cate to the commander, to be forwarded by the first safe opportunity to the Navy Department.

ARTICLE 316.

No clothing, or articles to make clothing, is ever to be purchased for the crew, on the ground that the clothing furnished by the United States is of inferior quality, or dearer than may be supplied by purchase upon particular stations; but only when the quantity on board, or upon the station, is absolutely inadequate to the wants of the service.

ARTICLE 317.

Whenever it shall be absolutely necessary upon foreign stations to purchase slop clothing, the articles shall be, as nearly as possible, of the same kind and quality as those furnished by the United States; and no more shall be purchased than shall be sufficient to meet the existing emergency.

ARTICLE 318.

When slop clothing shall be furnished to the purser, packed in bales for preservation, the bales shall not be opened to ascertain their contents, but the purser shall receipt for them as marked. And as such bales of slop clothing are secured against wet, moths or vermin, they shall not be opened till it be necessary for making issues to the men; and when thus opened, it shall be in the presence of an officer, and their contents shall be compared with the invoice, and if found to vary from it, a survey shall be held to authenticate the fact.

ARTICLE 319.

Slop clothing, which shall be condemned by survey as unserviceable, shall not be thrown overboard without a written order from the senior officer in command at the place, but must be turned into some store; and such order, and the receipt of the storekeeper, must be produced before the purser shall receive credit for the same in the settlement of his accounts.

ARTICLE 320.

If he should, at any time, receive an order from his commander to supply a person with slop clothing, or small stores, beyond the amount which is due to him, he shall notify the commander of the fact, and receive his further instructions in writing.

ARTICLE 321.

There shall be no change in the daily allowance of provisions, except by the written order of the commanding officer.

ARTICLE 322.

No person shall be allowed to draw more than the established allowance of any particular part of the ration, nor to have any preference in the distribution of the ration.

ARTICLE 323.

Every person entitled to a ration shall be permitted to relinquish the spirit part of it, provided that it is relinquished for not less than three months, unless sooner detached. And persons not having three months to serve, may relinquish for the unexpired portion of their term. And the commander of a squadron, or of a single ship acting independently, may direct the pursers to pay the established value of the same, in money to the men, at such times as he may deem most advantageous to those to whom it may be due.

ARTICLE 324.

Commission and warrant officers, and those who mess habitually with them, may relinquish the other parts of rations on the same conditions, as provided for seamen and others, and receive the established value of them in money from the purser, provided that, in all cases, all the parts of the ration are relinquished, and not otherwise. No person shall be allowed to draw parts of a ration, and receive a commutation for other parts, excepting as provided for spirits.

ARTICLE 325.

The messes of the other portion of the ship's company may, with the approbation of the commander, relinquish one or more

complete rations, for not less than three months, unless sooner detached, or unless their terms of service should expire in less than three months; and they shall receive the established value in money, from the purser, at such times as the commander of the squadron, or commander of a vessel acting independently, may direct.

ARTICLE 326.

Pursers will make separate quarterly returns, approved by the commanding officers, on the last day of March, June, September, and December, to the office of the Fourth Auditor, of the number of rations thus relinquished and paid for by them, according to such form as may be prescribed by the Treasury Department, with the proper receipts and vouchers, for which they will be duly credited, in the settlement of their accounts.

ARTICLE 327.

Provisions, slop clothing, or small stores, in charge of the purser, shall not be lent to another vessel, except by order of the commander of the squadron, or senior officer at the place, and they must then be accompanied by an invoice, stating the actual cost as far as practicable. The receipt of the person to whom they are lent must be taken in triplicate, one of which must be sent to the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury by the first safe opportunity.

ARTICLE 328.

The purser shall make no payment to any person, nor disburse any of the money placed in his charge by the Government, or its agents, without the written order or approval of his commander, and shall take receipts for the same at the time the payments are made.

ARTICLE 329.

All payments to the officers and crew upon foreign stations shall be made, so as to be of the same value, as if made in some of the legal coins of the United States.

ARTICLE 330.

He shall take care that all receipts for payment, on account of purchases made on foreign stations, shall express whether they

were made by bill of exchange, or in what particular coin or currency, and the value thereof in the coins of the United States, or the rate of exchange.

ARTICLE 331.

He shall pay no officer, on account of pay or rations, an amount beyond what may be due at the time, except as provided in the next subsequent article, No. 332, nor any claim not authorized by the laws and regulations for the government of the Navy, without first representing, in writing, to the commander, the fact of such over-payment or want of authority; but if, after such representation, the commander shall, in writing, insist upon obedience to his original order, the purser shall make the payment, and the commander shall be held responsible for the order, and for the amount which may thus be paid.

ARTICLE 332.

The purser may, by authority from the commander of the fleet or squadron, or commander of the vessel when alone, and when about to leave the United States for a foreign station, advance to the commission and warrant officers, beyond the amount of pay actually due them, a sum not exceeding four months' pay, when bound to the Pacific or Indian Ocean; three months' pay, when bound to Europe, or south of the equator in the Atlantic; and two months' pay, when bound to other foreign stations, or to the Gulf of Mexico.

ARTICLE 333.

No purser shall pay over to any administrator or executor any balance of wages, which may be due to any person deceased, without orders from the proper accounting officers of the treasury.

ARTICLE 334.

All over payments by the pursers, other than such as he is authorized to make by these regulations, will be disallowed, whether made in money, slops, or stores. The special written order of the commander of the squadron, or of the vessel to which he belongs, must be produced as a voucher for any over-payment or advances which are herein authorized.

ARTICLE 335.

No facilities will be afforded to pursers in collecting any unauthorized over-payments; on the contrary, the practice of making them, being in direct violation of law, and highly injurious to the public service, when discovered, such over payments will be considered and treated as disobedience of orders.

ARTICLE 336.

A special order, to be received as a voucher for advances made by a purser, must be given at, or before, the time the payments are to be made. If the advance is to be in money, the order must specify the person or persons by name, to whom it is to be paid, the amount to be paid to each, and the nature of the claim, or of the service rendered. If to be made in "slop clothing," or "small stores," the order must embrace the names of the persons, the particular articles and quantities to be issued to each, and must specify that they are deemed necessary to the health and comfort of the persons for whom they are ordered.

ARTICLE 337.

He shall make weekly reports to the commander of all expenditures of provisions, and monthly reports of the expenditure of other articles in his department, and of the quantity of each kind remaining on board.

ARTICLE 338.

Every bill of exchange must be drawn in conformity with such instructions as the Secretary of the Navy may give upon the subject.

ARTICLE 339.

He shall credit the United States, and charge himself with, the actual proceeds of all bills of exchange that he may draw, or with which he may be furnished for the public service.

ARTICLE 340.

The purser shall keep his books and accounts, and make returns and reports to the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury, in the manner and