the fixed date unless the Government otherwise requires. The physical disability of a member is an individual matter and does not extend the period of active duty beyond the date definitely fixed as that on which the active duty was to terminate. The question is answered negatively.

CONTRACTS FOR HIRE OF PASSENGER-CARRYING VEHICLES.

A contract for the hire of taxicabs at intervals as the service is needed by employees for the transaction of public business, fixing the rate for given trips between points not accessible by common carriers, is not prohibited by the act of July 16, 1914, 38 Stat., 508.

Comptroller General McCarl to the Secretary of the Treasury, April 25, 1923:

I have your letter of April 16, 1923, requesting decision whether contract may be entered into with a taxicab company to provide for the transportation of customs officers from San Francisco to Hunter's Point Dry Dock.

It appears that it is necessary for customs officers to go to Hunter's Point in connection with their official duties and that heretofore the transportation furnished them has been on launches. It is found that taxicab service will be more satisfactory and cheaper. Bids having been obtained, it is desired to contract with a taxicab company to furnish the service needed at a fixed rate per passenger per trip, if there is no legal objection to such contract.

The act of July 16, 1914, 38 Stat., 508, provides that no appropriation shall be available for the purchase of a motor-propelled passenger-carrying vehicle for any branch of the Government service unless specific authority is given therefor, and it has been held, 21 Comp. Dec., 462, that said act forbids the hire of an auto which by its continuousness is the equivalent of a purchase.

It has also been held, 24 Comp. Dec., 189, that the act of July 16, 1914, does not prohibit the temporary hiring of vehicles as a means of transportation between places inaccessible by common carrier.

The present case involves using taxicabs as a means of transportation incident to the carrying on of official business rather than for transportation of employees in a travel status. The contract will not provide for the continuous use of a taxicab but will fix the rate at which a taxicab will be furnished for a given trip at intervals when such service is required.

You are advised that the act of July 16, 1914, does not apply to the case presented in your letter and the proposed contract is authorized.

COMPENSATION OF SPECIAL DEPUTY COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS WHILE ACTING AS COLLECTOR.

Upon the death of a collector of customs before the appointment by him of an assistant collector as authorized by the act of March 4, 1923, 42 Stat., 1453, his duties devolve upon the special deputy collector in accordance with section 2625, Revised Statutes, who must serve as acting collector of customs without additional compensation.

Comptroller General McCarl to the Secretary of the Treasury, April 25, 1923: I have your letter of March 28, 1923, requesting decision of a question presented as follows:

Section 3 of the act approved March 4, 1923, provides that collectors of customs shall each, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, appoint a customs officer familiar with the customs laws and procedure, to act and be known as the assistant collector (in lieu of the special deputies), and section 4 of the same act provides that in case of a vacancy in the office of a collector of customs such assistant collector shall act as the collector and receive the compensation of his office until an appointment thereto has been made and the person so appointed has duly qualified.

On March 10, 1923, the collector of customs at Portland, Oregon, died, and the special deputy collector, Mr. L. A. Pike, has been appointed as acting collector. The death of the collector occurred before he had designated L. A Pike as assistant collector, although Mr. Pike had been designated as special deputy collector and was serving under this designation when appointed acting collector.

The law above cited specifies that the assistant collectors designated shall be in lieu of the special deputies, and while Mr. Pike had not been formally designated under the new title he was performing the duties thereof. The question arises whether, in the absence of such formal designation as assistant collector, Mr. Pike is now entitled as acting collector to the compensation of the office of collector.

It is understood that the special deputy referred to in your letter corresponds to the deputy collector at $3,000 per annum provided for the district of Oregon in the detailed estimates submitted with the plan of organization transmitted to Congress by the President's message of March 3, 1913, under authority of the provision in the act of August 24, 1912, 37 Stat., 434, as set forth in United States Compiled Statutes, 1916, section 5327, page 6537, and that such deputy had been regularly employed by the former collector with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury as contemplated under the provisions of section 2630, Revised Statutes.

Section 2625, Revised Statutes, provides that in the case of the death of a collector the duties and authorities vested in him shall devolve upon his deputy. In line with this section of the Revised Statutes, article 1066, Customs Regulations of 1915, provides:

The special deputy shall be next to the collector of customs the ranking officer in the district. In the case of the absence, sickness, or inability of the collector to act, the special deputy collector will exercise the powers and perform the duties of collector of customs, including those of disbursing agent.

Section 1764, Revised Statutes, specifically precludes the payment to any officer of any allowance or compensation by reason of the dis

charge of duties which belong to any other officer, or for any extra services whatever which any officer may be required to perform, unless such payment is expressly authorized by law. There is no law expressly authorizing the payment to a special deputy collector of customs of the salary of the office of collector of customs, or any other compensation in addition to his salary as such special deputy, by reason of the fact that he performs the duties of the office of collector of customs upon the death of the collector, as required by law or regulations. Therefore, there would appear to be no doubt that if the collector in the case presented in your submission had died before March 4, 1923, the special deputy would have been required to perform the duties which he has performed since March 10, 1923, without receiving the salary of the office of collector or any other compensation in addition to his salary as a special deputy.

The act of March 4, 1923, 42 Stat., 1453, which authorizes each collector of customs to appoint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, "a customs officer familiar with the customs laws and procedure to act and be known as the assistant collector

(in lieu of the special deputies)" did not automatically abolish the offices of special deputies. Therefore, unless and until the special deputy in any given case is replaced by the appointment of an assistant collector as provided for in section 3 of said act, the powers, duties, and compensation of such special deputy shall continue as theretofore.

