By the last paragraph of this same section 75 of the act of Congress it is provided: "Corporations not organized in the Philippine Islands and doing business therein shall be bound by the provisions of this section so far as they are applicable." And by section 73 of the "Corporation law" of the Philippine Commission it is enacted: "Any foreign corporation or corporation not formed, organized, or existing under the laws of the Philippine Islands and lawfully doing business in the islands shall be bound by all laws, rules, and regulations applicable to domestic corporations of the same class, save and except such only as provide for the creation, formation, organization, or dissolution of corporations or such as fix the relations, liabilities, responsibilities, or duties of members, stockholders, or officers of corporations to each other or to the corporation: Provided, however, That nothing in this section contained shall be construed or deemed to impair any rights that are secured or protected by the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain, signed at the city of Paris on December tenth, eighteen hundred and ninetyeight." This act was passed under the authority delegated by the organic act. Its provisions are declaratory of the limitations of that act. The restrictions upon the ownership and control of lands in the Philippine Islands by corporations are absolutely determined by this legislation. It is beyond the power of the executive branches of the Governments, either of the United States or the Philippine Islands, to authorize or permit corporations to own or hold lands in excess of the amount so designated. I am therefore of opinion that neither a corporation formed in Belgium to acquire and possess lands in the Philippine Islands, nor any other foreign or domestic corporation authorized to engage in agriculture, may legally purchase or hold more than 1,024 hectares of land in the Phillippine Islands. I have the honor to be, sir, Your obedient servant, GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM. The SECRETARY OF STATE. PHILIPPINE ISLANDS-TRANSFER OF LANDS RESERVED FOR NAVAL PURPOSES TO WAR DEPARTMENT. The President has authority to transfer the use and control of lands in the Philippine Islands, reserved by executive order for naval purposes, to the War Department for military purposes. Opinion of November 3, 1904 (25 Op. 269), approved. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, April 29, 1910. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant, relative to the proposed transfer of certain reserved lands in the Philippine Islands from the control of the Department of the Navy to the control of the Department of War. By an executive order of June 19, 1903, among other things, certain lands at Isabela de Basilan and Pollock, Mindanao, in the Philippine Islands, were set aside for "the exclusive use and control" of the naval authorities. These reservations are considered to be of no further use to the Navy and are desired for use by the Army. You request my opinion whether, "in the absence of express authority from Congress, there is any legal objection to the issuance of an executive order transferring the use and control of the undisposed of lands reserved for naval purposes by Executive Order of June 19, 1903, to the control of the War Department to be used for military purposes." All territory belonging to the United States is subject to the disposition of Congress. Congress has the absolute and unlimited power by the Constitution to provide for its transfer in any mode it sees fit. This is so whether the lands have been acquired by treaty, or conquest, or purchase, or cession. Congress has by general laws provided for the sale or disposal of parts of the national domain in the United States. The term "public lands," in all legislation, is used to describe such lands. There are lands reserved from these, by authority of Congress, for certain purposes. They would be part of the public domain if not so reserved. They can be restored to the body of the public lands only by Congress, the power which authorized their separation. Congress adopted a different policy in the disposition of the lands acquired from Spain by the treaty of Paris. It never incorporated those lands into the body of the public lands of the United States, subject to sale or other disposal under general laws of the United States. By section 12 of the "Act temporarily to provide for the administration of the affairs of civil government in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes," approved July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. 691, 695), it is enacted: "That all the property and rights which may have been acquired in the Philippine Islands by the United States under the treaty of peace with Spain, signed December tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, except such land or other property as shall be designated by the President of the United States for military and other reservations of the Government of the United States, are hereby placed under the control of the government of said islands to be administered for the benefit of the inhabitants thereof, except as provided in this act." The lands became part of the public domain of the United States by the cession. But they were placed by Congress under the control of the Philippine Government, and that government was authorized to provide by general legislation for their disposal. (Secs. 13, 14, and 15.) Authority was given to the President of the United States to make some exceptions out of the general grant of "control" of these lands. This authority was full and complete. There were no limitations upon the discretion of the President beyond this, that the lands and property excepted were to be designated for "military and other reservations of the Government of the United States." They were not, as in the public domain in the United States, reserved from the public lands for public uses to be afterwards restored to the condition of those public lands under general laws. Lands being excepted under this authority from the lands placed under the control of the Philippine government, a reasonable construction of the statute would be that they could be dedicated to any necessary purposes of the Government of the United States. That they might, at one time, have been specifically designated for the use of the military forces or of the navy forces would not deprive the President of the power to use them, if he thought proper, for some other purposes required by the United States. The power delegated to designate the lands for "military and other purposes" does not mean that a particular use should be designated for each parcel at the time it is selected or excepted, and that that designation exhausted the power of the President so that he could not afterwards devote it to some other needed use. The right of exception is to provide for the necessities of the Government of the United States in whatever form they might arise. By these provisions of the act any interference with the general control of the public lands in the Philippine Islands is avoided. * * * By an act of Congress approved July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. 731), the President was "authorized to make, within one year after the approval of this act, such reservation of public lands and buildings belonging to the United States in the island of Porto Rico, for military, naval, light-house, marine hospital, post-offices, custom-houses, United States courts, and other public purposes, as he may deem necessary," the balance with some exceptions "not so reserved being granted to the government of Porto Rico." Under this authority the President by proclamation reserved certain parcels of land for "naval purposes," and by another proclamation reserved certain other parcels for "divers purposes." Some of these lands being desired for the Light-House Establishment, the Secretary of the Navy issued an order transferring them to the Department of Commerce and Labor. The opinion of my predecessor, Mr. Attorney-General Moody, was requested as to the sufficiency of the title thus acquired by this transfer. It was held in an opinion by Mr. Solicitor-General Hoyt, approved by the AttorneyGeneral, that the transfer was allowable. Mr. Hoyt said (25 Op. 269, 270): "The title to all of these lands being in the United States, the effect of the proclamation was to reserve for public purposes certain lands out of the public lands in Porto Rico ceded by Spain to the United States; to assign to certain Executive Departments of this Government the control of the lands reserved as aforesaid; and to relinquish to the government of Porto Rico such of said lands as were not so reserved. "Where it is found that the Government work can the better be carried on by a transfer of the control of a particular parcel, it is thought that the Secretary has ample authority to make the same. The acts of the Secretaries are the acts of the President." The circumstances of that case are similar to those in the one presented to me, and I agree with the conclusion arrived at by my predecessor. I am of opinion that under the authority given to the President he can in the exercise of his discretion make the executive order you refer to. Very respectfully, GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM. THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. COPYRIGHT LAW-REGISTRATION OF TYPEWRITTEN Typewritten pages fastened together and having a printed cover and title-page are subject to registration under the copyright law of March 4, 1909 (35 Stat. 1075). The meaning of that clause in section 12 of the act of 1909, which provides that the book "shall have been produced in accordance with the manufacturing provisions of section 15 of that act," is that the book shall not have been produced in violation of that act; but the provision does not attempt to prescribe any regulation as to the form in which the book should appear. Section 15 means that if the book is printed, the printing shall be done as required therein. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, May 2, 1910. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your communication of the 26th ultimo, in which you state the following facts transmitted to you by the Librarian of Congress: The publishers, Thomas Nelson & Sons, have sent to the Copyright Office for deposit under the copyright law, and copyright registration, two copies of an article entitled for |