ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PROPERTY, Returns of 869. The Chief of Ordnance shall, half yearly, or oftener ordnance. Feb. 8, 1815, c. if so directed, make a report to the Secretary of War of all 38, s. 8, v. 3, p. 204; Feb. 27, 1877,6.69, the officers and enlisted men in his department of the Sec. 1167, R. S. Service, and of all ordnance and ordnance stores under his v. 19, p. 242. 38, s. 7, v. 3, p.204. control. Every officer of the Ordnance Department, every ordnance-store keeper, every post ordnance sergeant, each keeper of magazines, arsenals, and armories, every assistant and deputy of such, and all other officers, agents, or persons who shall have received or may be intrusted with any stores or supplies, shall quarterly, or oftener if so directed, and in such manner and on such forms as may be directed or prescribed by the Chief of Ordnance, make true and correct returns to the Chief of Ordnance of all ordnancearms, ordnance-stores, and all other supplies and property of every kind, received by or intrusted to them and each of them, or which may in any manner come into their and each of their possession or charge. The Chief of Ordnance, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War, is hereby authorized and directed to draw up and enforce in his department a system of rules and regulations for the gov ernment of the Ordnance Department, and of all persons in said department, and for the safe-keeping and preservation of all ordnance property of every kind, and to direct and prescribe the time, number, and forms of all returns and reports, and to enforce compliance therewith.' Reports of 870. Every officer commanding a regiment, corps, garri damages. Feb. 8, 1815, c. son, or detachment shall make, once every two months, or Sec. 1220, R. S. oftener if so directed, a report to the Chief of Ordnance, stating all damages to arms, equipments, and implements belonging to his command, noting those occasioned by negligence or abuse, and naming the officer or soldier by whose negligence or abuse the said damages were occasioned. Cost of repairs to be deducted cer or soldier. 871. The cost of repairs or damages done to arms, equipfrom pay of offi- ments, or implements shall be deducted from the pay of Sec. 1803, R. S. any officer or soldier in whose care or use the same were when such damages occurred, if said damages were occasioned by the abuse or negligence of said officer or soldier. Purchases not exceeding $200 in made. PURCHASES. 872. Purchase of ordnance and ordnance stores and supamount: how plies may be made by the Ordnance Department in open Aug. 6, 1895, v. market, in the manner common among business men, when the aggregate of the amount required does not exceed two 28, p. 242. 1 For regulations prepared under the authority conferred by this statute see G. O., 75, A. G. O., 1898. hundred dollars, but every such purchase shall be immediately reported to the Secretary of War. Act of August 6, 1895 (28 Stat. L., 242). EMERGENCY PURCHASES DURING THE EXISTING WAR WITH SPAIN. without adver June 7, 1898, v. 873. During the existing war the Bureau of Ordnance of Purchases the War Department is authorized to purchase without tisement. advertisement such ordnance and ordnance stores as are 30. needed for immediate use, and when such ordnance and ordnance stores are to be manufactured then to make contracts without advertisement for such stores to be delivered as rapidly as manufactured." Act of June 7, 1898. SALES OF OBSOLETE, UNSERVICEABLE, AND UNSUITABLE MATERIAL. sale of unservice shot. Mar. 3, 1881, v. 21, p. 468. 874. And the Secretary of War is hereby authorized, in Exchange his discretion, to exchange the unserviceable and unsuitable able powder and powder and shot on hand for new powder and projectiles, or to sell the same and purchase similar articles with the proceeds of the sales; and he shall make statement of his action under this provision in his next annual report. Act of March 3, 1881 (21 Stat. L., 468). 3 ordnance. Proceeds avail.able for purchase of new material. Mar. 3, 1875, v. 875. That the Secretary of the Navy is authorized to dis- Sale of useless pose of the useless ordnance material on hand at public sale according to law. * And in the case of the sale of like materials in the War Department, the proceeds of which shall be turned into the Treasury, an amount equal 18, p. 388. to the net proceeds of such sale is hereby appropriated for the purpose of procuring a supply of material adapted in manufacture and calibre to the present wants of the war service: And there shall be expended in the War Depart For general provisions respecting the procurement of supplies and services, see the chapter entitled CONTRACTS AND PURCHASES. See, also, paragraphs 877-891, post. For a rule similar to the above, in respect to purchases in open market, see the act of July 16, 1892 (27 Stat. L., 182). 