One of the significant and substantial results of the new policy is the remarkable improvement in the finances of the provinces and municipalities. During the period 1914 to 1920 a general revision of assessment of real properties was conducted in all the provinces. From this assessment we find an increase of 1,703,449 in the number of lots of taxable real property on December 31, 1920, as compared with the corresponding figure on September 30, 1913, representing an increase of about 100 per cent. The increase, of course, means increased revenue from the real property taxes for the local government. A study of the revenues of the provinces and municipalities during 1914 to 1920, as compared with the period 1909 to 1913, shows an increase of 1,090 per cent, the average percentage of yearly increase being 155.5 per cent. In 1922 the revenues of the provinces were P19,264,264; those of the municipalities were P32,486,068. IX. PUBLIC WELFARE.--One of the first acts of the Philippine government since control was turned over into the hands of Filipinos was the creation of the so-called Public Welfare Board entrusted with the task of coördinating the work of private and public welfare agencies. The board acts as the agency for controlling the disbursement of public charity funds to semi-public institutions like the Anti-tuberculosis Society, the Gota de Leche, and the Women's Clubs. On February 23, 1916, an act was passed by the Legislature appropriating P1,000,000 for the protection of early infancy and the establishment of branches of the "Gota de Leche." Local organizations were granted aid from this funds as much as what they raised. In 1917 the government established an orphanage for destitute and dependent children from all over the islands, managed according to the most modern methods. [Public Welfare Commissioner] On February 18, 1918, the public welfare board membership was reduced to five and its administrative control placed under the Department of the Interior. The administration of the million-peso funds for the protection of early infancy and the establishment of maternity and child-welfare centers were also placed under the control of the Secretary of the Interior on March 22, 1920. Later these activities were all grouped together by Act 2988, enacted February 24, 1921, into one office--the office of the public welfare commissioner--which started operation on May 1, 1921. The aim of the office is summarized thus: To promote all work directed towards the early reduction of infant mortality in the Philippines by employing adequate means for this purpose and for carrying out other activities intended to bring about the general welfare of the community, especially that which concerns children.