PROPERTY ACCOUNTABILITY.

692. All public property, whether paid for or not, must be accounted for on the proper returns.

693. An officer accountable for the public property of two or more companies will account for that pertaining to each, except quartermaster's supplies, on a separate return.

694. Accountability for public property will not be transferred to enlisted men, except to sergeants of the post noncommissioned staff at ungarrisoned posts, and sergeants of the Signal Corps.

695. Vouchers for issues or expenditures of property not authorized by regulations will be accompanied by copies of the orders directing the issues or expenditures.

696. An officer will have credit for an expenditure of property made in obedience to the order of his commanding officer. If the expenditure is disallowed, it will be charged to the officer who ordered it.

697. Public property expended, lost, or destroyed in the military service must be accounted for by affidavit, or the certificate of a commissioned officer, or other satisfactory evidence.

698. When an enlisted man has, by a court-martial, been convicted of losing or damaging public property, the officer responsible for the property will send with his property return a certified copy of so much of the courtmartial order as refers to the case, giving number, date, and place of issue of the order, and stating on the face of said copy the rolls on which the charges are made.

699. Should an officer or agent of the Government charged with public property fail to render the prescribed returns thereof within a reasonable time, a settlement of his accounts will be made by the proper bureau of the War Department, and the money value of the property with which he is charged will be reported against him for stoppage.

700. All returns of stores or supplies will be rendered as required by regulations or orders. Those of subsistence stores and subsistence property will be forwarded within ten days after the expiration of the accounting periods, and those of other classes of stores and property within twenty days, to the chiefs of bureaus to which they pertain. Abstracts of purchases will be forwarded with the money accounts.

ADMINISTRATIVE EXAMINATION OF PROPERTY RETURNS.

701. As soon as possible after the receipt of a return by the proper chief of bureau, it will be examined in his office, and the officer making the return will be notified of all errors and irregularities found therein and granted three months to correct them. Suspensions or disallowances will not be made on account of slight informalities which do not affect the validity of a voucher, but the officer's attention may be called to them. Whenever the errors have been corrected or compensation has been made for deficient articles, and the action of the bureau chief is sustained or modified by the Secretary of War, the return will be regarded as settled, and the officer who rendered it will be notified accordingly.

702. If the necessary corrections in the return be not made within the prescribed time the facts will be reported to the Secretary of War. When it has been determined that the money value of the property for which an

officer has failed to account shall be refunded to the United States, the facts will be certified to the Auditor for the War Department by the chief of bureau.

ARTICLE LIX.

LANDS, BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS.

703. Land shall not be purchased for the United States except under an act of Congress authorizing the purchase, nor shall public money be expended for the erection of armories, arsenals, forts, fortifications, or permanent buildings of any description thereon, until the written opinion of the Attorney-General shall have been obtained announcing the validity of the title thereof in the Government, nor, if the land be within any State, until jurisdiction over it shall have been ceded to the United States by the legislature of the State.

704. All papers relating to the Washington Aqueduct and public buildings and grounds in the District of Columbia will be filed in the office of the Chief of Engineers. All other deeds and papers pertaining to the title or sale of, and any lease, grant, license, or easement of, upon, or over any military reservation or other lands under the jurisdiction of the War Department will be filed in the office of the Judge-Advocate-General. When any such papers come into the possession of any bureau they shall within five days thereafter be transferred to the office of the Judge-Advocate-General.

705. Permanent military buildings will be constructed only under special authority granted by an act of Congress, unless the work or labor connected therewith is performed by troops, and in such case the authority of Congress must first be obtained if the estimated cost of the building or structure exceeds $20,000.

706. Permanent barracks, quarters, or other buildings, or piers or wharves, will not be erected or constructed except by the order of the Secretary of War, and in accordance with plans approved by him; nor will any material alterations be made in public buildings unless like authority is first obtained; nor will any expenditures exceeding $500 be made upon any building or grounds at any post, fort, arsenal, or depot without the approval of the Secretary of War and upon detailed estimates submitted to him.

707. A copy of the plat of the lands at each post, fort, arsenal, and depot, furnished from the proper bureau, will be carefully preserved in the office of the commanding officer.

ARTICLE LX.

BOARDS OF SURVEY.

708. Public property which has been damaged, except by fair wear and tear, or is unsuitable for the service, before being submitted to an inspector for condemnation, will be examined by a board of survey. By order of the commanding officer, public animals may be killed to prevent contagion or terminate suffering; clothing infected with contagious disease, and stores that have become so deteriorated as to endanger health or injure other stores, may be destroyed; but in every case of this nature a board of survey shall act, and an inventory and inspection report signed by the accountable and 12851 A R-7

commanding officers will be prepared and forwarded. In urgent cases the taking of proof and the preparation of written proceedings by the board may follow the destruction of the property.

709. A board of survey will be called by the commanding officer of the post or station. It 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 department commander his certificate of facts and circumstances, supported by affidavits of enlisted men or others who are cognizant thereof. Should a 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, the department commander may make the necessary investigation.

710. 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 682.

711. The party responsible for the property to be surveyed will, in all cases, furnish the original certificates or affidavits upon which he relies to relieve him from responsibility, and the number of duly attested copies thereof required by a board of survey to accompany its proceedings.

712. A board of survey has no power to administer oaths, either to its members or to witnesses before it, but it should hear in person or by letter all persons concerned in the subject-matter before it.

