resigned his place in the Army, and it shall be filled as a vacancy.1 Sec. 1223, R. S.

998. Supernumerary officers may, on their own request, be discharged with certain pay.-That any officer who is supernumerary to the permanent organization of the Army as provided by law may, at his own request, be honorably discharged from the Army, and shall thereupon receive one year's pay for each five years of his service, but no officer shall receive more than three year's pay in all. Act of June 30, 1882 (22 Stat. 118).

1 The act of March 30, 1868 (15 Stat. 58), which is embodied in section 1223 of the Revised Statutes, applied to officers on the retired as well as on the active list, and it made the acceptance of the diplomatie vacate the military office eo instanti; the vacancy thus created necessarily continuing until filled in the usual way. (XIX Opin. Att. Gen., 610.)

The act of July 31, 1894 (28 Stat. 205), paragraph 990, ante, does not authorize a retired officer to accept a position prohibited by this paragraph.

CHAPTER XXV
CHA

BREVETS-UNIFORM AND TITLE OF EX-OFFICERSMEDALS OF HONOR-CERTIFICATES OF MERIT-FOREIGN DECORATIONS.

999. Brevet rank.-The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, may in time of war confer commissions by brevet upon commissioned officers of the Army for distinguished conduct and public service in presence of the enemy.1 Sec. 1209, R. S.

1 Several brevet nominations were submitted to the Senate in the first session of the Fifty-seventh Congress (1901-2). The Committee on Military Affairs submitted a report (S. Doc. No. 195, 57th Cong., 2d sess.) upon these nominations. The committee concluded that there existed no authority of law to issue brevet commissions in time of peace. Consequently so long as section 1209, Revised Statutes, remains unchanged brevet commissions will be issued only in time of war.

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1000. Same-For gallant service against hostile Indians.-The President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered, at his discretion, to nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint to brevet rank all officers of the United States Army now on the active or retired list who by their department commander, and with the concurrence of the Commanding General of the Army, have been or may be recommended for gallant service in action against hostile Indians since January first, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. Sec. 1, Act of Feb. 27, 1890 (26 Stat. 13).

1001. Same-Shall bear date from particular action or service.— Brevet commissions shall bear date from the particular action or service for which the officers were brevetted. Sec. 1210, R. S.

1002. Same.-Shall bear date from passage of act.-Such brevet commissions as may be issued under the provisions of this act shall bear date only from the passage of this act: Provided, however, That the date of the particular heroic act for which the officer is promoted shall appear in his commission. Sec. 2, Act of Feb. 27, 1890 (26 Stat. 13).

1003. Same-To be honorary.-Brevet rank shall be considered strictly honorary, and shall confer no privilege of precedence or command not already provided for in the statutes which embody the rules and articles governing the Army of the United States. Sec. 3, id., 14.

1004. Same-Only when actually engaged in hostilities.-Officers of the Army shall only be assigned to duty or command according to their brevet rank when actually engaged in hostilities.1 Act of Mar. 3. 1883 (22 Stat. 457).

1005. Same-Shall wear uniform of actual rank.-No officer shall be entitled, on account of having been brevetted, to wear, while on duty, any uniform other than that of his actual rank. Sec. 1212, R. S.

1006. Same-Shall be addressed by title of actual rank.-No officer shall be addressed in orders or official communications by any title other than that of his actual rank Sec. 1212, R. S.

1007. Same-Uniform of highest volunteer rank.-All officers who have served during the rebellion as volunteers in the Army of the United States, and have been honorably mustered out of the volunteer service, shall be entitled to bear the official title, and, upon occasions of ceremony, to wear the uniform of the highest grade they have held,

'When an officer has been duly assigned to duty or command according to a certain brevet rank, that rank becomes his actual military rank for the period of the assignment. He is empowered to exercise the authority which belongs to such rank under the circumstances, to wear the uniform, and to be addressed by the title of such rank, etc. Held, however, that a colonel, assigned to command according to a brevet rank of general, was not entitled to the aids-de-camp of a general except by the authority of the Secretary of War. (Dig. Opin. J. A. G., 969 B 1, edition, 1912.)

by brevet or other commissions, in the volunteer service. The highest volunteer rank which has been held by officers of the Regular Army shall be entered, with their names, respectively, upon the Army Register. But these privileges shall not entitle any officer to command, pay, or emoluments. Sec. 1226, R. S.

