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been or should have been furnished.1 Act of Mar. 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 902).

688. Mileage, restrictions upon expenditure of appropriation for, on inspections and investigations.-Hereafter no portion of the appropriation for mileage to officers traveling on duty without troops shall be expended for inspections or investigations, except such as are especially ordered by the Secretary of War, or such as are made by army and department commanders in visiting their commands, and those made by Inspector-General's Department in pursuance of law, army regulations, or orders issued by the Secretary of War or the Commanding General of the Army; and all orders involving the payment of mileage shall state the special duty enjoined. Act of Aug. 6, 1894 (28 Stat. 237).

The act of May 26, 1900 (31 Stat. 210), contained the following provision: "For traveling expenses and commutation of quarters for civilian physicians employed by the Surgeon-General, one thousand five hundred dollars."

It is a well-established fact that persons traveling on Government business are entitled to be reimbursed for their expenses. This is done either by a mileage allowance, a fixed sum as a commutation of expenses, or an itemized statement showing actual expenses. Prior to 1874 mileage was the most usual measure of allowances. (4 Comp. Dec. 421.) Mileage is a form of reimbursement, and "public business" is the foundation on which it rests. (Perrimond v. U. S., 19 Ct. Cls., 509.) Allowances for travel and subsistence are payable to officers and agents of the United States only when they are employed at other places than their places of residence. (Test v. U. S., id., 357.) In fact. mileage is merely a commutation for traveling expenses. (U. S. v. Smith, 158 U. S., 350.)

The mileage allowance to an officer of the Army on the active list is fixed by law, the law in effect at the time the travel is performed and not the law in effect when the order for the travel is issued. (1 Comp. Dec., 29.) Except in cases of emergency, the right to mileage can not be conferred by an order issued after the journey has been performed. (4 Comp. Dec., 175.) The law and regulations requiring a specific order prior to the commencement of the journey must be strictly complied with, and the oflicer must make the journey within a reasonable time in accordance with the order to acquire a right to mileage. (Id.)

An order to travel to a designated point, perform certain duty and return, is, in effect, two distinct orders, and the mileage allowances for each trip is fixed by the law at the time the travel in each case was commenced. (1 Comp. Dec., 29.)

It is not necessary that an order to travel should specifically designate places and routes. It may leave them to the discretion of the officer, and the subsequent approval of the Department will be conclusive upon the accounting officers. (Billings v. U. S., 23 Ct. Cls., 166.) If public business was an element in an officer's circuity of route, he is entitled to mileage therefor; if it was not, the Government is not answerable for the increased distance. (Du Bose v. U. S., 19 Ct. Cls., 514.)

Where the route is left to the discretion of the officer, his mileage should be calculated by the shortest usually traveled route, unless some good reason be shown for deviation. (Crosby v. U. S., 22 Ct. Cls., 13, 2 Comp. Dec., 544.) The question as to the shortest usually traveled route between any two points is a question of fact, and to be determined by the best obtainable evidence. * The time required in making the journey, the rates of fare, and the fact that an officer should be absent from his post of duty for the shortest possible period are important elements in determining the shortest usually traveled route in any particular case.

Evidence should accompany the voucher on which payment is made, to establish the fact that the distance is computed by the route which, for the time and occasion, is the shortest usually traveled route. Mileage can in no case be allowed for any distance in excess of the distance actually traveled, and if the

689. Disbursements to be made by the Quartermaster Corps.—All the money hereir before appropriated for pay of the Army and miscellaneous, except the appropriation for mileage of officers, dental surgeons, contract surgeons, veterinarians, pay clerks, and expert accountant Inspector General's Department, when authorized by law, shall be disbursed and accounted for by officers of the Quartermaster Corps as pay of the Army, and for that purpose shall constitute one fund. Act of Apr. 27, 1914 (38 Stat. 359).

