performance, which may arise under any contract made by the War Department." It would seem that one of the principal causes for the issue of General Orders, No. 103, was to establish a board for the arbitration, and in accordance with the clauses prescribed in Supply Circular No. 88 to be inserted in War Department contracts. copy of these clauses see Information Circular No. 1.) (For The jurisdiction of this board is not final under General Orders No. 103, which further provides, "The findings and decisions of the board shall be final and conclusive, subject only to review by the Secretary of War." The simple procedure laid down for presentation to the board of these cases is to be found in Information Circular No. 1, herewith. In many cases doubts or disputes are to be determined under the terms of the original contracts themselves by some officer or board or by arbitration. In these cases the Secretary of War having so agreed will, as a rule, use such method of adjustment and the matter may only come before the Board of Contract Adjustment for construction of the clauses for arbitration or perhaps on review. APPELLATE JURISDICTION. In addition to this original jurisdiction under formal contracts the Board of Contract Adjustment has an appellate jurisdiction, as outlined above, to review, at the instance of the contractor, the terms of the proposed settlement contracts for the curtailment of production and reimbursement and compensation to the contractor for what he has done with reference to the eliminated portion of his contract. This jurisdiction was fixed by Supply Circular No. 111 of November 9, 1918. On such appeal this board is not confined to the grounds stated for appeal or review, but may consider the entire case. It has also appellate jurisdiction where an endeavor has been made to settle some doubt or dispute under a contract and the contractor is not satisfied with the determination of the contracting officer or of the bureau chief. The practice for appeals in these and certain other cases is also set forth in Supply Circular No 46, hereto attached. (b) On contracts not executed in the manner prescribed by the statutes. 66 UNDER GENERAL ORDERS NO. 103, OF NOVEMBER 6, 1918. This order is not confined to the contracts executed in the manner prescribed by law, and permits the determination of " doubts" and disputes" arising under contracts not so executed and while in course of performance, or otherwise. Under it the jurisdiction of the Board of Contract Adjustment is both original and appellate. UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 2, 1919. As stated above, the jurisdiction of the Secretary of War to amend and settle informal executory contracts is doubtful. He may, in such case, recommend to the Treasury Department payment for services rendered and accepted, and for property had and received, on the implied contracts. It would seem that these are not within the prohibition of Revised Statutes 3744. (Clark v. United States, 95 U. S. 539.) He may not, however, under such contracts, make binding supplemental contracts extending to the payments for other items, as, for example, work in process and unliquidated damages, etc. To cover this, the act of March 2, 1919, was passed, and followed by General Orders No. 40 of March 19, 1919, which established the War Department Claims Board as the agency within the United States "through which shall be exercised, in the name of the Secretary of War and by his authority, all powers and duties conferred upon the Secretary of War by the act of Congress" of March 2, and further provided that, " for the expeditious performance of its duties the War Department Claims Board is authorized to make such use as it may find desirable of the Board of Contract Adjustment, the War Department Board of Appraisers, and any other agency or agencies of the War Department.” The Director of Purchase, Storage, and Traffic then issued for the War Department Claims Board, Supply Circular No. 17, Revised, dated March 26, 1919, in which it was provided: "5. Procedure by the Board of Contract Adjustment on Class B claims: "(a) Class B claims shall be submitted to the Board of Contract Adjustment, which, in handling them, will follow the procedure above outlined for Class A claims so far as it is applicable; but these claims which are based upon alleged agreements entered into with an officer or agent acting under the authority, direction, or instruction of the Secretary of War shall be kept separate and given numbers of a different series from those entered into by an officer or agent acting under the authority, direction, or instruction of the President, and the forms of award used by the Board of Contract Adjustment shall provide for signature by that board and approval by the War Department Claims Board. (b) The Board of Contract Adjustment will establish, under the direction of the War Department Claims Board, procedure for the proof of claims pending before it. "(c) The Board of Contract Adjustment may, in any case where the nature, terms, and conditions of the agreement have been established and certified by it, refer the claim to the appropriate bureau claims board for action and for recommendation of a fair and equitable basis upon which the agreement should be adjusted, paid, or discharged, and the bureau claims board shall then proceed in the manner provided in subsections d, e, f, and g, of section 3 hereof, and in the following general provisions: "7. In the event that the claimant is not willing to accept a finding made or an award recommended by a bureau claims board, he may appeal to the Board of Contract Adjustment." It will be noted that under this circular the Board of Contract Adjustment was given jurisdiction in three classes of cases: 1. The determination of all claims on informal, oral, or implied contracts of the War Department. These are commonly known as Class B claims, for the reason that the form of proof of contract set forth in Supply Circular No. 17 for use in such cases is designated Form B. It is usual in these cases for the Board of Contract Adjustment to determine merely what the nature, terms, and conditions of the contract were, if any, and to attach and execute the Certificate C, called for by Supply Circular No. 17. The record is then transmitted under authority of section 5, paragraph (c) of Supply Circular No. 17, above quoted, to the bureau or department of the War Department from which the claim originated for settlement and payment. 