1598. Delay in distributing pay.-The Army shall be paid in such manner that the arrears shall at no time exceed two months, unless circumstances shall render further arrears unavoidable. R. S. 1189.

1599. Computation of pay.-Hereafter, where the compensation of any person in the military service of the United States is annual or monthly the following rules for division of time and computation of pay for services rendered are hereby established: Annual compensation shall be divided into twelve equal installments, one of which shall be the pay for each calendar month; and in making payments for a fractional part of a month one-thirtieth of one such installments, or of a monthly compensation, shall be the daily rate of pay. For the purpose of computing such compensation and for computing time for services rendered during a fractional part of a month in connection with annual or monthly compensation, each and every month shall be held to consist of thirty days, without regard to the actual number of days in any calendar month, thus excluding the thirty-first of any calendar month from the computation and treating February as if it actually had thirty days. Any person entering the service of the United States during a thirty-one day month and serving until the end thereof shall be entitled to pay for that month from the date of entry to the thirtieth day of said month, both days inclusive; and any person entering said service during the month of February and serving until the end thereof shall be entitled to one month's pay, less as many thirtieths thereof as there were days elapsed prior to date of entry: Provided, That for one days's unauthorized absence on the thirty-first day of any calendar month one day's pay shall be forfeited. Act of June 12, 1906 (34 Stat. 248), making appropriations for the support of the Army.

1600. Advances of pay to persons at distant stations.* * * The President may also direct such advances as he may deem necessary and proper, to persons in the military and naval service employed on distant stations, where the discharge of the pay and emoluments to which they may be entitled can not be regularly effected. R. S. 3648.

1601. Advances of pay to troops embarking for service in the Philippines.— Provided, That troops about to embark for service in the Philippine Islands may, in the discretion of the Secretary of War, be paid one month's wages in advance prior to embarkation. Act of July 7, 1898 (30 Stat. 721). This was a proviso annexed to the act providing for the payment and maintenance of volunteers during the interval between their enrollment and muster into the United States service (30 Stat. 420).

* Pro

1602. Loss of service records no cause for withholding pay.vided, That the pay due enlisted men of the Army shall not be withheld from them by reason of the fact that their service records or other official papers showing the status of their accounts with respect to pay have been lost or not returned from overseas and, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War, these men may be paid upon their personal affidavit as to date of last payment and condition of their accounts: Provided further, That payments made in accordance with such regulations (or which have already been made upon the affidavit of the soldier) shall be passed by the accounting officers of the Treasury to the credit of the disbursing officers making them. Act of July 11, 1919 (41 Stat. 110), making appropriations for the support of the Army.

See 1610, post, and notes thereunder.

1603. Pay status of captives taken by the enemy.-Every non-commissioned officer and private of the Regular Army, and every officer, non-commissioned officer, and private of any militia or volunteer corps in the service of the United States who is captured by the enemy, shall be entitled to receive during his captivity, notwithstanding the expiration of his term of service, the same pay, subsistence, and allowance to which he may be entitled while in the actual service of the United States; but this provision shall not be construed to entitle any prisoner of war of such militia corps to any pay or compensation after the date of his parole, except the traveling expenses allowed by law. R. S. 1288. Notes of

Contributing to capture. This section does not extend to one who was not in the discharge of his duties at the time of his capture, and who contributed to the disaster by culpably residing in a dangerous place, contrary to orders. Phelps v. U. S. (1868), 4 Ct. Cl. 209.

Discharge from service.-The sentence of a court-martial, including a forfeiture of all pay due at the time of trial or to become due thereafter, precludes an officer from a right to receive pay after trial and during his captivity, under this section,

Decisions,

whether the sentence was promulgated before or after his capture. Phelps v. U. S. (1868), 4 Ct. Cl. 209. But an officer, who did not violate his duty willfully or intentionally at the time of his capture, and whose conduct then was an indiscretion, and not an offense, and who on his exchange demanded a court of inquiry and was refused, is entitled to his pay and allowances, notwithstanding he was dismissed the service by the War Department during his captivity. Jones v. U. S. (1868), 4 Ct. Cl. 197.

1604. Pay during captivity for nurses, field clerks, and civil employees.-That members of the Army Nurse Corps (female) or of the Navy Nurse Corps (female), Army field clerks, field clerks, Quartermaster Corps, and civil employees of the Army, shall be entitled to full pay and allowances during any period of involuntary captivity by the enemy of the United States; and their right to such full pay and allowances shall not be abridged or lost by reason of absence from duty when that absence is caused by involuntary captivity by the enemy of the United States. Any captivity by the enemy shall be construed to be involuntary until the contrary shall be affirmatively established. All rights and privileges hereunder shall be in force from April sixth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, to the end of the existing war. Act of Mar. 3, 1919 (40 Stat. 1321).