2 The act of June 7, 1898, authorizes war materials to be purchased abroad during the existing war, and also authorizes their admission free of duty. *This statute replaces the authority conferred by the act of June 22, 1874 (18 Stat. L., 200), to dispose, at public sale, of all obsolete and unserviceable ammunition and leaden balls, and the surplus of pig lead in excess of two thousand tons, now stored in the various arsenals of the United States." CLERICAL SERVICES. The employment of clerical services in the Ordnance Department is regulated in the annual acts of appropriation. The amount to be expended for such services was fixed at $65,000 by the acts of March 3, 1883, July 5, 1884, and March 3, 1885; at $60,000 by the acts of June 30, 1886, February 9, 1887, September 22, 1888, March 2, 1889, June 13, 1800, February 24. 1891, July 16, 1892, February 27, 1893, August 6, 1894, February 12, 1895, March 16, 1896, March 2, 1897, and March 15, 1898. This restriction is suspended, during the existing war with Spain, by the act of June 7, 1898. Loans or gifts of condemned authorized. 29, p. 133. ment, under this provision, not more than seventy-five thousand dollars in any one year. Act of March 3, 1875 (18 Stat. L., 388). 876. That the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the ordnance, etc., Navy are each hereby authorized, in their discretion, to May 22, 1896, v. loan or give to soldiers' monument associations, posts of the Grand Army of the Republic, and municipal corporations condemned ordnance, guns, and cannon balls which may not be needed in the service of either of said Departments. Such loan or gift shall be made subject to rules and regulations covering the same in each Department, and the Government shall be at no expense in connection with any such loan or gift. Act of May 22, 1896 (29 Stat. L., 133). Board of Ordnance and Fortification. Sept. 22, 1888, v. 25, p. 489. Duties. Par. THE BOARD OF ORDNANCE AND FORTIFICATION. 877. Board of Ordnance and For- 878. Additional civilian member. Par. 885. Right to use inventions. 887. Contracts for breach-loading 880. Investigations by the Board. 882. Expenses of officers, etc., at 889. Caliber, etc, of guns required proving ground. 883. Purchases to be of American manufacture; exception. 884. No member to be interested for service to be determined by Secretary of War. 890. Public tests of rifled cannon. 891. Sale of smoothbore cannon for experimental purposes. 877. That the appropriations hereinafter provided for shall be available until expended and shall be expended under the direct supervision of a board to consist of the commanding General of the Army, an officer of Engineers, an officer of Ordnance, and an officer of Artillery, to be selected by the Secretary of War, to be called and known as the Board of Ordnance and Fortification; and said Board shall be under the direction of the Secretary of War and subject to his supervision and control in all respects, and shall have power to provide suitable regulations for the inspection of guns and materials at all stages of manu facture to the extent necessary to protect fully the interests of the United States, and generally to provide such regulations concerning matters within said Board's operations as shall be necessary to carry out to the best advantage all duties committed to its charge: Provided, That subject to The authority conferred by this statute was repealed, as to the Secretary of the Navy by section 2 of the act of August 5, 1882 (22 Stat. L., 284). the foregoing provisions the expenditure shall be made by Expenditures. 878. And one additional member shall be added to said Board of Ordnance and Fortification who shall be a civilian and not an ex-officer of the regular Army or Navy, and he shall be nominated by the President, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed, and shall be paid a salary of five thousand dollars per annum and actual traveling expenses when traveling on duty. Act of February 24, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 769). 879. That the Board of Ordnance and Fortification shall make an annual report to Congress through the Secretary of War, on the first Monday in December in each year, showing the general operations of the Board and shall give a detailed statement of all contracts, allotments and expenditures made by the Board; the first of these reports to cover these subject matters from the beginning of the operations by the Board until the first report which they shall make. Ibid. 880 The Board is authorized to make all needful and proper purchases, investigations, experiments, and tests, to ascertain with a view to their utilization by the Government, the most effective guns, including multicharge guns and the conversion of Parrott and other guns on hand, small arms, cartridges, projectiles, fuzes, explosives, torpedoes, armor plates, and other implements and engines of war; and the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to purchase or cause to be manufactured, such guns, carriages, armor plates, and other war materials and articles as may, in the judgment of said Board, be necessary in the proper discharge of the duty herein devolved upon them: Provided, That the amount expended and liabilities incurred in such purchases, investigations, experiments, and tests shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars which sum is