SEC. 14. That the President is hereby authorized to continue in service, or to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, officers of the volunteer staff as follows: Four signal officers with the rank of major, nine signal officers with the rank of captain, nine signal officers with the rank of first lieutenant, and nine signal officers with the rank of second lieutenant. May 25, 1900 (31 —).—Commercial business may be done over the military telegraph and cable lines in Alaska, receipts from such business to be accounted for and paid into the United States Treasury. Resolution of June 4, 1900 (31 Stats., —). JOINT RESOLUTION for the appointment of first lieutenants of volunteers in the Signal Corps of the Army. That the President is hereby empowered to nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint ten first lieutenants of volunteers in the Signal Corps of the Army, whose commissions shall expire June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and one. Act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stats., -). AN ACT to increase the efficiency of the permanent military establishment of the United States. That from and after the approval of this act the Army of the United States shall consist of a Signal Corps. SEC. 24. That the Signal Corps shall consist of one Chief Signal Officer, with the rank of brigadier-general, one colonel, one lieutenantcolonel, 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 first-class privates, one hundred and fifty second-class privates, and ten cooks: Provided, That vacancies created or caused by this section shall be filled by promotion of officers of the Signal Corps according to seniority, as now provided by law. Vacancies remaining after such promotions may be filled by appointment of persons who have served in the Volunteer Signal Corps since April twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninetyeight: Provided, That the President is authorized to continue in service during the present emergency, for duty in the Philippine Islands, five volunteer signal officers with the rank of first lieutenant and five volunteer signal officers with the rank of second lieutenant. This authority shall extend only for the period when their services may be absolutely necessary. SEC. 26. That so long as there remain any officers holding permanent appointments in the . . Signal Corps, including those appointed to original vacancies in the grades of captain and first lieutenant under the provisions of sections sixteen, seventeen, twenty-one, and twenty-four of this act, they shall be promoted according to seniority in the several grades, as now provided by law, and nothing herein contained shall be deemed to apply to vacancies which can be filled by such promotions or to the periods for which the officers so promoted shall hold their appointments, and when any vacancy, except that of the chief of the department or corps, shall occur which can not be filled by promotion as provided in this section, it shall be filled by detail from the line of the Army, and no more permanent appointments shall be made in those departments or corps after the original vacancies created by this act shall have been filled. Such details shall be made from the grade in which the vacancies exist, under such system of examination as the President may from time to time prescribe. All officers so detailed shall serve for a period of four years, at the expiration of which time they shall return to duty with the line, and officers below the rank of lieutenant-colonel shall not again be eligible for selection in any staff department until they shall have served two years with the line. That when vacancies shall occur in the position of chief of any staff corps or department the President may appoint to such vacancies, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, officers of the Army at large not below the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and who shall hold office for terms of four years. When a vacancy in the position of chief of any staff corps or department is filled by the appointment of an officer below the rank now provided by law for said office, said chief shall, while so serving, have the same rank, pay, and allowances now provided for the chief of such corps or department. And any officer now holding office in any corps or department who shall hereafter serve as chief of a staff corps or department and shall subsequently be retired, shall be retired with the rank, pay, and allowances authorized by law for the retirement of such corps or department chief: Provided, That. so long as there remain in service officers of any staff corps or department holding permanent appointments, the chief of such staff corps department shall be selected from the officers so remaining therein. SEC. 27. That each position vacated by officers of the line, transferred to any department of the staff for tours of service under this act, shall be filled by promotion in the line until the total number detailed equals the number authorized for duty in each staff department. Thereafter vacancies caused by details from the line to the staff shall be filled by officers returning from tours of staff duty. If under the operation of this act the number of officers returned to any particular arm of the service at any time exceeds the number authorized by law in any grade, promotions to that grade shall cease until the number has been reduced to that authorized. * or THE COMMISSARY-GENERAL OF MUSTERS. Aug. 11, 1775.-Stephen Moylan, Muster-Master-General. |