No. 62. ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, 1. The following extract from an Act of Congress is published for the information and guidance of all concerned: AN ACT making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the support of the Army for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy. six, as follows: Provided, That no money shall hereafter be paid to any railroad company for the transportation of any property or troops of the United States over any railroad which, in whole or in part, was constructed by the aid of a grant of public land on the condition that such railroad should be a public highway for the use of the Government of the United States free from toll or other charge, or upon any other conditions for the use of such road, for such transportation; nor shall any allowance be made for the transportation of officers of the Army over any such road when on duty and under orders as military officers of the United States. But nothing herein contained shall be construed as preventing any such railroad from bringing a suit in the Court of Claims for the charges for such transportation, and recovering for the same if found entitled thereto, by virtue of the laws in force prior to the passage of this act: Provided, That the claim for such charges shall not have been barred by the statute of limitations at the time of bringing the suit, and either party shall have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States: And provided further, That the foregoing provisions shall not apply for the current fiscal year, nor thereafter, to roads where the sole condition of transportation is that the company shall not charge the Government higher rates than they do individuals for like transportation, and when the Quartermaster General shall be satisfied that this condition has been faithfully complied with. Approved March 3, 1875. 2. Pursuant to the foregoing act, officers of the Quartermaster's De partment are instructed to make no payments to any railroad company for transportation of any property or troops of the United States over any of the railroads named in the table of Land Grant Railroads published in General Orders No. 107, A. G. O., of 1874, with the exception of the Comptroller of the Treasury of April 5, 1875 (see Appendix B), are excepted from the provisions of the act above quoted, to wit: No. 3. The Atlantic and Pacific; No. 17. The Denver Pacific; No. 42. The New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Vicksburg; No. 44. The Oregon Central; No. 54. The St. Joseph and Denver City; No. 55. The Southern Pacific of California—main line; No 56. The Southern Pacific of California-branch line; No. 58. The Texas Pacific; and No 59. The Utah Central. Full payments may be made for all transportation that has been or that may hereafter be furnished over the above named railroads. 3. The Union Pacific; the Central Pacific (main line), including the Western Pacific; the Kansas Pacific; the Central Branch Union Pacific (formerly the Atchison and Pike's Peak Railroad), and the Sioux City and Pacific Railroads are also, under the decision of the Second Comptroller of the Treasury above referred to, excepted from the provisions of the act; but payments to said roads being prohibited by the law of March 3, 1873, published in General Orders No. 48, A. G. O., of 1873, all accounts for transportation over said roads will, as required by paragraph 9 of General Orders No. 107, A. G. O., of 1874, be forwarded to the office of the Quartermaster General for administrative action. 4. Payment may be made to any of the railroad companies named in the table of Land Grant Railroads for transportation over any other railroad not land-grant, and to which payment is not prohibited by law, when said Land Grant Road is, in the ordinary course of business, entitled to collect the freight-money; as where it is the first or last link in a through route over which military supplies have been shipped. 5. Personal baggage of officers will not be shipped on Government Bill of Lading, except for the regulation allowance authorized in traveling under orders, unless transported by wagon or other conveyance owned by the United States. 6. Officers are advised that under the acts approved July 1, 1862, July 2, 1864, and February 24, 1871, as construed by the Attorney General in opinion of May 7, 1873, the railroad bridge over the Missouri River, between Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Neb., is, for all purposes of Government transportation, a part of the Union Pacific Railroad line; and that under the act approved July 25, 1866, as construed by the Second Comptroller of the Treasury, February 11, 1875, no higher rates can be paid for transportation of troops and property of the United States over the bridge, than the rate per mile paid for like transportation over other portions of said railroad line. For full text of the Comptroller's decision see Appendix A. 7. General Orders No. 6, A. G. O., of 1874, relative to collections for lost military stores, as modified by General Orders No. 10, A. G. O., of 1874, is hereby amended so as to require Disbursing Officers to furnish, at time of collection, the Chief of the Bureau controlling the appropriation to which the money so collected is to be credited, a statement of the amount collected, the reasons for making the collection, the name of the officer thereby relieved of responsibility, and any other necessary information. 