation by the Government of the entire shipment in which found, no com- 

 mercial sponge of less than ten centimeters through any diameter shall be 

 taken from the waters of the Philippine Islands except for purposes of 



