Appointments, promotions, etc. Sec. 7, Oct. 1, this act, they shall be promoted according to seniority int the several grades, as now provided by law, and nothing berein contained shall be deemed to apply to vacancies which can be filled by such promotions or to the periods for which the officers so promoted shall hold their appointments. Sec. 26, act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 755). 1221. All appointments and promotions in the Signal Corps shall be made after examination and ap-1990, v. 26, p. 653; proval under sections twelve hundred and six and twelve R. S., secs, 1206, hundred and seven of the Revised Statutes, which are amended. hereby amended so as to be applicable to and to provide for the promotion of the lieutenants of the Signal Corps in the same manner as they now apply to the Corps of Engineers and the Ordnance Corps. Sec. 7, act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 653). 1207, p. 214, Feb. 2, 1901, s. 1222. When any vacancy, except that of the chief of the Details, department or corps, shall occur which can not be filled 26, v. 31, p. 755. by promotion as provided in this section, it shall be filled by detail from the line of the Army. Sec. 26, act of FebPuary 2, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 755). made. Ibid. 1223. Such details shall be made from the grade in which Same, how the vacancies exist, under such system of examination as the President may from time to time prescribe. Ibid. 3 ENLISTED MEN. eighty Enlisted strength. 24. v. 31, p. 754.. 1224. The Signal Corps shall consist of* first-class sergeants, one hundred and twenty sergeants, Feb. 2, 1901, 8. one hundred and fifty corporals, two hundred and fifty first-class privates, one hundred and fifty second-class privates, and ten cooks. Sec. 24, act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 754). WAR INCREASE. Staff of corps commander. 10, v. 30, p. 361. 1225. So much of section ten of the act of Congress, approved April twenty-second, eighteen hundred and Apr. 22, 1908, s. ninety-eight, as provides that the staff of a general commanding an army corps shall consist of certain officers, 30. p. 752. with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, shall be held to 'This clause regulates the promotion, after examination, of officers holding permanent appointments in the Signal Corps. repealed by the act of February 2, 1901. Appointments to original vacancies created or caused by that enactment are governed by the requirements of section 24. See, 'The clause relating to the transfer of officers of the line to the Signal Corps was in this connection, section 24, act of February 2, 1901, and note to paragraph 1218, By section 8 of the act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 653), first-class sergeants of ante. the Signal Corps were given the pay of hospital stewards. Enlisted men. Apr. 26, 1898, s. 3, v. 30, p. 364. Par. include among such officers a chief signal officer. Sec. 10, act of April 22, 1898 (30 Stat. L., 361); Joint Resolution No. 53, July 8, 1898 (ibid., 752). 1226. In time of war there shall be added to the Signal Corps of the Army ten corporals and one hundred firstclass privates, who shall have the pay and allowances of engineer troops of the same grade. Sec. 3, act of April 26, 1898 (30 Stat. L., 364). 1227. Chief Signal Officer. 1228. The same; regulations. Officer; duties. DUTIES. Par. 1229. Accountability for property. Chief Signal 1227. The Chief Signal Officer shall have charge, under Sec. 2, Oct. 1, the direction of the Secretary of War, of all military signal 1890, v. 26, p. 653. cer. 25, p. 552. duties, and of books, papers, and devices connected therewith, including telegraph and telephone apparatus and the necessary meteorological instruments for use on target ranges, and other military uses; the construction, repair, and operation of military telegraph lines, and the duty of collecting and transmitting information for the Army by telegraph or otherwise, and all other duties usually pertaining to military signaling; and the operations of said corps shall be confined to strictly military matters.' Sec. 2, act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 653). Regulations to 1228. The Chief Signal Officer, subject to the approval of be prescribed by Chief Signal Off the Secretary of War, is hereby authorized and directed to Oct. 12, 1888, v. draw up and enforce in his Bureau a system of rules and regulations for the government of the Signal Bureau, and of all persons in şaid Bureau, and for the safe-keeping and preservation of all Signal Service property of every kind, and to direct and prescribe the kind, number, and form of all returns and reports, and to enforce compliance therewith. Act of October 12, 1888 (25 Stat. L., 552). etc., to make re Enlisted men, 1229. From and after the passage of this act, every officer turns of prop- of the Signal Corps, every noncommissioned officer or priOct. 