690. Repairs to arms, etc.-The cost of repairs or damages done to arms, equipments, or implements shall be deducted from the pay of

distance actually traveled exceed the distance by the shortest usually traveled route, mileage can be allowed only for the distance by the shortest usually traveled route. (1 Comp. Dec., 115.)

The mileage of an officer of the Army is to be computed by the shortest usually traveled route regardless of the number of miles actually traveled, unless the orders under which he travels, or the necessities of the service (and not the mere convenience of the officer), require the use of a route longer than that usually traveled. (2 id., 544. See also 1 id., 118, 209; 4 id., 74; 5 id., 196.)

When it appears that an army officer was directed to travel on military duty and had no order to stop over, or delay on his journey, it must be presumed by the accounting officers that he was directed to go by the shortest usually traveled route, without unnecessary delay, and he will be allowed only the cost of "through limited tickets" for such travel. The accounting officers look to the officer's orders as to the necessity for delay en route, not questioning the authority of the War Department to determine whether the officer's duty requires that he shall stop over on his journey. (3 Dig. Dec., 2d Comp., par. 1426.) The law relating to the cost of transportation contemplates that army officers traveling on duty without troops shall travel over the usually traveled routes in the mode usually adopted and by the conveyances usually employed. The exigencies of the service should be of an unusual character, not admitting of even the possibility of delay, to justify the officer in engaging the more costly transportation on fast or limited trains. (Id., 1429.)

An officer ordered home, at his own request, to await orders, is entitled to mileage from his post to his home, such a journey constituting travel under orders. (Williamson v. U. S., 23 Wall., 411; Phisterer v. U. S., 12 Ct. Cls., 98, and 94 U. S., 219.) Where an officer who has received but has not yet taken advantage of a leave of absence is ordered to convey prisoners to another post his leave is to that extent suspended, and he is entitled to mileage. (Andrews v. U. S., 15 Ct. Cls., 264.)

The Army Regulations provide that the expiration of an officer's leave of absence must find him at his station. His station means his permanent station, not a place to which he was temporarily ordered and at which he accepted his leave of absence. (Andrews v. U. S., 15 Ct. Cls., 264.) An officer's proper station can not be changed by his being ordered to perform a temporary duty while on leave of absence. (Id.) If an officer on leave of absence be ordered to temporary duty at the place where he may happen to be, and he be kept there until after his leave of absence expires and then be ordered to his proper station, he will not be entitled to mileage. (Barr v. U. S., 14 Ct. Cls., 272.)

An officer who voluntarily quits the military service is not entitled to travel pay. (1 Comp. Dec., 370.)

An officer whose resignation, tendered on the ground of physical disability, is accepted, becomes entitled to travel pay, provided the disability did not exist at the time of his entering the service, or was not incurred on account of his own misconduct during service. The length of service is material evidence in determining whether the disability existed prior to entry into the service. (Id.) The expense for transportation to a point not located on a railroad incurred by an officer of the Inspector-General's Department in inspecting unserviceable river and harbor material, is properly payable from the appropriation for the river and harbor work. (3 Comp. Dec., 3.)

'A similar provision first appeared in the act of June 30, 1886 (24 Stat. 95), and similar provisions have occurred in subsequent acts of appropriation for the support of the Army, especially the act of May 11, 1908 (35 Stat. 115).

any officer or soldier in whose care or use the same were when such damages occurred, if said damages were occasioned by the abuse or negligence of said officer or soldier. Sec. 1303, R. S.

691. Deficiency in articles of military supplies.-In case of deficiency of any article of military supplies, on final settlements of the accounts of any officer charged with the issue of the same, the value thereof shall be charged against the delinquent and deducted from his monthly pay, unless he shall show to the satisfaction of the Secretary of War, by one or more depositions setting forth the circumstances of the case, that said deficiency was not occasioned by any fault on his part. And in case of damage to any military supplies, the value of such damage shall be charged against such officer and deducted from his monthly pay, unless he shall, in like manner, show that such damage was not occasioned by any fault on his part.1 Sec. 1304, R. S.

