This section merely prohibited the employment or payment of a messenger, etc., or other subordinate assistant, in any Department, etc., "unless such employment is authorized by law, or is necessary to carry into effect some object for which an appropriation has been specifically made." It was repealed by Act Aug. 5, 1882, c. 389, § 4, ante, § 249. § 255. (R. S. § 173.) Chief clerks to supervise subordinate clerks. Each chief clerk in the several Departments, and Bureaus, and other offices connected with the Departments, shall supervise, under the direction of his immediate superior, the duties of the other clerks therein, and see that they are faithfully performed. Act Aug. 26, 1842, c. 202, § 13, 5 Stat. 525. § 256. (R. S. § 174.) Chief clerks to distribute duties, etc. Each chief clerk shall take care, from time to time, that the duties of the other clerks are distributed with equality and uniformity, according to the nature of the case. He shall revise such distribution from time to time, for the purpose of correcting any tendency to undue accumulation or reduction of duties, whether arising from individual negligence or incapacity, or from increase or diminution of particular kinds of business. And he shall report monthly to his superior officer any existing defect that he may be aware of in the arrangement or dispatch of business. Act Aug. 26, 1842, c. 202, § 13, 5 Stat. 525. § 257. (R. S. § 175.) Duty of chief on receipt of report. Each head of a Department, chief of a Bureau, or other superior officer, shall, upon receiving each monthly report of his chief clerk, rendered pursuant to the preceding section, examine the facts stated therein, and take such measures, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon him by law, as may be necessary and proper to amend any existing defects in the arrangement or dispatch of business disclosed by such report. Act Aug. 26, 1842, c. 202, § 13, 5 Stat. 525. Further provisions requiring monthly reports to the head of each Executive Department as to the condition of public business in the several bureaus and offices of his Department, and the bringing up of arrears disclosed by such reports, and also requiring quarterly reports by the head of each Executive Department, etc., to the President as to the condition of public business in his Department, etc., were made by Act March 15, 1898, c. 68, § 7, ante, § 238. § 258. (R. S. § 176.) Disbursing clerks. The disbursing clerks authorized by law in the several Departments shall be appointed by the heads of the respective Departments, from clerks of the fourth class; and shall each give a bond to the United States for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office according to law in such amount as shall be directed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and with sureties to the satisfaction of the Solicitor of the Treasury; and shall from time to time renew, strengthen, and increase his official bond, as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct. Each disbursing clerk, except the disbursing clerk of the Treasury Department, must, when directed so to do by the head of the Department, superintend the building occupied by his Department. Each disbursing clerk is entitled to receive, in compensation for his serv ices in disbursing, such sum in addition to his salary as a clerk of the fourth class as shall make his whole annual compensation two thousand dollars a year. Act March 3, 1853, c. 97, § 3, 10 Stat. 209, 211. Act March 3, 1855, c. 175, § 4, 10 Stat. 669. Act March 3, 1873, c. 226, § 1, 17 Stat. 485, 492. Provisions authorizing the appointment of disbursing clerks for the several Departments were contained in R. S. §§ 201, 215, 235, 351, 393, 416, 440, post, $$ 290, 314, 352, 526, 572, 614, 669. The appointment, in case of sickness or unavoidable absence of a disbursing clerk, of another to act in his place, was provided for by Act March 4, 1909, c. 299, 8, post, § 6614. Duties and liabilities of disbursing officers were prescribed by R. S. §§ 36203623, and subsequent provisions, post, §§ 6612-6623. Vouchers and pay rolls are to be prepared and examined for administrative audit by heads of divisions and bureaus, and not by disbursing clerks, by a provision of Act Aug. 23, 1912, c. 350, § 1, post, § 429. Statements and receipts by disbursing officers of the Departments for all moneys expended by them were required by R. S. § 193, post, § 268. Inspection of books, papers, etc., of disbursing officers of the Departments, etc., by the accounting officers of the Treasury Department, was provided for by Act Feb. 19, 1897, c. 265, § 1, post, § 419. $259. (R. S. § 177.) Vacancies; how temporarily filled. In case of the death, resignation, absence, or sickness of the head of any Department, the first or sole assistant thereof shall, unless otherwise directed by the President, as provided by section one hundred and seventy-nine, perform the duties of such head until a successor is appointed, or such absence or sickness shall cease. Act July 23, 1868, c. 227, § 1, 15 Stat. 168. A provision that the Secretary of War, when temporarily absent from the War Department, might authorize the chief clerk of the Department to sign nquisitions on the Treasury Department and other papers, was made by Act March 4, 1874, c. 