12, 1888, v. vate of the Signal Corps, and all other officers, agents, or erty. 25, p. 552. The act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 653), contained the requirement that "the civilian duties now performed by the Signal Corps of the Army shall hereafter devolve upon a bureau to be known as the Weather Bureau, which, on and after July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, shall be established in and attached to the Department of Agriculture, and the Signal Corps of the Army shall remain a part of the Military Establishment under the direction of the Secretary of War, and all estimates for its support shall be included with other estimates for the support of the Military Establishment." Section 4 of this enactment, which authorized the detail of officers of the Signal Corps in the Weather Bureau of the Department of Agriculture, was repealed by Joint Resolution No. 57, of July 8, 1898 (30 Stat. L., 752). This enactment finally severed the statutory connection of this corps with the Weather Bureau. persons who now have in possession, or may hereafter receive or may be intrusted with any stores or supplies, shall, quarterly or more often, if so directed, and in such manner and on such forms as may be prescribed by the Chief Signal Officer, make true and correct returns to the Chief Signal Officer of all Signal Service property and all other supplies and stores 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. Ibid. be appropriated Army. 1230. On and after July first, eighteen hundred and Signal Corps to ninety-one, the appropriations for the support of the Sig-for with the nal Corps of the Army shall be made with those of other, Sec. 9. Oct. 1, of the Army. Sec. 9, act of October 1, 1890 (26 staff corps Stat. L., 653). MILITARY TELEGRAPH LINES. 1890, v. 26, p. 654. 1231. The Chief Signal Officer shall have charge, under Construction the direction of the Secretary of War, of operation, and the repair. Oct. 1, 1890, s. 2, construction, repair, and operation of all military tele- v. 26, p. 663. graph lines. Section 2, act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 653). 31, p. 206. 1232. For the purpose of connecting headquarters, lines in Alaska. Department of Alaska, at Saint Michael, by military tele-May 26, 1900, v. graph and cable lines with other military stations in Alaska, four hundred and fifty thousand five hundred and fifty dollars: Provided, That commercial business may be done over these military lines under such conditions as may be deemed, by the Secretary of War, equitable and in the public interests, all receipts from such commercial business shall be accounted for and paid into the Treasury of the United States, and that the sum hereby appropriated shall be immediately available: Provided further, That no telegraph or cable lines owned or operated or controlled by persons not citizens of the United States, or by any foreign corporation or government, shall be estab lished in or permitted to enter Alaska. Act of May 26, 1900 (31 Stat. L., 206). 1233. After the first day of July, eighteen hundred and Receipts to be eighty-three, ury. private dispatches over any and all telegraph lines owned Mar. 3, 1983, v. 22, p. 616. Signal Officer in charge of "the construction, repair, and operation of military teleThe act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 653, par. 1227, ante), which places the Chief supervision of the construction and operation of military telegraph lines in departgraph lines," repealed the act of August 7, 1882 (22 Stat. L., 319), which vested the ment commanders. with working, penalty. v. 18, p. 250. or operated by the United States shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States, as required by section thirty-six hundred and seventeen of the Revised Statutes; and all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.' Act of March 3, 1883 (22 Stat. L.,616). Injury to telegraph lines, etc., 1234. Any person or persons who shall willfully or of United States, interference maliciously injure or destroy any of the works or propery obstruction, etc.; or material of any telegraphic line constructed and owned, June 23, 1874, or in process of construction, by the United States, or that may be hereafter constructed and owned or occupied and controlled by the United States, or who shall willfully or maliciously interfere in any way with the working or use of any such telegraphic line, or who shall willfully or maliciously obstruct, hinder, or delay the transmission of any communication over any such telegraphic line, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the same shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or with both, in the discretion of the court. Act of June 23, 1874 (18 Stat. L., 250). HISTORICAL NOTE.-The office of Signal Officer of the Army, with the rank of major of cavalry, was established by the act of June 21, 1860 (12 Stat. L., 66). By section 17 of the act of March 3, 1863 (ibid., 753), a signal corps was created to consist of a Chief Signal Officer with the rank of colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, two majors who were to be inspectors, and, for each army corps or military department, one captain and as many lieutenants, not exceeding eight, as the President might deem necessary. The officers thus provided for were to receive the mounted pay of their grades, and were to continue in service during the pendency of the existing rebellion. For each officer authorized by the act of March 3, 1863, one sergeant and six privates were to be detailed from the volunteer armies, who were to receive the pay and allowances of enlisted men of engineers. Eligibility for appointment and detail were to be determined, in part, by prior faithful service in the