Chapter X: ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.--The Supreme Court of the Philippine

Islands presided over by a Filipino has always enjoyed the respect and confidence of every citizen. It is above all influence, being composed of men of integrity and of exceptional talent.

The Courts of First Instance have also a comparatively good record as is evident from the number of decisions affirmed, reversed, and modified by the Supreme Court. The figures are as follows:

-----------------+-------+--------------+-------------+-------------
| | Affirmed | Reversed | Modified
Period |Total +-------+------+------+------+------+------
|number | Number| Per |Number| Per |Number| Per
| | | cent | | cent | | cent
-----------------+-------+-------+------+------+------+------+------
August 31, 1911 | | | | | | |
to September, | | | | | | |
1, 1913. | 1,454 | 910 | 62.5 | 365 | 25.1 | 179 | 12.2
| | | | | | |
March 3, 1919 to | | | | | | |
March 4, 1921. | 1,782 | 1,194 | 67.0 | 372 | 20.8 | 216 | 12.1
-----------------+-------+-------+------+------+------+------+------

The foregoing figures indicate that there was a larger percentage of decisions affirmed and smaller percentage of decisions reversed by the Supreme Court during the time when the Filipino people were given substantial autonomy proving that the administration of justice has been considerably improved with the Filipinos in control.

In 1913 there were 12,000 pending cases disposed of; in 1921 the number rose to 16,874; in 1922, 20,632.

From 1907 to 1913, for a period of seven years before Filipino autonomy, the average yearly number of decrees of titles to land issued by the Philippine courts was only 1,935; while from 1914 to 1920, during seven years of Filipino self-government, the average yearly number of land titles settled was 12,396, six times more than the preceding period.