8. Paragraph 20 of General Orders No. 98, A. G. O., of 1872, is hereby modified so as to authorize payment for military transportation to be made only when the paying officer is in possession of both parts of the Bill of Lading, except as hereinafter provided. In case of the loss of either or both parts of the Bill of Lading, the paying officer, after satisfying himself of such loss in the manner required by existing regulations, and after correspondence with the Quartermaster General to ascertain if payment has been made for the service, may make payment in the manner authorized by paragraphs 20 and 21 of General Orders No. 98; but in all such cases he will at once report the fact of payment to the Office of the Quartermaster General, Transportation Branch, inclosing a copy of the Bill of Lading or Certificate (the Certificate to refer to the number of the Bill of Lading), and of the Voucher on which payment has been made; and the Quartermaster General will cause a book to be kept in which all payments so reported will be recorded in such manner as to show the date and place of payment; by whom and to whom paid; number of Bill of Lading, and number and amount of Voucher. This modification of the method of payment is found to be necessary in order to prevent double payment by disbursing officers; a case having occurred in which payment was made, first on the duplicate, sustained by affidavit of carrier as to loss of original, and subsequently on the original presented by the same carrier. But that there may be no unnecessary delay in making payment for such military transportation, officers are instructed to receipt, record, and forward the duplicate Bill of Lading to the paying officer immediately on delivery of the stores to them, except in cases arising under paragraph 18 of General Orders No. 98, in which cases the duplicate will be receipted and forwarded as soon as possible after the action of the board of survey therein provided for is completed. 9. Officers in preparing Bills of Lading are instructed to state in all cases the place at which payment will be made. When in doubt as to place of payment, make the Bills of Lading payable by the Chief Quartermaster of the Department or of the District to which the stores are shipped. Railroad companies and other carriers are requested to present the Bills of Lading for payment to the officer designated. 10. Shipping officers do not in all cases comply with the requirements of previous orders in relation to insertion of special rates in Bills of Lading, and certifying to their correctness. They will hereafter carefully complete the Bill of Lading in such respects before delivering it to the carrier. The insertion of rates in Bills of Lading by carriers is unauthorized. If so inserted, the Government is not held to pay them. 11. Officers are again reminded that when shipments are made over Land Grant Roads, whether including transportation over other roads or not, where payment for the transportation is prohibited by law, the name of the road, the fact that it is a Land Grant Road, and that payment for the transportation is prohibited by law, should be stated in the Bill of Lading. The same facts should also be stated on the Request for personal transportation. 12. In cases of shipments of stores to care of an agent of a connecting line, upon whose receipt settlement for the transportation is authorized by paragraph 33 of General Orders No. 98 of 1872, the Bill of Lading will be countersigned by the shipping officer. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: OFFICIAL: E. D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant General. Assistant Adjutant General. [Appendix A.] WAR DEPARTMENT, To the Honorable the SECRETARY OF WAR: Washington City, January 11, 1875. SIR: The act of Congress approved July 25, 1866, 14 Stat., 244, sec. 3 of chap. 246, provides "that any bridge constructed under this act, and according to its limitations, shall be a lawful structure, and shall be recognized and known as a post-route; upon which, also, no higher charge shall be made for the transmission over the same of the mails, troops, and the munitions of war of the United States, than the rate per mile paid for their transportation over the railroads or public highways leading to said bridge." The act approved February 24, 1871, 16 Stat., 430, authorizes the Union Pacific Railroad Company to issue its bonds to construct a bridge across the Missouri River at Omaha, and provides that "said company may levy and collect tolls and charges for the use of the same; and for the use and protection of said bridge and property, the Union Pacific Railway Company shall be empowered, governed, and limited by the provisions of the act entitled 'An Act to authorize the construction of certain bridges, and to establish them as post-roads,' approved July 25, 1866, so far as the same is applicable thereto." Under these laws, and in pursuance of section 9 of the act of July 2, 1864, 13 Stat., 356, the Union Pacific Railroad Company has built a bridge over the river between Council Bluffs and Omaha, which, with the approaches and the tracks leading to the transfer grounds, is 4 miles long; and charges for the transportation, local and through, of freight 5 cents per 100 pounds, and 50 cents each for passengers. These rates are higher than the rates charged by and paid to the railroads leading to said bridge, either in Iowa or Nebraska, and are higher than can be paid to the Union Pacific Railroad Company under the laws above quoted. The law says that "n 'no higher charge shall be made for the transmission over the same" (the bridge) "of the mails, troops, and munitions of war of the United States, than the rate per mile paid for their transportation over the railroads leading to said bridge." In Iowa, and also in Nebraska, there are a number of railroads leading to the bridge, each having separate and varying rates, which are subject to frequent changes; and the question arises, what rates shall be allowed for the transportation of troops and munitions of war over the bridge? This question resolves itself into four others, viz: 1st. Shall the rates allowed be the rates paid one, and which one, of the roads, or an average of the rates of all the roads leading to the bridge? 2d. When troops and stores simply cross the bridge, but go no farther, shall the rates allowed be the rates paid other roads for the shortest distance for which rates are given in the public tariffs, which distance varies from 5 to 10 miles, or shall they be a proportion, say four-fifths or four-tenths of those rates? 3d. When stores are shipped from Council Bluffs to points beyond Omaha, shall the local charge for the bridge, or a pro rata of the charge for the whole distance, be |