estimate of the probable expenses of the corresponding district for the school year next following, such estimate to be forwarded to the provincial superintendent.

67. Rental and use of schoolhouses.-The board of education of any district is empowered to rent suitable schoolrooms, but no lease of a schoolroom or building shall be made for a period exceeding one year. When in the judgment of any board of education it would be for the advantage of the children residing in any school district to hold literary societies, school exhibitions, normal school or teachers' institutes, the board of education shall authorize the opening of such schoolhouses for the purposes aforesaid, provided such action shall in no wise interfere with the public schools in such district.

68. Illegal use of schoolhouses.-Schoolrooms shall be secured in healthful localities, and shall be clean, well ventilated, and well lighted, and all rooms, buildings, or parts of buildings rented or assigned for school use shall be used exclusively for school purposes, and no teacher, janitor, or other person shall dwell therein.

69. Sufficient schools must be provided.-Each board of education shall establish a sufficient number of schools to provide for the free education of the youth of school age in the district under its control at such places as will be most convenient for the attendance of the largest number of such youth, and shall continue each and every day school so established thirty-six weeks in each school year, and each municipal board of education shall establish at least one primary school in each subdistrict under its control. a

70. Schools at children's homes and orphan asylums.-The board of any district in which a children's home or orphans' asylum is or may be established by law shall, when requested by the directors of such children's home or orphans' asylum, establish in such home or asylum a separate school, so as to afford to the children therein as far as practicable the advantages and privileges of the common-school education; all schools so established in any such home or asylum shall be under the control and management of the directors of such institution, which directors shall in the control and management of such schools as far as practicable be subject to the same laws that boards of education and other school officers are who have charge of the common schools of such district, and the teacher of any such school so established shall make all reports required by this order as any other teacher of the district and to the same officers.

71. Evening school.-In any district, or part thereof, parents or guardians of children of school age may petition the board of education to organize an evening school. The petition shall contain the names of not less than 25 youths of school age who will attend such school, and who, for reasons satisfactory to the board, are prevented from attending day school. Upon receiving such petition the board of education shall provide a suitable room for the evening school and employ a competent person, who holds a regularly issued teacher's certificate, to teach it. Such board may discontinue any such evening school when the average evening attendance for any month falls below 12.

72. Who may be admitted to public schools.-Schools of each district shall be free to all unmarried youth between 6 and 18 years of age, who are children, wards, or apprentices of actual residents of the district, including children of proper age who are or may be inmates of a children's home or orphans' asylum located in any such school district; provided, that all unmarried youth of school age living apart from their parents or guardians and who work to support themselves by their own labor shall be entitled to attend school free in the district in which they are employed. The several boards shall make such assignment of the unmarried youth of their respective districts to the schools established by them as will in their opinion best promote the interests of education in their district.

73. Suspension and expulsion of pupils.-No pupil shall be suspended from school by a superintendent or teacher except for such time as may be necessary to convene the board of education, and no pupil shall be expelled except by a vote of two-thirds of such board, and not until the parent or guardian of the offending pupil has been notified of the proposed expulsion, and permitted to be heard against the same; and no pupil shall be suspended or expelled from any school beyond the current term thereof.

74. Holidays.-Teachers employed in the common schools may dismiss their schools without forfeiture of pay on such legal holidays as the military governor may from time to time appoint.

Boards of education may, in their discretion, permit boys and girls of school age to attend the same school, and it is hoped that at least with young children this plan will prevail, as it will tend to develop that high respect between the sexes which is the basis of true womanhood and manhood. In small towns and in the country it may often be the only means of establishing sufficient schools.

75. School year, week, and day.-The school year shall begin on the 1st day of September of each year and close on the 31st day of August of the succeeding year. Schools shall open regularly on the second Monday of September of each year, and the first term shall end on December 24 next following. The second term shall begin January 2 of each year and end on the Friday next preceding holy week. The third term shall begin on the first Monday after said holy week and end when paragraph 69 has been complied with. The school month shall consist of four school weeks, and the school week shall consist of the five days from Monday to Friday, inclusive. The daily school session shall be for six hours, not including recesses, and shall be divided into a morning and afternoon session.

