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No. 29.

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, August 28, 1901.

By direction of the Secretary of War, the following decisions of the Comptroller of the Treasury are published to the Army for the information and guidance of all concerned:

I. Deduction on mileage accounts for transporta-
tion furnished under act of May 26, 1900, etc --
II. First-class veterinarians are officers and entitled

to 10 per cent increase of pay, etc.
III. Increased pay for exercise of higher command --
IV..Increased pay for higher command not allowed
unless officers are assigned in orders by compe-
tent authority

Page.

2

5

8

10

V..Pay of volunteer officers when promoted by sen

iority

13

VI. Certificate of merit pay payable during military
service....

16

VII Retired officer can not receive pay as such while drawing pay as Chief Clerk Department of Agriculture....

VIII..Officer discharged, if on duty without troops, entitled to certain pay and allowances

18

20

IX. Computation of time as commissioned officer and
soldier

22

X. Chaplains are entitled to rank, pay, and allow-
ances of captain of infantry and can not draw
mounted pay.

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XI. First lieutenant and assistant surgeon of volun-
teers, appointed and promoted, entitled to pay
from date of acceptance of commission only... 27

XII. Mileage, act of March 2, 1901-
XIII...Retired officer detailed on college duty entitled to
full pay
XIV..Veterinarians authorized under act of February
2, 1901, entitled to increased pay for length of
service..

29

339

30

31

I..Deduction on mileage accounts for transportation furnished under act May 26, 1900. When rate of fare is the same over two or more usually traveled routes, deduct three cents per mile for transportation furnished, only for the number of miles for which mileage is allowed in Distance Table. When travel is by a longer route for the convenience of the officer and the rate of fare is greater than by usually traveled route, deduct three cents per mile for transportation furnished by such route.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY,
Washington, D. C., January 5, 1901.

The Honorable the SECRETARY OF WAR.

SIR: I have by your direction received a letter dated the 8th ultimo from the Paymaster General of the Army, requesting my decision whether by the act of May 26, 1900 (31 Stat., 210), paymasters are required to deduct from the mileage accounts of an Army officer three cents per mile for the actual distance traveled over a route taken by him when such route is not the shortest usually traveled

route.

The Paymaster General says:

It often happens that an officer is paid mileage by the shortest usually traveled route and the deduction of three cents per mile is made on account of another and longer route between the two points.

This seems to me to be an injustice done the officer in the first instance and in practical working it makes a discrimination in favor of certain railroads as against others, which certainly was not contemplated by legislation. As an illustration: The distance shown by the distance tables over the shortest usually traveled route between Washington and Chicago is 790 miles, the distance being calculated by the B. & O. The distance between Washington and Chicago over the Pennsylvania is 842 miles, showing a distance in favor of the B. & O. of 52 miles; so that an officer traveling between Washington and Chicago would be paid $55.30, and if he had received a transportation order from the quartermaster and made his journey by the Pennsylvania there would be deducted from him $25 26, which is three cents per mile for 52 miles more than he was paid for, or than would have been deducted from him if he had traveled by the B. & O., making a discrimination in favor of the B. & O. of $1.56. The same would obtain under similar circumstances between any other two points where there were competing roads which had formed a pooling arrangement under the term of "agreement" roads.

In order to obviate this injustice to the officer and this apparent discrimination in favor of one road as against another, I would respectfully suggest to the Comptroller that in the payment of all these accounts the official distance given over the shortest usually traveled route should be the distance for which the refundment at three cents per mile should be made in those cases where transportation by the Quartermaster's Department is furnished. If the Comptroller can, under the law, justify this ruling, it will remove all questions as between the railroads and do away with an injustice to the officers concerned.

