270 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
27. During peace the required staff is nominated by the departments 
concerned for such places as are likely to be used as stations of embarkation, 
debarkation, and repose. The actual appointment of the Eoute comman¬ 
dants and their lieutenants, for which qualified Landwehr and retired officers 
can be selected, is made on the outbreak of war, by the general in whose 
command the station of the Eoute commission lies, and is by him notified 
direct to the ministry of war and the executive commission. 
28. As a rule the members of these commissions are in direct commu¬ 
nication with their respective departments, and are alone responsible to 
them. The route commandant or his lieutenant must however be kept 
informed by the other members of the various arrangements. 
29. The following may be said as regards their functions in general 
(1) The Eoute commission is apprized by the Line commission of the daily 
arrivals, departures, and halts of trains along its route, as well as of the order of 
the trains, their number, and composition agreeably to the journey dispositions. 
(2) The Eoute commandants or their lieutenants occupy, at their posts, as 
regards the transport of the troops, the position in all respects of the commandant 
of a place, so that they alone are responsible for the maintenance of discipline at 
the several points, and it is to be enforced by them alone. In order to carry out this 
duty, they are to receive the assistance and co-operation of the officers commanding 
troops, or of the commandants of places. All correspondence with railway and 
government officials relative to the maintenance and transport of men and horses is 
carried on exclusively by the Eoute commissions, and the commanding officers of 
troops are enjoined, without regard to their rank, to conform strictly to the instruc¬ 
tions they receive. The Eoute commandants receive their orders from the central 
or the Line commissions, communicating with and reporting to them. Dis¬ 
ciplinary power over the troops is not delegated to the Eoute commandants, but 
officers in command are bound to take cognizance of their representations, should 
the arrangements be obstructed by the military. 
(3) Officers commanding detachments and corps are to inform the Eoute 
commandants of the time when they will arrive for embarkation, in order that the 
requisite preparations for their reception may be made. 
(4) The government officers or the Eoute commissions at the chief points of 
embarkation and debarkation will be the channel of communication for the main¬ 
tenance of the police arrangements, and for all requisitions on the authorities, as 
regards the provision of temporary shelter, food, and forage, for men and horses, as 
well as the establishment of communications beyond the railway stations, &c. 
(5) The commissariat officer attached to the Eoute commission carries out the 
requisitions of the Eoute commandant, as regards the number of rations, &c. 
required for the troops. He is, however, in other respects subject to instructions 
emanating from the department of military economy. 
(6) The railway official on the Eoute commission acts independently in all 
technical matters, bearing on the transport, the loading, unloading, and marshaling 
of trains, as well as with regard to the employment of the railway servants, the 
utilizing of the telegraphs, rolling stock, &c. He receives his orders from the 
railway official of the Line commission, to which his commission is subordinate. 
He keeps the Eoute commandant fully apprized of all arrangements, and acts in 
complete accord with him. 
