sence.1 Sec. 1132, R. S., as amended by the Act of Feb. 25, 1877 (19 Stat. 242).

147. Duties of the Secretary of War.-The Secretary of War shall perform such duties as shall from time to time be enjoined on or intrusted to him by the President relative to military commissions, the military forces, the warlike stores of the United States, or to other matters respecting military affairs; and he shall conduct the business of the Department in such manner as the President shall direct." Sec. 216, R. S. (see secs. 3660-3665, 3669, R. S.).

148. Secretary of War custodian of department property, etc.— The Secretary of War shall have the custody and charge of all the books, records, papers, furniture, fixtures, and other property appertaining to the Department. Sec. 217, R. S.

'This section contains the substance of section 5 of the act of July 4, 1836 (5 Stat. 117), which was passed in order to enable Q. M. Gen. Thos. S. Jesup to exercise command of the troops engaged in the prosecution of the Florida war. General Jesup served under this assignment from May 19, 1836, to July 7, 1838, when he resumed the performance of his duties as QuartermasterGeneral in the War Department.

The Secretary of War is the regular constitutional organ of the President for the administration of the Military Establishment of the Nation; and rules and orders publicly promulgated through him must be received as the acts of the Executive and, as such, be binding upon all within the sphere of his legal and constitutional authority. Such regulations can not be questioned or defied because they may be thought unwise or mistaken. The right of so considering and treating the authority of the Executive, vested as it is with the command of the military and naval forces, could not be intrusted to officers of any grade inferior to the Commander in Chief; its consequence, if tolerated, would be a complete disorganization of both the Army and Navy. (U. S. v. Eliason, 16 Pet., 291, 302; Wilcox v. Jackson, 13 Pet., 498, 513; Wolsey v. Chapman, 101 U. S., 755; Runkle v. U. S., 122 U. S., 543, 557; U. S. v. Adams, 7 Wall., 463.) The Secretary of War is not required to perform duties in the field. He does not compose any part of the Army, and has no service to perform that may not be done at the seat of government. (I Opin. Att. Gen., 457; U. S. v. Burns, 12 Wall., 246; see also note 2 to par. 5, and the title Bridges over the navigable waters of the United States, in the chapter entitled "The Corps of Engineers.")

Duties imposed by statute.-In addition to his duties as the constitutional organ of the President for the administration of the Military Establishment, the Secretary of War is, by other statutes, charged with the supervision of the administration of the several bureaus or offices of the War Department, their estimates, contracts, expenditures, reports, and returns being under his sole direction and control. He has also been charged, from time to time, with the execution of laws relating to national cemeteries, the Soldiers' Home, the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, the military prison, the detail of officers to colleges, the distribution of relief to sufferers by fire, flood, or by the failure of crops, due to drought or other causes, the construction and operation of canals, roads, and lines of telegraph, the location and construction of bridges over the navigable waters of the United States, of railroads through the public lands, the protection of settlers and emigrants, the establishment of harbor lines, the adjustment of claims, the establishment and maintenance of national military parks, and the location, marking, and preservation of lines of battle on the battlefields of the Civil War. Since the act of June 28, 1864, all statutes authorizing the construction of works of river and harbor improvement have contained the provision that the sums appropriated shall be expended under his direction. The Military Academy and the schools of application at Willets Point, Fortress Monroe, and at Forts Leavenworth and Riley are also carried on under the immediate supervision of the Secretary of War. By the act of April 10, 1878, the Secretary of War is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations to be observed in the preparation, submission, and opening of bids for contracts under the War Department.

149. Secretary of War to cause colors, etc., to be collected.-The Secretary of War shall from time to time cause to be collected and transmitted to him, at the seat of government, all such flags, standards, and colors as are taken by the Army from the enemies of the United States. Sec. 218, R. S.

150. Transports not to be sold without consent of Congress.-No steamship in the transport service of the United States shall be sold or disposed of without the consent of Congress having been first had or obtained. Act of Mar. 2, 1903 (32 Stat. 938).

151. Transport service not to be discontinued without action of Congress. No action looking to the discontinuance of the transport service shall be taken without further action of Congress. Id.

152. United States vessels to be preferred in transporting supplies, etc.-Vessels of the United States, or belonging to the United States, and no others, shall be employed in the transportation by sea of coal, provisions, fodder, or supplies of any description, purchased pursuant to law, for the use of the Army or Navy unless the President shall find that the rates of freight charges by said vessels are excessive and unreasonable, in which case contracts shall be made under the law as it now exists: Provided, That no greater charges be made by such vessels for transportation of articles for the use of the said Army and Navy than are made by such vessels for transportation of like goods for private parties or companies. Act of Apr. 28, 1904 (33 Stat. 518).

153. Detail of employees to administer oaths.-The Secretary of War is authorized to detail one or more of the employees of the War Department for the purpose of administering the oaths required by law in the settlement of officers' accounts for clothing, camp and garrison equipage, quartermaster's stores, and ordnance, which oaths shall be administered without expense to the parties taking them. Sec. 225, R. S.

154. Superintendent of State, War, and Navy building.—The President is hereby authorized and directed to designate from the Engineer Corps of the Army or the Navy, an officer well qualified for the purpose, who shall be detailed to act as superintendent of the completed portions of the State, War, and Navy Department building, under direction of the Secretaries of State, War, and Navy, who are hereby constituted a commission for the purposes of the care and supervision of said building, as hereinafter specified. Said officer shall have charge of said building, and all the engines, machinery, steam and water supply, heating, lighting, and ventilating apparatus, elevators, and all other fixtures in said building, and all necessary repairs and alterations thereof, as well as the direction and control of such force of engineers, watchmen, laborers, and

others engaged about the building or the apparatus under his supervision; of the cleaning of the corridors and water closets; of the approaches, side-walks, lawns, court-yards, and areas of the building, and of all rooms in the sub-basement which contain the boilers and other machinery, or so much of said rooms as may be indispensable to the proper performance of his duties as herein provided.' Act of Mar. 3, 1883 (22 Stat. 553).

