be inconsistant with the oath or affirmation prescribed by the laws of the United States. A similar oath or affirmation shall be administered to every enlisted man at the time of his enlistment, and all officers of the National Guard are hereby authorized and empowered to administer oaths and affirmations, in all matters appertaining to or concerning the National Guard service, but in no case shall they charge any fee or compensation therefor. Any person who shall falsely swear or affirm to any oath or affirmation so administered, shall upon trial and conviction be deemed guilty of perjury, and punished for such offence as now prescribed by law. SEC. 9. Commissions signed by the Governor and countersigned by the Adjutant General, who shall keep an abstract thereof in his office, shall be issued by him to officers entitled thereto. The commission of a staff officer appointed by a commanding officer, shall expire as soon as the successor of such commanding officer is commissioned and qualified. If such staff officer was appointed from the line he shall forthwith report to his commanding officer for duty.

SEC. IO. The Commander-in-Chief may discharge a commissioned officer: First, when such officer tenders his resignation; second, when it appears to the Commander-in-Chief that he has been found by a court-martial, court of inquiry, or military board, is unable, or unfit to discharge the duties of his office, or to exercise proper authority over his inferior officers or enlisted men, or that he has been convicted of a felony; third, when either before or after receiving his commission, he has removed his residence out of the bounds of his command, to so great a distance that it is inconvenient for him to perform the duties of his office; fourth, when he has been absent from his command more than three months without leave; fifth, upon address of both houses of the legislature to the Governor; sixth, upon sentence of a court-martial, after trial according to law; seventh, upon recommendation of the board of examination, as prescribed by section two.

SEC. II. A military board shall be appointed by the Commander-in-Chief from time to time, to consist of the Adjutant General, Assistant Inspector General, Colonel, Major, and one captain of the line to hold office until the order convening the same is rescinded, whose duty it shall be to examine the capacity, qualification and efficiency of every commissioned officer who may hereafter be elected; and upon report of said board, if adverse to said officer, and approved by the Commander-in-Chief, the commission of such officer shall be vacated or denied, and a new election ordered: Provided, always that if any officer shall refuse to report himself when directed before such board, the Commander-in-Chief may, upon report of such refusal, declare his commission vacated or refuse the same, and direct a new election; and in case any company shall neglect, within thirty days after the finding of such board, approved by the

Commander-in-Chief, to elect a suitable officer, the Commander-inChief may assign a suitable officer to fill the vacancy in such organization, or disband the same in his discretion.

SEC. 12. The term of every commissioned officer shall be for three years, unless his commission shall be otherwise lawfully determined and annulled. Every enlisted man shall serve for the period of three years, unless sooner discharged for disability, which incapacitates him to perform his duty or for other sufficient cause. They shall be entitled to the exemptions from civil duties as now provided by law.

SEC. 13. The company commander, upon the approval may, and upon the order of his superior commanding officer shall for good cause shown discharge any enlisted man of his company, and all commanding officers may for cause, discharge their non-commissioned staff officers; the certificate of discharge by such company or other commanding officer shall, when approved by the Commander-in-Chief, in all cases, be good, sufficient and valid.

SEC. 14. If it appears to the Commander-in-Chief that a company of the National Guard has failed to comply with the requirements of the law in matters of uniform, equipment and discipline so that it is incapacitated to discharge the duties required of it, such company may be disbanded by him.

ŠEC. 15. The Adjutant-General shall hold his office for the term of four years, and until his successor is appointed and qualified, but he may be removed at any time by the Commander-in-Chief.

SEC. 16. He shall distribute all orders from the Commander in Chief, shall obey all orders relative to the carrying into execution and perfecting any system of military descipline established by law, shall be in attendance when the Commander-in-Chief reviews the National Guard, and perform such other military duties as the Commander-in-Chief shall direct.

SEC. 17. He shall furnish to the National Guard at public expense, blank forms of rolls and of the different returns that may be required, and other convenient forms, and shall also make proper abstracts from the returns of the commanding officers, and lay the same before the Commander-in-Chief with his report biennially.

SEC. 18. He shall annually make a return, in duplicate, of the militia with their arms, ordnance stores, quartermaster's stores, camp equipage and other military stores according to such forms as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War of the United States, one copy of which he shall deliver to the Commander-in-Chief, and transmit the other to the Adjutant General of the army when required by him.

SEC. 19. Officers of the general staff, or staff of the Commanderin-Chief, may be ordered upon special duty in the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief, and shall receive the pay provided by section twenty-six during the time they may continue upon duty under such

order. The Adjutant General shall have the custody of all books, accounts and military stores, and shall be required to give security in the sum of two thousand dollars for the faithful performance of his official duties. His salary shall be five hundred dollars per annum, payable quarterly out of the treasury of Montana.

SEC. 20. There shall be held once in every year an encampment of the National Guard, not to exceed seven day's duration, at such times and places as the Commander-in-Chief shall direct, and during such encampment there shall be made by the Inspector General an inspection of the troops. For service during such encampment the troops shall be entitled to the necessary transportation, and subsistence and per diem, as prescribed by section twenty-six, which shall be paid upon warrants of the Adjutant General, approved by the military board. In addition to the inspection above provided for, such other inspections of the troops shall be made, under the direction of the Inspector General, as may be ordered by the Commander-in-Chief. SEC. 21. The non-commissioned officers of the regimental and battalion staffs shall be entitled to the same pay, and allowances for uniforms and equipments as are allowed first sergeants.