Section 4 of the act of March 4, 1923, provides that in case of a vacancy in the office of the collector of customs, the assistant collector shall give bond when required, act as such officer, and receive the compensation of such office until an appointment thereto has been made and the person so appointed has duly qualified. However, when a vacancy in the office of the collector of any district occurs before the appointment of an assistant in said district, as in the case here presented, the duties of the office would devolve upon the special deputy, the same as before the act of March 4, 1923, was enacted, and the provision authorizing the assistant collector to receive the compensation of the office of collector while performing the duties thereof can not be construed to authorize a special deputy to receive such compensation under like circumstances.

It is assumed that the statement in your letter that Mr. Pike "has been appointed as acting collector" was intended to imply only that, as special deputy, he has been designated to act as collector, because it does not appear that such an office as acting collector with compensation attached thereto is recognized under the law.

The question submitted is answered in the negative.

TRANSPORTATION-FREIGHT ON GOVERNMENT-OWNED SHIPMENTS PREPAID BY SHIPPER.

On a contract for the sale of flour to the Government at an agreed price f. o. b. the mill, the contractor when prepaying the freight, applying thereon the expense bills on the inbound shipment of wheat under the "milling in transit privilege, becomes entitled to reimbursement only to the amount it would have cost to ship the goods to destination on a Government bill of lading.

Decision by Comptroller General McCarl, April 25, 1923:

The Crete Mills, Crete, Nebr., applied March 21, 1923, for review of settlement No. W-854496, dated January 24, 1923, disallowing their claim for $1,876.28, the amount alleged to have been paid by them for freight on shipments of flour furnished the War Department under contract dated March 6, 1922.

By this contract the claimants agreed to furnish a quantity of flour at an agreed price f. o. b. mills, Crete, Nebr., shipments of such flour to be made to various points named in the contract. Shipments covering the quantity of flour contracted for were made and have been received and paid for at the price agreed upon for same f. o. b. Crete.

It appears, however, that under the railroad tariffs the "milling in transit" privilege is accorded wheat ground at Crete, and when the shipments of flour were made from the mills partial prepayment of freight to the extent of the amount previously paid as inbound charges on the wheat from which the flour was ground was effected by the use of the "expense bills" of the claimants and that the amount of freight paid to the carriers by the Government was reduced thereby. This procedure was authorized by a verbal agreement between a representative of the War Department and the contractors and is in accordance with the prevailing commercial practice. The claim as filed for $1,876.28 was for the amount of expense bills used on the total shipment of 22 cars. An audit of the account shows that settlement with the carriers covering 19 cars only has been made, and that on these cars the difference in what the Government would have had to pay had the flour moved from Crete on Government bills of lading and what was actually paid after deducting the amount covered by the expense bills of the claimants is $1,082.62. The difference in the amount of the expense bills applied against the shipments and the actual saving to the Government by such use is due to land-grant deductions and also to the fact that the claim as presented covered the three cars which are not herein considered.

The established rule being that when goods are sold the Government f. o. b. the point of origin and the freight is prepaid by the

seller to destination the Government is liable only for the amount it would have cost it to have moved the shipment had the freight not been prepaid, so in the instant case the claimants are entitled to only the actual saving to the Government by the use of the "expense bills" in question.

Upon review the settlement is reversed and there is certified as due the claimants the sum of $1,082.62.

OFFICERS OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE-EFFECTIVE DATE OF COMMISSIONS.

commission as passed assistant surgeon, issued to an assistant surgeon of the Public Health Service after due examination and recommendation for promotion by a board of officers, is effective from the date the oath as passed assistant surgeon is executed, no other evidence of acceptance of the commission being required.

Comptroller General McCarl to the Secretary of the Treasury, April 26, 1923:

There has been received your reference of April 14, 1923, of a letter of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, requesting decision as to whether under the act of January 4, 1889, 25 Stat., 639, as amended by act of July 1, 1902, 32 Stat., 712, an assistant surgeon who has taken all the necessary steps required by law and regulations for promotion to passed assistant surgeon, and has been promoted on an effective date designated by the President, is required to make further formal written acknowledgement of the receipt of his commission in order to render the promotion effective so as to entitle him to pay of passed assistant surgeon.

The question is stated to have arisen in the case of Asst. Surg. John F. Steele, who, as a candidate for promotion, was examined by a board of officers and recommended for promotion, effective October 19, 1922. The proposed promotion to fill an existing vacancy was approved by the Secretary of the Treasury and the commission as passed assistant surgeon was issued October 16, 1922, effective three days later. Doctor Steele submitted October 28, 1922, an oath of office, but has made no other formal acknowledgment of his promotion to passed assistant surgeon. Restated, the question for decision is the date Doctor Steele became entitled to the pay of passed assistant surgeon of the Public Health Service.

The act of January 4, 1889, 25 Stat., 639, as amended by the act of July 1, 1902, 32 Stat., 712, so far as is here material, provided that an original appointment in the Public Health Service

shall only be made to the rank of assistant surgeon; and no officer shall be promoted to the rank of passed assistant surgeon until after four years' service and a second examination as aforesaid; and no passed assistant surgeon shall be promoted to surgeon until after due examination.