Vide" Requisitions."

NOTE.-Vide "Accounts and Returns " in connection with the foregoing table.

BOARDS OF SURVEY.

221. The authority for boards of survey is found in Army Regulations. They are an aid in the transaction of military business, and are governed by the Army Regulations and the customs of the service.-Manual for Boards of Survey, 1, 2.

222. A board of survey will be called by the commanding officer of the regiment, independent battalion, post, or station. Such boards may, however, be convened by the commanding officer of a department, an army corps, division, or brigade. Commanding officers of regiments or separate battalions serving in the field and commanders of divisions and separate brigades have the same power to convene boards of survey and to act on their proceedings as are vested in the commanding officers of posts by Army Regulations.-A. R., 791, 792.

223. A board of survey will be composed of three officers, exclusive of the commanding officer and those who are interested, if that number be present for duty; otherwise, of as many as are so present, exclusive of the commanding and interested officers; or if none but the commanding officer and interested officers be present for duty, then of the commanding officer. When only the responsible or interested officer is present, he will not constitute himself a board of survey, but will furnish the next higher commander authorized to convene such boards his certificate of facts and circumstances, supported by the testimony of witnesses, or by the affidavits of enlisted men or others who are cognizant thereof. Should the case thus presented not be considered satisfactory, or in a case in which only interested officers with opposing interests are present for duty at the post or station, the next higher commander authorized to convene boards of survey may make the necessary investigation.—A. R., 791. 224. An order convening a board of survey should state explicitly the matter to be investigated. It should designate the place and hour of meeting and the names of the members, in the order of rank, and in case less than three members are detailed, it should recite the reason for such diminished number. In cases where the property in question has been previously acted upon by a board of survey, the order convening the board will so state, and require that the proceedings of any previous board or boards be considered.—A. R., 791; Manual for Boards of Survey, 8.

225. A board of survey must fully investigate matters submitted to it. It will call for all evidence attainable, and will not limit its inquiries to proofs or statements presented by parties in interest. It will rigidly scrutinize the evidence, especially in cases of alleged theft or embezzlement, and will not recommend the relief of officers or soldiers from responsibility unless fully satisfied that those charged with the care of property have performed their whole duty in regard to it. In no case, however, will the report of a board take the place of the evidence required in paragraph 764, Army Regulations.—A. R., 793.

226. The investigation by a board of survey should be as searching and the action as complete as that of a court-martial. The object is not in any sense merely to exonerate individuals and relieve them from proper responsibility; the board must go further and fix the responsibility where it belongs. It is primarily to find all the facts in the case, and next to express an opinion as to where the responsibility should be fixed, so that the loss, if any, may fall upon the proper party -the Government or the individual. Each member should make careful personal inspection of all property submitted to the board. In cases of losses and embezzlements of subsistence stores or property, boards of survey in their proceedings and recommendations are to be guided by the above requirements.-A. R., 1356, as amended by G. O. No. 165, A. G. O., 1901; Manual for Boards of Survey, 35, 36.