The Supreme Court is the highest legal entity in the judiciary system. It has an appellate jurisdiction in all actions and special proceedings brought to it from the Courts of First Instance and from other inferior tribunals from whose decision appeals to the Supreme Court are allowed. The justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President of the United States with the consent of the United States Senate and serve during good behavior. It is made up of nine justices, the chief justice and eight associate justices. The chief justice has always been a Filipino. It seats in banc to transact business. It also seats in divisions for the same purpose, and when it so sits, four justices constitute a quorum so that two divisions may sit at the same time. Appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States are allowed in certain cases only. The judges of the Court of First Instance are appointed by the Governor-General with the consent of the Philippine Senate and serve practically for life, the only restriction being that they must retire upon reaching sixty-five years of age. The justices of the peace are also appointed by the Governor-General with the advice and consent of the Philippine Senate. PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT.--The Philippine Archipelago is divided into 46 provinces, 34 of which are designated as regular provinces and the remaining 12 as special provinces.--The chief executive of a regular province is the provincial governor, who is an elective official. He, together with two other elective members, form the provincial board which constitutes the legislative branch of the provincial government. In the special provinces, with the exception of Mindoro, Palawan, and Batanes, the provincial governors are appointive officials. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.--As the name indicates, this branch of the Government has charge of the municipalities or towns. The chief executive of a municipality is called the municipal president. The municipal council, which is the legislative branch of the municipal government, consists of from 8 to 18 councilors, depending on the size of the municipality. There is a vice-president who substitutes the president during his absence or disability and who is ex-officio member of the council. All these officials are elected by the people. EXPENSES OF THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT.--All the expenses of the Philippine government are paid for from the Insular Treasury. The United States government pays for nothing in the administration of the Islands except for the army and navy and the salaries of the resident commissioners from the Philippines who are stationed in Washington and granted the privileges of members of Congress. An investigation into the expenses incurred by the United States for the Philippine Islands, exclusive of the maintenance of her army and navy, elicits the following facts: