Clerks and provost courts of enquiry. Their duties and compensation. 10. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the clerks martials to attend and provost martials appointed by the respective regimental courts of enquiry, to attend the courts of enquiry of field officers constituted by this act. Such clerks shall keep the record of their proceedings, make out copies of the fines, and perform all other duties of their office in the same manner as is required by law, with respect to fines imposed by battalion or regimental courts of enquiry; and the said fines shall be collected and accounted for in the same manner. The provost martials shall perform such duties as appertain to their office; and the said clerks and provost martials shall receive the same pay as for attending the regimental courts of enquiry.(d) General orders to tant general. 11. Be it further enacted, That the adjutant general shall forthbe issued by adju- with, in general orders, communicate the provisions of this act to the officers commanding the respective regiments in this commonwealth, in order that the same may be speedily made known to all the militia. Repealing clause. Addition to salary of commander of public guard. Adjutant general to inspect arms at Lexington, only once a year. Commencement. No court martial in time of peace, 12. And be it further enacted, That so much of the second section of the act, passed February twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, entitled, "an act providing for the repairs of the armory, and the preservation of the public arms," as requires the arms which may be packed in boxes to be inspected once in every three months by the adjutant general, and report thereon; and so much of the fourth section as directs the executive to dispose of the muskets denominated in the report of the joint committee of the general assembly, "unfit for field service;" and so much of any act as is within the purview of this act, is hereby repealed.(e) 13. Be it further enacted, That for the additional duties hereby required of the commanding officer of the public guard, he be allowed annually the sum of three hundred dollars, to be paid quarter yearly as other salaries are paid. 14. Be it further enacted, That hereafter the adjutant general shall be required to inspect the public arms at the arsenal at Lexington, only once a year, instead of the times now required by law. 15. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the passing thereof. CHAP. 59.—An ACT concerning courts martial and brigade inspectors.* (Passed March 6th, 1824.) 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That in time of peace no court martial, for the trial of any militia officer arrested under the laws of this commonwealth, shall be ordered, unless by the auordered but by the thority of the governor of the state. (a) for trial of a militia officer, to be governor. Arrest to be certi ther with the 2. When any militia officer, in time of peace, shall be arrested, fied to him, toge- by any other officer than the governor himself, for any offence deemed cognizable by a court martial, the officer making the arrest shall forthwith certify the same to the governor, together with the cause thereof, the charges on which it was made, and such cause, &c. (d) Pay of clerks of courts of enquiry and provost martials reduced, vid. post. ch. 60, 61, acts 1826-7, ch. 13, p. 14; 1827-8, ch. 5, p. 8. (e) Vid. acts 1821-2, ch. 6, § 2-4, pp. 9, 10. Acts 1823-4, ch. 28, p. 31. (a) So much of twenty-sixth and fifty-seventh sections of revised act as authorizes officers to order courts martial to try inferior officers, repealed by this section, 1 Rev. Code 1819, ch. 35, § 26, p. 102. 65 of governor proofs as may have been offered to sustain the charges; and if Discretionary thereupon the governor shall think that the offence charged is pro- thereupon. perly cognizable by a court martial and ought to be prosecuted, he shall, without delay, cause an order to be issued to the proper offi- Order for convecer, requiring him to detail and convene a court martial for the trial ning court; thereof; and it shall be the duty of the officer, to whom such an or pro arrest. court be issued in der shall be addressed, promptly to execute it: but if the governor Or for discharging shall be of opinion, that the offence so charged ought not to be secuted before a court martial, he shall cause an order to be issued for discharging the arrest, and it shall accordingly be discharged; and if no order for a court martial be issued within sixty days after If no order for a of course disthe arrest made, such arrest shall be for that cause discharged, and sixty days, arrest charged. the arrested officer restored to his command. Every court martial convened under the laws of this commonwealth, whether in time of Number of mempeace or war, shall consist of not less than five nor more than nine members, at the discretion of the officer, by whose authority it shall peace or war. be ordered.(b) bers of court mar tial, in time of dence at the trial. court and wit more- nesses. cifications, by ar3. When any court martial shall have been ordered for the trial Charges and speof any militia officer, not in actual service during war, the arrest- resting officer. ing officer shall draw up in writing the charges and specifications of the alleged offence, shall sign his name thereto, and shall deliver a duplicate thereof to the officer arrested at least ten days before the trial; and upon such trial nothing shall be alleged against the Rule as to eviaccused which is not embraced by such charges and specifications. 