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seven to thirty days should intervene, and when the public exigency (constituting an emergency) does not permit seven days to intervene, the period should be for as many days as the circumstances will permit. The existence of such emergency is to be determined by the officer upon whom the duty of making the purchase devolves. Advertising for proposals by newspapers, in accordance with Article L, will be adopted when time permits, and the quantity or value of the purchase, or character of the services, in the opinion of the purchasing officer, will justify the expense. In such cases paragragh 502 governs as to the number of days to intervene between the first publication and the date of opening proposals. When notice of less than thirty days is given, advertising by circulars (sent to principal dealers in the localities where the supplies or services are desired, and posted in public places) is permissible. A purchasing officer may advertise by newspapers and circulars at the same time. 521. When advertisements or specifications thereunder do not announce fixed standards for articles required, they should be so worded as to permit bids to be considered item by item and awards to be made for the most suitable articles of each kind offered.

522. Whenever it is intended to require that guaranties or certified checks shall accompany proposals, that fact, the amount in which the guarantors are to justify, or, if certified checks are substituted for the guaranties, the amount required and the periods to be allowed after the award for the execution of contract papers and bonds will be stated in the advertisement or specifications.

523. Advertisements inviting proposals will ordinarily be issued by the officer who is to make the contract or purchase; in special cases, if competent authority so direct, they may be issued by any other officer.

524. A copy of each advertisement and specification will be promptly forwarded by the officer issuing it direct to the proper bureau of the War Department, together with all information required for a complete understanding of the necessity for the proposed contract or purchase, and in case of notice by circular there will be indorsed on it the names of persons to whom sent, and if issued for a period of less than seven days the reason why a longer period was not allowed will be stated. The forwarding of these notices at time of issuing may be dispensed with at the discretion of the chief of bureau to which the proposed contract or purchase pertains.

PROPOSALS.

525. Information in regard to supplies or services for which proposals have been invited will be furnished, on application, to all persons desiring it, but no person belonging to, or employed in, the military service will render assistance in the preparation of proposals.

526. Bidders for supplies will be informed of the kind, quantity, and quality of articles required, the place, time, and rate of delivery, and conditions of payment. They will be furnished with such specifications as have been adopted, and will be permitted to examine the standard samples at the places where deposited.

527. Bidders for labor will be informed of the nature and extent of the services required, where they are to be performed, and the time allowed for performance. They will be furnished with or allowed to examine plans and specifications of all works upon which they desire to bid, and in general will be furnished with any information needed to enable them to act understandingly.

528. No person will be informed, directly or indirectly, of the name of anyone intending to bid or not to bid, or to whom information in respect to proposals has been given.

529. Proposals should be prepared in duplicate, or in triplicate if required, in strict accordance with the requirements of the advertisement or specifications. They should make specific reference to the advertisement and to any plans or specifications which may have been furnished. Each proposal should give the place of residence

and post-office address of the bidder, with county, State, or Territory, and should be signed by the bidder with his usual signature in full.

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530. A proposal by a person who affixes to his signature the word "president,” "secretary,' agent," or other designation, without disclosing his principal, is the proposal of the individual. Proposals by a corporation should be signed with the name of the corporation, followed by the signature of the president, secretary, or other person authorized to bind it in the matter, who should file evidence of his authority to do so. Proposals by a firm should be signed with the firm name by one of the members of the firm. If the signature to a proposal is that of an officer, attorney, or agent of the corporation, or of an attorney or agent of a firm or individual, and his authority to act on behalf of his principal is not a matter of general notoriety in the locality where the proposals are opened, the officer who opens such proposals should, before considering the same, satisfy himself that the signer is vested with sufficient authority to represent his principal in the transaction.

531. In proposals numbers and prices will be written in words as well as expressed in figures; but when a great variety of articles, such as stationery, hardware, etc., is required, quantities and prices may, if the amounts involved are inconsiderable and the forms of proposals so indicate, be expressed in figures only. It will be sufficient if specifications are referred to and are declared to form part of the proposal.

532. Erasures or interlineations should be explained by the bidder, in the proposal, over his signature.

533. Guaranties, signed by two responsible parties, or by a qualified surety company, will be required to accompany proposals whenever, in the opinion of the officer authorized to make the contract, they are necessary to protect the public interests, and when so required, no proposal unaccompanied by a guaranty, made in manner and form as directed in the advertisement or specifications, will be considered. At the option of bidders certified checks for the amount of the guaranty required may be received in place of the written guaranty. These checks will be kept in a secure place, and will be returned to bidders by the purchasing officer when no longer required to protect the interests of the government.

534. The guaranty will be in duplicate, or in triplicate if required, and will be made out and executed with the necessary justification, in accordance with blank forms furnished by chiefs of bureaus. The certificate of sufficiency of guarantors will be executed in the manner prescribed in paragraph 576.