692. Rations, etc., purchased on credit.—The amount due from any officer for rations purchased on credit, or for any article designated by the inspectors-general of the Army and purchased on credit from commissaries of subsistence, shall be deducted from the payment made to such officer next after such purchase shall have been reported to the Paymaster-General. Sec. 1299, R. S.

693. Arrearages due United States.-No money shall be paid to any person for his compensation who is in arrears to the United States until he has accounted for and paid into the Treasury all sums for which he may be liable. In all cases where the pay or salary of any person is withheld in pursuance of this section, the accounting officers of the Treasury, if required to do so by the party, his agent or attorney, shall report forthwith to the Solicitor of the Treasury the balance due; and the Solicitor shall, within sixty days

The power given to the Secretary of War to order a stoppage of pay against a delinquent officer is exclusive and discretionary, but is not to be asserted against an officer acting under an order which he is bound to obey, and as to which he is expressly relieved from personal liability. Such an abuse of power would not tend to preserve but to subvert military order and discipline. The refusal of the Secretary of War to stop an officer's pay is not a decision upon the merits; it will not bind the Government nor preclude the Comptroller from causing a suit to be brought against the officer; it merely determines that the officer is so far without fault that the harsh and summary remedy of stopping his pay should not be resorted to. (Smith v. U. S., 24 Ct. Cls., 209, 215;

Billings v. U. S., 23 id., 166, 175.)

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'Persons in arrears," are only such, as having previous transactions of a pecuniary nature with the Government, are found, upon the settlement of these transactions, to be in arrears to it. (III Opin. Att. Gen., 52.) This section only applies to cases in which the party who claims compensation is liable to the United States. (Hedrick v. U. S., 16 Ct. Cls., 88.)

The phrase " who is in arrears to the United States," contained in the act of January 25, 1828 (sec. 1766, Revised Statutes), applies only to persons who, having had previous transactions of a pecuniary nature with the Government, are found upon the settlement of those transactions, to be in arrears. Opin. Att. Gen., 52.) Where an officer of the Army assigned his pay accounts in payment of certain indebtedness, which accounts the Paymaster-General declined to pay, for the reason that, n the maturity thereof, the officer was in

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thereafter, order suit to be commenced against such delinquent and his sureties.1 Sec. 1766, R. S.

694. Same-When admitted or shown by judgment of court.-The pay of officers of the Army may be withheld under section seventeen hundred and sixty-six of the Revised Statutes on account of an indebtedness to the United States admitted or shown by the judgment of a court, but not otherwise, unless upon a special order issued according to the discretion of the Secretary of War.2 Act of July 16, 1892 (27 Stat. 177).

695. Rates of pay of master electricians, noncommissioned officers, etc.-Hereafter the monthly pay of enlisted men of the Army during their first enlistment shall be as follows, namely: Master electricians, master signal electricians, seventy-five dollars; engineers, sixty-five dollars; sergeants first class Hospital Corps, fifty dollars; regimental sergeants-major, regimental quartermaster-sergeants, regimental commissary-sergeants, sergeants-major senior grade coast artillery, battalion sergeants-major of engineers, post quartermaster-sergeants, post commissary-sergeants, post ordnance-sergeants, battalion quartermaster-sergeants of engineers, electrician-sergeants first class, sergeants first class Signal Corps, and first sergeants, forty-five dollars; battalion sergeants-major of infantry and field artillery, squadron sergeants-major, sergeants-major junior grade coast artillery, battalion quartermaster-sergeants, field artillery, and master gunners, forty dollars; electrician-sergeants second class, sergeants of engineers, ordnance, and Signal Corps, quartermaster-sergeants of engineers, and color-sergeants, thirty-six dollars; sergeants and quartermaster-sergeants of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, stable-sergeants, sergeants, and acting cooks of the Hospital Corps, firemen, and cooks, thirty dollars. Act of May 11, 1908 (35 Stat. 109).