SEC. 22. Transportation and subsistence will be furnished to officers and enlisted men of the National Guard for attendance upon court-martial, boards of examination and other special necessary service, as orders may require of said officers, which shall be made by the Commander-in-Chief; and the necessary expenses and per diem, as provided in section twenty-six, lawfully incurred, shall be audited and paid, upon proper vouchers, by the military board.

SEC. 23. There shall be a public parade and inspection of every company of the National Guard, in the daytime, on the thirtieth day of May in each year. The inspection shall be conducted by officers detailed for the purpose by the Commander-in-Chief, and such detail shall be made at sufficient time before the said day to enable each officer so detailed to notify the commander or commanders of the company, companies, battalion or regiment which he or they will inspect, of the hour and place at which they shall assemble for such inspection. The reports of such inspecting officers shall be immediately forwarded to the Adjutant General, who shall thereupon, as promptly as possible, convene the military board, before which such reports shall be laid by him, and if each company is found by said board, on examination of its muster roll and the report of the inspecting officer, to be fully up to the standard of numbers, discipline and efficiency required by this act, each such company shall receive from the treasury of Montana the allowance now annually made by law, which shall be applied to the payment of armory rent and to defray other expenses necessary to maintain it. Such payment shall be made upon report of the Adjutant General of the action of the military board approving the same to the proper auditing officer of Montana, who is hereby empowered to draw warrants upon

the treasurer for the proper amounts. Any such fund, and all other funds in the treasury of the company when it is disbanded or mustered out, shall be paid forthwith by the officer mustering out into the treasury of Montana; and he is hereby authorized and directed to collect and receive all such money to that use.

SEC. 24. In all other cases of military claims or bills adjusted by the military board, payment shall be made in like manner, and the said board shall determine to whom a warrant shall issue for the amount found due, to be promptly accounted for by the person receiving the same by sufficient vouchers to the Adjutant General.

SEC. 25. No bill or allowance authorized by the provisions of this act, shall be approved by the military board, unless the said bill or claim is itemized, and its correctness established to the satisfaction of said board.

SEC. 26. The members of the National Guard shall receive out of the treasury of Montana the same compensation when serving in annual encampments as now provided by law to be paid when called into active service by the Governor in case of invasion, riot, or insurrection; and each battery, troop, and mounted officer, properly mounted and equipped, shall receive actual expenses for horses for all parades and services required by law, and the bills for the same, with the necessary vouchers approved by the proper officer, shall be forwarded to the Adjutant General, and when found correct, and approved by the military board, warrants shall be drawn, upon the report of the Adjutant General, by the proper auditing officer, upon the Treasurer for the respective amounts, in favor of the commanding officers, respectively, in the manner prescribed by law. The necessary expenses of regimental and battalion headquarters, including clerk hire and other actual outlays, shall be allowed and paid in the same manner; such expenses in no event to exceed one hundred and fifty dollars per annum for each regiment or battalion.

SEC. 27. Arms, ordnance stores, quarter-master's stores, camp equipage and other military property, whether issued by the United States as the property thereof or purchased, owned and issued by Montana, shall be deemed, for all the purposes of this section, the property of Montana, and shall be used only in the discharge of military duties. Any member of the National Guard who shall embezzle, misapply, retain in his possession without authority, or who shall wilfully or wantonly injure or destroy, or who shall sell, dispose of, secrete or remove without authority any such property shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to trial by court-martial therefor, in time of peace or otherwise; and on conviction therefor by said court shall be fined in a sum double the value of the property involved in his offense together with the costs of prosecution, including the cost of convening and maintaining such court, and in default of payment thereof

shall be imprisoned not exceeding six months, in the jail of the county where the offense was committed, or where the court is held, and the warrant of the Commander-in-Chief to the sheriff or any constable of any such county shall be sufficient authority for the committment and the detention in such jail, of such convicted offender. Any person not a member of the National Guard who shall knowingly and wilfully receive in pawn or pledge, or who shall purchase or otherwise acquire, or who shall have in his possession and refuse, upon demand of the Governor, through any proper military channel, to deliver as thereby required, any such property, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction by any court of competent jurisdiction shall be fined in a like sum as to value, and the costs of prosecution, and in default of payment shall undergo imprisonment in the jail of the county in which the offense was committed for a like period. And it is hereby made the duty of every county attorney, on complaint of any officer of the National Guard, that the offense last aforesaid has been committed, to take and file said complaint with the proper court, and to prosecute the same. So much of the money assessed as the value of such property, in either of the cases aforesaid shall be paid to the Adjutant General, when collected, to enable him to replace by purchase the articles of property involved in the prosecution, and the remainder shall be paid in case of court-martial into the treasury of Montana, and in case of prosecution in any other tribunal then as directed by law in other criminal cases.

SEC. 28. If any officer or soldier is wounded or disabled, or is killed or dies of wounds received while doing duty in actual service, he, his widow or children, shall receive from Montana such relief as the legislative assembly to whom notice of such disability or death shall be brought, shall deem just and reasonable.

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SEC. 29. The Adjutant General shall provide and issue to the National Guard, for rifle and artillery practice, such ammunition as may be necessary for the efficiency of the service, and he shall vide fully such conveniences of rifle practice for the National Guard as shall be recommended by the military board, and approved and ordered by the Commander-in-Chief, and paid as other expenses are paid.

SEC, 30. All commissioned officers who shall have held continuous rank for a period of six years, may, upon their honorable retirement from service, be carried upon a roll to be established and maintained in the Adjutant General's office, which roll shall be designated "the roll of retired officers," and shall be entitled to wear, on state occasions, the uniform of the highest rank which they may have held.

SEC. 31. The commanding officer of each infantry, cavalry and artillery company shall, at each and every annual inspection, return to the Adjutant General an itimized account and statement of all