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871. The inspection of disbursements and money accounts of disbursing officers required by act of April 20, 1874, will be made by officers of the Inspector-General's Department or others detailed for that purpose, and, as far as practicable, at irregular intervals, but no officer so detailed shall be in any way connected with the corps or staff department making the disbursement. The frequency of these inspections will be regulated by the Secretary of War.

872. Reports of prescribed inspections of troops, stations, and accounts of disbursing officers under the authority of department commanders will be forwarded through department headquarters to the Adjutant-General of the Army and transmitted to the Inspector-General of the Army. In case irregularities, deficiencies, or misconduct are reported, a department commander in forwarding a report will state what remedies he has applied or will apply to correct them, adding any recommendations that he may desire to make. All other reports of inspections will be forwarded direct to the Inspector-General of the Army, except when otherwise specially directed, and all inspection reports not confidential will be filed in his office. The Inspector-General will forward to the Commanding General of the Army extracts that relate to discipline and efficiency, and to the chiefs of bureaus extracts that relate to fiscal affairs.

METHODS OF INSPECTION.

873. Inspections of troops will be conducted as prescribed in the authorized drill regulations. When the command consists of more than one company the inspection will, if practicable, be preceded by a review.

874. Inspectors-general and acting inspectors-general will concisely report the strength, efficiency, and armament of each garrison and post, the date of last inspection, and all irregularities and defects, with such suggestions or recommendations as they deem pertinent. They will also report what remedies have been applied to correct irregularities reported at former inspections. The subjects usually covered by such reports should be as follows:

1. Names of officers present, those absent on detached duty or otherwise, and those permanently incapacitated for any duty from any cause; whether the number of enlisted men in ranks at inspection corresponds to returns, how absentees are accounted for, and how many appear under arms at inspection; the number of men in the band, and if any are not musicians. 2. Whether the post is adequately armed and supplied, and maps of the post and of the country in its vicinity kept.

3. Whether the commanding officer observes the system of instruction and treatment of subordinates enjoined by the regulations, and properly executes the laws relating to neutrality, quarantine, and the regulations concerning international courtesy, so far as applicable to his post; whether justice is promptly and legally administered; the zeal of the commanding officer and his ability to perform his duties.

4. Whether officers are efficient, reporting any intemperance or immorality, and mentioning any officer or soldier who has distinguished himself, or shown special efficiency in any department of study or duty.

5. The manner in which chaplains perform their duties.

6. The efficiency of administrative and staff officers, the correctness of

their accounts; whether payments and issues are made in accordance with law and regulations, and whether surplus supplies are taken up on returns and deficiencies accounted for.

7. Efficiency, discipline and appearance of the troops; state of arms, equipments and accoutrements of all kinds; sufficiency, uniformity and fit of clothing; instruction, theoretical and practical, of noncommissioned officers and privates in military exercises and duties; nature and amount of drills, recitations in tactics and drill regulations, target practice, practice marches, practice in outpost duty, field service, minor tactics, and gymnastic exercises; efficiency in signaling; regularity of payment of the troops, their health and whether the sick are properly cared for.

8. Police and sanitation of the post; cleanliness, state of repair, and sanitary condition of all buildings.

9. Whether there are suitable rooms for use, respectively, as a library, reading room, chapel, and school; sufficient quantities of newspapers and periodicals, schoolbooks, stationery and school material for the use of enlisted men; whether the newspapers, periodicals, and schoolbooks are solely used by enlisted men; whether the library rooms are used at all by officers, and, if so, whether it interferes with their use by enlisted men; the attendance and progress of pupils and the system of instruction.

10. System of messing, sufficiency, variety and preparation of food. 11. Whether labor of the supply departments is performed by troops or civilians; if by the latter, their number, cost attending and reasons for their employment and kind of labor performed by them.

12. Means of transportation and its condition; training, grooming, shoeing, suitability, veterinary treatment and condition of public animals, and number unserviceable.

13. Condition of all public property, and whether used for private purposes; whether buildings and property are properly secured against fire, theft and damage.

14. Whether sales of subsistence stores are made to enlisted men according to regulations; whether there are damaged stores, and if so, in what quantities and how damage was caused.

