Approval of Requisitions, Accounts, etc.

from any officer of the navy, ordered to report for duty at any place or station, will be considered or replied to by the Department, until such officer, if able to travel, has reported in obedience to such order.

ARTICLE XXIX.

Approval of Requisitions, Accounts, and Muster Books, Purchases, and Articles Delivered.

1469..The approval of a requisition for money, or other articles, is to be considered as a certificate, on the part of the approving officer, that, in his opinion, the articles named in the requisition are necessary for the public service, and are conformable to such allowances as may be established; and the approval of such requisition by the officer whose approval will authorize the procurement or delivery of such articles, according to these regulations or instructions from the Navy Department, is to have the force and responsibility of an order. In the procurement and expenditure of stores, Commanding and all other officers concerned are peremptorily enjoined to be governed by the allowances established by the Navy Department, and by the exercise of the most scrupulous economy, to make them last for the full time they are intended, and as much longer as practicable. Unless in a case of absolute necessity, arising from some unavoidable accident, or from a formal condemnation by survey-to be plainly set forth on the face of the requisition—or the article be of a character, the quantity of which, for a given time, cannot possibly be well regulated—that is, tar of any kind, oil for burning, oil or other grease for lubricating, waste for wiping, emery, rivets, files, boiler-iron for patching, material for making or repairing joints about steam works, slacked lime, a disinfectant, a medicinal, or stationery for the Commander-in-Chief— no departure from said allowances will be tolerated, either by the procurement, at the public expense, of anything which they do not embrace or of anything which they do, in advance of the expiration of the time for which it is furnished to last. Commanding Officers will be held to a strict account for any requisitions they may approve in violation of these instructions; and for any want of proper care or interest on their part to secure the utmost

Approval of Requisitions, Accounts, etc.

practicable economy in the use of the public property with which they are intrusted, or over which they are required and expected to exercise control, they will be held to a rigid responsibility; and to this end they will forward copies of all bills of purchases to the proper bureau of the Navy Department, accompanying them with a statement of the quantity of the respective articles put on board when the vessel was fitted out, and the date of their final expenditure.

. 1470..The approval or signature of a Commanding Officer of a vessel to a muster-book or muster-roll is to be considered as his certificate of the correctness of all the entries made therein in relation to the date of enlistment, ratings, terms, and expiration of service; and he will be particularly careful to examine all such books or rolls, that full confidence may be placed in such as are thus signed or approved.

1471..The approval of a Commanding Officer to a quarterly muster and pay-roll, or to a transfer roll, or account, given to or sent with men transferred, is to be considered as his certificate of the correctness of those parts which are a transcript from the general muster-book, relating to the dates of enlistment, ratings, terms, and expiration of service, but not to the correctness of those parts relating to their accounts, which are upon the responsibility of the Paymaster, and to be certified by his signature to the said transfer-rolls or accounts.

1472.. The approval of an officer to a bill for articles purchased, or services rendered, is to be received as a certificate that the purchase or service was duly authorized; that the articles have been received by a responsible officer of the government, or that the service has been performed; that they conform to the contract, or are otherwise satisfactory as regards the performance of the duty, and the quality and price of the articles, but not for the correctness of the calculations determining the amounts charged. The person receipting such bills of articles is to examine and report any errors, but the person paying them is to be finally responsible for their

correctness.

1473.. All requisitions for purchases to be made in open market must, before any such purchases are made, be submitted to the appropriate bureau for its action. The requisitions must be in dupli

Approval of Requisitions, Accounts, etc.

cate, and accompanied by an explanation of the uses of, and the necessity for, such purchases.

1474..The approval of an officer, whose approval, by the instructions of the Treasury or Navy Department, will authorize the payment of money, is to have the force, and to be given under the responsibility of, an order for such payment, and is always to be accompanied by the rank of the officer and the date of the approval, and the sum for which the account is approved written in words at length.

1475.. The Bureaus of the Navy Department will not pass bills for work performed that are not approved by the Commanding Officer who has been authorized to incur the indebtedness for, and has had charge of, such work.

