TRANSPORTATION AND INSPECTION OF SUPPLIES FOR ARMYAPPROPRIATIONS AVAILABLE.

The appropriation for transportation of the Army and its supplies, in the act of June 30, 1922, 42 Stat., 729, is chargeable with the cost of transportation of supplies from place of purchase or delivery to destination, and traveling expenses of inspectors incident to the purchase thereof, to the exclusion of appropriations from which the supplies are purchased, unless specific provision is made therein for such transportation.

Comptroller General McCarl to the Secretary of War, October 6, 1922:

I have your letter of September 16, 1922, G-4/8227, requesting decision as to whether the cost of transportation of supplies, other than quartermaster supplies, from place of purchase or delivery to destination, together with the traveling expenses of inspectors in connection therewith, is a proper charge against the appropriation from which the supplies are purchased.

There seems to be no doubt that an appropriation chargeable with the purchase of supplies is available to pay for transportation to the point of delivery when the cost of transportation is included in the purchase price, and that such method of purchase is in the public interest only when the total cost of delivery on commercial bill of lading does not exceed what the supplies would have cost delivered f. o. b. place of purchase and shipped to point of delivery on Government bill of lading.

The questions submitted, however, are whether the cost of transporting the supplies from point of delivery to the United States to final destination may be charged to the appropriation available for the purchase, even though delivery was accepted at point of purchase and shipment made on Government bill of lading, and whether the traveling expenses of inspectors may likewise be charged regardless of time and place of inspection.

The Army appropriation act of June 30, 1922, 42 Stat., 729, provides:

TRANSPORTATION OF THE ARMY AND ITS SUPPLIES: For transportation of the Army and its supplies, *; of the necessary agents and other employees, including per diem allowances in lieu of subsistence not exceeding $4 for those authorized to receive the per diem allowance; *; of clothing and equip

age and other quartermaster stores from Army depots or places of purchase or delivery to the several posts and Army depots and from those depots to the troops in the field; **; of ordnance and ordnance stores, and small arms from the foundries and armories to the arsenals, fortifications, frontier posts, and Army depots; for payment of wharfage, tolls, and ferriages; for transportation of funds of the Army; for the payment of Army transportation lawfully due such land-grant railroads as have not received aid Provided further, That in expending the money appropriated by this Act a railroad company * *, having claims against the United States for transportation of troops and munitions of war and military supplies and property over such aided railroads, shall be paid out of the moneys appropriated by the foregoing provisions only on the basis of such rate * as the Secretary of War shall deem just and reasonable of the compensation

* not to exceed 50 per centum charged to and paid by private parties

The above-quoted provisions of the transportation appropriation cover the transportation of the supplies either in terms or by strong

implication. And an examination of the estimates for transportation found in "The Budget, 1923," page 324, discloses that the object of expenditure" includes "rail transportation" of Ordnance, Signal, Engineer, Medical, Aviation, Tank, and Chemical Warfare Service supplies. The appropriation is specific as to transportation and subsistence of the necessary agents and employees.

You are advised, therefore, that the cost of transportation of supplies from place of purchase or delivery to destination, and traveling expenses of inspectors incident to the purchase thereof, are chargeable to the appropriation for transportation unless the appropriations from which the supplies are purchased specifically provide therefor. See 13 Comp. Dec. 274, 557, and section 1133, Revised Statutes.

NATIONAL GUARD OFFICERS CREDIT UNDER JOINT SERVICE PAY ACT FOR PRIOR SERVICE IN ORGANIZED MILITIA.

In computing the credit for commissioned service in the Organized Militia, to which an officer of the National Guard may be entitled when authorized to receive Federal pay under section 3, act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 627, all commissioned service in the Organized Militia prior, as well as subsequent, to the date of the act of January 21, 1903, 32 Stat., 775, may be counted, provided satisfactory evidence be furnished of the existence of the particular Organized Militia and of commissioned service therein as claimed. Comptroller General McCarl to the Secretary of War, October 6, 1922:

I have your letter of August 29, 1922, requesting decision of a question which you present as follows:

Will an officer of the National Guard when "authorized by law to receive Federal pay" be entitled "in computing the increase of pay for each period of 3 years under section 3 of the act approved June 10, 1922, to claim credit for service as a commissioned officer in the State service of the Organized Militia prior to January 21, 1903?