The act of May 26, 1900, supra, provides:

For mileage to officers and contract surgeons, when authorized by law, Prorided, That officers so traveling shall be paid seven cents per mile and no more; distance to be computed and mileage to be paid over the shortest usually traveled routes, with deduction as hereinafter provided; and payment and settlement of mileage accounts of officers shall be made according to distances computed over routes established and by mileage tables prepared by the Paymaster General of the Army under the direction of the Secretary of War: Provided further, That

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officers who so desire may, upon application to the Quartermaster's Department, be furnished with transportation requests, exclusive of sleeping and parlor-car accommodations, for the entire journey under their orders; and the transportation so furnished shall be a charge against the officer's mileage account, to be deducted at the rate of three cents per mile by the paymaster paying the account, And provided further, That when the established route of travel shall, in whole or in part, be over the line of any railroad on which the troops and supplies of the United States are entitled to be transported free of charge, or over any of the bondaided Pacific railroads, or over the railroad of any railroad company which by law or agreement is entitled to receive only fifty per centum of the compensation earned by such company for transportation services rendered the United States, officers traveling as herein provided for shall, for the travel over such roads, be furnished with transportation requests, exclusive of sleeping and parlor-car accommodations, by the Quartermaster's Department: And provided further, That when transportation is furnished by the Quartermaster's Department, or when the established route of travel is over any of the railroads above specified, there shall be deducted from the officer's mileage account by the paymaster paying the same three cents per mile for the distance for which transportation has been or should have been furnished.

In the interpretation of this as other laws, care should be taken not to give undue importance to any single word or sentence found therein, but to give effect to the act as a whole and as part of the complete system of laws, where the act is one of a system such as the act in question.

I am led to make this observation because of the language used in the first proviso, viz:

That officers so traveling shall be paid seven cents per mile and no more, distance to be computed and mileage to be paid over the shortest usually traveled

routes,

If this language is given its plain significance, disconnected from what follows, it is quite apparent that an officer is to be paid seven cents per mile, to be computed over the shortest usually traveled route between the points of travel, leaving the question as to what is the shortest usually traveled route to be settled as any other question of fact.

As the law stood before the passage of this act, this was the practice of the accounting officers; but it is apparent by reading a little further along in the proviso that the distance between points, in so far as the computation of mileage is concerned, is fixed absolutely by mileage tables prepared by the Paymaster General of the Army under the direction of the Secretary of War, regardless of the actual distance.

The particular question submitted for determination, as I understand it, is, Where a transportation request has been given an officer to perform travel between certain points over a line of road longer, according to such table of distances, than the official distance as fixed in such tables of distances between such points, the fare being the same on both routes, should the deduction of three cents a mile for such transportation so furnished by the Government be made over the shortest distance as fixed by such table, or for the longer distance traveled in the use of such transportation?

The answer to the question must be found in the act above set out and those on the same subject-matter preceding it. The authority for its deduction is found therein, and the method thereof is therein provided for.

It is provided in the first proviso of the act that

payment and settlement of mileage accounts of officers shall be made according to distances computed over routes established and by mileage tables prepared by the Paymaster General of the Army.

The deduction of the three cents a mile for transportation furnished is a necESKATI part of the mileage account. No mileage account can be properly paid or sectied when the officer uses the transportation request unless this deduction is taken int consideration. It is provided that this settlement is to be made according to dis tances computed over routes established, and by mileage tables prepared by the Paymaster General of the Army. The seven cents per mile is to be so computed, also the deduction of three cents per mile for the transportation furnished by the Govern ment.

If there were no more of the act than this first proviso, its meaning as a whole could hardly admit of serious doubt. The table of distances as prepared by the Paymaster General shows that it is, say, 1,000 miles between Washington and Chicago. An officer traveling over a route 1,100 miles long on a transportation request be tween these cities would receive according to this proviso mileage at the rate of seven cents a mile and suffer a deduction of three cents per mile, computed over the 1,000-mile route.

Giving all proper weight and consideration to the other language found in the act bearing upon the question of the method of computing the deduction of three cents per mile on account of transportation furnished, what is the result?