76. Boards to control schools and appoint officers.—Each board of education shall have the management and control of the public schools of the district, except as otherwise provided for boards of education in city districts, with full power to appoint principals, teachers, janitors, and other employees, and fix their salaries or pay, provided such salaries each month do not exceed the following: In Habana, $65; in the capitals of provinces and in Cardenas and Cienfuegos, $50; in all other municipalities, $40, except for all teachers in schools with an average attendance of less than thirty pupils, in which case the salary shall not exceed $30; and any person serving as a regular teacher of a school, and also having the supervision of not less than two other schools, shall be rated as a principal on the rolls and receive the additional sum of $10 per month. Such salaries or pay may be increased, but shall not be diminished during the term for which the appointment is made; but no person shall be appointed for a longer time than one year, and the board of education may dismiss any appointee for inefficiency, neglect of duty, immorality, or improper conduct. Women only shall be employed in schools for girls; either women or men may be employed in schools for boys. For similar services women and men shall at all times receive equal pay.

77. Date of teacher's appointment.—The teacher's appointment shall date from and the teacher's salary shall begin on the day when he first takes charge of a school during any school term, and at the end of the first calendar month thereafter he shall be paid such part of a month's salary as corresponds to the length of time he has been in actual charge of a school. Thereafter his salary shall be due and payable for each calendar month, and all contracts for the service of teachers shall be for a term or period of time ending on the last day of August of the school year for which the teacher was hired.

78. Salary during vacations.-The teacher's salary will continue during vacations as well as the actual school periods.

When salary may not be drawn.—In order to be entitled to draw the salary during vacations, teachers must employ such periods in normal schools, teachers' meeting for instruction, or in following other courses of instruction approved by the board of superintendents, provided that such school meetings or courses of study are previously prescribed by said board; otherwise the salary will be regularly due the teachers without vacation work.

79. When unlawful to employ teachers.-It shall be unlawful for any board of education, prior to the annual election and the qualification of the director or directors elected thereat, to employ or contract to employ any teacher for a term to commence after the expiration of the current school year; and the school director in each subdistrict of municipal districts, the president of the school board in each city district of the second class, and the superintendents of instruction in city districts of the first class shall give to the teacher or teachers under their control certificates of such employment and of services rendered, addressed to the clerk of the board of education, who, upon presentation thereof and compliance of such teachers with the provisions of paragraph 49, shall draw orders on the proper disbursing officer for the amount certified to be due, in favor of the parties entitled thereto, and the said disbursing officer shall pay the same. If salaries are not paid within thirty days of the date of application for the same by the teacher, boards of education shall, and teachers may, report the fact to the commissioner of public schools, who will give the matter personal attention.

80. Teachers may sue board for pay.-If the board of education of any district dismiss any teacher for any frivolous or insufficient reason, such teacher may bring suit against such board of education, and if on the trial of the case a judgment be obtained against the board of education the board shall direct the clerk to issue an order upon the proper disbursing officer for the sum so found due to the person entitled thereto, and in such suits process may be served on the lerk of the board of the district, and service upon him shall be sufficient.

ENUMERATION.

81. Yearly enumeration of school youth.-There shall be taken in each district annually during the two weeks ending on the fourth Saturday of March an enumeration of all unmarried youths, denoting sex, between 6 and 18 years of age, resident within the district and not temporarily there, designating also the number between 6 and 8 years of age, the number between 8 and 14 years of age, the number between 14 and 16 years of age, and the number between 16 and 18 years of age.

82. How enumeration of youth is taken.—Each person required or employed under this order to take such enumeration shall take an oath or affirmation to take the same accurately and truly to the best of his skill and ability. When making return thereof to the proper officers, he shall accompany the same with a list of the names of all the youths so enumerated, noting the age of each, and with his affidavit duly certified that he has taken and returned the enumeration accurately and truly to the best of his knowledge and belief, and that such list contains the names of all youths so enumerated and none other.

Compensation for same.-The officer to whom such return is required to be made, may administer such oath or affirmation and take and certify such affidavits, and shall keep in his office for the period of five years such reports and lists of names, and each person taking and returning the enumeration shall be allowed by the proper board of education reasonable compensation for his services, to which in municipal subdistricts shall not exceed $2 for each person authorized, required, or appointed to perform the service.

83. Director to take enumeration in subdistricts.-The director of each subdistrict shall take the enumeration of his subdistrict and return same to the clerk of the board of education in the manner prescribed herein.

84. Clerks to transmit abstract of enumeration to provincial superintendent.—The clerk of each board shall, annually, on or before the first Saturday of April, make and transmit to the provincial superintendent of the province in which is situated the corresponding district, an abstract of the enumeration required by this order to be returned to him, according to the form prescribed by the commissioner of public schools, with an oath or affirmation indorsed thereon that it is a correct abstract of the returns made to him under oath or affirmation, and the oath or affirmation of the clerk may be administered and certified to by any member of the board of education, or by the provincial superintendent.

