letters they may write, and of all orders they may receive, and carefully file and preserve all other official documents.

ARTICLE 452.

The receipt of all orders or instructions must be immediately acknowledged.

ARTICLE 453.

Official instructions and official communications must not be published without the permission of the Secretary of the Navy, except it may be necessary for the defence of an officer, before a courtmartial, court of inquiry, or court of law.

ARTICLE 454.

All official communications must be written of the size lodged at the different navy yards as samples for "official paper," and must have a margin of at least one inch and a half wide, so that they may be bound up, if necessary; and all such communications to the Department must be enclosed in blank envelopes; every letter must be endorsed with its date and number, and the number of enclosures which it contains; and each enclosure must be marked with the date and number of the letter to which it belongs.

ARTICLE 455.

Letter-books, containing copies of all orders given, or official letters written, and the originals of all letters received on public service at the different navy yards, and on other shore-stations, by the commanding officer thereof, must be left at those yards and stations, and carefully preserved as records. The commanding officers may, if they think proper, take copies, for their own use, of all orders or letters which they may receive or write.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

SURVEYS.

ARTICLE 456.

When an inspection or survey of articles is to be held, to determine whether they ought to be received under any contract or

purchase, great care is to be taken that such officers or other persons are selected as will best secure the Government against imposition or loss. Although the master workmen of the different classes of mechanics ought always to be among the inspecting officers for inspecting materials intended to be used under their directions, and their own reports may, in ordinary cases, be deemed sufficient, yet, when they are themselves in doubt, or their decision is questioned, or the commanding officer should, from any cause, consider it inexpedient, he will have the inspection made by a greater number of persons, and by such as he may deem most competent. In the inspection of articles of food or clothing, while it will be requisite to employ persons particularly conversant with these articles, either as the inspectors, or to furnish information to others who may be ordered upon that duty, the officers of the navy are so immediately interested that they should be fully equal to the stipulations of contracts, that, when practicable, at least three experienced officers should be employed on that duty, when any considerable quantity is to be inspected.

ARTICLE 457.

All applications for surveys upon articles supposed to be defec tive, or unfit for use, or deficient in quantity, must be made in writing, by the officer having charge of the same, to his immediate commanding officer, and, if he deems such survey necessary, if serving in a fleet, approve and transmit the same to the commanding officer of the division or squadron to which he belongs, who is to order such surveys to be taken, unless the commander-in-chief shall have otherwise directed. But when officers are not in company with the commander of a division or squadron, the applica tions are to be transmitted to the senior officer present, for his decision and orders.

ARTICLE 458.

Officers who may order surveys upon articles reported as defective, or requiring repairs, will, when practicable, select at least three commission officers for that duty, and of a rank proportioned to the importance of the survey to be held, so that the United States may not be exposed to loss from the inexperience of the surveying

officers; and, when it can be done, the officers shall be selected from other vessels than those to which the articles may belong.

ARTICLE 459.

Surveying officers may call upon the person having charge of the articles to be surveyed, or upon any other person, for information which may assist them in making correct statements upon the subject they may have been directed to investigate; and if any person shall endeavor to deceive the surveying officers by giving false statements, or if the surveying officers shall discover, or find reason to suspect, any fraud, they shall notice it particularly in their report.

ARTICLE 460.

The report of officers directed to survey articles represented to be unfit for service, must specify by whose order the survey was held, each particular article surveyed, the state in which it was found, and the most proper disposition to be made of it; and if the articles were found to be damaged, or of improper quality, their report must further state, if possible, by whom they were furnished, and whether the damage or injury was or was not owing to the neglect or misconduct of any, and of what, person or persons.

ARTICLE 461.

When officers are ordered to ascertain the quantity of articles, they are not to take any accounts of them from the officer who has charge of them, unless it shall be impracticable to make a personal examination, or they shall be directed to take the account from him by the person ordering the examination; and when the quantity of articles shall be so taken, it must be particularly noted in their report, with the reasons why it was so taken, and they shall state if any, and what, articles are defective.

ARTICLE 462.

When a survey is to be held to ascertain the quantity of articles, and they are found deficient, one report of the survey, duly signed and made upon the back of, or attached to, the order, is to be furnished to the officer who requested the survey, another to the commander of the vessel, and a third to the person ordering the survey,

to be by him transmitted to the Navy Commissioners; and if the articles were in charge of a purser, a fourth copy must be forwarded to the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury.

ARTICLE 463.

No stores or provisions are to be thrown overboard, unless they are entirely useless, and except the surveying officers shall, in their report, represent them as being, in their own opinion, and that of the surgeon, dangerous to the health of the ship's company; in which case, the commander of the vessel shall cause them to be thrown overboard as soon as the report of survey is duly approved or confirmed; but all other articles are to be converted to some other use, or returned into store.

ARTICLE 464.

If any officer of the navy, having charge of money, provisions, or other stores belonging to the United States, shall die, be suspended, removed, or otherwise separated from his vessel or station, so as to render it necessary to appoint another person to perform his duties, it shall be immediately reported by his commander to the senior officer present in command, who shall order, in writing, a survey to be held by proper officers, and, when practicable, in presence of the officer who is to succeed to the charge of the articles aforesaid; and the surveying officers shall make out a statement in writing of the amount, quantity, or number, of such articles in quadruplicate, and sign the same. The surveying officers shall then transmit these statements, in a report, to the officer ordering the survey, who shall retain one in his own possession, transmit one to the Navy Department, cause one to be lodged with the papers of the person who had previously been in charge of the stores, and transmit the fourth to the person who is about to take charge of them; and such officer shall, upon taking charge of the articles, or entering upon his duties, charge himself with all the articles contained in the report which shall have been found fit for service, and be held accountable for the same, and his predecessor shall be credited, according to the report of the survey, in the settlement of his

accounts.

ARTICLE 465.

Whenever it shall be represented that the ill-health of an officer requires that he should leave any foreign station, the commanderin-chief, before granting such leave, shall direct a survey to be held upon him by three officers-surgeons, or assistant surgeons-if so many can be readily obtained; but if so many cannot be obtained, the number may be completed by not exceeding two commission sea-officers; and they shall state distinctly whether he is then fit for duty, and whether his removal from the station is indispensable or not; and if they are of opinion that his removal is necessary, the medical officer shall state the particular disease or complaint which occasions the necessity of such removal, as per form.

ARTICLE 466.

When persons shall be surveyed, to ascertain if they are entitled to a pension, the survey shall be made upon a certificate of the commander and surgeon of the vessel in which he sustained the injury, setting forth the circumstances under which it occurred. The surveying officers shall be composed of captains or commanders, with one or more surgeons-not less than three collectively; and the report of the survey must state the nature and extent of the injury, and the opinion of the surveying officers whether it will render him wholly or partially able to contribute to his own support, by his labor, and if partially, then to what extent. The certificate of the commander and surgeon, with one copy of the report of survey, to be by him forwarded to the Secretary of the Navy, and a report of the survey given to the person surveyed, to be kept by him.

ARTICLE 467.

When men shall be represented as unfit to remain in the service, they shall be directed to be surveyed, as directed in the preceding article; and if they should be found unserviceable, the surveying officers shall, if possible, state whether their disabilities were owing to hurts or diseases contracted whilst they belonged to the service, or to causes which existed prior to their entry; and if the man should be discharged, he shall be furnished with a copy of the survey.