4. The officer detailing the court martial shall appoint a fit per- Person to summon son or fit persons to summon the court and witnesses; he shall over appoint a judge advocate, and forthwith give him notice there- Judge advocate. of; it shall be his duty to attend the court and perform all the services now required to be performed by the clerk or judge advocate; and it shall be likewise his duty to issue subpoenas for all witnesses required as well on behalf of the prosecution as on behalf of the accused: if for any cause such judge advocate shall fail to attend, Provision inten or be at any time absent, the court martial while sitting may supply dance. his place by appointing another. His duty. nesses. case bedience to such 5. The subpoenas issued by the judge advocate shall be addressed Subpoenas for witto the person or one of the persons appointed as aforesaid for summoning them, or to such other person as shall be appointed for that purpose by the court when sitting, and due obedience shall be paid to such subpoenas by all persons on whom they shall be served. Any one failing in such obedience without good cause may be fined Penalty for disoin any sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, by the court of en- subpoenas. quiry for the regiment within which he may reside, to which court it shall be the duty of the court martial to report him; and if he be an officer of the militia, he shall be moreover liable to arrest and trial by a court martial, and to punishment of cashiering or censure at their discretion. provost martial. 6. Be it further enacted, That the following allowances shall be Allowances to made in lieu of those now provided by law for the same services, that is to say: the provost martial shall receive one dollar for each day's attendance on the court martial, and the person summoning To person sumthe court and witnesses shall receive four cents for every mile he witnesses. shall necessarily travel in performing that duty, and the witnesses (b) Number of members composing courts martial reduced by this section. Different numbers according to the grade of the officer arrested, were prescribed by the revised act, ibid. § 26 p. 101. moning court and Brigade inspectors nation to commis attending the court shall receive the same compensation for attendance and mileage as is allowed to witnesses attending the superior courts of law.(c) And whereas it is represented that the brigade inspectors of the militia have, on some occasions, claimed the right of commanding all the officers on parade during the period of their drill and at their regimental musters, without due subordination to the superior officer present; and the true construction of the law in relation to such claim has been held doubtful; for remedy whereof, 7. Be it enacted, That the brigade inspectors of the militia, shall to act in subordi- in all cases in the discharge of the duties of their several offices, act in due subordination to the commissioned officer highest in rank present and on duty. sioned officer highest in rank. Commencement. Pay of brigade inspectors. fife majors, and their compensa tion. ing officer may employ musicians. 8. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the passing thereof. CHAP. 60.—An ACT to reduce the expenditures of the militia, and for other purposes.* [Passed February 27th, 1827.] 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That hereafter the brigade inspectors, for the several brigades of militia in this commonwealth, shall be allowed and paid the sum of six dollars per day for every day they shall attend the training of the officers and the regiDuty of drum and mental musters. The drum and fife majors of every regiment shall attend the training of the officers, and the regimental and battalion musters, and they shall each be allowed and paid the sum of two dollars per day for every day they shall attend and serve, and no When command- more; and if from any cause they or either of them shall fail to attend any such training or muster, the commanding officer of such regiment shall employ some musician or musicians to perform the duty or duties of such absent musician or musicians, who shall have the compensation aforesaid. One drummer and fifer shall each be allowed and paid the sum of one dollar per day for every day he or they shall attend and serve at any company muster, and no more; Pay of trumpeter and one trumpeter and bugler shall have the same compensation for every day he shall attend and serve at the muster of any troop of cavalry; and no other compensation shall be allowed to any musician or musicians. No musicians, other than the drum and fife majors, shall be required to attend the training of the officers, and the regimental and battalion musters; and the brigade inspectors shall not hereafter have authority to employ any musicians to attend the training of the officers. (a) Pay of drummer and fifer. and bugler. enquiry. Compensation to 2. The clerk of each regimental and battalion court of enquiry clerks of courts of shall be allowed and paid the sum of five dollars for his attendance and service at each such court, and no more; and for making out and certifying each list of fines required by law, he shall be allowed and paid the sum of five dollars: Provided, however, That the Proviso. (c) Compensation reduced by this section. Provost martial heretofore allowed three dollars per day, ibid. § 69, p. 116. Acts 1826-7, ch. 13, p. 14. (a) Former pay of brigade inspectors eight dollars per day, and ten cents per mile for travelling, 1 Rev. Code 1819, ch. 35, § 93, p. 123. Of drum and fife majors, four dollars, and four cents per mile for travelling, ibid. § 51, p. 109. Of drummers and fifers, and trumpeters for companies, two dollars, ibid. § 51. martial. The Of the adjutant. clerks of the courts of enquiry for the nineteenth, thirty-ninth, and fifty-fourth regiments, shall be allowed and paid each ten dollars for their attendance and service at cach one of their regimental and battalion courts of enquiry. The provost martial for each court of Pay of the provost enquiry shall be allowed and paid one dollar per day for every day he shall attend and serve at any such court, and no more. adjutant for each regiment shall be allowed and paid for every day he shall attend and serve at his regimental and battalion musters the sum of three dollars, and no more; and hereafter he shall not be allowed any compensation for attending the training of the officers. The sergeant major shall have no compensation for attend- Pay of sergeant ing the regimental and battalion musters, and he shall not hereafter major abolished. be required to attend the training of the officers. (b) 3. Hereafter each express employed by any militia officer to Compensation to transmit any orders, shall be allowed and paid four cents per mile, expresses. for every mile he shall have necessarily travelled in the performance peace. of such duty: Provided, That no payment shall be made for any No pay allowed in express employed to transmit the order of any commanding officer time of of any regiment, battalion or company, except in time of war with some foreign power; or in case of invasion or insurrection in this government, or imminent danger thereof.