535. Proposals, with their guaranties, will be securely sealed in suitable envelopes indorsed and addressed as required by the advertisement, and must be in the possession of the officer addressed before the hour appointed for the opening. No responsibility will attach to an officer for the premature opening of any proposal not so indorsed as to clearly show its character.

536. When an advertisement calls for proposals to furnish labor or supplies at more than one place, a separate proposal will be made for performance at each place, but all may be submitted in the same envelope.

537. Proposals received prior to the time of opening will be securely kept. The officer whose duty it is to open them will decide when that time has arrived, and no proposal received thereafter will be considered.

538. Before the time for opening any bidder may, without prejudice, withdraw from competition by giving written notice of his decision to the officer holding his bid, and when his bid is reached at the opening it will be returned to him or his authorized agent unread.

539. Proposals will be opened and read aloud at the time and place appointed for the opening (bidders having the right to be present), and each proposal will then and there be numbered and entered on an abstract, the articles being entered in the order in which they are to appear on the returns. Articles to be procured by contract will be abstracted separately from those to be procured on written acceptance.

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PROPOSALS-AWARDS-FORMS OF AGREEMENT.

If the number of proposals is large, those relating to specific articles or classes of articles may be entered on separate abstracts. The number of each proposal, with the quantities and prices of articles offered and dates of delivery, will appear in the proper columns, and a copy of the advertisement or notice under which the proposals are received, with a copy of the specifications, if any, will be attached to the upper lefthand corner of the abstract. When two or more sheets are used for the abstract, they will be properly fastened together and paged on the upper right-hand corner.

540. Proposals will be separately folded and numbered as vouchers to the abstract. They will not be fastened together nor to contracts, except to the copy required to be sent to the Returns Office of the Department of the Interior.

541. When proposals are received at a post, unless by an officer authorized to make the award, as in cases involving small expenditures, they and the abstract will be forwarded to department headquarters, with the recommendations of the receiving officer and the post commander as to the person to whom the award should be made. When a purchasing officer, acting under the direct supervision of a chief of bureau, has invited and received proposals, he will make the award and execute the necessary papers, unless otherwise directed by the chief of bureau.

AWARDS.

542. When proposals for supplies for the general service of a department are received at its headquarters, the chief officer of that branch of the staff to which they pertain will submit them to the department commander, and, under his supervision, will make the award and execute the necessary papers, unless, under existing orders, the action of higher authority is necessary.

543. Except in rare cases, when the United States elects to exercise the right to reject proposals, awards will be made to the lowest responsible bidder whose proposal for furnishing a proper article is not unreasonable.

544. Slight failures on the part of a bidder to comply strictly with the terms of an advertisement should not necessarily lead to the rejection of his bid, but the interests of the Government will be fully considered in making the award.

545. When no guaranty is required, bidders must, if called upon by the awarding officer, furnish satisfactory evidence, before the award is made, of their ability to carry their proposals into effect.

546. The accepted quantity and price will be noted on the abstract of proposals in the column of "Remarks," opposite the name of the bidder. If a bid is rejected and one at a higher price accepted, the reason for the rejection will be written in the column of remarks. When contracts are made, the fact will be stated in the abstract.

ABSTRACTS OF PROPOSALS.

547. A copy of each abstract, in those cases where contracts are to be entered into, made as directed in paragraphs 539, 541, and 546, accompanied by a duplicate of each proposal received, will, as soon as considered, be forwarded to the proper bureau of the War Department. When the purchase of supplies or engagement of services is made through written proposal and written acceptance only, the abstract and proposals need not be forwarded unless specially directed.

FORMS OF AGREEMENT.

548. A purchase of supplies or engagement of services will be made:

1. By contract, "reduced to writing and signed by the contracting parties with their names at the end thereof." Agreements of this character only are termed "contracts" in these regulations. This method will, subject to such exceptions as may be authorized by regulations of particular staff departments, be used when delivery or performance does not immediately follow an award or bargain.

UNIVERS.TY

or

CAL FORMA

FORMS OF AGREEMENT- -CONTRACTS.

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2. By written proposal and written acceptance. This method may be resorted to when delivery or performance immediately follows award or bargain or when specifically authorized by the regulations of the staff department concerned.

3. By oral agreement. This method may be used under circumstances indicated in paragraph 549, if delivery or performance immediately follow the agreement. 549. An open-market purchase of supplies or engagement of services is one made without advertising, and is authorized in the following cases:

1. In an emergency, as when the public exigencies require immediate delivery or performance and there is no time to advertise by newspapers, posters, or circulars. 2. When it is impracticable to secure competition.

3. When proposals have been invited and none have been received.

4. When proposals are above the market price or otherwise unreasonable. 550. Before making a purchase in open market the officer will inform himself concerning prevailing prices by inquiry among principal dealers in his locality.

551. Open purchases for the military service on or near an Indian reservation will be made as far as practicable from the Indians, under the conditions set forth in paragraph 477, when fair and reasonable rates, not exceeding the market prices in the locality, can be obtained.

