the Army for the sole purpose of effecting payment of obligations incurred by the United States Veterans' Bureau, and, furthermore, there is no authority of law for such transfer. If an officer of the Quartermaster Corps is to have charge of the directing, supervising, and inspecting of the work under the contract, it will be proper to have said officer certify or approve vouchers or accounts submitted for progress payments, but the payments can be made only by a disbursing officer or agent of the United States Veterans' Bureau or upon direct settlements made by the General Accounting Office. The question submitted is answered in the negative. PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF RETIRED OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE NAVY UNDER THE JOINT SERVICE PAY ACT. The decision involves numerous questions relating to the pay and allowances of retired officers and enlisted men of the Navy on and after July 1, 1922, under the joint service pay act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 625. It sets forth consecutively each question submitted with its answer. For points involved see decision. Comptroller General McCarl to the Secretary of the Navy, August 30, 1922: Referring to your letter of July 29, 1922, I am returning proposed section H of instructions transmitted therewith, pertaining to the pay and allowances of retired officers and men of the Navy under the joint service pay act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat., 625, inviting attention to the following: RETIRED OFFICERS-COMMISSIONED AND WARRANT. Page 1, prior to last line. The instruction reads: Section 17 of the act of 10 June, 1922, is as follows: "That on and after July 1, 1922, retired officers and warrant officers shall have their retired pay computed as now authorized by law on the basis of pay provided in this act: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall operate to reduce the present pay of officers, warrant officers, and enlisted men now on the retired list of any of the services men tioned in the title of this act." * Section 1 of the same act includes the following: "Nothing contained in the first sentence of section 17 or in any other section of this Act shall authorize an increase in the pay of officers or warrant officers on the retired list on June 30, 1922." The above provisions of the act of 10 June, 1922, make no change whatever in the retired pay of officers (commissioned or warrant) placed on the retired list on or prior to June 30, 1922. Paragraph 5, line 2. After words "retired pay" insert "for inactive duty." Otherwise no objection thereto. Page 1, last line, and page 2, last paragraph of page 1 as continued. The instruction reads: The retired pay of officers retired on or subsequent to July 1, 1922, however, is computed on the "Basis of pay provided in this act" (June 10, 1922), which includes the old rates of pay which an officer may still be in receipt of at date of retirement through the operation of the "Saving clause." In other words, those officers retired on or subsequent to July 1, 1922, have their retired pay computed on the amount of pay to which they were entitled at date of retirement whether it be the new pay or old pay. Your proposed instruction is that officers retired on or after July 1, 1922, are entitled to retired pay computed at the old rates of pay in receipt of on June 30, 1922, if higher than the new rates of pay as fixed by the act of June 10, 1922. This instruction to such effect is not concurred in. See in this connection letter to you of June 16, 1922, stating that change in instruction A, page 7, section 16 (a), should be made by making such paragraph read: This section provides that officers retired on or after July 1, 1922, shall have their retired pay computed on the base pay provided in this act and not on pay reserved in section 16. It appears that in your letter of June 23, 1922, promulgating the changes in instructions A suggested by this office in letter to you of June 16, 1922, this particular change was omitted. See also decision to you of July 26, 1922, 2 Comp. Gen., 57, which upon this point states: Section 17 of the act of June 10, 1922, provides in part as follows: "That on and after July 1, 1922, retired officers and warrant officers shall have their retired pay, or equivalent pay, computed as now authorized by law on the basis of pay provided in this act. You present the question whether pay which an officer may be drawing on June 30, 1922, under rates prescribed by the act of May 13, 1908, and which is preserved to him by section 16, is "pay provided in this act" within the meaning of section 17. The saving clause of section 16 is limited to those on the active list and has no application to those retired after June 30, 1922. The phrasing of section 17, which relates to such retired pay, is such as to demand its own construction. The saving clause of section 16 specifically authorized the officer to receive the pay to which he was "entitled" June 30, 1922, whereas the provision relative to the pay of retired