FRANCE. 353 



allowed, and the liorse is regarded as the property of the 

 state furnished to the officer as a gratuitous mount in the 

 regular way and is subject to the usual restrictions. Such a 

 horse can not be exchanged, returned, or condemned within 

 eighteen months without authority of the minister. 



2. On the Installment Plan. — All officers above the 

 rank of captain are obliged to own the number of horses 

 indicated in the table given above. Upon his promotion, a 

 captain can buy at a reduced price (depending upon how long 

 the horse has been in his hands) the mount formerly fur- 

 nished him gratuitously, paying either outright or by install- 

 ment, all these amounts being minutely regulated according 

 to how long the horse has been in service. 



Any officer above the grade of captain can buy on the 

 installment plan from the remount service the number of 

 horses to which he is entitled, selecting the horses from 

 among those on hand for the purpose, and paying $3 a month 

 per horse. The horses remain the property of the state, 

 which not only maintains them, but even replaces them if 

 lost incident to the service. When the total of the installs 

 ments equals the price paid for the horse by the state, plus 

 one-tenth, he becomes the property of the officer. 



Officers may select in the market any horses which they 

 would like to take on the installment plan, and submit them 

 to the boards. If a liorse is accepted, the board pays his 

 estimated value and then the officer receives his mount under 

 the conditions just stated. Such a horse may not be returned 

 or condemned within eighteen months. 



3. By Sale Outright. — All officers above the grade of 

 captain can select from available horses provided by the 

 remount service the number to which they are entitled and 

 purchase the horses at the estimated value, paying the price 

 in two installments. These horses become their absolute 

 property, but if they desire to sell the horses the state has the 

 right of refusal. 



Subalterns who have renounced their right to gratuitous 

 mounts are obliged to buy their horses in the market. Any 

 officer may keep at the expense of the government one horse 

 above the number allowed him by regulations, provided he 

 has bought his horses in the market. 



The minimum age of horses furnished by the state to officers 

 by either of the three methods above cited is as follows : Four 