696. Same-Indian scouts.-Indians, enlisted or employed by order of the President as scouts, shall receive the pay and allowances of cavalry soldiers. That so much of the army appropriation act of twenty-fourth July, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, as limits the number of Indian scouts to three hundred is hereby repealed; and sections ten hundred and ninety-four and eleven hundred and twelve

arrears to the United States; held that the refusal of the Paymaster-General was in accordance with section 1766 of the Revised Statutes. (XVII Opin. Att. Gen., 30.)

See, as to effect on sureties, XX id., 447: This section does not apply to original vacancies. (XVIII id., 28; see, also, XVII id., 476.)

Section 1766, Revised Statutes, which prescribes that "no money shall be paid to any person for his compensation who is in arrears to the United States, until he has accounted for and paid into the Treasury all sums for which he may be liable," has not in practice been so strictly construed as to preclude the making of stoppages against the pay of officers and enlisted men in such monthly amounts as to leave a margin for necessary living expenses. Thus where the stoppage against an enlisted man was $100, advised that it be collected at the rate of $10 per month. (Dig. Opins. J. A. G., p. 865, B2.)

For pay and allowances of the female nurse corps, hospital matrons, and the hospital corps, see chapter on the Medical Department.

of the Revised Statutes, authorizing the employment of one thousand Indian scouts, are hereby continued in force: Provided, That a proportionate number of noncommissioned officers may be appointed. And the scouts, when they furnish their own horses and horse equipments, shall be entitled to receive forty cents per day for their use and risk so long as thus employed. Sec. 1276, R. S. As amended by act of Aug. 12, 1876 (19 Stat. 131).

697. Same-Mess sergeants, corporals, mechanics, etc.-Mess sergeants shall receive six dollars per month in addition to their pay; corporals of engineers, ordnance, Signal Corps, and Hospital Corps, chief mechanics, and mechanics, coast artillery, twenty-four dollars; corporals of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, mechanics of field artillery, blacksmiths and farriers, saddlers, wagoners, and artificers, twenty-one dollars. Act of May 11, 1908 (35 Stat. 109).

698. Same-Blacksmiths, farriers, privates, etc.-Not to exceed one blacksmith and farrier in each troop of cavalry and one mechanic in each battery of field artillery shall receive nine dollars per month additional for performing the duty of horseshoer; privates first class of engineers, ordnance, Signal Corps, and Hospital Corps, eighteen dollars; privates, Hospital Corps, sixteen dollars; trumpeters, musicians of infantry, artillery, and engineers, privates of cavalry, artillery, infantry, Signal Corps, and private second class, engineers and ordnance, fifteen dollars. Id.

699. Same-Marksmen, classifications of.-Hereafter enlisted men now qualified or hereafter qualifying as marksmen shall receive two dollars per month; as sharpshooters, three dollars per month; as expert riflemen, five dollars per month; as second-class gunners, two dollars per month; as first-class gunners, three dollars per month; as gun pointers, gun commanders, observers second class, chief planters and chief loaders, seven dollars per month; as plotters, observers first class, and casemate electricians, nine dollars per month, all in addition to their pay, under such regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribed, but no enlisted man shall receive at the same time additional pay for more than one of the classifications named in this section. Id. (35 Stat. 110).

700. Same-Number of gun pointers, etc., not to be increased.Nothing in this Act shall be construed to increase the total number of gun pointers, gun commanders, observers, chief planters, chief loaders, plotters, and casemate electricians now authorized by law. Id.

701. Same-Enlisted men of bands.-Hereafter the monthly pay during the first enlistment of enlisted men of bands, exclusive of the band of the United States Military Academy, shall be as follows:

Chief musicians, seventy-five dollars; principal musicians and chief trumpeters, forty dollars; sergeants and drum-majors, thirty

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