officers, section 17, directs that it shall be computed as now authorized by law on the basis of pay provided in this act." The distinguishing phrase is that it is the "pay provided in this act," to wit, the act of June 10, 1922, that is made the basis of the retired pay. The computation thereon is as heretofore but the basis of it is expressly required to be on the pay provided in said act. The only pay "provided" in this act of June 10, 1922, is what may be referred to as the pay therein expressly set forth as for after June 30, 1922. That can not be construed as pay provided by this act, which is provided by other acts prior to June 30, although authorized to be paid after June 30. The two sections recognized the distinction. the phrasing of the one being the pay to which "entitled" June 30, which would be pay not provided by the act of June 10, 1922, and the phrasing of the other being the "pay provided by this act," which would be pay provided for after June 30. The saving clause of section 16 is to those on the active list, and if section 17 were to be construed as giving the saved pay to those on the retired list, then the limitation to those on the active list was unnecessary and meaningless. Section 17 became necessary because of the limitations of section 16. Page 2, paragraph 5. The instructions read: Section 17 contains the following: commodore and retired warrant officers active duty, receive full pay and allowances." below the grade of shall, when on Section 5 of the act, providing for the subsistence allowance, and section 6, providing for the rental allowance, both read in part as follows: "That each commissioned officer on the active list or on active duty shall be entitled," etc. Accordingly, all retired officers of the rank of captain or below are entitled, when recalled to active duty at any time, to "full pay." "Full pay" is the pay prescribed by section 1 of the act of June 10, 1922, except for an officer retired on the basis of a prior act, whose active duty under such act would be greater in which case the latter shall be the "full pay." Line 1. Word "rank" should be changed to "grade." Line 2. Insert after "below" words "and warrant officers." Line 4. Eliminate all of paragraph after "1922" and insert in lieu "whether retired prior or after June 30, 1922." The act of June 10, 1922, does not fix a separate rate of pay for retired officers on active duty. The only provision in it for the pay of retired officers on active duty is that they shall receive " full pay in section 17, which reads: general or commodore, and retired warrant officers, active duty, receive full pay and allowances. below the grade of brigadier * shall, when on The word "full" as thus used is construed to mean the full active list pay and allowances of their grade as distinguished from full inactive duty pay and allowances only. The separate provision in said section 17 against the reduction of the pay of officers and warrant officers on the retired list on June 30, 1922, reading: That nothing contained in this act shall operate to reduce the present pay of officers, warrant officers, * * * now on the retired list * and that in section 1 of said act against the increase of their pay Nothing contained in the first sentence of section 17, or in any other section of this act, shall authorize an increase in the pay of officers or warrant officers on the retired list on June 30, 1922, are construed as confined in their effect to the inactive pay of officers on the retired list on June 30, 1922, and as not applying to their active duty pay when called to active duty on and after July 1, 1922. See in this connection the broader provisions as to allowances in pari materia therewith in sections 5 and 6 of said act, extending allowances to "each commissioned officer * on active duty below the grade of rear admiral (lower half) or commodore, reading: That each commissioned officer on the active list. or on active duty below the grade of brigadier general or its equivalent, * shall be entitled at all times, in addition to his pay, to a money allowance, as thereafter provided. As thus construed the act creates no distinction for active-duty pay purposes on and after July 1, 1922, between those officers of the Navy who were on the active list on June 30, 1922, and those retired thereafter, the prohibitions as to receipt by officers on the list on June 30, 1922, of an increase or decrease of pay thereafter being confined to their inactive pay and exclusive of their active-duty pay, there being no saving clause in the act independently thereof that could operate to save old active-duty pay to officers retired prior to June 30, 1922, and no separate rate of pay established by the act for such retired officers when on active duty, and the separate provision in the act for the allowances of such commissioned officers for active duty broadly extending by its terms to each such commissioned officer without distinction as to date of their retire ment. It is therefore concluded that the "full pay and allowances" to which retired officers