15. Water supply, facilities for laundry work, bathing and swimming, system and condition of sewerage and drainage, and means of extinguishing fire.

16. Management and success of post exchange, and whether properly supplied and conducted according to regulations; extent, necessity for, and kind of gardens, success attending, and number of men employed therein. 17. Management and application of the regimental, bakery, company, and mess funds, and whether the provisions of Articles XXXIV and XXXV are complied with.

18. Whether regimental, post, and company books, papers and files, and those of the post staff departments, including chaplain's register, are properly kept, and the prescribed rolls and returns are properly prepared and promptly forwarded.

19. Condition of post cemetery and its records.

20. Efficiency of hospital corps and company bearers in ambulance and litter-bearers' drill, and methods of rendering first aid to the wounded.

875. On completion of an inspection of a post or other command of troops under department supervision, the inspector-general or acting inspectorgeneral will furnish its commanding officer a written statement of all

irregularities and deficiencies observed, which will be kept on file for the information of commanding officers and inspectors. The commanding officer will, as soon as practicable, submit to the department commander a copy of this statement, with a report showing what remedies he has applied or will apply to correct each of the irregularities or defects found, and will recommend the proper action with regard to those that he has not power or authority to remedy. At stations not under the supervision of department commanders, inspectors-general and acting inspectors-general will furnish like statements, and commanding officers will forward copies with reports to the authority that ordered the inspection.

DISBURSEMENTS AND ACCOUNTS.

876. Inspectors-general and acting inspectors-general will inquire as to the necessity, economy and propriety of all disbursements, their strict conformity to the law appropriating the money, and whether the disbursing officers comply with the law in keeping their accounts and making their deposits. A statement of receipts and expenditures and of the distribution of funds, with a list of outstanding checks, on forms furnished by the Inspector-General of the Army, will be submitted by the disbursing officer to the inspector, who should immediately transmit the list of outstanding checks to the several depositories. Upon return from a depository, balances will be verified and noted on the inspection report, which will then be forwarded to the Inspector-General. The list of outstanding checks will be retained by the inspector, and a copy, with indorsements thereon, sent to the Inspector-General.

877. When an officer ceases to act as a disbursing officer he will submit to the officer to whom the inspection of his accounts has been assigned a statement of his money accounts from date of last inspection to and including the closing of his accounts, with a list of outstanding checks. If an inspection be impracticable, the statement will be forwarded to the Inspector-General of the Army.

PROPERTY FOR CONDEMNATION.

878. Inspections having in view the condemnation of property will be made by inspectors-general, acting inspectors-general, or officers specially designated by the commander of a department, the commander of an army in the field, or higher authority. Officers designated for the foregoing purpose shall not be in any way connected with the staff department, corps, post, or particular organization to which the property to be inspected pertains, except in case of unserviceable public animals or of small quantities of rapidly deteriorating subsistence stores, unfit for sale or issue to troops but not worthless, if delay would entail loss to the Government.

879. Officers will prepare and sign in triplicate, on blank forms furnished by the Inspector-General of the Army, inventories of public property requiring inspection, and present them, with the property, to the inspector-general or acting inspector-general at the time of his annual visit. In the case of rapidly deteriorating subsistence stores or of unserviceable public animals, such inventories will be prepared when necessary, and unless the time of the annual visit of an inspector be near at hand, one copy will be forwarded to

the commander of the department or army in the field. Public animals will be inventoried singly, with a brief description of color, sex, age, and distinguishing marks.

88o. As far as practicable, inventories of unserviceable property will state the cost of the articles, and in case of damaged or inferior stores the depot whence obtained, the marks upon them, with marks on original packages, and names of contractors and inspectors.

881. For inspection the property will be arranged in the order of enumeration in the inventory, every article will be examined by the inspector, and the officer responsible will accompany him and be prepared to give all necessary information in regard to it.