85. Provincial superintendents to furnish abstract to commissioner of public schools.— Each provincial superintendent shall make and transmit to the commissioner of public schools, on or before the last Saturday of April in each year, on blanks to be furnished by the latter, an abstract of the enumeration returns made to him, duly certified.

86. Penalty for making fraudulent returns.—An officer through whose hands the enumeration required herein to be returned passes, who, by percentage or otherwise, adds to or takes from the number actually enumerated, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction of such offense, shall be fined in any sum not less than $5 nor more than $500, or imprisoned in the proper jail not less than ten nor more than thirty days, at the discretion of the court.

87. False returns from teachers.-Any enumerator, teacher, principal, or superintendent who makes a fraudulent return of statistics shall be [deemed] guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction of such offense, shall be fined in any sum not less than $5 nor more than $500, or imprisoned in the proper jail not less than ten nor more than thirty days, at the discretion of the court.

ATTENDANCE.

88. Time of attendance.-Every parent, guardian, or other person having charge of any child between the ages of 6 and 14 years shall send such child to a public, private, or parochial school not less than twenty weeks, at least ten weeks of which, commencing with the first four weeks of the school year, shall be consecutive, occasional daily absence for reasonable excuse excepted.

Excusal from such attendance.-Unless the child is excused from such attendance by the president of the board of education in municipal districts, or city districts of the second class, and the superintendent of instruction in city districts of the first class, upon a satisfactory showing, either that the bodily or mental condition of the child does not permit of its attending school, or that the child is being instructed at home by a person qualified, in the opinion of the clerk of the board of education, to teach writing, spelling, reading, geography, and arithmetic.

89. Employment of children under 14 years of age.-No child under the age of 14 years shall be employed by any person, company, or corporation during the school term and while the public schools are in session, unless the parent, guardian, or person in charge of such child shall have fully complied with the requirements of the preceding paragraph. Every person, company, or corporation shall require proof of such compliance before employing any such minor and shall make and keep a written record of the proof given, and shall, upon the request of the truant officer, hereinafter provided for, permit him to examine such record. Any person, company, or corporation employing any child contrary to the provisions of this paragraph shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $50.

90. Truant officer.—To aid in the enforcement of the last two paragraphs, truant officers shall be appointed and employed as follows: In city districts the board of education shall appoint, employ, and fix the salary of one or more truant officers; in township districts the board of education shall appoint one truant officer. The compensation of the truant officer, except in the city districts, shall be $2 per day for each day actually employed in carrying out the orders of the clerk of the board of education.

Powers and duties.-The truant officer shall be vested with police powers, and shall have authority to enter workshops, factories, stores, and all other places where children may be employed, and do whatever may be necessary in the way of investigation and otherwise to enforce the last two paragraphs. The clerk of the board of education, upon the representation of the truant officer, shall institute proceedings against any officer, parent, guardian, person, or corporation violating any of the provisions of the last two paragraphs. The truant officer shall keep a record of his transactions for the inspection and information of the board of education, and he shall make such reports to the clerk of the board of education as are required by him.

91. Reports of principals and teachers.-It shall be the duty of all principals and teachers of schools, public, private, and parochial, to report to the clerk of the board of education of the district in which the schools are situated, the names, ages, and residence of all pupils in attendance at their schools, together with such other facts as said clerk may require, in order to facilitate the carrying out of the last three paragraphs, and such report shall be made the last week of each month. It shall be the further duty of such principals and teachers to report to the clerk of the board of education all cases of truancy in their respective schools, as soon after the offenses have been committed as practicable.

92. Proceedings in case of truancy.-On the request of the clerk of the board of education, the truant officer shall examine into any case of truancy within his district, and warn truant and its parents, guardian, or other persons in charge, in writing, of the final consequences of truancy if persisted in. When any child between the ages of 8 and 14 years is not attending school without lawful excuse, or in violation of the preceding paragraph, the truant officer shall notify that parent, guardian, or other person in charge of said child of the fact, and require such parent, guardian, or other person in charge to cause the child to attend some recognized school within five days of the day of notice; and it shall be the duty of the parent, guardian, or other person in charge of the child so to cause its attendance at some recognized school.

