(h) It being essential to success that "ration checks" circulate at their face value, a senior inspector will cash all those duly presented for payment. If he disapprove a check he will so report to his district chief, who may order the district supply officer to stop the amount disallowed against the officer who issued it. IV. The organization of messes, the components of the rations, when to vary them, what purchases to make for the provinces through the senior inspector, and what for posts or detachments, through their commanders, when to furnish the ration in cash, kind, or both. These details depend on local and varying conditions, and are left to senior inspectors, subject to the restrictions that follow and those that district chiefs, who have final audit of subsistence accounts, may impose. V. (a) Staple components of the ration, such as rice, beans, coffee, canned meats, and vegetables, and kits for messes and individuals will generally be purchased of the nearest civil supply store. Their distribution from these, government transportation not being available, is a proper charge against "Transportation Philippine Constabulary." (b) Where means of communication are uncertain, local markets poor, or administrative organization defective, there will be furnished each man at least 1.65 pounds (2 chupas) of rice per day in kind. (c) Canned goods, and especially imported meats, fish, etc., are most expensive. Often these can be replaced by "viandas," purchased in the local markets, to the profit of the mess fund, and to the greater satisfaction of the men. (d) "On campaign" and at remote stations all components of the ration should, whenever practicable, be purchased on the spot, thus saving transportation, insuring a steady supply, and greatly increasing mobility. (e) Enlisted men or detachments, "traveling under orders," should generally be rationed in cash, the man or the detachment commander signing the receipt on the "ration check." VI. Supply officers who have not the "subsistence funds" with which to fill requisitions of senior inspectors, will do so from any funds, preferably “Pay Philippine Constabulary," on hand, refunding to the proper subheads of appropriation when their subsistence funds are obtained. VII. This order goes into effect Jannary 1, 1904. MANILA. It may be accepted as a fact that Manila is the origin of all serious disturbances in the Philippines. Agitators are, however, beginning to find much difficulty in securing men, arms, or money. At the present time the division of information has four spies acting as officers in a new organization, "the third zone," gotten up in response to the appeal of the new junta in Hongkong. In spite of the old assurances that independence is near and that guns are en route, reenforced by stamped documents purporting to be commissions from lieutenants to generals, this organization finds few men to rally to its support. The general answer by the importuned is that he has had enough "combate" and now wants to live quietly. The old junta at Hongkong is a thing of the past. Two more of its members (Apacible and Ilustre) returned during the present month. The organization that succeeded it is headed by a Spaniard of anarchistic tendencies (Mr. Ruis Prin), assisted by Artemio Ricarte, who returned from Guam with Mabini. This new organization declares complete separation from Aguinaldo and all of his affiliations, and proclaims a universal democratic Filipino republic. The division of information under Major Crawford continues to enlarge the sphere of its activity and results obtained are most valuable. EXPOSITION BATTALION. In addition to the command of the third constabulary district Colonel Taylor is charged with the command and instruction of the two constabulary companies of 100 men each now being trained at San Felipe Neri. This battalion will include in its numbers representatives from every province in the Archipelago. The band, consisting of 80 pieces, and the exhibit, composed of objects collected by the constabulary through the Archipelago, will also be under Colonel Taylor's charge. SUMMARY. Improved conditions have permitted the return of six companies of scouts to the division commander; Albay and Mindoro have been cleared; agitators find fewer converts in formerly favorable localities; the radical leaders of Manila are more disposed to conservatism; the "Santa Iglesia" movement has been completely subdued, and scout companies are required in only two districts. At the present time disaffected localities may be said to exist only in limited parts of Cavite, Batangas, and Laguna, the lower part of Tayabas, and the mountains of Iloilo. In most of these localities the disaffection is not acute, and daily progress is being made. Notwithstanding this showing great vigilance and greater activity are necessary to maintain order and obtain a continuous improvement. The coming year will, in my opinion, in spite of the approaching Presidential election, give the scouts and constabulary far less work than the one just ending. Due to the nature of their duties, the large number of stations that must be maintained, and the recent organization of forces in the Moro Province, the present number of constabulary officers is insufficient for the work. An increase is therefore asked for in the approaching appropriation act. Very respectfully, HENRY T. ALLEN, Brigadier-General, U. S. Army, ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF POSTS, FOR THE BUREAU OF POSTS, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1903. THE BUREAU OF POSTS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, The Honorable the SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND POLICE. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the bureau of posts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, with accompanying statistical tables. The information relative to revenues is given as received from the auditor. PERSONNEL OF THE SERVICE. On July 1, 1902, the employees of this bureau numbered 217, of which 141 were Americans, 75 Filpinos, and 1 Chinaman. During the year, 249 Americans and 101 Filipinos were given appointments, and 3 Americans were reinstated. One hundred and fifty-eight Americans and 39 Filipinos were separated from the bureau by resignation; 10 Americans and 9 Filipinos were separated by removal; 8 Americans and 3 Filipinos by transfer to other bureaus, and 5 Americans by death. On June 30, 1903, the employees of this bureau numbered 234 Americans, 137 Filipinos, and 1 Chinaman. This is an increase during the fiscal year of 93 Americans and 62 Filipinos. With the exception of 2 Americans, transferred from the United States postal service, all appointments during the year were made from the Philippine civil service register, or under the provisions of sections 3 and 4 of Act 181, authorizing the appointment of postmasters at the smaller offices without regard to the civil-service act. REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES. The revenues for this fiscal year, as shown by Table E, amount to $145,702.53, which is an increase of about 5 per cent over the previous On the other hand, the