882. Inspectors will examine all property properly presented for condemnation. When all property presented has been destroyed in the presence of the inspector, one inventory will be forwarded by the inspecting officer through departinent headquarters to the Inspector-General of the Army and the others will be delivered to the accountable officer. In cases in which the inspector recommends the sale of any property or its transfer to depots, he will forward all the inventories to department headquarters, and if the inspector's action is approved by the department commander, except as provided in paragraphs 1525 and 1526, two will be returned to the accountable officer and the other forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army to be transmitted to the Inspector-Genera' of the Army, and, in similar cases, when the accountable officer is not serving under the department commander and all the property has been destroyed in the presence of the inspector, one copy of the inventory will be forwarded to the Inspector-General of the Army and two to the accountable officer, or if sale or transfer of the property is recommended, the inspecting officer will forward all the inventories to the Inspector-General of the Army, who will forward them to the Secretary of War, through the chief of bureau concerned; one copy will be returned to the Inspector-General and two to the accountable officer.

883. Inspectors will exercise great care in examining property submitted to them for condemnation, and in making recommendations regarding its disposition. Articles "to be continued in service" are such as are still serviceable. Those "to be dropped" from the returns are such as can not be sold at the post and are not worth cost of transportation to an arsenal or depot for repair. If worthless, they must be so far destroyed as to prevent any possibility of future presentation. Such articles as can not be destroyed will, when practicable, be marked "I. C." (inspected-condemned), or will be broken up and the serviceable parts retained. Condemned animals will be branded "I. C." on the neck under the mane. Should the inspector's recommendation be disapproved in regard to articles marked "I. C.," the marks will be canceled and a certificate of the fact given to the responsible officer. Suitable brands and stencils will be kept for use of inspectors at posts and depots. Articles "to be sold at post" are such as are of no further public use, or not worth cost of transportation to a depot. Those "to be turned into depot" are such as can not be repaired at the post, and are worth cost of transportation.

884. Public property in use will not be reported as unserviceable, nor condemned by an inspector merely because worn or shabby in appearance, when really strong and serviceable.

885. Great care will be taken to prevent property once condemned and ordered dropped from the returns from being again presented for inspection. When public property is presented to an inspector for condemnation the officer responsible will certify on the inventory that the property has not been previously condemned.

886. Inspectors will, when practicable, cause the destruction in their presence of all property found to be worthless and which is without money value at or near the place of inspection, and will state in their reports that "the articles recommended to be destroyed have no money value at or near the post." The action of an inspector on property of this character will be final, and his report will be a valid voucher for the responsible officer. When property thus condemned is not destroyed in the presence of the inspector the responsible officer will certify to the fact of subsequent destruction in his presence.

887. An inspection report on damaged clothing will set forth the amount of damage to each article; also a list of such articles as are fit for issue to prisoners, or, at reduced prices, to enlisted men willing to receive them.

888. Department commanders, the commander of an army in the field, or the Commanding General of the Army, may give orders, on the reports of authorized inspectors, to sell, destroy, or make such other disposition of condemned property as the case may require, except the sale of ordnance and ordnance stores and the destruction of saddles issued by the Ordnance Department, for which the orders of the Secretary of War must be given. If the property be of considerable value, and there be good reason to suppose that it can be more advantageously applied or disposed of elsewhere than within the command, the matter will be referred to the War Department through the Adjutant-General of the Army.

889. Orders for the final disposition of condemned property will be indorsed by the proper authority on the inspection reports, each copy being made complete in itself. One will be forwarded, through military channels, to the Inspector-General of the Army, and the others to the accountable officer, who will forward one, or suitable extracts therefrom, with his accounts, and file the other with his retained papers.

ARTICLE LXXIII.

JUDGE-ADVOCATE-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT.

890. The Judge-Advocate-General's Department is the bureau of military justice. The Judge-Advocate-General is the custodian of the records of all general courts-martial, courts of inquiry, and military commissions, and of all papers relating to the title of lands under the control of the War Department, except the Washington Aqueduct and the public buildings and grounds in the District of Columbia. The officers of this department render opinions upon legal questions when called upon by proper authority.

891. The judge-advocate of each department, or the officer acting as such, will, as soon as practicable after August 31 of each year, render to the Judge-Advocate-General a report for the year terminating on that date, giving the number and character of cases tried by courts-martial in the department during the period. This report will separately classify the trials

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