155. Bureau of Insular Affairs.-The Division of Insular Affairs of the War Department, organized by the Secretary of War, is hereby continued until otherwise provided, and shall hereafter be known as the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the War Department. The business assigned to said Bureau shall embrace all matters pertaining to civil government in the island possessions of the United States subject to the jurisdiction of the War Department; and the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to detail an officer of the Army whom he may consider especially well qualified, to act under the authority of the Secretary of War as the chief of said Bureau; and said officer while acting under said detail shall have the rank, pay, and allowances of a colonel. Sec. 87, Act of July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. 712).

156. Chief of Bureau of Insular Affairs to rank as brigadier general. The Chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the War Department shall hereafter be appointed by the President for the period of four years, unless sooner relieved, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and while holding that office he shall have the rank, pay, and allowances of a brigadier general. Act of June 25, 1906 (34 Stat. 456).

157. Assistant, Bureau of Insular Affairs.-The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to detail an officer of the Army, whom he may consider especially well qualified, to act as principal assistant to the Chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the War Department, and said principal assistant while acting under said detail shall have the rank, pay, and allowances of a major. Act of Mar. 2, 1907 (34 Stat. 1162).

158. Same. The provisions of section twenty-seven of the Act of February second, nineteen hundred and one, with reference to the transfer of officers of the line to the departments of the staff for tours of service, shall apply to the vacancy created by this Act and to the return of the officer so detailed to the line of the Army. Id.

159. Same. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to detail one additional officer of the army as assistant to the Chief of the

'The Mills Building and the Navy Department Annex are also under the charge of the Superintendent of the State, War, and Navy building. (Act of May 22, 1908, 35 Stat. 218.)

Bureau of Insular Affairs, under the same provisions of law in regard to the vacancy in the line thus created and return to the line as govern in the case of the assistant authorized by the Act of March second, nineteen hundred and seven; and the assistant herein authorized while serving in this capacity shall have the rank, pay, and allowances of colonel; and both officers detailed in the Bureau of Insular Affairs shall hereafter be designated, while on this duty, as assistants to the chief of the bureau. Act of Mar. 23, 1910 (36 Stat. 248).

160. Secretary of War authorized to deliver obsolete cannon to Volunteer and State Homes.-The Secretary of War * * * is authorized and directed, subject to such regulations as he may prescribe, to deliver to any of the "National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers" already established or hereafter established and to any of the State Homes for soldiers and sailors or either now or hereafter duly established and maintained under State authority, such obsolete serviceable cannon, bronze or iron, suitable for firing salutes, as may be on hand undisposed of, not exceeding two to any one Home. Act of Feb. 8, 1889 (25 Stat. 657).

161. No additional compensation.-Hereafter it shall be unlawful to allow or pay to any of the persons designated in this act any additional compensation from any source whatever, or to retain, detail, or employ in any branch of the War Department in the city of Washington any persons other than those herein authorized, except in the Signal Offices and the Engineer Corps, and except such commissioned officers as the Secretary of War may, from time to time, assign to special duties. Act of June 20, 1874 (18 Stat. 101).

162. Secretary of War to determine and adjust claims for damages due to heavy gun fire, target practice, etc., in connection with maneuvers. That hereafter the Secretary of War is authorized to consider, ascertain, adjust, and determine the amounts due on all claims for damages to and loss of private property when the amount of the claim does not exceed the sum of one thousand dollars, occasioned by heavy gun fire and target practice of troops, and for damages to vessels, wharves, and other private property, found to be due to maneuvers or other military operations for which the Government is responsible, and report the amounts so ascertained and determined to be due the claimants to Congress at each session thereof through the Treasury Department for payment as legal claims out of appropriations that may be made by Congress therefor. Act of Aug. 24, 1912 (37 Stat. 586).

The act specifies the number of clerks who may be employed in the War Department. Since 1874 the number of clerks has been changed by legislation, but the general rule set forth above would appear to be still in force.

163. President to establish civil service regulation.-The President is authorized to prescribe such regulations for the admission of persons into the civil service of the United States as may best promote the efficiency thereof, and ascertain the fitness of each candidate in respect to age, health, character, knowledge, and ability for the branch of the service into which he seeks to enter; and for this purpose he may employ suitable persons to conduct such inquiries, and may prescribe their duties, and establish regulations for the conduct of persons who may receive appointments in the civil service. Sec. 1753, R. S.

1 Neither section 1753, Revised Statutes, nor the civil service act of January 16, 1883 (22 Stat. 403), puts any restrictions upon the power of removal from appointive offices except for refusal to contribute to political funds or neglect to render political service; hence Presidential Rule II, relating to the civil service and providing (as amended July 27, 1897), that no removal shall be made without giving the accused notice and an opportunity to make defense, has no such authority at law as confers upon the holder of an office a vested right thereto, with the right to invoke the equitable power of the courts to restrain his removal therefrom in violation of such rule. (Page et al. v. Moffett, 85 Fed. Rep., 38. See, also, as to the equitable jurisdiction of the Federal courts, In re Sawyer, 124 U. S., 200, and World's Columbian Exp. v. U. S., 18 U. S. App., 159, 6 Circ. Ct. App., 71, 56 Fed. Rep., 667; Butler v. White, 83 id., 578; Carr v. Gordon, 82 id., 373.)