expenditures for the year, amounting to $231,431.08, show an increase of 25 per cent; and to this amount must be added printing and binding_received from the public printer during the year, amounting to $8,748.95. There is an increase of $39,549.77 in the item of salaries and wages, practically all of which represents compensation of postmasters at new offices established during the year. The increase in the cost of mail transportation is $9,903.90, nearly all of which is for land transportation between established post offices throughout the islands, where heretofore mails were carried without expense to this bureau. Last year the payments to steamships carrying mails to foreign ports amounted to $5,071.32, while this year the payments for this purpose amounted to $6,910.36. DEAD-LETTER OFFICE. In the dead-letter office of this bureau there was received during the year 43,112 pieces of mail, which, for various reasons, could not be delivered to addressees. This is a decrease of over 22,500 for the preceding year. During the year 12,159 letters and other articles of mail matter which could not be delivered to addressees were returned to the senders, and 4,971 pieces, the senders of which could not be ascertained, were destroyed. Twenty-two thousand six hundred and fiftyseven letters and packages of undelivered matter were returned to the United States and 3,130 pieces were returned to foreign countries. These figures show a decrease compared to the preceding fiscal year of 11,850 pieces returned to the United States and 2,466 to foreign countries. In 70 of the letters opened and returned to senders there were found drafts, checks, and money, amounting to $1,784.28. During the year money amounting to $82.50, taken from letters the senders of which could not be ascertained, was turned into the postal revenue after being held one year. Postage stamps to the amount of $9, found in letters remaining unclaimed for the same period of time, were destroyed under proper supervision. At the close of the year 18 valuable letters remained in the dead-letter office, containing drafts, money orders, and cash, amounting to $7,827.12. MONEY-ORDER BUSINESS. The money-order business was in operation at 33 offices. This branch of the service was extended during the year to two offices only. Further extensions, requiring the Government to assume larger responsibilities, were not made because of the fact that irregular transportation of the mails makes the accumulation of large amounts of money-order funds in out-of-the-way post-offices possible and unavoidable. However, matters in these respects have improved to such an extent that the money-order service has been established since June 30 at seven additional offices, and other extensions will be made during the present fiscal year. At the Manila post-office, 10,156 less orders were issued than during the preceding year; but, on the other hand, there was an increase of 3,856 in the number issued at money-order offices in the provinces. The money-order system continues to be used largely for remittances of money to the United States. During the year orders to the amount of $1,396,848.20, issued in the Philippines, were paid in the United States; while orders to the amount of only $136,440.61, issued in the United States, were paid in the Philippines. To settle the difference between these amounts, remittances were made during the year to the postmasters at New York City and San Francisco, Cal., amounting to $994,132.94. During this year the Manila post-office paid orders aggregating $1,445,706.96, and received deposits of surplus moneyorder funds from provincial offices in the amount of $1,439,394.59. These figures are good evidence of the extent to which the moneyorder system is patronized in the provinces. Further evidence of this fact appears in the demands for the establishment of money-order business at other offices. The handling of Mexican and Spanish-Filipino currency in the money-order business during the last fiscal year has been most difficult. The ratio of exchange between this money and United States currency was changed so frequently that it was not always possible to convert the local currency received into United States currency before another drop in the value of the former took place. It is gratifying to state, however, that notwithstanding all the difficulties encountered, we managed to handle this local currency in the money-order business not only without loss to the Government, but at a profit. On June 30 all of the surplus local currency not required to pay outstanding orders payable in this kind of money was exchanged with the treasurer of the Archipelago for United States currency at the existing legal ratio of exchange. The value of this exchange in United States currency is $2,545.77, which amount has been taken up in our money-order accounts as profit on exchange. Now that Mexican and Spanish-Filipino currency will soon be eliminated from the question, negotiations have been reopened for moneyorder exchanges between the Philippines and Singapore, Hongkong, and Japan. These negotiations were started more than a year ago, but were suspended temporarily on account of the rapid fluctuations in the value of local currency. REGISTRY BUSINESS. The total number of letters and other articles of mail matter registered during the year is 164,742. This is an increase of more than 23 per cent over the previous year. There is an increase of more than 10 per cent in the total number of registered articles received from the United States, and of more than 12 per cent in the number received from foreign countries. The increase in the number of pieces of registered mail sent to the United States is more than 9 per cent, while to foreign countries it is 11 per cent. Last year 10,161 pieces of official mail were registered free, while this year the official free registration amounted to 27,245, which is an increase of over 168 per cent. INTERISLAND TRANSPORTATION. This fiscal year has seen considerable improvement in interisland mail communication. A number of commercial steamers are now being operated upon practically regular schedules between Manila and other important points. Interisland army transports have been run much nearer regular schedules than heretofore. On the first of each month the army transport service publishes a schedule of its interisland transports for the next thirty days, and these schedules are, as a rule, maintained. Some months since I endeavored to arrange for the placing of postal clerks on the interisland army transports, but was unsuccessful, owing to the lack of space for their accommodation and the distribution of the mails. Toward the close of the year, nine coast-guard routes were established. With this amount of regular transportation, all of the more important points in the Philippine Islands receive a fairly regular mail service. To further improve the postal facilities throughout the islands, postal clerks are being assigned to the coast-guard steamers, which will be operated on regular schedules. These clerks, in addition to their duties toward the mail service, are also acting as pursers and freight |