1605. Assignment of pay by enlisted men.-No assignment of pay by a noncommissioned officer or private, previous to his discharge, shall be valid. R. S.

1291.

* *

Provided,

1606. Assignment of pay by commissioned officers.That hereafter all commissioned officers of the Army may transfer or assign their pay accounts, when due and payable, under such regulations and restrictions as the Secretary of War may prescribe. Act of Mar. 2, 1907 (34 Stat. 1159), making appropriations for the support of the Army.

1607. Assignment of pay by contract surgeons and contract dental surgeons.* Provided, That hereafter contract surgeons and contract dental surgeons on duty in Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippine Islands, and Porto Rico may transfer or assign their pay accounts, when due and payable, in the methods now provided by regulations for commissioned officers of the Army:

Act of April 23, 1904 (33 Stat. 266), making appropriations for the support of the Army.

1608. Pay checks drawn as indicated by indorsement on pay account.* Provided, That hereafter section thirty-six hundred and twenty,

Revised Statutes, as amended by the Act of Congress approved February twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, shall not be construed as precluding officers of the Quartermaster Corps from drawing checks in favor of the person or institution designated by indorsement made on his monthly pay account by any officer of the Army if the pay account has been deposited for payment on maturity in conformity with such regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe: Provided further, That payment by the United States of a check on the indorsement of the indorsee specified on the pay account shall be a full acquittance for the amount due on the pay account. Act of Mar. 2, 1913 (37 Stat. 710), making appropriations for the support of the Army. For R. S. 3620, and amendment see 249, ante. 1609. Retained pay.- *

* Provided, That hereafter no pay shall be retained, but this provision shall not apply to deductions authorized on account of the Soldiers' Home. Act of Mar. 16, 1896 (29 Stat. 60), making appropriations for the support of the Army.

The additional pay for length of service, and part of the reenlistment pay, provided for by R. S. 1281, 1282, were, by those sections, to be retained until discharged from the service. A provision for retaining part of the monthly pay for the first year of enlistment, contained in sec. 1, act of June 16, 1890 (26 Stat. 157), was repealed by act of Feb. 12, 1895 (28 Stat. 655).

Deductions from pay on account of the Soldiers' Home were authorized by R. S. 4819, but so much of that section as pertained to said deduction was repealed by a provision of the act of June 12, 1906 (34 Stat. 242), a similar provision being found in the act of May 11, 1908 (35 Stat. 110).

Notes of Decisions.

Retained pay. -Decisions under prior statutes, see U. S. v. Kingsley (1891), 11 Sup. Ct. 286, 287, 138 U. S. 87, 34 L. Ed. 896;

Kingsley v. U. S. (1889), 24 Ct. Cl. 219; (1890) 19 Op. Atty. Gen. 567, 616.

1610. Pay withheld to discharge debts to the United States.-No money shall be paid to any person for his compensation who is in arrears to the United States until he has accounted for and paid into the Treasury all sums for which he may be liable. In all cases where the pay or salary of any person is withheld in pursuance of this section, the accounting officers of the Treasury, if required to do so by the party, his agent or attorney, shall report forthwith to the Solicitor of the Treasury the balance due; and the Solicitor shall, within sixty days thereafter, order suit to be commenced against such delinquent and his sureties. R. S. 1766.

Notes of Decisions.

Arrearages for which pay can be withheld. The section applies only to cases where the party is liable to the United States, and can not be extended to a case of payment in good faith for a service rendered made in mistake of law. Hedrick v. U. S. (1880), 16 Ct. Cl. 88.

This section does not require that, before payment is withheld, the officer shall be adjudged in arrears in a suit brought against him. (1881) 17 Op. Atty. Gen. 30. Where money was paid by a United States marshal, under a mistake of fact, to a person who subsequently became an officer in the postal service, the latter is in arrears to the United States for the amount so paid, and it may be set off

against his compensation as such officer. (1884) 17 Op. Atty. Gen. 677.

Discharge of liability.-The liability of an acting collector of internal revenue for money taken and appropriated by him is not discharged by the Treasury Department charging the loss to the former collector; but the amount so appropriated may be set off against the acting collector's compensation. Hiland v. The U. S. (1885), 20 Ct. CI. 410.