The closing clause of the second proviso relates to the deduction of three cents per mile for transportation furnished upon transportation requests, and reads

and the transportation so furnished shall be a charge against the officer's mileage account, to be deducted at the rate of three cents per mile by the paymaster paying the account,

It does not pretend to qualify or fix the method of computing the transportation so furnished. The method of such computation is fixed and set out in the first proviso, as hereinbefore stated.

The last proviso also contains a clause bearing upon the question of the deduction of three cents per mile on account of transportation furnished, or which ought to have been furnished, and reads

there shall be deducted from the officer's mileage account by the paymaster paying the same three cents per mile for the distance for which transportation has been or should have been furnished.

It is the evident purpose of this proviso to force officers traveling over Government-aided roads to travel on transportation requests furnished them. If they neglect so to do, and pay their own fares, the deduction of the three cents per mile will nevertheless be made out of their mileage allowance because of this proviso.

This proviso is not necessarily contradictory of the methods of deducting the three cents per mile as fixed in the first proviso, víz, to be deducted according to the distance between any given points of travel, as fixed by the Paymaster General in his table of distances. In fact, the proviso, by using the word distance, instead of over the route traveled, confirms the language used in the first proviso, the one fixing the method of making such deductions.

In view of the whole act, I am led to the conclusion that

1. When the travel is by one of two or more usually traveled routes over which the rate of fare between terminal points is the same to the general public or by special agreement with the Government, a deduction of three cents per mile should be made for the number of miles for which transportation is actually furnished or should have been furnished, not exceeding, however, the number of miles for which mileage is allowed.

2. When the travel is by a longer route, for the convenience of the officer, and the rate of fare thereby, ascertained as in paragraph 1, is greater than by the usually traveled route, a deduction of three cents per mile should be made for the number of miles for which transportation is or should have been furnished by such route. Respectfully,

R. J. TRACEWELL,

Comptroller.

II. First-class veterinarians, under act of March 2, 1899, are officers within the meaning of the act of May 26, 1900, and are entitled to 10 per cent increase of pay while serving in places specified in the last-named act.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY,

Washington, February 13, 1901.

Lieut. Col. G. W. BAIRD,

Deputy Paymaster General, U. S. Army.

SIR: With your communication dated January 4, 1901, you transmit a claim of Gerald E. Griffin, a veterinarian of the first grade, 5th U. S. Cavalry, for the 10 per cent increase of pay provided for by the act of May 26, 1900 (31 Stat., 211), and request my decision whether he is entitled thereto.

The act of March 2, 1899 (30 Stat., 977), provides:

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That from and after the date of approval of this act the Army of the United States shall consist of * * * ten regiments of cavalry** Sec. 2. That each regiment of cavalry shall consist of two veterinarians. *** Of the veterinarians provided for in this act one shall have the pay and allowances of a second lieutenant of cavalry and one shall have the pay of seventyfive dollars per month and the allowances of a sergeant major.

The act of May 26, 1900 (31 Stat., 211), provides:

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For additional twenty per centum increase on pay of enlisted men, four million five hundred and twenty-four thousand seven hundred and fifteen dollars: Provided, That hereafter the pay proper of all officers and enlisted men serving in Porto Rico, Cuba, the Philippine Islands, Hawaii, and in the Territory of Alaska, shall be increased ten per centum for officers and twenty per centum for enlisted men over and above the rates of pay proper as fixed by law in time of peace: Provided further, That enlisted men receiving or entitled to the twenty per centum increased pay herein authorized shall not be entitled to or receive any additional increased compensation for what is known as extra or special duty.

It appears from the claim submitted that claimant served as a veterinarian of the first grade in Porto Rico from May 28 to November 30, 1900, and the question presented is whether he is entitled under said act of May 26 while he was so serving to 10 per cent increase of pay. A veterinarian of the first grade "shall have the pay and allowances of a second lieutenant of cavalry."

If claimant was an officer within the meaning of said act of May 26, and served as such for the period for which he claims, he is entitled to the increase of pay provided by said act.

Article 2, section 2, of the Constitution declares :

The President shall

* nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose

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