Sec. 53. That every person above the age of twenty-one years, who is a citizen of the United States, or of the Philippine Islands, or who has acquired the rights of a native of said Islands under and by virtue of the treaty of Paris, or any association of persons severally qualified as above, shall, upon application to the proper provincial treasurer, have the right to enter any quality of vacant coal lands of said Islands not otherwise appropriated or reserved by competent authority, not exceeding sixty-four hectares to such individual person, or one hundred and twenty-eight hectares to such association, upon payment to the provincial treasurer or the collector of internal revenue, as the case may be, of not less than twenty-five dollars per hectare for such lands, where the same shall be situated more than fifteen miles from any completed railroad or available harbor or navigable stream, and not less than fifty dollars per hectare for such lands as shall be within fifteen miles of such road, harbor, or stream: Provided, That such entries shall be taken in squares of sixteen or sixty-four hectares, in conformity with the rules and regulations governing the public-land surveys of the said Islands in plotting legal subdivisions.

Sec. 54. That any person or association of persons, severally qualified as above provided, who have opened and improved, or shall hereafter open and improve, any coal mine or mines upon the public lands, and shall be in actual possession of the same, shall be entitled to a preference right of entry under the preceding section of the mines so opened and improved.

Sec. 55. That all claims under the preceding section must be presented to the proper provincial secretary within sixty days after the date of actual possession and the commencement of improvements on the land by the filing of a declaratory statement therefor; and where the improvements shall have been made prior to the expiration of three months from the date of the passage of this Act, sixty days from the expiration of such three months 6hall be allowed for the filing of a declaratory statement; and no sale under the provisions of this Act shall be allowed until the expiration of six months from the date of the passage of this Act.

Sec. 56. That the three preceding sections shall be held to authorize only one entry by the same person or association of persons; and no association of persons, any member of which shall have taken the benefit of such sections, either as an individual or as a member of any other association, shall enter or hold any other lands under the provisions thereof; and no member of any association which shall have taken the benefit of such section shall enter or hold any other lands under their provisions; and all persons claiming under section fifty-eight shall be required to prove their respective rights and pay for the lands filed upon within one year from the time prescribed for filing their respective claims; and upon failure to file the proper notice or to pay for the land within the required period, the same shall be subject to entry by any other qualified applicant.

Sec. 57. That in case of conflicting claims upon coal lands where the improvements shall be commenced after the date of the passage of this Act, priority of possession and improvement, followed by proper filing and continued good faith, shall determine the preference right to purchase. And also where improvements have already been made prior to the passage of this Act, division of the land claimed may be made by legal subdivisions, which shall conform as nearly as practicable with the subdivisions of land provided for in this Act, to include as near as may be the valuable improvements of the respective parties. The Government of the Philippine Islands is authorized to issue all needful rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this and preceding sections relating to mineral lands.

Sec. 58. That whenever it shall be made to appear to the secretary of any province or the commander of any military department in the Philippine Islands that any lands within the province are saline in character, it shall be the duty of said provincial secretary or commander, under the regulations of the Government of the Philippine Islands, to take testimony in reference to such lands, to ascertain their true character, and to report the same to the Secretary of the Interior for the Philippine Islands; and if, upon such testimony, the Secretary of the Interior shall find that such lands are saline and incapable of being purchased under any of the laws relative to the public domain, then and in such case said lands shall be offered for sale at the office of the provincial secretary or such other officer as by the said Government may be described as mining recorder of the province or department in which the same shall be situated, as the case may be, under such regulations as may be prescribed by said Government, and sold to the highest bidder, for cash, at a price of not less than three dollars per hectare; and in case such lands fail to sell when so offered, then the same shall be subject to private sale at such office, for cash, at a price not less than three dollars per hectare, in the same manner as other lands in the said Islands are sold. All executive proclamations relating to the sales of public saline lands shall be published in only two newspapers, one printed in the English language and one in the Spanish language, at Manila, which shall be designated by said Secretary of the Interior.

Sec. 59. That no Act granting lands to provinces, districts, or municipalities to aid in the construction of roads, or for other public purposes, shall be so construed as to embrace mineral lands, which, in all cases, are reserved exclusively, unless otherwise specially provided in the Act or Acts making the grant.

Sec. 60. That nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the rights of any person, partnership, or corporation having a valid, perfected mining concession granted prior to April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, but all such concessions shall be conducted under the provisions of the law in force at the time they were granted, subject at all times to cancellation by reason of illegality in the procedure by which they were obtained, or for failure to comply with the conditions prescribed as requisite to their retention in the laws under which they were granted: Provided, That the owner or owners of every such concession shall cause the corners made by its boundaries to be distinctly marked with permanent monuments within six months after this Act has been promulgated in the Philippine Islands, and that any concessions the boundaries of which are not so marked within this period shall be free and open to explorations and purchase under the provisions of this Act.