MILITARY TELEGRAPH LINES. 896. Construction-Repair-Operation.-The Chief Signal Officer shall have charge, under the direction of the Secretary of War, of * * the construction, repair, and operation of all military telegraph lines. Sec. 2, Act of Oct. 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653). 897. In Alaska-Commercial business.-For the purpose of connecting headquarters, Department of Alaska, at Saint Michael, by military telegraph and cable lines with other military stations in Alaska, four hundred and fifty thousand five hundred and fifty dollars: Provided, That commercial business may be done over these military lines under such conditions as may be deemed, by the Secretary of War, equitable and in the public interests, all receipts from such commercial business shall be accounted for and paid into the Treasury of the United States, and that the sum hereby appropriated shall be immediately available: Provided further, That no telegraph or cable lines owned or operated or controlled by persons not citizens of the United States, or by any foreign corporation or government, shall be established in or permitted to enter Alaska. Act of May 26, 1900 (31 Stat. 206). 898. Receipts. After the first day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, all moneys received for the transmission of private dispatches over any and all telegraph lines owned or operated by the United States shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States, as required by section thirty-six hundred and seventeen of the Revised Statutes; and all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.2 Act of Mar. 3, 1883 (22 Stat. 616). 899. Betterments.—That of the receipts of the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System that have been covered into the Treasury of the United States, the sum of one hundred and ninety thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, made available until expended for defraying the cost of such extensions and betterments of the system as may be approved by the Secretary of War, the extent of such extensions and the cost thereof to be reported to 'The act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653), which places the Chief Signal Officer in charge of "the construction, repair, and operation of military telegraph lines," repealed the act of August 7, 1882 (22 Stat. 319), which vested the supervision of the construction and operation of military telegraph lines in department commanders. "The act of March 3, 1875, contained a provision authorizing the Secretary of War" to pay the expenses of operating and keeping in repair the said telegraph lines out of any money received for dispatches sent over said lines; any balance remaining after the payment of such expenses to be covered into the Treasury as a miscellaneous receipt; the money received in any one fiscal year to be used only in payment for the expenses of that year. And a full report of the receipts and expenditures in connection with the said telegraph lines shall be made quarterly to the Secretary of War, through the Chief Signal Officer. And the Chief Signal Officer shall have the charge and control of said lines of telegraph in the construction, repair, and operation of the same." Congress by the Secretary of War: Provided further, That hereafter detailed estimates shall be submitted to Congress for any further extension of the cable or telegraph lines in the district of Alaska. Act of Mar. 2, 1907 (34 Stat. 1159). 900. Willful injury, etc.-Penalty.-Whoever shall willfully or maliciously injure or destroy any of the works, property, or material of any telegraph, telephone, or cable line, or system, operated or controlled by the United States, whether constructed or in process of construction, or shall willfully or maliciously interfere in any way with the working or use of any such line, or system, or shall willfully or maliciously obstruct, hinder, or delay the transmission of any communication over any such line, or system, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. Sec. 60, Act of Mar. 4, 1909, Criminal Code (35 Stat. 1099). 901. Property returns.-From and after the passage of this act, every officer of the Signal Corps, every noncommissioned officer or private of the Signal Corps, and all other officers, agents, or persons who now have in possession, or may hereafter receive or may be intrusted with any stores or supplies, shall, quarterly or more often, if so directed, and in such manner and on such forms as may be prescribed by the Chief Signal Officer, make true and correct returns to the Chief Signal Officer of all Signal Service property and all other supplies and stores of every kind received by or intrusted to them and each of them, or which may, in any manner, come into their and each of their possession or charge. Act of Oct. 12, 1888 (25 Stat. 552). HISTORICAL NOTE. The office of Signal Officer of the Army, with the rank of major of cavalry, was established by the act of June 21, 1860 (12 Stat. 66). By section 17 of the act of March 3, 1863 (id., 753), a signal corps was created to consist of a Chief Signal Officer with the rank of colonel, one lieutenant colonel, two majors who were to be inspectors, and, for each army corps or military department, one captain and as many lieutenants, not exceeding eight, as the President might deem necessary. The officers thus provided for were to receive the mounted pay of their grades, and were to continue in service during the pendency of the existing rebellion. For each officer authorized by the act of March 3, 1863, one sergeant and six privates were to be detailed from the volunteer armies, who were to receive the pay and allowances of enlisted men of engineers. Eligibility for appointment and detail were to be determined, in part, by prior faithful service in the acting signal corps, and were conditioned in all cases, upon the successful passage of a preliminary examination. A permanent signal corps was added to the military establishment by section 22 of the act of July 28, 1866 (12 Stat. 335) (which was embodied in the Revised Statutes as sections 1165, 1166, and 1167). It was to consist of a Chief Signal