By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that:

SECTION 1. The Civil Governor is hereby authorized and directed, by and with the consent of the Commission, to appoint a collecting librarian of the Insular Government whose duty it shall be, under the supervision and direction of the Civil Governor, to visit the countries of Europe, Mexico, and elsewhere for the purpose of purchasing books and manuscripts relating to the history of the Philippine Islands, making historical researches into said history, procuring copies of official documents relating thereto, with the view to the foundation in Manila of a public historical library upon the subject of the Philippine Islands.

SEC. 2. The salary of the collecting librarian authorized by this Act shall be three thousand dollars per annum, in money of the Traveling expenses. United States, payable monthly. The collecting librarian shall receive his reasonable and actual traveling expenses, not including subsistence except where the same is included in the fare paid, as upon steamship lines, such traveling expenses to be supported by proper vouchers and approved by the Civil Governor. The Civil Governor shall direct the places which shall be visited by the collecting librarian and the time of his stay at each place. The collecting librarian shall make monthly reports to the Civil Governor of what he has done by virtue of this Act, and of the purchases made.

SEC. 3. There shall be advanced by the disbursing officer of the Executive Bureau to said collecting librarian the sum of five hundred dollars for traveling expenses, and the sum of five hundred dollars with which purchases may be made on account of the Insular Government as herein provided; and an appropriation of one thousand dollars is hereby made out of any funds in the Insular Treasury, not otherwise appropriated, to carry out the purposes of this section. Requests shall be made by the collecting librarian from time to time and forwarded, with the approval of the Civil Governor, to the Commission for further appropriations for advances for salary, traveling expenses, and purchases.

SEC. 4. The collecting librarian appointed under this Act shall give a bond in the sum of three thousand dollars, money of the United States, conditioned upon his faithful performance of his duty and the proper accounting of all moneys received by him for the use of the Insular Government, which bond shall be approved by the Insular Treasurer.

SEC. 5. 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. 6. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

Enacted, March 17, 1903.