Person indebted to United States.-Sureties of a delinquent or defaulting principal obligor in a custom house bond are not liable to detention of moneys due them; the phrase "who is in arrears to the United States," contained in this section,

Discharge of sureties. This section forms no part of the contract with the officer's sureties, so as to discharge their liability when payments are made to an 1611. Pay withheld to satisfy a judgment. The pay of officers of the Army may be withheld under section seventeen hundred and sixty-six of the Revised Statutes on account of an indebtedness to the United States admitted or shown by the judgment of a court, but not otherwise unless upon a special order issued according to the discretion of the Secretary of War. Act of July 16, 1892 (27 Stat. 177).

Notes of Decisions.

1612. Amount of rations purchased on credit deducted from pay. The amount due from any officer for rations purchased on credit, or for any article designated by the inspectors-general of the Army and purchased on credit from commissaries of subsistence, shall be deducted from the payment made to such officer next after such purchase shall have been reported to the PaymasterGeneral. R. S. 1299.

1613. Amount of stores purchased on credit deducted from pay.-The amount due from any enlisted man for articles designated by the inspectors-general of

the Army, and sold to him on credit by commissaries of subsistence, shall be deducted from the payment made to him next after such sale shall have been reported to the Paymaster-General. R. S. 1300.

For rules respecting sales on credit sce pars. 1242, 1244, and 1249-1251, Army Regulations of 1913.

1614. Amount of tobacco purchased on credit deducted from pay.-The amount due from any enlisted man for tobacco sold to him at cost prices by the United States shall be deducted from his pay in the manner provided for the settlement of clothing accounts. R. S. 1301.

1615. Cost of damages deducted from pay.-The cost of repairs or damages done to arms, equipments, or implements shall be deducted from the pay of any officer or soldier in whose care or use the same were when such damages occurred, if said damages were occasioned by the abuse or negligence of said officer or soldier. R. S. 1303.

1616. Deduction of pay to reimburse deficiencies in supplies or accounts.-In case of deficiency of any article of military supplies, on final settlements of the accounts of any officer charged with the issue of the same, the value thereof shall be charged against the delinquent and deducted from his monthly pay, unless he shall show to the satisfaction of the Secretary of War, by one or more depositions setting forth the circumstances of the case, that said deficiency was not occasioned by any fault on his part. And in case of damage to any military supplies, the value of such damage shall be charged against such officer and deducted from his monthly pay, unless he shall, in like manner, show that such damage was not occasioned by any fault on his part. R. S. 1304.

Any officer who suffers military stores to be lost, spoiled, or damaged was punishable therefor under Article of War 15, R. S. 1342, art. 15, which said article was superseded by new Article of War 83, ch. 52, post.

Provisions relating to the making of property returns by officers were made by act of Mar. 29, 1894, ante, 807.

Provisions relating to the taking and effect of oaths and affidavits on settlement of officers' accounts were made by R. S. 225, ante, 46, 810.

Notes of Decisions.

Officer acting under orders.-The power given to the Secretary of War to order a stoppage of pay against a delinquent officer is exclusive and discretionary, but is not to be asserted against an officer acting under an order which he is bound to obey, and as to which he is expressly relieved from personal liability. Such an abuse of power would not tend to preserve but to subvert military order and discipline. The refusal of the Secretary of War to stop an officer's pay is not a decision upon the merits; it will not bind the Government nor preclude the Comptroller from causing a suit to be brought against the officer; it merely determines that the officer is so far without fault that the harsh and summary remedy of stopping his pay should not be resorted Smith v. U. S., 24 Ct. Cls. 209, 215; Billings v. U. S., 23 id. 166, 175.

to.

Stoppage. A stoppage differs from a fine or forfeiture, in that the latter is imposed as punishment for an offense, while the former is a means of reimbursement or a "charge on account" to make good a loss. A stoppage can not therefore, in the absence of a statute or regulation authorizing it legally be imposed as a punishment for an offense. But it is entirely legal to stop against a soldier's pay, under the Army Regulations, an amount required to reimburse the United States for loss on account of damage done to public property, while at the same time bringing the soldier to trial by court-martial for the offense involved. Gratiot v. U. S., 15 Pet. 336; McKnight v. U. S., 98 U. S. 180.

1617. Certificate of nonindebtedness prerequisite for final payment of accountable officer of volunteers.-That officers who at any time were accountable or