acting signal corps, and were conditioned in all cases, upon the successful passage of a preliminary examination. A permanent signal corps was added to the military establishment by section 22 of the act of July 28, 1866 (12 Stat. L., 335) (which was embodied in the Revised Statutes as sections 1165, 1166, and 1167). It was to consist of a Chief Signal Officer, with the rank of colonel of cavalry, and of six officers of the line, detailed for signal duty, and one hundred enlisted men, detailed from the battalion of engineers; these details were to be conditioned upon the successful passage of a preliminary examination, and the officers, while so detailed, were to receive mounted pay. By the act of March 3, 1871 (16 ibid., 520), certain duties in connection with the observation and report of storms were assigned to the department. By the act of June 18, 1878 The act of March 3, 1875, contained a provision authorizing the Secretary of War "to pay the expenses of operating and keeping in repair the said telegraph lines out of any money received for dispatches sent over said lines; any balance remaining after the payment of such expenses to be covered into the Treasury as a miscellaneous receipt; the money received in any one fiscal year to be used only in payment for the expenses of that year. And a full report of the receipts and expenditures in connection with the said telegraph lines shall be made quarterly to the Secretary of War, through the Chief Signal Officer. And the Chief Signal Officer shall have the charge and control of said lines of telegraph in the construction, repair, and operation of the same." (20 ibid., 146), the number of enlisted men, hitherto fixed by Executive regulation, was established at four hundred and fifty, and by the act of June 20, 1878 (ibid., 219), the enlisted force of the department was fixed at one hundred and fifty sergeants, thirty corporals, and two hundred and seventy privates, who were to receive the pay and allowances of enlisted men of corresponding grades in the battalion of engineers. By this enactment extra-duty pay was prohibited, and the commissioned force of the department was increased by the annual appointment of two second lieutenants, who Were to be selected from the grade of sergeant. By the act of June 16, 1880 (21 ibid., 267), the rank of brigadier-general was conferred upon the Chief Signal Officer, and the number of privates was increased to three hundred and twenty; by the act of August 4, 1886 (24 ibid., 247), the number of second lieutenants was limited to sixteen, the school of instruction at Fort Myer, Va., was abolished, and the Secretary of War was authorized to detail five commissioned officers of the Army for signal duty, this number to be in addition to the second lieutenants already authorized by law; this requirement was repeated in the acts of October 2, 1888 (26 ibid., 537), and March 2, 1889 (ibid., 969), by which enactments the number of second lieutenants was reduced to fourteen. By the act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 653), the Weather Service was transferred to the Department of Agriculture and the strength of the Signal Corps was established at one Chief Signal Officer (brigadier-general), one major, four captains, and four first lieutenants mounted, and fifty sergeants who were to have the pay and allowances of hospital stewards. The second lieutenants not selected for appointment as first lieutenants were to be transferred to the line of the Army. By the act of August 6, 1894, the department was reorganized, the reorganization to take effect upon the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of Chief Signal Officer, when the corps was to consist of one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one major, three captains, and three first lieutenants; by the act of March 2, 1897 (29 ibid., 611), the promotions provided for in the act of August 6, 1894, were authorized to be made. By section 2 of the act of May 18, 1898 (30 ibid., 417), and joint resolution No. 53, of July 8, 1898 (ibid., 749), a volunteer Signal Corps was authorized, to consist of one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one major, as disbursing officer, and such other officers and men as might be required, not exceeding one lieutenant-colonel for each army corps, and two captains, two first lieutenants, five first-class sergeants, ten sergeants, ten corporals, and thirty first-class privates to each organized division of troops, a certain proportion of whom were to be skilled electricians or telegraph operators. By section 24 of the act of February 2, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 754), the permanent strength of the Signal Corps was fixed at one Chief Signal Officer with the rank of brigadier-general, one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, four majors, fourteen captains, fourteen first lieutenants, eighty first-class sergeants, one hundred and twenty sergeants, one hundred and fifty corporals, two hundred and fifty first-class privates, one hundred and fifty second-class privates, and ten cooks; and a system of details was established by the operation of which the permanent commissioned personnel of the department will be gradually replaced, as vacancies occur, by officers detailed from the line of the Army for duty in the Signal Department. 22924-08-30 |