GENERAL ORDERS, No. 5. APPENDIX. HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, By direction of the Secretary of War, the following extract from an act of Congress is published for the information and government of all concerned: AN ACT to increase the efficiency of the permanent military establishment of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SEC. 38. The sale of, or dealing in, beer, wine or any intoxicating liquors by any person in any post exchange or canteen or army transport or upon any premises used for military purposes by the United States, is hereby prohibited. The Secretary of War is hereby directed to carry the provisions of this section into full force and effect. Commanding officers will immediately carry the provisions of this law into full force and effect, and will be held strictly responsible that no exceptions or evasions are permitted within their respective jurisdictions. Conformably with the foregoing statute, General Orders, No. 46, Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant-General's Office, July 25, 1895, promulgating the post exchange regulations, and all subsequent amendments thereof, are amended so as to read as follows: POST EXCHANGES. Post exchanges are established and maintained under special regulations prepared by the War Department. These special regulations will be published and issued from time to time as necessity may demand. (A. R., 325, 1895.) On June 30 and December 31 of each year the commanding officer of a post at which an exchange is conducted will submit to the Adjutant-General of the Army, through military channels, a detailed report of the operations and financial condition of the exchange, accompanied by such remarks touching its effect upon the welfare of the command as he may deem it necessary to make for the information of the Commanding General of the Army and the Secretary of War; and when no exchange has been maintained at a post such fact will also be communicated to the AdjutantGeneral of the Army, through military channels, on the dates herein before specified. (A. R., 326, 1895). 1. Purpose. The post exchange will combine the features of reading and recreation rooms, a cooperative store, and a restaurant. Its primary purpose is to supply the troops at reasonable prices with the articles of ordinary use, wear, and consumption not supplied by the Government, and to afford them means of rational recreation and amusement. Its secondary purpose is, through exchange profits, to provide the means for improving the messes. 2. Buildings. At every post where practicable the post commander will institute a post exchange. For this purpose he will set apart any suitable public building or rooms that are available, or will authorize the renting of any private building or part thereof on the reservation (the rental to be paid from the funds of the exchange), or when sufficient exchange funds are available may cause a suitable building to be erected for the purpose; and if a temporary building, or if constructed wholly or in part by the labor of troops, use of the necessary teams and such tools, window sash, 82 doors, and other material as can be spared by the Quartermaster's Department is authorized; but no permanent structure will be erected on a reservation without first obtaining the authority of the Secretary of War. Expenses of repairs or alterations of public buildings for the use of the exchange will be borne by the exchange when they can not be provided for by the Quartermaster's Department. 3. Management of business.—The management of the affairs of the exchange will be conducted by an officer designated "Officer in charge," selected and detailed by the commanding officer. This officer should be fully in sympathy with the purposes of the exchange and possess the business qualifications necessary to its success. He will be assisted by a steward and such other attendants as the business may warrant. In establishing a new exchange, and at posts where the business is small, the steward and attendants may be enlisted men, but, when practicable, civilians will be employed instead in all exchanges whose financial condition will justify the expense, and in selecting them preference will be given to retired enlisted men and honorably discharged soldiers. 4. The exchange steward.-The exchange steward, who if an enlisted man should be a noncommissioned officer, should be an accountant, possessing a good knowledge of bookkeeping and commercial customs, of unquestioned integrity, and of sufficient firmness and strength of character to enforce order and discipline about the premises. In the absence of the officer in charge he is in immediate control of the business, and must, therefore, possess the confidence of his superior, both as to his probity and capability. In addition to the records required by the management, he will keep a cashbook, also a blotter, showing, in separate columns, the different articles comprising the stock, and enter therein at the time of sale the quantity or number of articles sold. At the close of each selling day he will prepare a report on a suitable form showing, under appropriate headings, the quantities of the several articles received, sold, and remaining on hand. This report he will submit daily to the officer in charge and at the same time deliver to him the proceeds of the previous day's sales. The report, exhibiting the officer's approval, will be conspicuously posted in one of the exchange rooms during the remainder of the day. 5. The exchange council.