tion while occupied by the Government then a deduction should be made from the annual rental and if the property is not exempt from taxation there should be no deduction. The Bigelow-Hartford Co. has paid the taxes for 1918, and presents certificate to the effect that there are no exemptions from taxes and that their taxes have not been reduced any by reason of the occupancy of the premises by the Government. While it has been a settled law ever since the decision of the Supreme Court in McCullough r. Maryland (4 Wheat. 316). that a State has no power to tax the property or instrumentalities of the Federal Government, this principle has never been extended to the exemption from State taxes of private property leased or rented by the United States. The Comptroller has held that taxes on property rented by the Government are properly payable as part of the rental when specifically included in the terms of the lease. (24 Comp. Dec. 705.) There is no difference in the application of this principle whether the property be leased by the United States or commandeered. In the present case rental is not subject to deduction and the voucher should be paid. 481, Feb. 17, 1919.

2133. MILITARY CABLE AND TELEGRAPH SYSTEM. 2134. ROAD COMMISSION.

MILITARY CABLE AND TELEGRAPH SYSTEM

2133. The act of May 26, 1900 (31 Stat. 206), establishing the WashingtonAlaska military cable and telegraph system, provides:

For the purpose of connecting headquarters, Department of Alaska, at St. Michael. by military telegraph and cable lines with other military stations in Alaska Provided, That commercial business may be done over these military lines under such conditions as may be deemed, by the Secretary of War, equitable and in the public interests; all receipts for such commercial business shall be accounted for and paid into the Treasury of the United States

of

Section 2, act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. 653), provides that

The Chief Signal Officer shall have charge, under the direction of the Secretary of War, the construction, repair, and operation of military telegraph lines

Held, That the effect of the language of the above acts was to make said lines an instrumentality of the War Department, and that they can not be transferred to another department without legislative authority. Held further, That there was nothing in the law that would prohibit the War Department from charging tolls on messages from other departments, and transmitted over said system on official business, and the distribution of the tolls to the credit of the appropriations involved, on the principle that where supplies are furnished by one department or branch of the Government to another, the appropriations from which the supplies are furnished should be reimbursed by the department or branch of the Government to which they are furnished. 80-471, July 24, 1913, 10 alla O

The Chief Signal Officer of the Army recommended that a charge be made for official messages transmitted over the Washington-Alaska telegraph and cable system in ka by officials of the Territory of Alaska and by depart

ments other than the War Department, of one-half of the established commercial rate as fixed by the Postmaster General for Government messages transmitted over commercial Pacific cables. Held, That there was no legal objection to this action, in view of the authority conferred upon the Secretary of War by the act of May 26, 1900 (31 Stat. 206), authorizing commercial business to be done over the said system under such conditions as might be deemed by him "equitable in the public interests," and that the charge so fixed would probably be accepted, in the absence of a showing to the contrary, as a proper charge to other departments of the Government for the cost of the service furnished them. Held further, That payments made by other departments for services so rendered might be accounted for and paid into the Treasury of the United States as prescribed for commercial business. 80-471, Apr. 8, 1914.

In view of the determination of Congress that the Washington-Alaska military cable and telegraph system is a nonmilitary activity, as evidenced by the allocation of its appropriation in the annual act for the support of the War Department, section 9, National Defense Act (41 Stat. 766), is held not applicable thereto, and the officer in charge may be authorized to make purchases of supplies direct rather than through the Quartermaster Corps. 400.12, Jan. 16, 1926.

ROAD COMMISSION

2134. The authority of the Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska to approve and certify vouchers for payment can not be delegated, even with the approval of the Secretary of War, for the reason that the statute establishing said board specifically requires expenditure of the road and trail portion of the "Alaska fund" (section 2, act of January 27, 1905, 33 Stat. 616), upon vouchers approved and certified by said board. 92-160, Sept. 18, 1917.

Secs.

HAWAII

2135. EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS.

2136-2137. LANDS.

2138. MILITARY RESERVATIONS.

EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS

2135. Under section 105, Hawaiian Organic Act, as amended by sec. 315, act of July 9, 1921 (42 Stat. 120), forbidding employment on public works in Hawaii of mechanics or laborers not citizens of the United States or eligible therefor, a noncitizen Filipino or Porto Rican may be employed if he possesses the qualification of service necessary to permit him to become a citizen under paragraph 7, added to section 4, act of June 29, 1906, by section 1, act of May 9, 1918 (40 Stat. 542). Foreign-born Japanese, Chinese, or Koreans, being denied citizenship, may not be so employed. Employment, however, otherwise than as mechanics and laborers would be governed by the same rules and regulations applicable to governmental employment generally, namely, rules promulgated by the President for carrying into effect the Civil Service Act. 230.22, Oct. 14, 1925.