1476..On a change of command on a foreign station, the officer who relinquishes the command will take care that all bills for articles, the requisitions for which have been approved by him, are settled before he relinquishes the command; but if from any circumstances this cannot be done, the officer who approved the requisitions will be responsible for the correctness of the purchases, though the bills may be authorized to be paid by his successor.

1477.. The Commander of a fleet or a single ship, when acting alone, shall, before leaving a port at which he may have received supplies, notify the persons who may have furnished the same to attend at some specified time and place with their accounts, so that none may be left without receiving his inspection and approval, should they be correct.

1478.. Purchases made for the Navy by any agent of the Navy Department, upon requisitions or orders addressed to him, are to be made after due inquiry and comparison, by such agent, on the most favorable terms for the government, and upon prices agreed upon before the purchase is made, and he shall certify the same upon the bills rendered for the articles.

1479.. Where articles are delivered by, or under the direction of, an agent who purchased the same, the officer who is to take charge of and receipt for them shall examine the bills rendered, and if, in his opinion, any of the articles are charged above the fair market price, he shall report the same to the officer under whose approval they were required, before receipting for them, that such approving

General Muster-Book.

officer may institute inquiries and take such other measures as the case may require.

1480... Where inspections are required to determine the quality of articles, or their conformity with contracts or agreements, no receipts are to be given for them until the inspecting officers shall have certified their satisfaction with the articles delivered.

1481..In accordance with the fifteenth section of the act approved July 17, 1862, which provides, "That every person who shall furnish supplies of any kind to the Army or Navy shall be required to mark and distinguish the same with the name or names of the contractors so furnishing said supplies, in such manner as the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy may respectively direct, and no supplies of any kind shall be received unless so marked and distinguished," hereafter all articles furnished for the use of the Navy must be marked and distinguished with the name or names of the contractors supplying the same.

ARTICLE XXX.

General Muster-Book.

1482..Every person on board any United States vessel of war, who receives either wages or provisions, must be entered in the general muster-book; but as they will not all be in the same class or situation, it will be necessary to have several lists, separated from each other on the book by convenient spaces, and a separate series of numbers for the several entries in each list. The lists required to keep the necessary distinctions are the following:

1. A list of the commissioned and warranted Navy Officers, including secretaries and clerks.

2. A list of petty officers, seamen, ordinary seamen, landsmen, boys, machinists, firemen, coal-heavers, and others borne for pay and provisions.

3. A list of officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of marines.

4. A list of supernumeraries for pay and provisions only.

5. A list of all other supernumeraries.

6. A list of prisoners of war.

1483.. The letter "D." is to be placed against the name of every

Books-Traveling and other Allowances, etc.

person who has been detached; the letter "T." against the name of every person who has been transferred; the letters "Dis." against the name of every person who has been discharged alive; the letters "D. D." against the name of every person who may have died, and therefore discharged dead; the letter "S." against the name of every person pronounced a straggler; and the letter "R." against the name of every person pronounced a deserter.

1484..The entry in each list of the muster-book must be distinguished by a number in the first column, to be exclusively appropriated to it, and which must never be applied to any other entry in the same list, but to each new entry a new number must be given. 1485.. The muster-book shall be kept in such form as the Navy Department shall prescribe.

ARTICLE XXXI.

Books.

1486..The receipt to the officer delivering the books allowed a vessel is to be given by her Navigating Officer.

1487..On board flag vessels they are to be kept in the apartment occupied by the Commander of a fleet, squadron, or division, under the immediate charge of his secretary, who is to receipt for them to the Navigating Officer. On board all other vessels they are to be kept in the apartment occupied by the Commanding Officer, under the immediate charge of his clerk, who is to receipt for them to the Navigating Officer. On board all vessels the Navigating Officer is to ascertain quarterly, or oftener, if necessary, if any of them are missing, and to report such as may be to the officer in whose apartment they were kept. This will relieve him from the responsibility of losses, and place it upon the secretary or clerk, as the case may be. At the end of the cruise the Navigating Officer will see that the books are properly returned into store.

ARTICLE XXXII.

Traveling and other Allowances-Rules Concerning the Com. mencement and End of Rates of Pay.

1488.. No officer or other person can be paid mileage except for travel actually performed free of government transportation or ex