Whereas, there are certain large tracts of land the title to which is vested in one person or entity and which have since times immemorial been leased to tenants or occupants;

Whereas, the public order and welfare demand a final and just action on the part of the Government for the solution of the conflicts arising between the owners and tenants: Now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the same:

SECTION 1. The Governor-General is hereby authorized to appoint, if in his judgment the public interest and welfare require it, a committee of not more than three members, made up of impartial persons with experience in the premises, which committee shall, in general, have the following powers and duties:

(a) To make an impartial investigation of the controversies between the owners and tenants of large estates owned by persons or entities in such extensive lots or parcels that, in the judgment of the Governor-General, the public welfare requires Government intervention, and, upon the completion of such investigation, to submit to the Governor-General a complete and detailed report, accompanied by any testimony or documentary evidence adduced by the parties, and by such recommendations as the committee may see fit to make.

(b) To summon and swear witnesses and issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum, which summonses and subpoenas shall be served and complied with in the same manner as those issued in criminal cases by the Courts of First Instance.

(c) To impose penalties for contempt, in accordance with sections two hundred and thirty-one to two hundred and forty of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety, entitled "An Act providing a Code of Procedure in civil actions and special proceedings in the Philippine Islands," upon any persons guilty of violations of sections two hundred and thirty-one and two hundred and thirty-two of said Act Numbered One hundred and ninety, the committee having, for this purpose only, the status of a Court of First Instance.

Upon receipt of the report of the committee, the Governor-General shall recommend to the Philippine Legislature the adoption of such measures as may, in his judgment, be compatible with the public welfare and interest and with the just claims of the parties.

SEC. 2. The members of the committee appointed under this Act shall receive a compensation, which shall be designated by the Governor-General, for each day of session of the committee, or, in case the appointee is a Government officer, an additional compensation, which shall also be designated by the Governor-General.

SEC. 3. There is hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of twenty-five thousand pesos or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the payment of the compensation of the members of the committee and of the subordinate personnel, and for the purchase of stationery and office material.

SEC. 4. This Act shall not be effective after October fifteenth, nineteen hundred and twenty.

Approved, March 14,  1919.