[ Act No. 273, October 21, 1901 ]

AN ACT CREATING A BUREAU OF ARCHIVES.

By authority of the President of the United States, be it enacted by the United States Philippine Commission, that:SECTION 1. There is hereby created, under the Department of Public Instruction, a Bureau which shall have charge of such public records as may, in accordance with law, or by order of the Civil Governor, be deposited in the insular archives. This Bureau shall be called the Bureau of Archives.SEC. 2. There shall be a Chief of the Bureau of Archives, who shall receive an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars.SEC. 3. The duties of the Chief of the Bureau of Archives shall be:

1. To have the care and custody of such public records as may, in accordance with law, or by direction of the Civil Governor, be deposited in the insular archives.
2. To furnish such information derived from the insular archives and such papers or copies of such papers contained therein b as may be requested by the Civil Governor, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce and Police, the Secretary of Finance and Justice, the Secretary of Public Instruction, the members of the Commission, or such other persons as may be authorized by law to request such information, papers, or copies.

SEC. 4. On the written request of the Civil Governor or the Secretary of any Department, the Chief of the Bureau of Archives shall deliver to the head of any Bureau under the Governor, or the Secretary making the request, documents relating to the affairs of the Bureau in question, and the head of the Bureau receiving such documents shall receipt for them to the Chief of the Bureau of Archives, and become responsible for their proper care and custody while in his possession.SEC. 5. The employees of the Bureau of Archives, in addition to the Chief of the Bureau, shall be as follows: One clerk, class seven; two clerks, class nine; two clerks, Class F; two clerks, Class H; one clerk, Class I; three clerks, Class J, and two porters with annual salaries of one hundred and fifty dollars each.SEC 6. The number of authorized employees in the office of the Executive Secretary is hereby diminished by two clerks of class nine; two clerks of Class F; two clerks of Class H; one clerk of Class I; three clerks of Class J; and two porters with annual salaries of one hundred and fifty dollars each and these clerks, now employed as assistants to the keeper of the Spanish archives, are hereby transferred to the Bureau of Archives.SEC. 7. The salaries mentioned in this Act are stated in money of the United States, but they may be paid either in money of the United States or in sums of local currency equivalent in value to the amounts stated in the preceding sections of this Act.SEC. 8. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.SEC. 9. This Act shall take effect on its passage.Enacted, October 21, 1901.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library