Section 3 of the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 627, provides:

That when officers of the National Guard or of the reserve forces of any of the services mentioned in the title of this act are authorized by law to receive Federal pay, those serving in grades corresponding to those of colonel, lieutenant colonel, major, captain, first lieutenant, and second lieutenant of the Army shall receive the pay of the sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second, and first periods, respectively. In computing the increase of pay for each period of three years' service, such officers shall be credited with full time for all periods during which they have held commissions as officers of any of the services mentioned in the title of this act, or in the Organized Militia prior to July 1, 1916, or in the National Guard, or in the Naval Militia, or in the National Naval Volunteers, or in the Naval Reserve Force or Marine Corps Reserve Force, when confirmed in grade and qualified for all general service, with full time for all periods during which they have performed active duty under reserve commissions, and with one-half time for all other periods during which they have held reserve commissions.

This statute authorizes the counting by National Guard officers for longevity purposes of their commissioned service "in the Organized Militia prior to July 1, 1916." The question is as to the date prior to July 1, 1916, from which the computation shall begin, whether

from date of commissioned service in the Organized Militia of a State, Territory, or District of Columbia prior to January 21, 1903, or only for commissioned service in the Organized Militia on or after that date, January 21, 1903, being the date of an act "to promote the efficiency of the militia," 32 Stat., 775, which for its purpose divided the militia thereafter into two classes-" the Organized Militia,” in which it included certain militia theretofore organized, and “the remainder to be known as the Reserve Militia."

It does not follow from such legislative action that Organized Militia did not exist in certain States prior to January 21, 1903. On the contrary, the act of 1903 expressly recognizes the prior existence of certain Organized Militia which it collectively assembles or includes in the class it designates as "the Organized Militia" in differentiation from its other class of the "reserve militia." See also preceding statutes of February 12, 1887, 24 Stat., 401, section 2, amending section 1661, Revised Statutes; sections 1625 to 1660, Revised Statutes; and act of May 8, 1792, 1 Stat., 271.

I see no reason why commissioned service in the Organized Militia as it existed prior to January 21, 1903, may not be counted by a National Guard officer under section 3 of the act of June 10, 1922, if the fact of the existence of the Organized Militia in the particular State or Territory be established by properly authenticated record evidence for the period for which the longevity is claimed, together with the fact of the commissioned service therein for the period of the longevity claim.

There is not particularly now for consideration the separate provision in this enactment of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 627, applying to certain commissioned officers of the Regular Army, which authorizes them to count 75 per cent of all periods of time which they otherwise were not authorized to count during which they had held commissions as officers of the Organized Militia "between January 21, 1903, and July 1, 1916," and which express provision for the counting of Organized Militia service did not extend to a date prior to January 21, 1903, when by congressional enactment certain Organized Militia as it then existed was included in the class it designated as the Organized Militia. See paragraph 11 of section 1. You are advised that a National Guard officer when authorized to receive Federal pay for the purposes of section 3 of the act of June 10, 1922, may be credited with commissioned service in the Organized Militia as it existed prior to January 21, 1903, upon the existence of the particular Organized Militia in which he held the commission being established and of the commissioned service therein as heretofore indicated.

The opinion of the Acting Judge Advocate General of the Army, of August 22, 1922, accords with this conclusion.

FLYING CADETS EFFECTIVE DATE OF REDUCTION.

The grade of flying cadet is not that of a noncommissioned officer but a separate and distinct grade fixed by statute, and accordingly the effective date of the reversion of a flying cadet to the grade of private previously held in the Army, not being fixed specifically by statute or regulation, is the date of the order for such reversion, and he is not entitled to be paid as a flying cadet for interim between date of the order and date of its receipt.

