178 Proceedings of the 



"All moneys obtained from lease or sale of any 

 portion of the public domain or from licenses to cut 

 timber by the government of the Philippine Islands 

 shall be coverted into the insular treasury and be sub- 

 ject only to appropriation for insular purposes accord- 

 ing to law. 



"Sec. 18. That the forest laws and regulations now 

 in force in the Philippine Islands, with such modifica- 

 tions and amendments as may be made by the 

 government of said islands, are hereby continued in 

 force, and no timber lands forming part of the public 

 domain shall be sold, leased, or entered until the 

 government of said islands, upon the certification of 

 the forestry bureau that said lands are more valuable 

 for agriculture than for forest uses, shall declare such 

 lands so certified to be agricultural in character: Pro- 

 vided, That the said government shall have the right 

 and is hereby empowered to issue licenses to cut, 

 harvest, or collect timber or other forest products on 

 reserved or unreserved public lands in said islands in 

 accordance with the forest laws and regulations here- 

 inbefore mentioned and under the provisions of this 

 act, and the said government may lease land to any 

 person or persons holding such licenses, sufficient for 

 a mill site, not to exceed four hectares in extent, and 

 may grant rights of way to enable such person or 

 persons to get access to the lands to which such licenses 

 apply." 



A forest act was promulgated by the Insular Civil 

 Commission May 7, 1904; and by means of its wise 

 provisions, a rational system of forest management 

 can be inaugurated and the future welfare of the 

 forests secured. It received careful scrutiny from 

 legal minds connected with the law-enacting branch 

 of the Civil Government with a view to protecting and 



