Professional Documents
Culture Documents
April 1, 1927]
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11. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.The Legislature may add to, but
may not diminish, the power of appointment of the
GovernorGeneral.
14. ID. ; ID. ; ID. ; ID. ; ID.The decision of the United States
Supreme Court in the case of Myers vs. United States
([1926], 272 U. S., 52; 71 Law. ed., 160) followed.
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264 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED
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MALCOLM, J.:
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272 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED
Government of the Philippine Islands vs. Springer
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The facts upon which the petition is based are few, clear,
and well defined. There is no dispute upon the facts. They
are briefly: That the National Coal Company is a private
corporation created by Act No. 2705 (vol. 12, Public Laws,
p. 216, March 10, 1917) as amended by Act No.
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2822 (vol. 14, Public Laws, p. 202, March 5, 1919). Act No.
2705, as amended by Act No. 2822, constitutes the charter
of said company. Said Acts are not public laws. They are
private Acts of the Philippine Legislature. They provide
that said company shall be subject to the provisions of the
Corporation Law (Act No. 1459) in so far as they are not
inconsistent with the provisions of said charter, and shall
have the general powers mentioned in said Act (Act No.
1459) and such other powers as may be necessary to enable
it to prosecute the business of developing coal deposits in
the Philippine Islands, and mining, extracting,
transporting, and selling the coal contained in said
deposits. Said charter provided that the capital of said
company shall be P3,000,000, divided into 30,000 shares of
stock with a par value of P100 per share.
Said charter further provided that the GovernorGeneral
on behalf of the Government of the Philippine Islands,
shall subscribe for 51 per centum of said capital stock, and
that the "voting power of all such stock owned by the
Government of the Philippine Islands shall be vested
exclusively in a committee consisting of the Governor
General, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives." At the time of the adoption of
said charter the Philippine Legislature appropriated the
sum of P1,530,000 for investment in the stock of said
company to be acquired by the Government of the
Philippine Islands.
The National Coal Company was organized in
accordance with the provisions of its charter. A Board of
Directors was elected from time to time. Its business was
carried on by said Board of Directors. Finally a legal
question arose concerning the right of the President of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to
act with the GovernorGeneral in voting the stock of said
company. That question was referred to the Judge
Advocate General of the United States Army as well as to
the AttorneyGeneral of the United States. Upon full
consideration of
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VOL. 50, APRIL 1, 1927 327
Government of the Philippine Islands vs. Springer
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CONCLUSIONS
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