No. 5. ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, By direction of the Secretary of War, the following extract from an act of Congress is published for the information and government of all concerned: An Act to increase the efficiency of the permanent military establishment of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SEC. 38. The sale of, or dealing in, beer, wine or any intoxicating liquors by any person in any post exchange or canteen or army transport or upon any premises used for military purposes by the United States, is hereby prohibited. The Secretary of War is hereby directed to carry the provisions of this section into full force and effect. Commanding officers will immediately carry the provisions of this law into full force and effect, and will be held strictly responsible that no exceptions or evasions are permitted within their respective jurisdictions. Conformably with the foregoing statute, General Orders, No. 46, Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant General's Office, July 25, 1895, promulgating the Post Exchange Regulations, and all subsequent amendments thereof, are amended so as to read as follows: POST EXCHANGES. Post exchanges are established and maintained under special regulations prepared by the War Department. These special regulations will be published and issued from time to time as necessity may demand. (A. R., 325, 1895.) On June 30th and December 31st of each year the Commanding Officer of a post at which an exchange is conducted will submit to the Adjutant General of the Army, through military channels, a detailed report of the operations and financial condition of the exchange, accompanied by such remarks touching its effect upon the welfare of the command as he may deem it necessary to make for the information of the Commanding General of the Army and the Secretary of War; and when no exchange has been maintained at a post such fact will also be communicated to the Adjutant General of the Army, through military channels, on the dates herein before specified. (A. R., 326, 1895.) 1. Purpose. The post exchange will combine the features of reading and recreation rooms, a cooperative store, and a restaurant. Its primary purpose is to supply the troops at reasonable prices with the articles of ordinary use, wear, and consumption, not supplied by the Government, and to afford them means of rational recreation and amusement. Its secondary purpose is, through exchange profits, to provide the means for improving the messes. 2. Buildings.-At every post where practicable, the Post Commander will institute a post exchange. For this purpose he will set apart any suitable public building or rooms that are available, or will authorize the renting of any private building or part thereof on the reservation (the rental to be paid from the funds of the exchange), or when sufficient exchange funds are available, may cause a suitable building to be erected for the purpose; and if a temporary building, or if constructed wholly or in part by the labor of troops, use of the necessary teams and such tools, window sash, doors, and other material as can be spared by the Quartermaster's Department is authorized; but no permanent structure will be erected on a reservation without first obtaining the authority of the Secretary of War. Expenses of repairs or alterations of public buildings for the use of the exchange will be borne by the exchange when they can not be provided for by the Quartermaster's Department. 3. Management of business.-The management of the affairs of the exchange will be conducted by an officer designated "Officer in Charge," selected and detailed by the Commanding Officer; this officer should be fully in sympathy with the purposes of the exchange, and possess the business qualifications necessary to its success. He will be assisted by a steward and such other attendants as the business may warrant. In establishing a new exchange, and at posts where the business is small, the steward and attendants may be enlisted men, but when practicable, civilians will be employed instead in all ex changes whose financial condition will justify the expense, and in selecting them, preference will be given to retired enlisted men and honorably discharged soldiers. 4. The exchange steward.-The exchange steward, who if an enlisted man should be a noncommissioned officer, should be an accountant, possessing a good knowledge of bookeeping and commercial customs, of unquestioned integrity, and of sufficient firmness and strength of character to enforce order and discipline about the premises. In the absence of the officer in charge he is in immediate control of the business, and must, therefore, possess the confidence of his superior, both as to his probity and capability. In addition to the records required by the management, he will keep a cashbook, also a blotter, showing, in separate columns, the different articles comprising the stock, and enter therein at the time of sale the quantity or number of articles sold. At the close of each selling day he will prepare a report on a suitable form showing, under appropriate headings, the quantities of the several articles received, sold, and remaining on hand. This report he will submit daily to the officer in charge and at the same time deliver to him the proceeds of the previous day's sales. The report, exhibiting the officer's approval, will be conspicuously posted in one of the exchange rooms during the remainder of the day. 5. The exchange council.