2. The determination of all claims on informal contracts made by the President or his representatives other than the War Department for purposes connected with the prosecution of the war. These are also known as Class B claims. As to these settlements, it is necessary, in many cases, for this board to make a complete determination and adjustment of the claims, because the agencies of the Government that made the contracts have no claims settlement organizations. Since the issue of Supply Circular No. 17, the War Department Claims Board has, by its resolutions, taken two classes of such cases from this board, as follows: "(a) All Class B claims arising from agreements covering the acquisition of lands or the use thereof or for damages resulting from notice by the Government of its intention to acquire or use such lands' are to be submitted to the War Department Board of Appraisers for investigation and recommendation in the same manner as Class B claims submitted to the Board of Contract Adjustment. (Minutes of meeting No. 23 of the War Department Claims Board, held March 18, 1919.) * * * * * * "(b) The Transportation Service Claims Board is * directed to assume jurisdiction of *; the adjustment and settlement of all * Class B claims that may arise or have arisen out of the operations of the Transportation Service; and is hereby vested with all the powers ** * * in respect to such claims that the provisions of Purchase, Storage, and Traffic Supply Circular No. 17, Revised, 1919, have made applicable to the Board of Contract Adjustment. (Minutes of meeting No. 48 of War Department Claims Board, held May 23, 1919.)" 3. Appeals and questions presented for review from the various bureaus and department boards of the War Department. These appeals and requests for review or submissions of questions in doubt are similar to those made in cases arising under formal contracts. But in these cases questions also arise under Class A informal contracts relating to a determination of their nature, terms, and conditions. The procedure on such appeals and in other cases is set forth in Supply Circular No. 46. This board may, in case of any appeal, review not only the questions specifically presented, but may also go into the whole case. JOHN ROSS DELAFIELD, INFORMATION CIRCULAR NO. 1 OF THE BOARD OF CONTRACT ADJUSTMENT. [Duly Authorized Representative of the Secretary of War.] TO HEAR AND DETERMINE DOUBTS, DISPUTES, AND CLAIMS WHICH ARE NOT DISPOSED OF BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT. Containing (1) General Orders, No. 103, constituting the board, and defining its powers. (2) Supply Circular No. 88, section 15, relating to the adjustment of claims and disputes. (3) Rules of procedure. BOARD OF CONTRACT ADJUSTMENT. Col. Christopher B. Garnett (Chairman), Col. Frank C. Boggs, Lieut. Col. Robert H. Carruth, Lieut. Col. Joseph Fairbanks, Lieut. Col. Edward S. Malone, Lieut. Col. Edgar A. Hamilton (Members of the Board), Capt. Willard A. Doerr (Acting Recorder). Address all correspondence to Board of Contract Adjustment, Purchase, Storage and Traffic Division-General Staff, Washington, D. C. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 103. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, November 6, 1918. 1. There is hereby constituted in the Purchase, Storage and Traffic Division of the General Staff a Board of Contract Adjustment composed and charged with duties and vested with powers as hereinafter prescribed. 2. The board shall consist of three members, who shall be commissioned officers of the United States Army, one of whom shall be chairman of the board. 3. The Director of Purchase, Storage and Traffic shall recommend appointees for membership and for vacancies on the board and shall nominate the chairman thereof. Appointments will be made by the Secretary of War. 4. The Judge Advocate General will assign a judge advocate to act as the legal adviser of the board, and the board is authorized to have a recorder and one or more examiners, who shall be appointed by the Director of Purchase, Storage and Traffic, and shall be commissioned officers of the United States Army. 5. It shall be the duty of the board to hear and determine all claims, doubts, or disputes, including all questions of performance or nonperformance which may arise under any contract made by the War Department. 6. The board shall have all powers necessary and incident to the proper performance of its duties, and shall adopt its own methods of procedure and rules and regulations for its conduct. 7. The office of the board shall be in the city of Washington, but hearings may also be held in such other places as may be expedient and necessary for the proper performance of its duties. 8. The board shall have a seal bearing the following inscription: “Board of Contract Adjustment, War Department." This seal shall be affixed to all authentications of copies of records, and to such other instruments as the board may determine. 9. All members of the board, the judge advocate, the recorder, and the examiner or examiners, if any, shall have authority to administer an oath to any witness testifying or deposing in the course of any investigation, inquiry, or hearing, in accordance with section 183, Revised Statutes, as amended by the act of February 13, 1911 (36 Stat., 898). 10. The board shall fix the time when and the place where hearing will be held, and shall serve notice thereof, and the parties, or their representatives, shall be entitled to be heard and to introduce evidence. 11. The act of a majority of the members of the board, when in session as a board, shall be deemed to be the act of the board; but, in the course of any investigation undertaken by the board, any member or members or any examiner or examiners, when so designated by the board, shall have power to examine witnesses and to receive evidence and to report the same to the board. 12. The findings and decisions of the board shall be final and conclusive, subject only to review by the Secretary of War. 13. A full and complete record shall be kept of all proceedings, hearings, and testimony, and all testimony shall be taken down by a reporter. Copies of all findings, including findings on questions of fact, and the board's decision, certified under its seal, shall be served upon the parties or their attorneys and a copy shall be transmitted to the Secretary of War. 14. The board shall submit to the Secretary of War, on the 1st day of October of each year, a report containing a full and complete account of its transactions and proceedings for the preceding fiscal year. By order of the Secretary of War: PEYTON C. MARCH, General, Chief of Staff. OFFICIAL: P. C. HARRIS, The Adjutant General. SUPPLY CIRCULAR NO. 88, SECTION 15. ADJUSTMENT OF CLAIMS AND DISPUTES. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this contract, any claims, doubts, or disputes which may arise under this contract, or as to its performance or nonperformance, and which are not disposed of by mutual agreement, may be determined, upon petition of the contractor, by the Secretary of War or his duly authorized representative or representatives. If the Secretary of War selects a board as his authorized representative to hear and determine any such claims, doubts, or disputes, the decision of the majority of said board shall be deemed to be the decision of the board. The decision of the Secretary of War or of such duly authorized representative or representatives shall be final and conclusive on all matters submitted for determination: Provided, That where the decision is rendered by such representative or representatives the Secretary of War may, at his option, either upon his own motion or upon petition filed with him by the contractor within 20 days after notice of the decision of such |