CONGRESS. (TiiE ARMY BILL.) 



185 



"SEC. 24. That the signal-corps shall consist 

 of 1 chief signal-officer with the rank of brigadier- 

 general, 1 colonel, 1 lieutenant-colonel, 4 majors, 

 14 captains, 14 first lieutenants, 80 first-class* ser- 

 geants, 120 sergeants, 150 corporals, 250 first-class 

 privates, 150 second-class privates, and 10 cooks: 

 Prodded, That vacancies created or caused by 

 this section shall be filled by promotion of officers 

 of the signal-corps according to seniority, as now 

 provided by law. Vacancies remaining after such 

 promotions may be filled by appointment of per- 

 sons who have served in the volunteer signal- 

 corps since April 21, 1898: Provided, That the 

 President is authorized to continue in service dur- 

 ing the present emergency, for duty in the Philip- 

 pine Islands, 5 volunteer signal-officers with the 

 rank of first lieutenant and 5 volunteer signal- 

 officers with the rank of second lieutenant. This 

 authority shall extend only for the period when 

 their services may be absolutely necessary. 



" SEC. 25. That the officers of the Record and 

 Pension Office of the War Department shall be a 

 chief of said office with the rank of brigadier- 

 general and an assistant chief of said office with 

 the rank of major: Provided, That any person ap- 

 pointed to be chief of the Record and Pension 

 Office after the passage of this act shall have the 

 rank of colonel. 



" SEC. 26. That so long as there renlain any 

 officers holding permanent appointments in the 

 adjutant-general's department, the inspector-gen- 

 eral's department, the quartermaster's depart- 

 ment, the subsistence department, the pay depart- 

 ment, the ordnance department, and the signal- 

 corps, including those appointed to original va- 

 cancies in the grades of captain and first lieuten- 

 ant under the provisions of sections 16, 17, 21, and 

 24 of this act, they shall be promoted according to 

 seniority in the several grades, as now provided 

 by law, and nothing herein 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 appoint- 

 ments, and when any vacancy, except that of the 

 chief of the department or corps, shall occur, 

 which can not be filled by promotion as provided 

 in this section, it shall be filled by detail from the 

 line of the army, and no more permanent appoint- 

 ments shall be made in those departments or corps 

 after the original vacancies created by this act 

 shall have been filled. Such details shall be made 

 from the grade in which the vacancies exist, under 

 svich system of examination as the President may 

 from time to time prescribe. 



" All officers so detailed shall serve for a period 

 of four years, at the expiration of which time 

 they shall return to duty with the line, and 

 officers below the rank of lieutenant-colonel shall 

 not again be eligible for selection in any staff de- 

 partment until they shall have served two years 

 with the line. 



" That when vacancies shall occur in the position 

 of chief of any staff corps or department the Presi- 

 dent may appoint to such vacancies, by and with 

 the advice and consent of the Senate, officers of 

 the army at large not below the rank of lieu- 

 tenant-colonel, and who shall hold office for terms 

 of four years. When a vacancy in the position 

 of chief of any staff corps or department is filled 

 by the appointment of an officer below the rank 

 now provided by law for said office, said chief 

 shall, while so serving, have the same rank, pay, 

 and allowances now provided for the chief of 

 such corps or department. And any officer now 

 holding office in any corps or department who 

 shall hereafter serve as chief of a staff corps or 

 department and shall subsequently be retired, 



shall be retired with the rank, jav, ami allow- 

 ances authori/ed by law lor 1 he K t in-incut of 

 such corps or department chief: /'rnr'ulnl, That 

 so long as there remain in service oHircrs of any 

 stall' corps or department holding ]>T!iian<-iit. ap- 

 pointments, the chief of such stall' eorj>- or de- 

 partment shall be selected from the oilieers -,<> re- 

 maining therein. 



" SEC. 27. That each position vacated by ollic..] ^ 

 of the line, transferred to any department, of the 

 staff for tours of service under this act, shall In- 

 filled by promotion in the line until the total num- 

 ber detailed equals the number authorized for 

 duty in each staff department. Thereafter va- 

 cancies caused by details from the line to the staff 

 shall be filled by officers returning from tours of 

 staff -duty. If under the operation of this act the 

 number of officers returned to any particular arm 

 of the service at any time exceeds the number 

 authorized by law in any grade, promotions to 

 that grade shall cease until the number has been 

 reduced to that authorized. 



" SEC. 28. That vacancies in the grade of field- 

 officers and captain, created by this act, in the 

 cavalry, artillery, and infantry shall be filled by 

 promotion according to seniority in each branch, 

 respectively. Vacancies existing after the promo- 

 tions have been made shall bt provided for as fol- 

 lows: A sufficient number shall be reserved in the 

 grade of second lieutenant for the next graduating 

 class at the United States Military 'Academy. 



" Persons not over forty years of age who shall 

 have at any time served as volunteers subsequent 

 to April 21, 1898, may be ordered before boards of 

 officers for such examination as may be prescribed 

 by the Secretary of War, and those who establish 

 their fitness before these examining boards may be 

 appointed to the grades of first or second lieu- 

 tenant in the regular army, taking rank in the re- 

 spective grades according to seniority as deter- 

 mined by length of .prior commissioned service; 

 but no person appointed under the provisions of 

 this section shall be placed above another in the 

 same grade with longer commissioned service, and 

 nothing herein contained shall change the relative 

 rank of officers heretofore commissioned in the 

 regular army. 



" Enlisted men of the regular army or volunteers 

 may be appointed second lieutenants in the regu- 

 lar army to vacancies created by this act, pro- 

 vided that they shall have served one year, under 

 the same conditions now authorized by law for en- 

 listed men of the regular army. 



" SEC. 29. That to fill vacancies occurring from 

 time to time in the several organizations serving 

 without the limits of the United States with 

 trained men, the President is authorized to enlist 

 recruits in numbers equal to 4 per centum in ex- 

 cess of the total strength authorized for such or- 

 ganizations. 



" SEC. 30. That the President is authorized to 

 maintain the enlisted force of the several organi- 

 zations of the army at their maximum strength 

 as fixed by this act during the present exigencies 

 of the service, or until such time as Congress may 

 hereafter otherwise direct: Provided, That in the 

 event of the enlistment of a soldier in the army 

 for the period required by law, and after the ex- 

 piration of one year of service, should either of his 

 parents die, leaving the other solely dependent 

 upon the soldier for support, such soldier may, 

 upon his own application, be honorably discharged 

 from the service of the United States upon due 

 proof being made of such condition to the Secre- 

 tary of War. 



" SEC. 31. That the Secretary of War is author- 

 ized to detach from the army at large such num- 