-The superintendence of the affairs of the exchange will be vested in a council to consist of three officers, one of whom shall be the officer in charge, the others, the two company commanders longest off this duty at the post. Whenever from any cause the council can not be thus organized, it will be constituted in the manner prescribed for a post council of administration. The council may be convened at any time at the call of its president or by direction of the commanding officer, and, subject to the approval of the latter, will designate the articles to be kept for sale, fix the prices at which they shall be sold, and authorize all purchases of supplies. At the end of every month it will meet to take stock, examine the books of the exchange, and inspect the quality of the articles for sale. A statement of the result of the monthly investigation and of the accounts of the officer in charge, showing the receipts and expenditures during the month; also the assets and liabilities will be entered in a book and submitted to the commanding officer for his action. A copy of the statement, with the commanding officer's remarks indorsed thereon, will be exhibited in one of the rooms of the exchange during the ensuing month. Any question not involving pecuniary responsibility upon which the post exchange council and commanding officer may disagree will be submitted for final decision to the department commander. 6. The subcommittee of noncommissioned officers.-A subcommittee of noncommissioned officers, one from each company, to be selected by the captain as best fitted to represent the interests of the enlisted men thereof, will be convoked by the commanding officer not less than four times a year. The committee will orally, or in writing, submit to the council its views in respect to the immediate internal operations of the exchange, and recommend any changes that may be desired by the enlisted men, but it is not empowered to criticise the management. Its views and recommendations will be carefully and respectfully considered by the council, whose action thereon will be reviewed by the commanding officer. 7. Rules of order.-Rules of order will be prescribed by the officer in charge under the commanding officer. Gambling or playing any game for money or anything of value is forbidden in any exchange. Civilians, other than those employed and resident on the military reservation, will not be permitted to enter the rooms of an exchange without first obtaining the authority of the commanding officer. 8. First expense of stock and fixtures.—The expense of fitting up the quarters of the exchange and procuring the necessary articles for the first stock and fixtures may be met by an assessment upon the funds of the several organizations contributing to the institution, or these may be contracted for or procured on credit. When procured on credit, the bills must be paid from the first profits, and it is to be distinctly under stood that the officers incurring the debt are responsible for the payment, and not the Government. The Quartermaster's Department is authorized to sell for cash to exchanges at cost, with price of transportation added, such articles of fuel, forage, light, furniture, and fixtures as may be needed and can be spared from stock on hand. 9. Exchange features.—An exchange doing its full work should embrace the following sections: (a) A well-stocked general store in which such goods are kept as are usually required at military posts, and as extensive in number and variety as conditions will justify. (b) A well-kept lunch counter supplied with as great a variety of viands as circumstances permit, such as tea, coffee, cocoa, nonalcoholic drinks, soup, fish, cooked and canned meats, sandwiches, pastries, etc. (c) Reading and recreation rooms, supplied with books, periodicals, and other reading matter, billiard and pool tables, bowling alley and facilities for other proper indoor games, as well as apparatus for outdoor sports and exercises, such as cricket, football, baseball, tennis, etc.; a well-equipped gymnasium, possessing also the requisite paraphernalia for outdoor athletics. 10. Sale of beer, wine, or liquors prohibited.―The sale of or dealing in beer, wine, or any intoxicating liquors by any person in any post exchange, or canteen, or army transport, or upon any premises used for military purposes by the United States, is prohibited. 11. Purchase and sale of goods.-Purchases will ordinarily be made by the officer in charge, or by the steward when so authorized, but articles in considerable quantities will be procured under contract by the officer in charge, with the approval of the council. In no case will orders for goods, however small, be given by the enlisted attendants to the person furnishing them, nor shall the steward or any employee of the exchange have, either directly or indirectly, any personal interest in the purchases, sales or profits, or any advantage of wastage or perquisites of any kind whatever. Whenever contracts or agreements for purchases are made by exchange authorities who by change of station or other cause are removed, such contracts or agreements must be carried out by their successors. The subsistence department is authorized to sell to the exchange at cost price any of the articles composing the ration, and such other articles as may be on hand for sale. But in reselling such goods in small quantities no profit will be charged by the exchange beyond the fractions of cents that are necessary in making change. 12. Lunch room and price lists.-In the lunch room prices should be made as low as the cost of the articles, increased by expenses of the attendants, fuel, lights, and waste will permit. Other than this the tariff of prices will be regulated by the circumstances surrounding each exchange. Printed or written price lists will be conspicuously posted in the various sections, and will be corrected when necessary. 13. Checks or coupons.