The evening times., 1899-04-29

ONeil. United States Navy. Chief Of the
Bureau OF Ordnance, Navy Department. the
question asked is. when do the pay apc al
lowance Of said O'Neil as such chief OF
bureau begin under said act OF March 5.
1899. and, II such pay and al
iowance under said act begin be-
!Sre July l, 1899, from what appro-
priation should the allowance be paid?
1t is understood that at the date OF the
approval of said act said O'Nefl was Chief
Of the Bureau OF Ordnance, with the rank
Of captain, but holding the relative rank
and drawing the pay OF the grade OF COM
modore by virtue of sections 1412 and 1865.
Revised Statutes. The second prOviso Of
said section z, Is as follows: Provided,
That when the Office CT chief Of bureau is
filled by an officer below the rank of rear
admiral. said officer shall. while holding
said Office. have the rank of rear admiral
and receive the same pay and allowance as
are now allowed a brigadier general in the
army.
THE second proviso of section is. in
my opinion. in the same situation as the
first proviso In said section, and l am Of
opinion, and SO decide, that said second
prOviso took effect and went into force
from the date Of the approval of said act,
and that said O'Neil, from March 3, 1899,
while holding the office of Chief of Bureau.
should receive the same pay and allowance
as are now allowed a brigadier general in
the army, subject to the Is per cent
reduction provided in section 13 for officers
of the line and Medical and Pay Corps of
the navy when on shore. and that from
March 3, 1S99 to July /, 1899, said allow
ance should be paid from pay miscella-
neous.' and that from the beginning of the
next fiscal year such allowance should be
paid from the pay Of the navy
1T is to be noted, however. that the
pay Of Rear Admiral O'Neil should not be
reduced for shore service below the
amount he was receiving as Chief OF Bu-
reau at the time Of the passage OF the
act, because of the provision in said Sec
ton 13, as follows: Provided. That no
provision OF this act shall operate to re-
duce the present pay of any commissioned
officer now In the navy; and in any case
in which the pay of such an officer would
otherwise be reduced he shall continue to
receive pay according to existing law
Il am of opinion. however. that the
above proviso is personal and applies on y
to commissioned officers in the navy at the
time OF the approval of said act, and does
not apply to any officer who may hereaf-
ter occupy the position of Chief OF Bureau.
Referring to the retirement Of Pay Di-
rector Rufus F. Parks, United States Navy
on the 9Th instant, the question is asked
whether staff officers with the rank or rela-
tive rank Of captain, upon retirement un-
der section IL Of said act, shall be retired
with the rank or relative rank Of commo-
dore or with the rank of rear admiral
assume that the question presented has
reference to the pay which said Parks
would be entitled to receive upon his re-
tirement under said section IL, and that
said Parks has a creditable record and
hot he sod a.. - -..,t1- NH
case OF Medical Director George A. Bright,
presented in your reference of April 25, ia
similar in all respects TO that OF Pay Di-
rector Parks. and the decision as to Pay
Director Parks will cover all questions
raised In the case of Medical Director
Bright. The question asked is, when does
said section II become operative as to nav
and allowances, and with what pay should
stan officers with the rank of captain on
the active list be retired under said section
II.
The Attorney General. in an opinion
dated April u. 1899, constituting said Sec
tien ii, says: 1t is to be noted that the
language OF section II Of the Personnel act
is general and does not in terms confine
its operation to officers OF the line. The
language is any officer Of the navy with
creditable record. who served during the
civil war. shall, when retired, be retired
with the rank and three fourths the sea
pay of the next higher grade" This act
assumes that there must be higher grade
10 which the retiring officer can be pro-
noted. or course, one occupying the
highest rank In the navy could not by re-
tirement or any other means. be promoted
TO higher grade when none exists. The
question. however, is whether this promo
ton must be confined to the grade existing
in the particular line of service in which
the retiring officer is serving, or whether
it refers to the rank or grade of officers of
the navy generally without respect TO the
limitations of rank placed upon the differ
ent branches of the staff service. The
officers Of the different corps Of the staff.
such as Medical Corps and the Pay Corps,
have separate and distinct titles, appro-
pirate to the nature OF their service and
TO their rank in the corps. and. in addition
thereto. are given rank by the same title
that is applied to officers Of the line. The
line furnishes the standard of rank for
officers of all classes. A captain of the
line is merely a captain, and has hut one
title to designate both his Office and his
rank An officer of the staff has an offl-
cial title to identify his position In his
corps and also a relative rank in addition,
the latter being arbitrarily fixed by Con-
gress to designate his relative rank in the
service in accordance with the line stand
ard. The highest officer in the Medical
Corps is a medical director, having the
relative rank of captain. 1t would not be
possible TO promote a medical director to
a higher place in the Medical Corps. but
il would be possible to confer upon him a
higher rank than that of captain, and, In
my opinion. that is what section II is in
tended TO do | see no good rea-
son to hold that the additional honor and
eAolument which Congress undoubtedly
intended to confer upon officers of the
line are not equally applicable TO officers
of the navy of like rank in the different
corps That Congress has, in other in
stances, contemplated a similar result is
apparent from the provisions OF section
1861 Of the Revised Statutes. which pro-
vides that officers OF the Medical. Pay. and
Engineer Corps. chaplains, professors Of
mathematics, and constructors, who shall
have served faithfully forty-fve years
shall, when retired, have the relative rank
of commodore
Il concur in the above construction Of
section II by the Attorney General.
by section of said act, providing fol