1008. Same-Uniform of highest regular rank.-All officers who have served during the rebellion as officers of the Regular Army of the United States, and have been honorably discharged or resigned from the service, shall be entitled to bear the official title, and, upon occasions of ceremony, to wear the uniform of the highest grade they have held, by brevet or other commission, as is now authorized for officers of volunteers by section twelve hundred and twenty-six, Revised Statutes. Act of Feb. 4, 1897 (29 Stat. 511).

1009. Same-Uniform of highest rank in regulars or volunteers during war with Spain.-All officers who have served during the war with Spain, or since, as officers of the Regular or Volunteer Army of the United States, and have been honorably discharged from the service, by resignation or otherwise, shall be entitled to bear the official title, and, upon occasions of ceremony, to wear the uniform of the highest grade they have held by brevet or other commission in the regular or volunteer service. Sec. 34, Act of Feb. 2, 1901 (31 Stat. 757).

1010. Discrimination against persons wearing uniforms.-Hereafter no proprietor, manager, or employee of a theater or other public place of entertainment or amusement in the District of Columbia, or in any Territory, the District of Alaska or Insular possession of the United States, shall make, or cause to be made, any discrimination against any person lawfully wearing the uniform of the Army, Navy, Revenue-Cutter Service or Marine Corps of the United States because of that uniform, and any person making, or causing to be made, such discrimination shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars." Act of Mar. 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 963).

1011. Foreign decorations.-That no decoration, or other thing the acceptance of which is authorized by this act, and no decoration heretofore accepted, or which may hereafter be accepted, by consent

The following States have laws prohibiting anyone not in military service from wearing military uniforms: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois. Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The following States prohibit the wearing of National Guard uniform by anyone not a member of the Guard: Colorado, Massachusetts, and Wyoming. The following States have laws prohibiting discrimination against uniforms: Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wyoming.

of Congress, by any officer of the United States, from any foreign government, shall be publicly shown or exposed upon the person of the officer so receiving the same. Sec. 2, Act of Jan. 31, 1881 (21 Stat. 604).

1012. Same-To be tendered through Department of State. That hereafter any present, decoration, or other thing which shall be conferred or presented by any foreign government to any officer of the United States, civil, naval, or military, shall be tendered through the Department of State, and not to the individual in person, but such present, decoration, or other thing shall not be delivered by the Department of State unless so authorized by act of Congress. Sec. 3, Id.

MEDALS OF HONOR.

1013. Same-President may cause to be issued. That the President cause to be struck, from the dies recently prepared at the United States Mint for that purpose, "medals of honor" additional to those authorized by the act (resolution) of July 12, 1862, and present the same to such officers, noncommissioned officers, and pri vates as have most distinguished, or may hereafter most distinguish themselves in action. Sec. 6, Act of Mar. 3, 1863 (12 Stat. 751).

1014. Same-May be awarded after separation from the service.— For three thousand medals of honor to be prepared, with suitable emblematic devices, upon the design of the medal of honor heretofore issued, or upon an improved design, together with appropriate rosettes or other insignia to be worn in lieu of the medal, and to be presented by direction of the President, and in the name of

1This provision was not embraced in the Revised Statutes. Medals of honor will be awarded by the President to officers and men who most distinguish themselves in action. (Pars. 182, 183, and 188, A. R., 1913; see also G. O. 42, A. G. O., 1897, and G. O. 135, A. G. O., 1899.)

As section 6 of the act of March 3, 1863 (12 Stat. 751), provides for the award of the medal of honor under certain conditions to officers, noncommissioned officers, and privates only, held, that it may not be awarded for distinguished services in action by a contract or acting assistant surgeon, who is no longer in the service. (Dig. Opin. J. A. G., 1b, 665, edition, 1912.)

See also 20 Opin. Atty. Gen., 421, in which advice was given not to grant the medal, as when the application was received, nearly 28 years after the gallant conduct, there was no official record on file in the War Department to substantiate the claim.

See 24 Opin. Atty Gen., 580, in which it is held that the fact that after the application or recommendation is made the applicant leaves the service does not prevent the President from making the award.

A medal of honor is a recognition of gallantry which is granted by authority of Congress to such officers or enlisted men "as have most distinguished themselves in action." When a medal is conferred there is included in the grant a conveyance of ownership of the medal, regarded as a chattel, which becomes the property of the grantee and is subject to such disposition as he may see fit to make of it as a part of his personal estate, subject, however, to the qualification that it may be worn and used as a medal of honor only by the person upon whom it was originally conferred in recognition of his military services. (Id., 1c, 665.)