Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1855-11-01

luton was passed, approved on the 18th Of Feb
ruary, 1855, in the following words
"A resolution authorizing the President of the
United States to confer the title Of lieutenant
general by brevet for eminent services
ResolUed by the Senate and House of Rep
sesentdticeS Of the United States Of America IN
Congress assembled, That the grade of lieu
tenantgeneral be- and the same is hereby, re.
vived in the army of the United States in order
that when, in the opinion of the President and
| Senate, it shall be deemed proper to acknowl-
edge eminent services of major general OF
the army in the late war with Mexico in the
mode already provided for in subordinate
grades, the grade of acknowledgement may be
| specially conferred by brevet, and by brevet
only to take rank from the date Of such ser
vice or services; ProUided, hoaoeur, That when
the said grade Of Lieutenant general by brevet
shall have once been filled, and have become
vacant, this joint resolution shall thereafter
expire and be of no effect"
Thereupon the President ofthe United States
nominated General Scott to the Senate to be
acknowledgement by breyet. He was con.
6rmed as such, and commissioned in the fol-
lowing words:
The President of the United States of Anne.
RIGA, to all who shall see these presents,
greeting:
"know ye that do hereby confer on Major
General Winfield Scott OF the army of the
United States, by and with the advice and con-
sent of the Senate, the rank of lieutenant
general by brevet in said army for eminent
| services in the late war with Mexico, to take
rank as such from the twenty-ninth day OF
March, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and fortyseven, 8 the day on
which the United States forces under his COM
| mand captured Vera Cruz and the Castle of
San Juan de Ulua.'
sand | do strictly charge and require all
officers and soldiers under his command to
obey and respect him accordingly; and he
is to observe and follow such orders and
directions, from time to time, as he shall re-
ceive from me or the future President of the
United States of America, and other officers
set over him, according to law and the rules
and discipline of war. This commission to
continue in force during the pleasure of the
President Of the United States for the time
being
"Given under my hand, at the city of Wash
ington, the seventh day Of March, in the year
OF our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
fittyfve, and in the seventy-ninth year of the
independence of the United States.
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
By the President:
JEFFERSON DAVIS, Secretary of War;
And upon the question, whether there is now
in force any law fixing the pay and allowances
of the grade Of lieutenant general, it was
Held. The provisions of the fifth section
of the act of May %, 1898, have been repealed
in 50 far as regards all the offices which it
created, by subsequent statutes, and especially,
if by no other effectually and finally, yet GER
tainly by that of March 2, 1921.
2 1t does not clearly appear that the provi
sions of the fifth section of the act of May %,
1898, as to the pay of the grade Of lieutenant
general, had been repealed, either expressly or
tacitly, by any subsequent act, and the same
is probably to be regarded as having remained
in allegiance, capable of renewed legal efficacy,
if that rank should at any time be re.estab,
lished, without additional legislation as to its
pay and emoluments.
3. The enactment of the joint resolution
that the "grade" of lieutenant general be Gre
vived," does not have the consequential effect
in law to revive the statute as such, provided
the same had previously been repealed.
a. But when statute revives a statute
grade or Office, it is to be intended, if nothing
to the contrary appear, that the statute provi-
sion as to pay and emoluments previously an
nexed to the grade or Office is, by legal conse
quence revived, whether that provision of the
statute had or not been repealed.
5. Hence, the joint resolution must receive
one or the other of these constructions. Either
first, it intends that the pre-existing provision
OF statute, which fixed the pay of the grade of
lieutenant general, had never been repealed,
that the law on that subject was dormant,
awaiting the existence of an Office, and per-
son to which and to whom it should become
applicable, the Office being supplied by the res.
oluton, and the person by his appointment to
the Office; or, secondly it intends, assuming that
the statute-ofiice Of lieutenant general, with its
pay and emoluments, once existed, but had
been repealed or had fallen into desuetude, to
revive that statute.office for this occasion, and
in so doing to resuscitate the statute-pay and
emoluments Of the office and, therefore, there
is now in force law, in the fifth section of the
act Of May %, 1898, fixing the pay Of the grade
OF lieutenant general