Officer, with the rank of colonel of cavalry, and of six officers of the line, detailed for signal duty, and one hundred enlisted men, detailed from the battalion of engineers; these details were to be conditioned upon the successful passage of a preliminary examination, and the officers, while so detailed, were to receive mounted pay. By the act of March 3, 1871 (16 id., 520), certain duties in connection with the observation and report of storms were assigned to the department. By the act of June 18, 1878 (20 id., 146), the number of enlisted men, bitherto fixed by Executive regulation, was established at four hundred and fifty, and by the act of June 20, 1878 (id., 219), the enlisted force of the department was fixed at one hundred and fifty sergeants, thirty corporals, and two hundred and seventy privates, who were to receive the pay and allowances of enlisted men of corresponding grades in the battalion of engineers. By this enactment extra-duty pay was prohibited, and the commissioned force of the department was increased by the annual appointment of two second lieutenants, who were to be selected from the grade of sergeant. By the act of June 16, 1880 (21 id., 267), the rank of brigadier general was conferred upon the Chief Signal Officer, and the number of privates was increased to three hundred and twenty; by the act of August 4, 1886 (24 id., 247), the number of second lieutenants was limited to sixteen, the school of instruction at Fort Myer, Va., was abolished, and the Secretary of War was authorized to detail five commissioned officers of the Army for signal duty, this number to be in addition to the second lieutenants already authorized by law; this requirement was repeated in the acts of October 2, 1888 (26 id., 537), and March 2, 1889 (id., 969), by which enactments the number of second lieutenants was reduced to fourteen. By the act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653), the Weather Service was transferred to the Department of Agriculture and the strength of the Signal Corps was established at one Chief Signal Officer (brigadier general), one major, four captains, and four first lieutenants mounted, and fifty sergeants who were to have the pay and allowances of hospital stewards. The second lieutenants not selected for appointment as first lieutenants were to be transferred to the line of the Army. By the act of August 6, 1894, the department was reorganized, the reorganization to take effect upon the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of Chief Signal Officer, when the corps was to consist of one colonel, one lieutenant colonel, one major, three captains, and three first lieutenants; by the act of March 2, 1897 (29 id.. 611), the promotions provided for in the act of August 6, 1894, were authorized to be made. By section 2 of the act of May 18, 1898 (30 id., 417), and joint resolution No. 53, of July 8, 1898 (id., 749), a volunteer Signal Corps was authorized. to consist of one colonel, one lieutenant colonel, one major, as disbursing officer, and such other officers and men as might be required, not exceeding one lieutenant colonel for each army corps, and two captains, two first lieutenants, five first-class sergeants, ten sergeants, ten corporals, and thirty first-class privates to each organized division of troops, a certain proportion of whom were to be skilled electricians or telegraph opertors. By section 24 of the act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 754), the permanent strength of the Signal Corps was fixed at one Chief Signal Officer with the rank of brigadier general, one colonel, one lieutenant colonel, four majors, fourteen captains, fourteen first lieutenants, eighty first-class sergeants, one hundred and twenty sergeants, one hundred and fifty corporals, two hundred and fifty firstclass privates, one hundred and fifty second-class privates, and ten cooks; and a system of detail was established by the operation of which the permanent commissioned personnel of the department will be gradually replaced, as vacancies occur, by officers detailed from the line of the Army for duty in the Signal Department. By act of March 2, 1903 (32 Stat. 932), there was added to the commissioned force one lieutenant colonel, two majors, four captains, and four first lieutenants, and the enlisted force has been increased as stated in note to paragraph 880, ante. 92061°-17-22 902. Appointment.-The President is authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, chaplains in the Army, at the rates of one for each regiment of cavalry and infantry in the United States service, and twelve for the corps of artillery, with the rank, pay, and allowances of captains of infantry.1 Sec. 12, Act of Feb. 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 750). 903. Same. In addition to the chaplains now authorized for the Artillery Corps the President is authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and subject to the laws governing appointment of chaplains in the Army, one chaplain for each regiment of field artillery and two for the coast artillery, with the rank, pay, and allowances now authorized by law for chaplains in the Army. Sec. 12, Act of Jan. 25, 1907 (34 Stat. 864). 2 904. Same. In addition to the number of chaplains now authorized by law there shall hereafter be one for the Corps of Engineers. Act of June 12, 1906 (34 Stat. 256). QUALIFICATIONS. 905. Qualifications.-No person shall be appointed as regimental or post chaplain until he shall have furnished proof that he is a regularly ordained minister of some religious denomination, in good standing at the time of his appointment, together with a recommendation for 1 1 Section 1121, R. S., reads as follows: "The President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a chaplain for each regiment of colored troops and 30 post chaplains." The act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 758), which authorized the organization of one provisional regiment of infantry for service in Porto Rico, provided that the regiment should be organized as to numbers as authorized for infantry regiments of the Regular Army. Consequently this regiment has one chaplain. |