-The use of checks or coupons representing values, and exchangeable for merchandise or other charges at the exchange, is encouraged, merely. If a man who is not likely to abuse the privilege has money for which he has no particular use on pay day, and desires to avail himself of the opportunity, it is frequently a wise policy to furnish him with a supply of checks; but care should be taken that these checks are not disposed of to unauthorized persons, and to provide against this they should never be redeemed in cash. When permitted by the commanding officer, they should be sold by the officer in charge and regarded as a liability until redeemed. 14. System of keeping accounts.—It is not desirable to enforce a particular method of bookkeeping, or impose a special system of accounts upon exchanges. This will be regulated by the exchange officer, whose accounts should be so kept as to be readily understood by the inspecting officers, and to afford the information necessary to render the reports hereinafter prescribed. All business of the exchange must be transacted in its name, and not that of the officer in charge. Invoices, receipted bills, account books, and other papers relating to the business of an exchange pertain to its records, and will not be removed from the post, except in the event of its abandonment, when they will be forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army. 15. Sales on credit.-When the commanding officer and council are agreed that it is to the true interest of the command, the former may authorize a credit at the exchange to any soldier in good standing to an amount not exceeding one-fifth of his monthly pay. This will be given upon the request of the soldier in writing, approved by his company commander, and these credit checks will be carried on the accounts of the exchanges as "bills receivable" until paid. A man seeking credit privilege will be distinctly informed that credit is given upon the understanding that he must render prompt and unsolicited payment, and only to such men as can be trusted. Defaulters will be immediately debarred the privileges of the exchange, and this under such publicity as will make the act appear disgraceful in the eyes of their comrades. 16. Operating expenses. -To secure uniformity in rendering accounts and accuracy in preparing comparative statements, the following are specified as the items that properly enter into the account of operating expenses: (a) Compensation of attendants. (b) Unavoidable breakage, wastage, destruction, and damage. (c) Insurance on merchandise, building, furniture, and fixtures. (d) Taxes to which the exchange may be legally liable; licenses, either State, county, or internal revenue. (e) The cost of books, blanks, and other stationery; fuel and lights, when not supplied by the Quartermaster's Department; necessary policing about the quarters, when not performed by the regular attendants; express and freight charges on articles that are neither merchandise nor permanent fixtures. Transportation should not be charged to operating expenses, but added to the cost of the merchandise or fixtures to which it pertains. Repairs to quarters and repairs to and renewals of fixtures should be charged to buildings and fixtures, and not to operating expenses. License to sell tobacco at a post exchange should be taken out in the name of the "Post Exchange at Fort upon the application of the officer in charge, signing himself as "Agent of the Fort Exchange." 17. Distribution of profits.-When an exchange is absolutely free from debt, a sum sufficient to cover all anticipated expenses for at least one month will, at the end of each quarter, or oftener if deemed advisable by the council and commanding officer, be taken from the cash on hand and set aside as a reserve fund, and the remainder, which will represent the net profits of the exchange for the period specified, will be disposed of in the following manner: (a) Five per cent will be paid into the regimental fund if a band be serving at the post; (b) Such sum as the council, with the approval of the commanding officer, may determine will be appropriated for the benefit of the entire garrison to all or any of the following purposes: Laying out and preparing and cultivating gardens, and supplying seeds, roots, or plants for the same; the purchase of books, newspapers, periodicals, stationery, etc., for the post exchange or post library; the purchase of gymnastic appliances when there is no gymnasium connected with the exchange; prizes for athletic sports. The expenditure of profits for purposes other than these requires the approval of the Secretary of War. The remaining money may be divided among the organizations contributing to the exchange on such equitable basis as shall be determined by the council, with the approval of the commanding officer. Where differences in this respect arise between the council and commanding officer, the decision of the department commander will be final. The money thus distributed will be paid into the company or detachment funds. In addition to the dividends for the hospital detachment, the proportionate amounts for the sick in hospital who belong to the various companies and detachments that are members of the exchange will be turned over to the surgeon. Any variation from these rules requires the sanction of the Secretary of War. A division of the cash resources after all debts have been paid will also be made whenever the troops, or any part of them, being members of the exchange, change station; in this event no deduction on account of the reserve fund will be made from the share of the withdrawing troops. The amount of any loss that an exchange may sustain in consequence of the failure of a soldier to pay for articles properly bought on credit, whether by the desertion of the debtor or by his discharge and virtual repudiation of the debt, will be deducted from the share of the profits of the company or other organization to which the defaulter belongs. Losses by fire or other casualty, death of the debtor, depreciation of value of the fixtures, and deterioration of articles kept for sale, and the accidental breakage of fixtures or other property will be borne by all the participating organizations in common, and should be deducted from the gross receipts before dividing the profits. Credit accounts should be treated as bills receivable until they are settled or found to be a loss, but bills receivable should not be included in the gross amount from which profits are resolved. The amount of cash on hand on the dates specified, after all matured debts are paid, and after setting aside as a reserve fund a sum sufficient to meet anticipated debts for a period not less than one month, constitutes the sum subject to distribution. 