(c) executive to es 4. Hereafter the executive of this commonwealth shall have pow- Power given the er for good cause to establish new regiments of militia within any tablish new regicounty, by the division of any existing regiment, or the alteration of ments. the boundaries of any adjoining regiments: Provided, That every Proviso. such new regiment and every such old regiment or regiments, so divided or altered, shall contain at least five hundred men rank and file. 5. All acts and parts of acts coming within the purview of this Repealing clause. act are hereby repealed. 6. This act shall be in force from the passing thereof. CHAP. 61.-An ACT to amend an act, entitled, "an act to reduce the expenditures of the militia, and for other purposes," passed the 29th of February, 1827.* (Passed February 26th, 1828.) Commencement. Whereas it is represented to the general assembly, that the duties Preamble. devolving upon clerks of courts of enquiry, are much more laborious in some regiments than in others, and that the compensation now allowed by law, is in many instances not proportioned to the services rendered: enquiry. 1. Be it therefore enacted by the general assembly, That hereaf- Compensation to ter the clerk of each regimental and battalion court of enquiry shall clerks of courts of be allowed, in every year, for making out and certifying each list of fines required by law, the sum of two cents for the name of each person entered thereon, against whom any fine or fines shall have been assessed, and no other compensation for such service: and the (b) Former pay of clerks ten dollars per day, and five dollars for each list of fines, ibid. § 69, p. 116. Of provost martial, three dollars, ibid. Of adjutants, not exceeding six dollars, ibid. § 99. Of sergeant majors, two dollars, ibid. The mode of paying clerks again altered, post. ch. 61, acts 1827-8, ch. 5, p. 8. Pay of adjutants increased to four dollars, and sergeant majors again allowed two dollars per day, post. ch. 64, § 14. (c) Former pay three dollars per day, ibid. § 100, p. 125 Acts 1827-8, ch. 5, p. 8. 68 Commencement. Act of 17th Feb'y 1823, directing field officers to as sess fines for failarms, repealed. ing to produce words "and for making out and certifying each list of fines required by law, he shall be allowed and paid the sum of five dollars," contained in the second section of the act, entitled, "an act to reduce the expenditures of the militia, and for other purposes," passed the twenty-ninth of February, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, shall be, and the same is hereby repealed. (a) 2. This act shall be in force from the passing thereof. CHAP. 62.-An ACT to reduce muster fines.* (Passed February 19th, 1828.) 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That so much of the act of the seventeenth day of February, eighteen hundred and twenty-three, as directs the board of field officers of regiments to assess fines for failing to produce the public arms as therein required, is hereby repealed: and hereafter, for failing to produce the public Presiding officer of arms, as in the aforesaid act is required, the presiding officer of the regiment to certify failure to regimen- said board shall certify to the regimental court of enquiry of the tal court of enqui- regiment to which the delinquent may belong, or to which he did Court to assess or belong at the time of such delinquency, every such failure; and the said regimental court of enquiry shall assess such fine, as in their opinion the nature of the case requires, not exceeding twenty dollars, and if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the said regimental court of enquiry, that the failure to produce the public arms in his possession, was owing to unavoidable accident, the said fine may be wholly remitted.(b) ry. remit fines. Power to such fines and remit or abato the same. 2. Be it further enacted, That in all cases of fines assessed by courts to review the board of field officers under the act aforesaid, the collection of which has been suspended, the respective regimental courts of enquiry are hereby empowered to review the same, and the cause of delinquency, and may abate or wholly remit the same, for good cause to them shewn: Provided, that no such remission shall be made until the public arms be produced or accounted for. Fine reduced to three dollars per year on non-com missioned officers and privates. Commencement. Executive autho 3. Be it further enacted, That instead of the fine now prescribed under the fifty-fifth section of the act of the ninth day of March, eighteen hundred and nineteen, the regimental and battalion courts of enquiry shall not assess a greater fine than three dollars upon any non-commissioned officer or private for failing to attend all his musters in any one year.(c) 4. This act shall commence from its passage. CHAP. 63.-An ACT to authorize the executive of the commonwealth to arm the militia of the twenty-first brigade, or any portion thereof.t (Passed February 6th, 1830.) 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the executive of rized to arm militia this commonwealth be, and is hereby authorized to arm the militia of the twenty-first brigade, or any portion thereof, with muskets of n 21st brigade. (a) Vid. ante. ch. 60, § 2, acts 1826-7, ch. 13, § 2, p. 14. Acts 1827-8, ch. 6, p. 8. (b) Vid. ante. ch. 58, § 8, 9, acts 1822-3, ch. 44, p. 47. (c) Vid. 1 Rev. Code 1819, ch. 35, § 55, pp. 110, 111. Former fine not less than seventy-five cents nor more than three dollars for each muster; reduced by this section to three dollars for all the musters; reduced again to a fine not greater than seventy-five cents, post. ch. 64, § 10, acts 1830-31, ch. 51, p. 121. Fire companies exempt from fines, post. ch. 66, § 1. t Acts 1829-30, ch. 14, p. 21. Authorized to arm volunteers, post. ch. 65, § 3. |