places where public quarters are not furnished, but where enlisted men are on duty only as guards, orderlies, clerks, and messengers, and recruiting officers at city stations, are regarded as being on duty without troops within the meaning of the laws and regulations.

1301. An officer on duty at a station where he is properly in receipt of commutation of quarters is entitled to the allowance during ordinary leave on full pay, but not during sick leave. If he is relieved from duty at the station and then avails himself of a leave, his commutation ceases.

1302. An officer does not lose his right to quarters or commutation at his permanent station by a temporary absence on duty. While he continues to claim and exercise that right he can not legally demand quarters or commuta. tion thereof at any other station.

The mere fact that an officer's family or his household goods are permitted by proper authority to remain in quarters at a military station, does not prevent the assignment of quarters to him where he is actually serving, or debar him from commutation if he is on duty without troops at a station where there are no public quarters.

1303. When the command to which an officer belongs changes stations during his temporary absence on duty he loses his right to quarters from the time his command leaves its old station and does not acquire a right at the new station until he has reported for duty thereat. He is entitled in the meantime to quarters or commutation therefor at the station where he is temporarily serving.

1304. An officer upon being relieved from duty at one station where he was entitled to commutation of quarters, and assigned to another station, is not entitled to such allowance from the date of departure from the old station, in accordance with his relief orders, to the date on which he reports in person at the new station.

1305. Officers who, for the convenience of the Government, are directed to await orders for a limited period at a point where there are no public quarters are entitled to commutation; but an officer ordered to his home to await orders is not entitled to this allowance. An officer ordered to report by letter to a superior does not become entitled to commutation of quarters until he receives a specific order of assignment and reports in person at the station to which assigned.

1306. Officers on duty at colleges where no public quarters are furnished by the United States are entitled to commutation, subject, in respect to retired officers, to such limitations and restrictions as are prescribed by law.

1307. The first voucher for commutation of quarters, heat, and light at any station must be accompanied by a copy of the order assigning the officer to duty thereat. In subsequent vouchers the quartermaster will refer by number, etc., to the voucher with which the order is filed, and the final voucher must be accompanied by the authority for, and must show the date of relief from, such duty.

STOPPAGES.

1308. When an officer has been overpaid, or is indebted to the United States for money or property, or has failed properly to account for the same, the chief of the bureau concerned will promptly notify him of the amount of his indebtedness or his failure to account. If after such notice he does not refund, or make satisfactory explanation, or take proper action within a reasonable time, the matter will be reported to the Secretary of War.

1309. On the order of the Secretary of War, stoppages may be made against the pay of officers for overpayments, illegal disbursement, or loss through fraud or neglect of the public funds, and for deficiencies in, loss of, or damage to

military supplies, unless proof be furnished that the deficiency, loss, or damage was not occasioned by any fault on their part.

13 10. The notice of stoppage of officers' pay will be prepared in the form of a monthly circular to quartermasters, advising them of stoppages outstanding at its date. This circular will be submitted to the Secretary of War for his approval prior to its publication. When an officer's name is borne thereon no payment of salary will be made to him which is not in accordance with the stoppage entry made against his name.

1311. Overpayments to an officer will be deducted on the first payment after a notice of stoppage against him is received, even if the pay accounts have been assigned; the assignee takes the account subject to all risks of stoppage.

PAYMENT OF CADETS.

13 12. Payment on pay rolls and final accounts will be made to the cadets at the United States Military Academy by a quartermaster, who will turn over the net amount of the rolls and accounts to the treasurer of the Academy.

1313. Cadets upon being discharged from the service are not entitled to mileage, but to actual expenses to their homes, paid by the quartermaster of the United States Military Academy.

1314. Graduates of the United States Military Academy are entitled to full pay from the date of graduation to the date of their acceptance of and qualification under their commissions, and during their graduation leave.

Should a graduated cadet be discharged after graduation but before being commissioned, he will be entitled to the pay of a cadet after graduation until date of discharge.