18. Reports. The report required by paragraph 326 of the Regulations, showing the financial condition of the exchange, will be made on the blank forms supplied by the Adjutant-General, and will be rendered not later than January 10 and July 10 of each year. The semiannual report will also contain the names and compensation of the civilian employees; the number and extra pay of enlisted attendants, if any; the adequacy and condition of the quarters and the rental therefor, if any. Whenever the business of a post exchange is from any cause closed a final report of the financial operations of the exchange for the portion of the half year not covered by previous reports will be rendered to the Adjutant-General of the Army by the officer in charge of the exchange. A similar report will also be rendered when an officer is relieved from the charge of the exchange, and will be accompanied by the certificate of his successor that all the property, including the books and other records, as well as the funds of the establishment, have been duly transferred to him. 19. Exchange membership.-Members of the exchange must be organizations, companies, and detachments. By "detachments" is meant an organization consisting of a number of enlisted men not belonging or attached to a company, such as the Hospital Corps, Signal Corps, or band. Individual enlisted men, such as post or regimental noncommissioned officers or individual members of the Hospital or Signa Corps, can not become members of the exchange unless three or more of them are associated in a mess. When an exchange is first established the exchange council will fix the amount of assessment or contribution that shall entitle an organization to membership, which will be a proportionate part of the expense attending the fitting up and stocking the establishment. Whenever a company or detachment applies for membership in an exchange already organized, a careful estimate of the market value of the property will be made by a disinterested officer-—preferably a field officer-who, whenever practicable, will be assisted in the performance of the duty by a representative of each party in interest; these appraisers will be designated by the post commander. The estimate must be approved by the commanding officer or submitted on appeal to the department commander, whose decision will be final. The amount to be paid by the incoming organizations may usually be determined by dividing the amount of appraisal by the total number of men composing the organizations that are already members of the exchange, which will give the per capita, and this multiplied by the number of men of an incoming organization will give its entrance fee. The sum thus paid into the funds of the exchange should be regarded the same as funds resulting from any other sale, and go to increase its cash account or working capital. It should not be divided among the members excepting as it may become divisible at a subsequent declaration of dividends. A company joining the exchange, when unable to pay its assessment in cash, may be charged with it, and such charge may be liquidated from the company's share of the profits of the exchange. An organization joining should pass to the exchange some written evidence of its debt and obligation to pay the amount assessed, and such paper should be carried on the books of the exchange as a "bill receivable" and be regarded as an asset, which should be reduced in value from time to time as the profits are divided. When an organization, by reason of change of station or for other cause, desires to withdraw from an exchange, the value of its shares being determined, that sum will be withdrawn from the gross funds of the exchange and paid over to the withdrawing organization. Any amount due, but, for lack of available funds, not paid to a company when retiring from the exchange, should be paid out of the first profits accruing to the institution; the amount so due and unpaid should be carried on the books of the exchange as a "bill payable," and be regarded as a liability until liquidated. 20. Final disposition of business.-When notice is received that the entire garrison of a post is to be withdrawn and the post discontinued, the exchange stock will be reduced to the lowest extent possible, and so far as may be, converted into cash. Prior to the departure of the troops the property of the exchange will be sold and the proceeds, together with the cash, equitably distributed, under the direction of the council, among the organizations that are members. The officer in charge will make a final report of the matter through military channels to the Adjutant-General of the Army. By command of Lieutenant-General Miles: GENERAL ORDERS, No. 7. H. C. CORBIN, HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, By direction of the Secretary of War, the following changes in the stations of troops are ordered: Tenth U. S. Infantry: The colonel, lieutenant-colonel, staff, noncommissioned staff, band, First and Second Battalions, from the Department of Cuba to the United States. The Second Battalion will constitute the depot battalion of the regiment. Upon disembarking in the United States the troops will proceed to stations as follows: The colonel, staff, noncommissioned staff, band, and Company E to Fort |