Penalties imposed on parents, guardians, etc.-Upon failure to do so, the truant officer shall report the case to the clerk of the board of education, who shall make complaint against the parent, guardian, or other person in charge of the child in any court of competent jurisdiction in the district in which the offense occurs, for such failure, and upon conviction the parent, guardian, or other person in charge shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $25, in the discretion of the court, the offense to be punishable as a falta, or the court may, in its discretion, require the person so convicted to give a bond in the penal sum of $100, with sureties to the approval of the court, conditioned that he or she will cause the child under his or her charge to attend some recognized school within five days thereafter, and to remain at such school during the terms prescribed by law, and upon a failure or refusal of any such parent, guardian, or other person to pay said fine or furnish said bond, according to the order of the court, then said parent, guardian, or other person shall be imprisoned in the proper jail not less than five days nor more than ten days.

93. When child is exempt.—When any truant officer is satisfied that any child, compelled to attend school by the provisions preceding, is unable to attend school because absolutely required to work, at home or elsewhere, in order to support itself, or help support or care for others legally entitled to its support, who are unable to support or care for themselves, the truant officer shall report the case to the board of education, who may exempt such child from the provisions preceding.

94. Penalties.-Any officer, principal, teacher, or person mentioned in the foregoing four paragraphs, neglecting to perform any duty imposed upon him by these para

graphs shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $20 for each offense. Any officer or agent of any corporation violating any of the aforementioned paragraphs, who participates or acquiesces in, or is cognizant of such violation, shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $20. Any person who violates any of the aforesaid paragraphs for which a penalty is not elsewhere provided shall be fined not more than $50.

Jurisdiction. Correctional judges, or, if the district has not a correctional judge, then the municipal judge, shall have jurisdiction to try the offenses described in the aforesaid paragraphs, and their judgment shall be final.

95. Where law does not operate.-This enforced attendance shall not be operative in any school district where there are not sufficient accommodations in the public schools to seat children compelled to attend the public schools under the provisions of the five preceding paragraphs.

96. Duty of commissioner of public schools.—It shall be the duty of the commissioner of public schools, from time to time, whenever deemed advisable, to formulate and forward to boards of education throughout the island regulations and suggestions for the instruction and guidance of all persons charged with the enforcement of the preceding six paragraphs, or any of their provisions.

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.

97. Organization by board of superintendents.—It shall be the duty of the board of superintendents to organize in each province at least one teachers' institute, and more than one, if, in the opinion of the board of superintendents, one will not accommodate all the teachers of the province.

98. Number and salaries of instructors and lecturers.-The board of superintendents shall determine upon the number and salaries of instructors and lecturers of any institute, and length of each session of the institute, provided that no session shall continue less than four school weeks.

Attendance of teachers necessary to collect vacation salaries.—Each teacher shall attend at least one complete session of the institute in order to obtain his salary during the vacation period.

99. Institute fund.-As a condition of attending the institute each teacher shall deposit, with an individual to be designated by the board of superintendents, the amount of $5, which shall form the institute fund. This fund shall be used to cover the necessary expenses of the institute, and shall be expended and accounted for as directed in order from time to time. If the expenses of the institute exceed in amount the institute fund, the unpaid balance shall be paid from the island revenues. If the institute fund for any year exceeds the expenses of the institute for that year, such excess shall go to form a sinking fund for the support of the institute.

100. Organization of institute.-The board of superintendents shall, at their regular meeting in October, 1900, decide upon a plan of organization of the teachers' institutes of the island for the school years of 1900-1 and submit the same to the secretary of public instruction and the military governor for approval as soon thereafter as possible.

BOARD OF EXAMINERS.

101. Plans for examinations of teachers.-The board of superintendents shall, at their regular meeting in October, 1900, decide upon a plan for the examination of the teachers of the island as to their qualification to teach, and shall present the same in writing to the military governor through the secretary of public instruction, as soon thereafter as possible, for his approval.

102. Certificate a requisite to employment of teacher.-After the approval and publication of the plan mentioned in the preceding paragraph, no person shall be employed as teacher in a common school who has not obtained from a board of examiners having competent jurisdiction a certificate of good moral character, and that he or she is qualified to teach such branches of study as the board of superintendents may decide upon, and possesses adequate knowledge of the theory and practice of teaching. 103. All salaries and fines mentioned in this order shall be payable in United States currency or its equivalent.

J. B. HICKEY, Assistant Adjutant-General.