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

SECTION  1. Section one of Act Numbered Seventeen hundred and sixty-seven is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Section 1. Beginning with the calendar year nineteen hundred and nine, and each year thereafter, there shall be paid bounties to growers of tobacco under the following conditions:

"(a)  Three thousand pesos in the Province; of  Cagayan, three thousand pesos in the Province of Isabela, two thousand two hundred and fifty pesos in the Province of La Union to be expended in bounties for the encouragement of the tobacco-raising industry, under the rules and regulations to be made, by the Director of Agriculture, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

"(b)  Each of the provinces named in the preceding paragraph shall he divided into districts not to exceed four in number in each province by the Director of Agriculture, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

"(c) In the Provinces of Cagayan and lsabela sums not to exceed four hundred pesos each, and in the Province of La Union a sum not to exceed three hundred pesos may be expended out of the funds hereby appropriated, in each calendar year, for the traveling expenses per diems, or any other expenses of the committee hereinafter provided for.  Growers of leaf tobacco desiring to compete for the bounties provided for above shall register as competitors with the political treasurer at the time of planting each years crop, or soon thereafter as practicable, and the treasurer of each province shall by frequent publication, not less than once a quarter or oftener if adviable by bando or otherwise, in each town inform all growers of leaf tobacco regarding the payment of these bounties and the steps necessary to be taken to enter the contest.  A standing committee in each province is hereby constituted to pass on the claims of the various competitors. Said committee shall be composed of the provincial treasurer, a representative from the Bureau of Agriculture to be designated in each province by the Director of that Bureau and a third member to be a planter of or dealer in leaf tobacco in each province to be selected by the other two members of the committee.  This committee shall convene on the call of the provincial treasurer, shall provide such rules for the discharge of its commission as may be needed to suit local conditions in each province, and their report each year, on the names of the growers of leaf tabacco entitled to the various bounties shall be in the form of a certified resolution signed by the three members of said committee and forwarded to the Covernor-General of the Philippine Islands.  A copy of said resolution shall also be forwarded to the Insular Auditor and a copy to the Collector of Internal Revenue and the Director of Agriculture.

"(d) The balances appropriated in section one (a) hereof shall in each province be equally divided among the several districts, so that each district: shall receive its proportionate amount, said amount to be subdivided into two parts.  The first part shall be distributed in the proportion of fifty per centum, thirty per centum, and twenty per centum to the growers, in their order of merit, of leaf tobacco in said district who plant not less than one hectare nor more than ten hectares and who produce the largest number of marketable leaves per hectare. Leaves taken from ratloons or suckers shall not be considered a part of the crop on which awards are to be made. The second part shall be distributed in the proportion of fifty per centum, thirty per centum, and twenty per centum to the growers, in their order of merit, of leaf tobacco in said district who cultivate not less than one hectare nor more than ten hectares and who sort the tobacco leaves harvested on such holding in the most uniform manner as regards the size quality, coloring, and so forth, of the leave."

SEC. 2. Section two of said Act Numbered Seventeen hundred and sixty-seven is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. A permanent continuing appropriation to pay the committee expenses and bounties above specified is hereby made, and the Insular Auditor shall, upon the approval of the Director of Agriculture, pay the former by warrant direct, and the latter to each power entitled thereto by warrant, in the name of such grower, to be delivered to him by the provincial treasurer and to be paid out of the Insular Treasury from any moneys not otherwise appropriated. The names of the successful competitors shall be published in the Official Gazette and m the local press."

SEC. 3. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

Enacted, May 19, 1909.