PAYMENT OF ENLISTED MEN.

13 15. Troops will be paid every month unless circumstances prevent, in which case the quartermaster charged with the payment will immediately report the facts, through his department quartermaster, to the Chief of the Quartermaster Corps.

1316. Payments will be made as soon after the close of each month as practicable.

The troops at posts where quartermasters are stationed and others in their immediate vicinity, to be designated in instructions issued from the War Department, will be paid by quartermasters in person.

For posts at which payments are not required to be made in person, the quartermaster will transmit by registered mail or express the pay due in one or more of the following ways:

1. By individual check, payable to the order of each man, for the exact amount due.

2. By inclosing in a separate sealed envelope the exact amount in currency due each soldier, with his name and the amount inclosed marked thereon. Troops in the field will be paid by quartermasters in person, unless instructions to the contrary are given by proper authority.

1317. So far as relates to disbursements in the Philippine Islands and other places, including Alaska, beyond the boundary of the States composing the Union, and for the convenience of the quartermaster in obtaining ready money, as well as for the accommodation of both officers and men at such distant places, a check may be drawn for a portion of the pay due the soldier (or officer), in which case it will be drawn in favor of the soldier (or officer), and the object or purpose will be stated as "part pay for month of — ; if for any sum which the soldier (or officer) may desire in exchange for money after he has

been paid, the check will be drawn by the quartermaster in favor of himself and indorsed by him payable to the order of the soldier (or officer), and the object or purpose will be stated as "to obtain cash to make payments at a distance from a depositary." In this case the data on the check stub will be the same as on the check to which it relates, including the name of the soldier (or officer) to whom the check is indorsed by the quartermaster.

13 18. Calculations on the pay rolls are made by the quartermaster and copied on the retained roll by the company or detachment commander, who will certify that he witnessed the payment, and will enter thereon the name of the quartermaster and date of payment.

1319. All enlisted men present will receipt one of the triplicate rolls for the amount due to them, except when it is known that payment will be made by check, in which case signatures will not be required. Witnessing officers will see that the soldiers' signatures correspond with their names as borne on the roll, and when a soldier can not write he will receipt by his mark, which will be witnessed by a commissioned officer, or, in the absence of a commissioned officer, by a contract surgeon. Duplicate copies of the rolls will then be forwarded by the commanding officer to the quartermaster designated to pay the command.

1320. If the payment is not to be made by the quartermaster in person, the commanding officer, when forwarding the rolls, will furnish the quartermaster with the name, rank, etc., of the officer designated to see that the men of the command are paid, and at the same time will state what part of the pay can conveniently be received by the men in individual checks and cashed at or near the post without discount, and whether it is desired that the checks be sent by mail or by express. The remainder of the pay will be sent in envelopes.

1321. The checks, when not sent by mail, and the money for each organization will be inclosed in separate packages properly marked, and the whole will be consolidated into one package and forwarded by express to the post commander. One of each of the company or detachment rolls, extended to show the amounts to be paid, will be returned to the commanding officer and by him sent to the proper company commanders.

1322. The quartermaster, in the presence of at least one witness, will personally place in each envelope the exact amount of money due the soldier, seal the same, see that the name of the soldier and amount inclosed are marked on the envelope, and that the individual checks and the sealed envelopes are inclosed in one sealed package, upon the outside of which will be indorsed

1. Name of the organization.

2. Number of checks inclosed.

3. Number of sealed envelopes inclosed.

4. Total amount of pay due and remitted, less deposits, $

a. By check‒‒‒‒

b. By currency -

5. Signature of the quartermaster.

$

$

All the packages containing checks and sealed envelopes for the several organizations, completed and indorsed as above, will be made up into one parcel and sealed by the quartermaster. Upon the outside will be marked the name and address of the post or other command and the names of the subordinate organizations for which pay is therein remitted, and the quartermaster will append thereto his signature.