44, post, § 315. The senior commissioned medical officer, detailed for duty in the Public Health Bureau at Washington, having charge of the administrative divisions thereof, is the "assistant," within the meaning of this section, by Act July 1, 1902, c. 1370, § 3, post, § 9136. § 260. (R. S. § 178.) Vacancies in subordinate offices. In case of the death, resignation, absence, or sickness of the chief of any Bureau, or of any officer thereof, whose appointment is not vested in the head of the Department, the assistant or deputy of such chief or of such officer, or if there be none, then the chief clerk of Such Bureau, shall, unless otherwise directed by the President, as provided by section one hundred and seventy-nine, perform the duties of such chief or of such officer until a successor is appointed or such absence or sickness shall cease. Act July 23, 1868, c. 227, § 2, 15 Stat. 168. In case of the death, resignation, absence, or sickness of the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation in the Navy Department, the officer of the Navy detailed as his assistant was authorized to perform the duties of such Chief, unless otherwise directed by the President under this section, by Act March 3, 1893, c. 212, § 1, post, § 631. In case of the death, resignation, absence, or sickness of the Chief of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts in the Navy Department, the officer of the pay corps of the Navy detailed as his assistant was authorized to perform the duties of such Chief, unless otherwise directed by the President under this section, by Act July 26, 1894, c. 165, § 1, post, § 638. In case of the death, resignation, absence, or sickness of the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance in the Navy Department, the line officer of the Navy detailed as his assistant was authorized to perform the duties of such Chief, unless otherwise directed by the President under this section, by Act May 4, 1898, c. 234, § 1, post, § 632. § 261. (R. S. § 179.) Discretionary authority of the President. In any of the cases mentioned in the two preceding sections, except the death, resignation, absence, or sickness of the Attorney-General, the President may, in his discretion, authorize and direct the head of any other Department or any other officer in either Department, whose appointment is vested in the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to perform the duties of the vacant office until a successor is appointed, or the sickness or absence of the incumbent shall cease. Act July 23, 1868, c. 227, § 3, 15 Stat. 168. Act June 22, 1870, c. 150, § 2, 16 Stat. 162. The President was empowered to authorize and direct the commanding general of the Army or the chief of any military bureau of the War Department to perform the duties of the Secretary of War, under the provisions of this section, by Act Aug. 5, 1882, c. 389, § 1, post, § 313. § 262. (R. S. § 180, as amended, Act Feb. 6, 1891, c. 113.) Temporary appointments limited to thirty days. A vacancy occasioned by death or resignation must not be temporarily filled under the three preceding sections for a longer period than thirty days. Act July 23, 1868, c. 227, § 3, 15 Stat. 168. Act Feb. 6, 1891, c. 113, 26 Stat. 733. The amendment of this section by Act Feb. 6, 1891, c. 113, cited above, consisted in the change of the period for which such a vacancy may be filled from "ten days," as provided in the original section, to "thirty days." § 263. (R. S. § 181.) Restriction on temporary appointments. No temporary appointment, designation, or assignment of one officer to perform the duties of another, in the cases covered by sections one hundred and seventy-seven and one hundred and seventy-eight, shall be made otherwise than as provided by those sections, except to fill a vacancy happening during a recess of the Senate. Act July 23, 1868, c. 227, § 2, 15 Stat. 168. § 264. (R. S. § 182.) Extra compensation disallowed. An officer performing the duties of another office, during a vacancy, as authorized by sections one hundred and seventy-seven, one hundred and seventy-eight, and one hundred and seventy-nine, is not by reason thereof entitled to any other compensation than that attached to his proper office. Act July 23, 1868, c. 227, § 3, 15 Stat. 168. § 265. (R. S. § 183, as amended, Act March 2, 1901, c. 809, § 3, Act Feb. 13, 1911, c. 43.) Oaths to witnesses, authority of officers, etc., to administer. Any officer or clerk of any of the departments lawfully detailed to investigate frauds on, or attempts to defraud, the government, or any irregularity or misconduct of any officer or agent of the United States, and any officer of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps or Revenue-Cutter Service, detailed to conduct an investigation, and the recorder, and if there be none the presiding officer, of any military, naval, or Revenue-Cutter Service board appointed for such purpose, shall have authority to administer an oath to any witness attending to testify or depose in the course of such investigation. Res. April 10, 1869, No. 15, § 2, 16 Stat. 55. Act March 7, 1870, c. 23, 16 Stat. 75. Act March 2, 1901, c. 809, § 3, 31 Stat. 951. Act Feb. 13, 1911, c. 43, 36 Stat. 898. This section, as enacted in the Revised Statutes, was amended by Act March 