35. The ration to be furnished will be the Navy ration, omitting the spirits, viz:

36. Rations for revenue vessels will be delivered before the end of each month, unless otherwise directed, for the maximum number of persons authorized and entitled to rations in kind.

37. All requisitions for provisions, supplies, repairs, and outfits must be made in triplicate by the captains or commanding officers of revenue vessels, and transmitted to the collector under whose superintendence the vessel may be placed, and, when authorized, will be countersigned by the collector-one copy to be delivered to the contractor who is to provide the articles, and another copy, approved by the collector, to be returned to the commander of the vessel, to guide him in receiving the articles. 38. Requisitions for rations or provisions for crews must be made out for each month (unless otherwise directed by the Department) sufficiently in advance of the time for their delivery to enable the contractor to comply with them before the first day of the month for which they are required. 39. Requisitions for rations or provisions must specify the number of persons on board for whom rations are required; and will be made for that number, less the number of rations remaining on board from previous month.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

40. Advertisements for annual supplies (the year to commence July 1st) must be issued in the month of May or June, by collectors charged with the superintendence of revenue vessels; and for temporary supplies as occasion may require.

41. In issuing advertisements for proposals for furnishing articles of any description for the use of revenue vessels, short advertisements only, according to the prescribed form, without tables, lists, or specifications, are to be published in newspapers. Lists of articles to be bid for, or other specifications necessary to a full understanding of the proposals advertised for, may be furnished, printed, by the collector, and delivered to persons wishing to bid; otherwise the list must be in manuscript, and copies allowed to be taken.

42. Advertisements will be inserted only in such newspapers as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct.

BILLS AND VOUCHERS.

43. All bills or vouchers must be made out in detail, giving dates, quantity and price of each article, and the gross amount of each item and quantity carried out in the column of amount.

44. All bills or vouchers for work, labor, materials, and supplies, done or furnished, must be duly certified by the superintending or purchasing officer, or the officer receiving the articles for the use of the vessel under his command, setting forth explicitly the facts; and if under a written contract, that fact must also be stated in the body of the certificate.

45. All bills and vouchers must be made out in triplicate, and must show the date of signature of the approving or certifying officer.

46. No bills, claims, or expenses on account of work, labor, materials, outfits, or supplies of any kind, or on any account whatsoever, except for salaries and wages of officers and crews, articles procured on approved requisitions, and for the rations procured in conformity to these regulations, are to be paid by any collector, or other disbursing officer, until the bills shall have been duly approved by the Treasury Department, and the payments authorized by it.

PURCHASES.

47. All supplies must be obtained, whenever practicable, by contract after advertisement.

48. All articles of supply or outfits for a revenue vessel, for supplying which there is no written or approved contract, will, when authorized by the Department, be purchased by the collector under whose superintendence the vessel may be; or, with the approbation of the collector, by the commanding officer of the revenue vessel.

49. It shall be the duty of the collector, in all cases of open purchase, to ascertain, in writing, from at least three (if there be so many at the place or in the immediate vicinity) respectable persons engaged in the sale of the articles wanted, the lowest price for them. The collector shall then select those of the best quality, (of such as are required,) at the lowest and most reasonable price; provided, however, there is no suspicion of collusion among the dealers to obtain more than a fair market price for the articles. In that case the articles shall be procured elsewhere at fair rates.

50. Accounts, bills, or pass-books, are not to be kept with merchants or others for purchases. Only those persons offering to furnish the articles best adapted to the use to which they are to be applied, and at the most reasonable rates, are to be allowed to furnish articles for the revenue service.

51. Every cask, box, or package of supplies, must be numbered, and the contents distinctly marked upon it.

52. All supplies furnished must be accompanied by a bill or invoice,

specifying the particulars and cost of each article; without which no receipt will be given for them.

REPAIRS.

53. When a revenue vessel or her machinery requires repairs, the fact must be reported by the commander of the vessel to the Department, through the collector, setting forth the actual state or condition of the defective part or parts so far as can be ascertained, the probable length of time it will require to do the work, and the probable cost, specifying in detail cost of labor and cost of materials.

54. When the Secretary of the Treasury shall have authorized repairs to be made on a revenue vessel or her machinery, according to the recommendation of the commander and approving indorsement of the collector, it shall be the duty of the collector to obtain, in writing, proposals from the proprietors of not less than three establishments (if there be so many at the port, or in the immediate vicinity, or within his district) having the necessary means and facilities for doing the work promptly and satisfactorily, which he shall transmit, with an abstract and an explanatory letter, to the Secretary of the Treasury.

55. In cases of doubt on the part of the collector as to the ability of the party or parties submitting offers for work to comply satisfactorily with the terms, it will be his duty, with the assistance of the commander of the vessel, to ascertain the true state of facts, and report them to the Department, with the bids or offers.

56. When the Department shall have decided by whom the repairs shall be made, if by contract, the collector will execute a written contract in duplicate, in conformity with the terms and the authority of the Department, with the party or parties designated, one copy to be sent to the Commissioner of Customs, one copy to be given to the contractor, and the third copy to be retained by the collector for the guidance of the superintendent of the repairs, and for use in the settlement and payment of the bills.