On request for an interpretation of section 105, Hawaiian Organic Aet, added thereto by the act of July 9, 1921 (42 Stat. 120), reading

That no person shall be employed as a mechanic or labor ried on in the Territory of Hawaii by the Government of work is done by contract or otherwise, unless such perso or eligible to become such a citizen.

iblie work ar

whether the fred Stei

it was Held, That this section does not prohibit the employment of aliens as mechanics and laborers in all the public services of the United States in Hawaii, but applies only to those employed on works properly designated as "public works," such as fortifications, buildings, roads, dams, and other public improvements and that, as to the latter class, its application is limited to those persons performing such manual labor as is usually done by persons within the ordinary meaning of the words "laborers and mechanics," and would not, for instance, extend to the office force, messengers, and watchmen. 230.222, Oct. 9, 1926.

Secs.

LANDS

2136. RESERVATION BY EXECUTIVE ORDER. 2137. RESERVATION BY TERRITORIAL ORDER.

RESERVATION BY EXECUTIVE ORDER

2136. Congress authorized certain river and harbor improvements made by the Corps of Engineers in the harbor of Honolulu, Hawaii. Dredging and filling operations connected therewith redeemed certain submerged land. Later, by Executive order of November 24, 1920, portions of these redeemed lands were devoted to military purposes, and thereafter Congress recognized the validity of this Executive order by act of January 31, 1922 (42 Stat. 360). Another portion of these redeemed lands had previously been set aside for the buoy depot reservation by Executive order dated October 13, 1917. Held, That the President has authority and may properly set aside and reserve a part of the remaining portion of land for the use of the Department of Commerce, in connection with the Honolulu Harbor Light Station, and no express legislation by Congress authorizing such reservation is necessary. 602.3, Feb. 24, 1923.

RESERVATION BY TERRITORIAL ORDER

2137. Under section 91, Hawaiian Organic Act of April 30, 1900 (31 Stat. 159), the President may by Executive order return to the Territory public lands previously set aside for the use of the War Department, and no longer required, but the insertion in territorial executive orders by the governor of a provision for the return of such lands to the Territory should they cease to be required for military purposes is illegal, and reservations so conveyed may not be accepted by the War Department. 686, Jan. 13, 1927.

In an opinion, dated April 1, 1927, addressed to the Secretary of the Interior, the Attorney General held that such a provision would be ineffectual and therefore improper.

MILITARY RESERVATIONS

2138. The act of March 12, 1926 (44 Stat. 203), is not applicable to military reservations in Hawaii, the only authority for their disposition when no longer required, being section 91 of the Organic Act (31 Stat. 159), providing for their return to the Territory of Hawaii. Any other disposition would require congressional authority. 602.2, Jan. 21, 1929.

INDIAN COUNTRY

"hority granted to the War Department under R. S. permits for the introduction of intoxicants into the ses, has been nullified by section 3 of the enabling approved June 6, 1906 (34 Stat. 269), so far

as it regards the old Indian Territory, the Osage nation, and any other parts of the State which existed as Indian reservations on January 1, 1906. While under the above section of the Revised Statutes the War Department granted at times permits for the introduction of intoxicants into the Indian country, it was only where cases were presented requiring wine or alcohol for the use of hospitals, in rare cases for individual patients, and where wine was needed for sacramental purposes. The War Department has never granted permits for the introduction of intoxicants for the purpose of sale. The Oklahoma enabling act forbids the introduction of intoxicants into the territory above mentioned, except through State agencies established under the laws of the State of Oklahoma. 48-221, July 13, 1912.

The act of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat. 519), making appropriation for the expenses of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, provides:

Hereafter it shall not be unlawful to introduce and use wines solely for sacramental purposes, under church authority, at any place within the Indian country or any Indian reservation.

On application by a minister of a church at Muskogee, Okla., for a permit for the shipment of wine for sacramental purposes, Held, That this act does not require that a person introducing wine into the Indian country for sacramental purposes shall obtain a permit from the War Department, nor does it authorize said department to issue such a permit; and the War Department under the circumstances must decline to issue the same. 48-223, Nov. 4, 1912. On application for a permit to introduce liquor for sale for medicinal pur poses into Mellette County, S. Dak., formerly a portion of the Rosebud Indian Reservation in which the same laws relative to the introduction of intoxicating liquors into Indian country shall prevail for a period of 25 years from May 30, 1910, date of the act providing for the disposal of portions of said reservation. Held, That the authority to grant permits for the introduction of liquor into Indian country given by R. S. 2139, as amended, does not extend to the granting of such permits for the introduction of said liquors for purposes of sale. 48-221, Nov. 5, 1912.

2140. The maintenance, protection, operation, sanitation. the Canal Zone is provided for in the act of August 24, 19 Section 13 thereof provides that in time of war the Preofficer of the Army who shall assume and have exclusi

ment of

(79).