1323. The consolidated package thus marked and addressed to the commanding officer will be forwarded by express to its destination,

The following are specimen indorsements:

FOR THE COMMANDING OFFICER, Fort
LEAVENWORTH, KANS.

Contents of this package.

The pay, less deposits, due for month of
September, 1896, for-

N. C. O. and band, 20th Infantry.

1324. At places beyond express delivery the post commander, when notified by the quartermaster that funds sent by express are to be expected, will send an officer with a suitable escort to receipt for the express package and convey the funds to the post. The name of the officer authorized to receipt for the package will previously have been reported to the quartermaster.

1325. When the express package is received at the post it will be opened in the presence of witnesses by the commanding officer, who will observe the condition of the seals, verify the number of company and detachment packages, and see that the marking upon them conforms to these instructions. The separate sealed packages containing the pay for the several companies and detachments will then be delivered to the officer designated to pay the command, for distribution, which will be made as soon as practicable thereafter; but in no case will such distribution be deferred more than 24 hours. The commanding officer will be responsible for the safe-keeping of the packages of funds from the time of their receipt at the post until they have been thus turned over for distribution.

1326. When a company or detachment is paraded for pay, the officer designated to pay the command will open the package containing the pay for that company or detachment in the presence of at least one witness, who shall be a commissioned officer; or, in the absence of a commissioned officer, the verification and delivery may be witnessed by a contract surgeon. The number of checks in the package and the number of sealed envelopes purporting to contain the pay of individual soldiers will be counted, and the agreement of this number with the record made by the quartermaster upon the wrapper will be verified by both officers, and the amount marked on the sealed envelope as the pay due each man will be verified by comparison with the pay roll before the distribution begins. As each man's name is called the check drawn to his order will be given to him, or the envelope bearing the man's name will be opened, its contents verified by comparison with the marks on the envelope or with the pay roll, and the money handed to the soldier by said officer, all in presence and under the personal observation of the officer designated to witness the payment.

1327. Should there be a deficiency it will be so certified on the roll by the paying and verifying officers, and the envelope will be resealed without taking anything from it, and returned to the quartermaster unless the amount should be offset by finding a surplus in another envelope. Should there be an excess the surplus will be returned to the quartermaster. In each case a statement of the facts, with appropriate certificates, will be sent to the quartermaster by the commanding officer.

1328. In case of error or informality a statement of the facts as found to exist will be immediately indorsed upon the envelope or wrapper, as the case may be, and the officers present will certify to the correctness of the statement and lay the same before the commanding officer.

1329. The copy of the pay roll of each organization, which the quartermaster is required by paragraph 1321 to return to the post, will be reforwarded to the quartermaster by the commanding officer without delay after the payment is completed.

1330. Should any error or informality be discovered in a check it will be returned to the quartermaster, who will correct the same and return it with the least practicable delay. The roll will be returned to the quartermaster after payment of the company with a note thereon, verified by the witnessing officer, stating the facts as to the erroneous check. The receipt of the corrected check will be certified by the company commander to the quartermaster, who will file such certificate with the pay rolls.

133 1. Should the bank or person who cashes the individual check so desire, the company commander will certify to the correctness of the indorsements made by his men upon their respective checks.

1332. An officer commanding a company or detachment at the time of payment will sign the prescribed certificate as to witnessing the payment, printed on the pay roll, and, when requested to do so by the quartermaster, will certify that the quartermaster's retained roll is a true copy of the roll upon which payment was made.

1333. Should a soldier die or desert in the interval between the signing of the pay roll and the receipt of the money at the post from the quartermaster, the check or cash will be returned immediately to the quartermaster by the company or detachment commander, the cash by express, through the Quartermaster Corps, the check by registered mail; and a note of explanation stating the fact of nonpayment and return of the check or money will be made on the roll, and verified by the signature of the witnessing officer. The same course 2402°-13-17