713. A board of survey can not condemn public property. Its action is purely advisory. It is called for the purpose of ascertaining and reporting facts, submitting opinions, and making recommendations upon questions of responsibility which may arise through accident, mistake or neglect. For example, it investigates and determines questions involving the character, amount, and cause of damage or deficiency which public property may have sustained in transit, store, or use, and which is not the result of ordinary wear and tear of the service, and reports the investigation made, its opinions thereon, and fixes responsibility for such damage or deficiency upon the proper party. It makes inventories of property ordered to be abandoned when the articles have not been enumerated in the orders for abandonment. It recommends the prices at which damaged clothing may be issued, and the proportion in which supplies shall be issued in consequence of damage or deterioration that renders them, at the usual rate, unequal to the regulation allowance, fixing in each instance responsibility for actual condition. It verifies the discrepancy between invoices and the actual quantity or description of property transferred from one officer to another, fixes definitely amounts received for which the receiving officer must receipt, and ascertains, as far as possible, where and how the discrepancy has occurred. It inventories and reports the condition of property in the possession of de officers as provided for in paragraph 84.

714. The proceedings of a board of survey will be prepared in triplicate and signed by each member who concurs in the finding. Should a member not concur, he will submit a minority report, to be embodied in the record immediately after the majority report and signed by the dissenting member. The proceedings will then be submitted to the convening authority for approval or disapproval.

715. When the value of the property submitted for survey or the loss or damage to be inquired into does not exceed $500, and the interested officer does not request the department commander's action, the proceedings of the board will be considered complete for submission as a property voucher upon the approval of the convening authority. One copy will then be forwarded to department headquarters and the others delivered to the officer accountable.

716. Should the proceedings be disapproved by the convening authority, or should the value of the property submitted for survey or the loss or damage to be inquired into exceed $500, or, whatever the amount involved, should the officer pecuniarily interested request it, the proceedings in triplicate will be forwarded to the department commander for review, and with his action are complete. One copy will then be filed at department headquarters and the others sent to the accountable officer. But all proceedings of boards of survey, whatever their nature or the amounts involved, are subject on call to the approval or disapproval of the department commander or such other action on his part as the merits of the case or the interests of the Government may in his opinion require.

717. The proceedings of a board of survey which recommends the relief of officers and enlisted men from responsibility should not be approved unless full and careful investigation and convincing proof to sustain the board's findings appear.

718. Properly approved proceedings of boards of survey may be submitted as vouchers to property returns. They are not to be considered as conclusive until accepted by the Secretary of War. Until then they are to be regarded simply as the opinions and recommendations of disinterested officers, to aid in the settlement of questions of accountability between the Government and the individuals concerned. If, on examination in the proper bureau, they exhibit serious errors or defects either of investigation or of finding, they will not be accepted as sufficient vouchers, and the officer submitting them will be duly notified, that he may have opportunity to make explanations or appeal to the Secretary of War.

719. At posts or stations not under the control of department commanders commanding officers will be governed by these regulations in convening boards of survey and acting upon their proceedings, but in cases referred to in paragraph 716 will forward the papers to the chiefs of bureaus to which the property pertains.

720. Separate proceedings of boards of survey will be had for each staff department concerned.

721. Whenever a board recommends a stoppage against an enlisted man and the recommendation is approved, the convening authority will cause a copy of the proceedings to be furnished to the company commander, who will charge the amount on the next muster and pay-rolls of the company.

722. If an inspection of property follows the action of a board of survey thereon, one copy of the proceedings will accompany the inventory and inspection report which is transmitted as a voucher to the officer's returns, and another, with the inventory and inspection report, will be filed by the officer with his retained papers.

723. For private property of officers or enlisted men lost or destroyed in the military service, without fault or negligence on the part of the claimant, "where the private property so lost or destroyed was shipped on board an unseaworthy vessel by order of any officer authorized to give such order or direct such shipment," or " where it appears that the loss or destruction of the private property of the claimant was in consequence of his having given his attention to the saving of the property belonging to the United States which was in danger at the same time and under similar circumstances," compensation may be made under the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1885. Proceedings of a board of survey will, if possible, accompany each application under this act, showing fully the circumstances attending the loss.

ARTICLE LXI.

CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES.

GENERAL PROVISIONS.

724. In the staff corps and departments the employment of civilians will be regulated by the respective chiefs of bureaus under the direction of the Secretary of War. Those whose services are engaged with the intention or probability of retaining them for more than three months are classified as permanent employees. Their appointment, dismissal, promotion, or reduction will be made, under the supervision of the respective chiefs of bureaus, by the officers employing them, except as controlled by statute or the civilservice rules; but in selections for such employment preference will be given, as far as practicable, to applicants who have served meritoriously as enlisted men in the Army, and the appointments and promotions of all permanent employees, except mechanics, laborers, teamsters, and others of similar or kindred occupations, will be submitted for the approval or confirmation of the Secretary of War.

725. The clerks and messengers authorized by the act of Congress of August 6, 1894, will be employed and apportioned to the several headquarters and stations by the Secretary of War, and will not be ordered thence without his authority. All messenger service at the several department headquarters, except for staff officers not assigned to the department staff, and, as far as practicable, all clerical services thereat, will be performed by this class of employees.

726. Department commanders will confine expenditures for civilian employees within the allotments for the purpose made under the direction of the Secretary of War.

727. Civil engineers, clerks, inspectors, storekeepers, packers, watchmen, messengers, teamsters, mechanics and laborers will, as a rule, be engaged by the month, day, or piece, and paid at the end of each calendar month. They will be designated upon the rolls in the capacity in which employed and at the rates established. When discharged and not paid, certified statements will be given them.