—The superintendence of the affairs of the exchange will be vested in a Council to consist of three officers, one of whom shall be the officer in charge, the others, the two company commanders longest off this duty at the post. Whenever from any cause the Council can not be thus organized, it will be constituted in the manner prescribed for a post council of administration. The Council may be convened at any time at the call of its president or by direction of the Commanding Officer, and, subject to the approval of the latter, will designate the articles to be kept for sale, fix the prices at which they shall be sold, and authorize all purchases of supplies. At the end of every month it will meet to take stock, examine the books of the exchange, and inspect the quality of the articles for sale. A statement of the result of the monthly investigation and of the accounts of the officer in charge, showing the receipts and expenditures during the month, also the assets and liabilities, will be entered in a book and submitted to the Commanding Officer for his action. A copy of the statement, with the Commanding Officer's remarks indorsed thereon, will be exhibited in one of the rooms of the exchange during the ensuing month. Any question not involv. ing pecuniary responsibility upon which the Post Exchange Council and Commanding Officer may disagree will be submitted for final decision to the Department Commander. 6. The subcommittee of noncommissioned officers.—A subcommittee of noncommissioned officers, one from each company, to be selected by the captain as best fitted to represent the interests of the enlisted men thereof, will be convoked by the Commanding Officer not less than four times a year. The committee will orally, or in writing, submit to the Council its views in respect to the immediate internal operations of the exchange, and recommend any changes that may be desired by the enlisted men, but it is not empowered to criticise the management. Its views and recommendations will be carefully and respectfully considered by the Council, whose action thereon will be reviewed by the Commanding Officer. 7. Rules of order.—Rules of order will be prescribed by the officer in charge, under the Commanding Officer. Gambling or playing any game for money, or anything of value, is forbidden in any exchange. Civilians, other than those employed and resident on the military reservation, will not be permitted to enter the rooms of an exchange without first obtaining the authority of the Commanding Officer. 8. First expense of stock and fixtures.-The expense of fitting up the quarters of the exchange and procuring the necessary articles for the first stock and fixtures may be met by an assessment upon the funds of the several organizations contributing to the institution, or these may be contracted for, or procured on credit. When procured on credit, the bills must be paid from the first profits, and it is to be distinctly understood that the officers incurring the debt are responsible for the payment, and not the Government. The Quartermaster's Department is authorized to sell for cash to exchanges at cost, with price of transportation added, such articles of fuel, forage, light, furniture, and fixtures as may be needed and can be spared from stock on hand. 9. Exchange features. -An exchange doing its full work should embrace the following sections: (a) A well-stocked general store in which such goods are kept as are usually required at military posts, and as extensive in number and variety as conditions will justify; (b) A well-kept lunch counter supplied with as great a variety of viands as circumstances permit, such as tea, coffee, cocoa, nonalcoholic drinks, soup, fish, cooked and canned meats, sandwiches, pastries, etc.; (c) Reading and recreation rooms, supplied with books, periodicals, and other reading matter, billiard and pool tables, bowling alley and facilities for other proper indoor games, as well as apparatus for outdoor sports and exercises, such as cricket, football, baseball, tennis, etc.; a well-equipped gymnasium, possessing also the requisite paraphernalia for outdoor athletics. 10. Sale of beer, wine, or liquors prohibited.—The sale of or dealing in beer, wine, or any intoxicating liquors by any person in any post exchange, or canteen, or army transport or upon any premises used for military purposes by the United States, is prohibited. 11. Purchase and sale of goods.-Purchases will ordinarily be made by the officer in charge, or by the steward when so authorized, but articles in considerable quantities will be procured under contract by the officer in charge, with the approval of the Council. In no case will orders for goods, however small, be given by the enlisted attendants to the person furnishing them, nor shall the steward or any employee of the exchange have, either directly or indirectly, any personal interest in the purchases, sales or profits, or any advantage of wastage or perquisites of any kind whatever. Whenever contracts or agreements for purchases are made by exchange authorities, who by change of station or other cause are removed, such contracts or agreements must be carried out by their successors. The Subsistence Department is authorized to sell to the exchange at cost price any of the articles composing the ration, and such other articles as may be on hand for sale. But in reselling such goods in small quantities, no profit will be charged by the exchange beyond the fractions of cents that are necessary in making change. 12. Lunch room and price lists.—In the lunch room prices should be made as low as the cost of the articles, increased by expenses of the atttendants, fuel, lights, and waste will permit. Other than this the tariff of prices will be regulated by the circumstances surrounding each exchange. Printed or |