of the Navy below the grade of rear admiral (lower half) or commodore and retired warrant officers-whether retired prior or after June 30, 1922—are entitled for active duty performed on and after July 1, 1922, is the active-list pay and allowances of their grade as fixed by the act of June 10, 1922, and that they do not retain after June 30, 1922, for any purpose their old active-duty pay or allowances. Page 2, paragraph 6. The instructions read: The act of June 10, 1922, makes no provision for the pay of officers of the rank of commodore and rear admiral when on active duty, and therefore such officers are only entitled to retired pay when on active duty, except in time of war, when they are entitled to full pay as provided by section 1592, Revised Statutes. Line 2. Insert after first word "of" word "retired." Line 4. Eliminate all after word "duty" and beginning with "except," leaving the matter of instruction for active-duty pay of retired commodores and rear admirals in time of war for future determination and promulgation in accordance with laws as then in effect. The application of section 1592, Revised Statutes, to war conditions is not now necessary to determine. Insert additional paragraph reading: Retired officers of grades of captain and commander are entitled when on active duty to the full active-duty pay and allowances of their grades. The provisions in section 17 for the receipt by such retired officers of "full pay and allowances" when "on active duty" and in sections 5 and 6 for their receipt of allowances of their grade when "on active duty" are interpreted as inclusive of the grades of captain and commander and as eliminating for the purposes of such active-duty pay and allowances the limitation for such grades to those of the grade of lieutenant commander as it existed on June 30, 1922. See act of August 29, 1916, 39 Stat., 581, and preceding acts of August 22, 1912, 37 Stat., 329, and June 7, 1900, 31 Stat., 703. Page 2, last paragraph. The instructions read: Under the terms of sections 5 and 6 all officers, regardless of rank, when recalled to active duty, are entitled to the full allowances of their pay period (commodores and rear admirals receive allowances of sixth pay period) as determined by the act of June 10, 1922. Line 1. Strike out all after words "regardless of rank" and insert "below the grade of rear admiral (lower half) or commodore, when recalled to active duty, are entitled to the full allowances of their pay period. See sections 17, 5, 6, and 1 of act of June 10, 1922." See decision of August 25, 1922, to Maj. Carl Halla. Add paragraph that— Retired warrant officers recalled to active duty shall receive the full allowances of warrant officers on the active list. See sections 17, 11, 5, and 6, act of June 10, 1922. Both sections 17 and 5 and 6 of the act of June 10, 1922, confine the pay and allowances they authorize for retired officers on active duty on and after July 1, 1922, to those below the grade of brigadier general, which as applied to the Navy is below the grade of rear admiral (lower half) or commodore, and the separate provision in section 8 as to active list officers does not apply to such retired ones. See in this connection decision of August 25, 1922, to Maj. Carl Halla, in re retired pay and allowance for active duty of Maj. Gen. J. T. Dickman. Page 3, first three paragraphs. The instructions read: The limitations of pay and total pay and allowances, mentioned in sections 1, 7, and 8 of the act, apply equally to those officers on the retired list when on active duty. Section 17 also provides that "Active duty performed after June 30, 1922, by an officer on the retired list * * shall not entitle such officer to promotion." This provision prevents any retired officer from advancing permanently to any higher rank on account of active duty performed subsequent to 30 June, 1922, and also from including any such period of active duty in his service for purposes of computing longevity pay. (See 25 Comp. Dec., 601.) The citation, "See 25 Comp. Dec., 601," paragraph 3, should be omitted. No objection otherwise to the instructions. RETIRED ENLISTED MEN. Page 3 and page 4, prior to last paragraph. The instructions read: Section 10 of the act of 10 June, 1922, provides that- shall have their retired pay computed as now authorized by law on the basis of pay provided by this act." Section 17 of the act provides * "That nothing contained in this act shall operate to reduce the present pay of * enlisted men now on the retired list of any of the services mentioned in the title of this act. * retired enlisted men of those services, shall, when on active duty, receive full pay and allowances." According to the above provisions, therefore, enlisted men placed on the retired list prior to July 1, 1922, shall from and after that date have their retired pay computed on the basis of the rates of pay prescribed in section 10 (a table of which is published in section B of the instructions) unless such retired pay is less than that to which they were entitled prior to July 1, 1922, |