552. An officer of any department who makes an open-market emergency purchase (paragraph 549, 1) exceeding $200 in amount will transmit with his monthly money accounts a report setting forth the number of the voucher, the date and place of purchase, name of seller, the kind and total money value of supplies so purchased, and the reasons for the mode adopted in each case. The head of the bureau will submit these reports to the Secretary of War.

CONTRACTS.

553. Contracts will be made on forms furnished by the chiefs of bureaus, in cases where such forms are applicable, and those forms will be modified only to such extent as is necessary. When modifications are made they must be fully explained over the signatures of the contracting parties. All conditions of the contract will be stated therein as fully and clearly as possible.

554. Contracts will be made in the name of, and will be signed by, the officer designated by the chief of bureau to which the contracts pertain. They will not be made at posts unless ordered by superior authority, and they will not be so ordered unless the stores or services required, of proper quality or kind, can be procured as cheaply there as elsewhere.

555. At territorial department headquarters (Philippine Islands excepted) contracts may be made by chiefs of supply departments for purchasing fuel, forage, fresh meat, ice, and fresh vegetables, subject to the approval of the commanding general of the department, to whom the contracts will be forwarded, accompanied by the abstract required by paragraph 539, and who before approval will subject them to careful scrutiny and exercise the intervening authority conferred by paragraph 754. In the Philippine Islands the same authority is extended to the chiefs of supply departments at territorial division and department headquarters, and to the depot commissary at Manila, when making contracts for supplies for the army and for rendering services other than personal.

556. Purchasing officers of the several staff corps and departments, who are under the direct supervision of the chiefs of their respective bureaus, are authorized to make contracts for the purchase of supplies and for rendering services other than personal, without the approval of the chief of bureau in each specific case, subject to such restrictions and regulations as may be prescribed by the chief of bureau to which the supplies or services pertain.

557. When a contract is entered into with a partnership, the individual names of the partners should be given in the body of the instrument, with the recitation that

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CONTRACTS-DISBURSING OFFICERS' BONDS.

they are partners composing a firm, which should be named, and it may be signed in the name of the partnership by one of the partners, who will append his own signature as one of the firm.

558. A contract of a corporation should have the name of the corporation written in the body of the instrument, as one of the parties thereto, and should be signed by the officer or person who has been authorized to contract in its behalf, who should sign the corporate name and his own. The contracting officer will, in all cases, satisfy himself that the signer has authority to bind the corporation, and will either require from him satisfactory evidence thereof, and file the same with the contract, or will certify on the contract that he has satisfied himself of the signer's authority and has waived this requirement. If evidence be filed with the contract, it should consist of extracts from the articles of incorporation, the by-laws, or the minutes of the board of directors, duly certified by the custodian of such records under the corporate seal (if there be one) showing the signer to be properly vested with authority to bind the corporation.

559. All contracts will be executed in triplicate. One number is for the Auditor for the War Department, one for the head of the bureau to which the contract pertains, and one for the contractor. Two copies will be made, one for the contracting officer, and the other for the Returns Office of the Department of the Interior.

560. The three numbers of the contract will be forwarded to the head of the proper bureau for examination and for approval, if such approval is required. Should any illegality be discovered, it will be submitted to the Secretary of War.

561. The copy of the contract for the Returns Office of the Department of the Interior will be transmitted thereto through the head of the bureau to which the contract pertains, as soon as possible after the contract has been made and approved, and within thirty days, together with one copy of all bids, offers, and proposals made by persons to obtain the contract, and by a copy of the advertisement; all of which will be fastened together with a ribbon and seal, and numbered in regular order, with the affidavit of the contracting officer appended in the following form:

I do solemnly swear that the copy of contract hereto annexed is an exact copy of a contract made by me personally with -; that I made the same fairly, without any benefit or advantage to myself, or allowing any such benefit or advantage corruptly to the said or any other person; and that the papers accompanying include all those relating to the said contract, as required by the statute in such case made and provided.

562. The number of the contract for the Auditor for the War Department will be sent to him by the head of the bureau to which the contract pertains, and in case of a purchase made by an officer of the Quartermaster's or Subsistence Department after public notice of seven days or more, this number must be accompanied by a copy of the advertisement, a certificate of the contracting officer as to the time and manner of its publication, and his certificate that the award was made to the lowest responsible bidder for the best and most suitable article.

563. All papers relating to or affecting the performance of any contract will finally be transmitted to the bureau of the War Department to which the contract pertains, except as provided in paragraph 709.

MARKING SUPPLIES BY CONTRACTORS.

564. Contractors furnishing supplies will mark and distinguish them with their names and with such other designations as shall be directed by the purchasing officer.

ARTICLE LII.

BONDS OF DISBURSING OFFICERS, BIDDERS, AND CONTRACTORS.

565. Disbursing officers of the Quartermaster's, Subsistence, and Pay departments, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, will give bonds as required