Decision by Comptroller General McCarl, October 6, 1922:

Henry L. Reynolds has requested review of settlement W-142471, this office dated May 12, 1922, wherein he was allowed $45.02, representing $90 enlistment allowance less certain overpayments, one of which was an item of the difference in pay between private, Air Service, and flying cadet, July 7, 1921, to September 30, 1921.

Claimant was enlisted September 9, 1920, for the Air Service, Army, and appointed flying cadet April 28, 1921, in pursuance to Special Orders, No. 70, dated April 26, 1921. June 24, 1921, he was sent to Letterman General Hospital for medical treatment, disability incurred in line of duty, remaining there until November 17, 1921, when discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability. The War Department reports that July 7, 1921, while in the hospital claimant was reduced from flying cadet to private in pursuance to Special Orders, 143, Headquarters, March Field, Calif.

This order of reduction was not received by claimant at the hospital until October 4, 1921. He continued to receive pay as flying cadet until October 1, 1921, but the difference between pay as private and flying cadet subsequent to July 7, 1921, was charged to claimant in the settlement of his account. He contends that his actual reduction occurred not on date of order but on the date he received notice thereof, October 4, 1921.

Flying cadets are authorized by the act of July 11, 1919, 41 Stat., 109, and may be appointed from enlisted men of the Army. The establishment and maintenance of this grade in the Air Service is for the purpose of training men to become officers in the Air Service, Officers' Reserve Corps. If they complete satisfactorily the course of instruction prescribed and have the necessary qualifications, they may be commissioned in the Air Service, Officers' Reserve Corps. Their discharge prior to completion of course is provided for in the act cited as follows:

Provided, That the Secretary of War is authorized to discharge at any time any flying cadet whose discharge shall have been recommended by a board of not less than three officers.

Special Army Regulations No. 111, dated March 27, 1920, paragraph 21, provided as follows:

Flying cadets appointed from enlisted men of the Air Service who do not desire discharge and commission as officers of the Reserve Corps upon their

successful completion of the prescribed course, or who are found disqualified by a board of not less than three Air Service officers for the duty of a flying cadet, will revert to the grade held by them prior to their appointment as flying cadets and be assigned to an organization in which vacancies for such may exist.

Army Regulations 615-160, dated October 12, 1921, contain in effect the same provisions.

While not expressly so stated, it is assumed from report of The Adjutant General of the Army that the reduction of claimant from flying cadet to private was made on July 7, 1921, in pursuance to this statute and regulations, claimant having become physically disqualified to complete his course of instruction.

Claimant has invoked paragraph 114, Army Regulations, relating to transfer of enlisted men from one organization to another, but from his statements it is believed he intended to refer to paragraph 277 (1913 as amended), relating to reduction of a noncommissioned officer, which provides that in all cases, except when a noncommissioned officer is in arrest or confinement, reduction takes effect on the date the order is received at the soldier's station. The grade of flying cadet is not a noncommissioned office within the meaning of Army Regulations, but is a separate and distinct grade fixed by statute and special regulations covering appointment, training, and termination of services of the cadets have been provided. The effective date of the reversion of a flying cadet to the grade previously held in the Army is not fixed in the statute or regulations, and in the absence thereof the order itself must be taken as the date from which the reversion is effective. Giving notice of the action taken is a matter of administration, and delay thereof will not operate to retain a man in the grade of flying cadet beyond the date of the order reverting him to his former grade.

Accordingly claimant was not entitled to the pay of flying cadet on and after July 7, 1921, and the overpayment thereof was a proper charge.

Upon review of the matter the settlement is sustained.

REWARDS TO POSTAL EMPLOYEES.

The act of June 19, 1922, 42 Stat., 655, authorizing cash rewards to employees of the Post Office Department or Postal Service for inventions or suggestions for improvements or economies applicable to the Postal Service contains no expressed intention to operate retrospectively, and is, therefore, only available for rewards for inventions or suggestions submitted and adopted after the date of the statute.

Comptroller General McCarl to the Postmaster General, October 10, 1922: There has been received your letter dated September 30, 1922, to the effect that some eight years ago a letter carrier of a certain post