hereby appropriated: Provided further, That said Board shall test, and if found satisfactory, shall purchase two breach loading field guns of three and two tenths inch bore of aluminum bronze.' Sec. 2, act of September 22, 1888 (25 Stat. L., 191). By several acts of appropriation the powers of the Board of Ordnance and Fortifi cation have been reduced and defined. By the act of February 24, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 767), the appropriations of the Engineer Department, for gun and mortar batteries and for sites of fortifications, have been withdrawn from the supervision of the Board; by the act of July 23, 1892 (27 Stat. L., 260), all regular appropriations of the Ordnance Department for the armament of fortifications were similarly withdrawn from its supervision. See, also, the acts of February 18, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 461), August 1, 1894 (28 Ibid., 215), March 2, 1895 (Ibid., 706), and June 6, 1896 (29 Ibid., 259), for similar provisions of statutes in which the Board is specially charged with the supervision of stated funds and with the general expenditure of funds appropriated for experimental purposes. Additional ci vilian member. Feb. 24, 1891, v. 26, p. 769. Annual report. Investigations by the Board. Sec. 2, Sept 22, 1888, v. 25, p. 491. Aluminum bronze guns. Proving ground Mar. 2, 1889, v. 25, p. 833. 881. The Board of Ordnance and Fortification is hereby directed to examine and report upon a site or sites for at Sandy Hook. Ordnance testing and proving ground to be used in the testing and proving of heavy ordnance, having in view in the selection of said site or sites their accessibility by land and water, means of transportation, and suitability for the purpose intended, and also the actual and reasonable cost, and value of the land embraced in said site or sites and the least sum for which the same can be procured. Said Board shall report thereon to the Secretary of War, to be submitted to Congress at its next session; and in case the said Board shall select a site or sites and recommend their purchase, the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to secure written proposals for the sale of the land so recommended, until such time as Congress may act upon the recommendation of said Board and of the Secretary of War. Act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 833). Expenses of officers, etc., at Feb. 24, 1891, v. 882. For payment of the necessary expenses of the Board, proving ground. including a per diem allowance to each officer detailed to serve thereon when employed on duty away from his permanent station, of two dollars and fifty cents a day, 26, p. 768. Purchases to be of American manufacture. Exception. 27, p. 260. one hundred thousand dollars.2 Act of August 1, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 215). 883. That all material purchased under the foregoing provisions of this act shall be of American manufacture, July 23, 1892, v. except in cases when, in the judgment of the Secretary of War, it is to the manifest interest of the United States to make purchases in limited quantities abroad, which material shall be admitted free of duty. Act of July 23, 1892 (27 Stat. L., 260). To enable the Secretary of War, in his discretion, to purchase the land adjoining the Government reservation at Sandy Hook. New Jersey, now belonging to the gran tees of the Highland Beach Association of New Jersey, together with the right of way from said land to the main line of the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, together with the rails, ties, switches, and all the railroad equipment on said lands, twenty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary. Act of July 23, 1892 (27 Stat. L., 259). That the President is hereby authorized to appoint a board, to consist of three officers of the Army and three officers of the Navy, who shall examine and report to the Secretary of War for transmission to Congress for its consideration what, in their opinion, is the most suitable site on the Pacific Coast or on the rivers or other waters thereof, for the erection of a plant for finishing and assembling the parts of heavy guns and other ordnance for the use of the Army and Navy. That for the payment of the necessary expenses of the board to be appointed under the foregoing provisions the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Act of July 23, 1892 (27 Stat. L., 258). 2 For a similar provision see the acts of February 24, 1891 (26 Stat. L.. 768) : July 23, 1892 (27 Stat. L., 259); February 18, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 460); March 2, 1895 (28 Stat. L., 706), and June 6, 1896 (29 Stat. L., 259). The several acts of appropriation since that of July 23, 1892, contain provisions for similar allowances to each officer detailed to serve on the Board of Ordnance and Fortification when on duty away from his permanent station. The acts of appropriation since that of August 4, 1894, contain provisions for the necessary traveling expenses of the civilian member of the board when traveling on duty as contemplated in the act of February 24, 1891. |