57. In drawing up contracts for work of repairs and materials, it must be specifically stipulated that no work is to be done, labor or materials furnished, nor any other expense incurred which is not specially authorized by the Department; and that neither the collector, the commanding officer, nor the superintendent of the work shall authorize any additional work to be done or labor or materials to be furnished.

58. It must also be stipulated in the contract that in the event of disagreement between the contractor and the superintendent, the work is to cease without any further or additional expense to the United States than may have been already incurred for authorized labor and materials to that time, and the vessel is then to be considered as being entirely subject to the disposition of the superintendent, and the decision of the Department without appeal.

59. Commanders of revenue vessels when attached will, unless specially otherwise directed by the Department, superintend all works of

repair, alteration, and refitting of the vessels under their command, and the chief engineer will supervise the repairs of engine and boilers.

60. When revenue vessels requiring repairs or refitting are not in commission, or under the command of a revenue officer, the Department will designate to the collector a competent person to superintend authorized repairs and refittings.

61. When superintendents of repairs or refittings are recommended to the Department by collectors in cases in which a revenue officer is not in command or available, they will be careful not to recommend any but entirely reliable shipbuilders, engineers, or other competent and trustworthy persons of experience in building and repairing vessels.

62. No person other than an officer of the service shall be employed as superintendent of repairs, refitting, or construction, until he shall have taken and subscribed the oath prescribed by law, and furnished satisfactory evidence to the Department of his ability to conduct the work to be intrusted to him, and that he is in no way, directly or indirectly, interested in the business, yard, or personal welfare of the contractor whose work he is to superintend.

63. The superintendent of repairs must inspect all materials that may be offered; receive such only as may be found to be of good and suitable quality for the purpose, and reject all which are not of good quality, or which are unsuited to the repairs in hand.

64. Any collusion, fraud, or willful neglect of duty on the part of a superintendent of work or repairs, will subject him to dismissal and loss of all pay due him at the time; and if he be an officer of the revenue service, to such further punishment as the law may inflict.

65. Certifying officers or persons will be held strictly accountable for the correctness of the matters certified to, and for the proper care and use made of the articles received by them for public use.

66. No sale of articles belonging to the United States shall be made without the authority of the Department.

67. When authority has been obtained from the Secretary of the Treasury to dispose of property belonging to the revenue service, it will be sold at public auction, after due public notice, at some suitable place for the attendance of bidders.

68. No property belonging to the revenue service shall be disposed of at private sale.

FISCAL MANAGEMENT.

69. The officers and crew may be paid monthly, but the collector may at the time of any payment, upon the request of the commanding officer, in writing, giving sufficient reasons therefor, retain from the pay of the petty officers and crew one-third of a month's wages, provided no such retention shall have before been made. A note of such retention shall be entered upon the pay-roll, and the amount returned at the close of

their engagement or time of discharge. From the pay of each person employed in the vessel there will be deducted forty cents per month, the contribution toward the marine hospital fund, which deduction will appear on the pay-roll. Payments will be made monthly by the collector, upon a pay-roll made out in triplicate, according to the prescribed form, certified by the commanding officer, showing the amount due to each. Care will be taken to exclude from the pay-rolls any wages charged for seamen who may have absconded, and, to protect the Government and the seamen from imposition, the collectors are enjoined to cause all dues, whether for wages or liquor equivalent, to be paid to the persons to whom they are due, unless such persons are minors, in which case it will be paid to the guardian or to the officer in command, he producing the written order of the guardian.

70. These transcripts will be receipted by each person and retained by the collector as his voucher.

71. The payments of all salaries and wages of officers and crews are to be made on board the vessels, when in commission, to which the parties belong, to the officers and others entitled to receive the same, and to no others, taking their receipt on the rolls at the time of making the payment; and when payment is made to the crew, it must be made in the presence of the captain, first lieutenant, or other officer, and the evidence of each payment must appear by the signature of the witness in the proper column of the pay-roll, opposite to the name of each of the men so paid.

72. All payments of salaries and wages of officers and crews must be made in lawful money of the United States, or in the funds furnished to the collector or disbursing officer by the Treasury Department or its representative, and none other under any pretense whatsoever.

73. In case of the death of any officer or other person in the revenue service, or of any person having claims against the United States on account of the revenue service, payments, when duly authorized, are only to be made to the legal representative of the party, according to the forms of law.

74. In cases wherein seamen or others die without property, having small sums due them, and it would be attended with expense to the family of the deceased to take out letters of administration to enable them to collect such small sum or amount, then it will be the duty of the collector or disbursing officer to make all the facts known to the Department and receive instructions before making the payment.

75. In every case in which the Department may see fit to authorize the payment of any small claim to the family of a deceased person, without requiring letters of administration to be taken out, it shall be the duty of the person paying the money for the United States to take ample security, in writing, to the effect that the amount may not be claimed thereafter, on the plea that it was not paid to parties legally entitled to receive it.