them, with the property, to the inspector general or acting inspector general at the time of his annual visit. In the case of property in the field, of rapidly deteriorating subsistence stores or of unserviceable public animals, such inventories will be prepared when necessary, and unless the time of the visit of an inspector be near at hand, one copy will be forwarded to the commander of the department or army corps or division in the field. Public animals will be inventoried singly, with a brief description of color, sex, age, and distinguishing marks. II. By direction of the Secretary of War, ordnance officers will issue to the officer in charge of the noncommissioned staff and band, or of company musicians, of volunteer regiments, when they take the field, upon the requisition of such officer, thirty revolvers, which will allow one for each regimental noncommissioned staff officer and one for each member of the regimental band. When the ordnance officer has not sufficient revolvers for this purpose on hand, he will make requisition therefor on the Chief of Ordnance. BY COMMAND OF MAJOR GENERAL MILES: GENERAL ORDERS, No. 80. H. C. CORBIN, HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Washington, June 27, 1898. The following act of Congress is published for the information and guidance of all concerned: An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act to promote the administration of justice in the Army," approved October first, eighteen hundred and ninety, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act entitled "An Act to promote the administration of justice in the Army," approved October first, eighteen hundred and ninety, as supplemented and amended by subsequent legislation, be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to read as follows: "That the commanding officer of each garrison, fort, or other place, regiment or corps, detached battalion, or company, or other detachment in the Army, shall have power to appoint for such place or command, or in his discretion for each battalion thereof, a summary court to consist of one officer to be designated by him, before whom enlisted men who are to be tried for offenses, such as were prior to the passage of the Act 'to promote the administration of justice in the Army,' approved October first, eighteen hundred and ninety, cognizable by garrison or regimental courts-martial, and offenses cognizable by field officers detailed to try offenders under the provisions of the eightieth and one hundred and tenth articles of war, shall be brought to trial within twentyfour hours of the time of the arrest, or as soon thereafter as practicable, except when the accused is to be tried by general court-martial; but such summary court may be appointed and the officers designated by superior authority when by him deemed desirable; and the officer holding the summary court shall have power to administer oaths and to hear and determine such cases, and when satisfied of the guilt of the accused adjudge the punishment to be inflicted, which said punishment shall not exceed confinement at hard labor for one month and forfeiture of one month's pay, and, in the case of a noncommissioned officer, reduction to the ranks in addition thereto; that there shall be a summary court record kept at each military post and in the field at the headquarters of the proper command, in which shall be entered a record of all cases heard and determined and the action had thereon; and no sentence adjudged by said summary court shall be executed until it shall have been approved by the officer appointing the court, or by the officer commanding for the time being: Provided, That when but one commissioned officer is present with a command he shall hear and finally determine such cases: And provided further, That no one while holding the privileges of a certificate of eligibility to promotion shall be brought before a summary court, and that noncommissioned officers shall not, if they object thereto, be brought to trial before summary courts without the authority of the officer competent to order their trial by general court-martial, but shall in such cases be brought to trial before garrison, regimental, or general courts-martial, as the case may be." SEC. 2. That articles eighty and one hundred and ten of the Rules and Articles for the Government of the Armies of the United States be, and the the same are hereby, repealed. SEC. 3. That the commanding officers authorized to approve the sentences of summary courts and superior authority shall have power to remit or mitigate the same. SEC. 4. That post and other commanders shall, in time of peace, on the last day of each month, make a report to the department headquarters of the number of cases determined by summary court during the month, setting forth the offenses committed and the penalties awarded, which report shall be filed in the office of the judge advocate of the department, and may be destroyed when no longer of use. SEC. 5. That soldiers sentenced by court-martial to dishonorable discharge and confinement shall, until discharged from such confinement, remain subject to the Articles of War and other laws relating to the administration of military justice. SEC. 6. That it shall be lawful for any civil officer having authority under the laws of the United States, or of any State, Territory, or District, to arrest offenders, to summarily arrest a deserter from the military service of the United States and deliver him into the custody of the military authority of the General Government. SEC. 7. That this Act shall take effect sixty days after its passage. Approved, June 18, 1898. By the foregoing act the field officer's court is abolished and the summary court substituted for it, to take effect August 17, 1898. The summary court will thereafter be legal, both in time of peace and war. Summary court blanks will be issued by the Adjutant General's Office. BY COMMAND OF MAJOR GENERAL MILES: H. C. CORBIN, Adjutant General. GENERAL ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, June 27, 1898. No. 81. By direction of the Secretary of War, the following instructions relating to the inspection service of the armies in the field are published for the information and guidance of all concerned: 1. Inspecting officers, selected when practicable, from the Inspectors General of the Regular or Volunteer Army, are assigned by the War Department to the headquarters of geographical departments, and to the headquarters of armies and army corps, in the field, and by the commanding generals thereof, to divisions. In the absence of such assignment, and to fill temporary vacancies, commanding generals of armies, army corps, divisions, and geographical departments may detail officers from their commands for such duty, reporting their action to the Adjutant General of the Army for the information of the War Department, subsequently to be transmitted to the Inspector General of the Army for record. 2. In order to discharge his duties efficiently, an inspector should make himself familiar with everything relating to the different branches of service within the scope of his investigations. Industrious attention must therefore be given by him to the study of the regulations and laws for the government of the army, the systems of instruction, and the general principles of the military profession. The sphere of inquiry of an inspector includes every branch of military affairs except when specially limited in orders, or by the Army Regulations. 3. Upon arriving at his station an inspector general, or acting inspector general, will report to the commanding general in person and by letter to the Adjutant General of the Army, and thereafter will report to him monthly the inspections and investigations made by him; to this end he will keep a record of the various services performed and the dates thereof. The attention of inspectors is especially called to Articles LVII, LVIII, LXXII, Army Regulations. 4. An inspector general or acting inspector general will make known his orders or instructions to commanding, or other officers, whose troops and affairs he is directed to inspect, and these officers will see that every facility and assistance, including clerical aid and the use of an orderly, are provided if requested. If ordered to investigate accusations prejudicial to the character of an officer, he will make known their nature to the officer and give him an opportunity to make his own statement in writing, which he will append to his report. Harmony as well as justice to the individual and the public require that such reports be maintained inviolably confidential and that they should not of themselves be made the basis of official proceedings. In the investigation of misconduct or attempt to defraud the Government on the part of any officer or agent of the United States, the inspector is authorized to administer oaths to witnesses. Inspection reports of troops, of disbursements, money accounts, and unserviceable property will be rendered on the prescribed forms and will be submitted to the officer ordering the inspection. 5. An inspector general or acting inspector general will not give orders unless specially authorized to do so, and then only in the name of the superior giving such authority. He will report with strict impartiality all irregularities coming under his notice, as well as the remedies applied to correct them, and will refrain from informal conversation or comment upon subjects of inspection or investigation. When in the course of an inspection, an inspector obtains confidential information respecting matters affecting the public service, he will communicate such information in an oral or written special report. 6. All nonconfidential inspection reports will be forwarded through regular channels to the Adjutant General of the Army, for transmittal to the Inspector General of the Army. When irregularities, deficiencies, or misconduct are reported, the several commanders will state, in forwarding the reports, what remedies have been or will be applied to correct them. 7. Inspectors will make written memoranda on the spot of every defect, irregularity, or neglect, observed during their inspections; also any particular excellence which may strike their attention. |