2, 1901, c. 809, § 3, cited above, the amendment consisting principally in the insertion of a clause adding to the officers or clerks authorized to administer oaths to witnesses, "and any officer of the Army detailed to conduct an investigation, and the recorder, and, if there be none, the presiding officer of any military board appointed for such purpose." The further amendment by Act Feb. 13, 1911, c. 43, also cited above, inserted in the clause so added, after the word "Army," the words "Navy, Marine Corps, or Revenue-Cutter Service," and between the words "military" and "board," the words "naval or Revenue-Cutter Service," making the section read as set forth here. Authority to administer an oath to any witness, on investigation of a shipwreck attended with loss of life, was conferred on the officer or clerk of the Treasury Department detailed to conduct such investigation, by Act June 18, 1878, c. 265, § 9, post, § 8464. § 266. (R. S. § 184.) Subpoenas to witnesses. Any head of a Department or Bureau in which a claim against the United States is properly pending may apply to any judge or clerk of any court of the United States, in any State, District, or Territory, to issue a subpoena for a witness being within the jurisdiction of such court, to appear at a time and place in the subpoena stated, before any officer authorized to take depositions to be used in the courts of the United States, there to give full and true answers to such written interrogatories and cross-interrogatories as may be submitted with the application, or to be orally examined and cross-examined upon the subject of such claim. Act Feb. 14, 1871, c. 51, § 1, 16 Stat. 412. In addition to the authority conferred by this section, like provision was made for the issue of subpoenas for witnesses, upon the application of the Commissioner of Pensions, on investigation or examination into the merits of pension claims, by Act July 25, 1882, c. 349, § 3, post, § 9075. 267. (R. S. § 185.) Witnesses' fees. Witnesses subpoenaed pursuant to the preceding section shall be allowed the same compensation as is allowed witnesses in the courts of the United States. Act Feb. 14, 1871, c. 51, § 1, 16 Stat. 412. Fees allowed witnesses in United States courts were prescribed by R. S. § 848, and Act May 27, 1908, c. 200, § 1, post, §§ 1452, 1453. § 268. (R. S. § 186.) Compelling testimony. If any witness, after being duly served with such subpoena, neglects or refuses to appear, or, appearing, refuses to testify, the judge of the district in which the subpoena issued may proceed, upon proper process, to enforce obedience to the subpoena, or to punish the disobedience, in like manner as any court of the United States may do in case of process of subpoena ad testificandum issued by such court. Act Feb. 14, 1871, c. 51, § 1, 16 Stat. 412. § 269. (R. S. § 187.) Professional assistance; how obtained. R. S. § 184, mentioned in this section, is set forth ante, § 266. § 270. (R. S. § 188.) Evidence to be furnished by the Depart- In all suits brought against the United States in the Court of Claims founded upon any contract, agreement, or transaction with any Department, or any Bureau, officer, or agent of a Department, or where the matter or thing on which the claim is based has been passed upon and decided by any Department, Bureau, or officer authorized to adjust it, the Attorney-General shall transmit to such Department, Bureau, or officer, a printed copy of the petition filed by the claimant, with a request that the Department, Bureau, or officer, shall furnish to the Attorney-General all facts, circumstances, and evidence touching the claim in the possession or knowledge of the Department, Bureau, or officer. Such Department, Bureau, or officer shall, without delay, and within a reasonable time, furnish the Attorney-General with a full statement, in writing, of all such facts, information, and proofs. The statement shall contain a reference to or description of all such official documents or papers, if any, as may furnish proof of facts referred to in it, or may be necessary and proper for the defense of the United States against the claim, mentioning the Department, office, or place where the same is kept or may be procured. If the claim has been passed upon and decided by the Department, Bureau, or officer, the statement shall succinctly state the reasons and principles upon which such decision was based. In all cases where such decision was founded upon any act of Congress, or upon any section or clause of such act, the same shall be cited specifically; and if any previous interpretation or construction has been given to such act, section, or clause by the Department, Bureau, or officer, the same shall be set forth succinctly in the statement, and a copy of the opinion filed, if any, shall be annexed to it. Where any decision in the case has been based upon any regulation of a Department, or where such regulation has, in the opinion of the Department, Bureau, or officer transmitting such statement, any bearing upon the claim in suit, the same shall be distinctly quoted at length in the statement. But where more than one case, or a class of cases, is pending, the defense to which rests upon the same facts, circumstances, and proofs, the Department, Bureau, or officer shall only be |