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These officers are also severally directed by law to make their reports to the
Secretary of War.
And none of these acts were changed when the grade of General was revived.
By another section it is made the duty of the
Quartermaster-General, ‘under the direction of the
Secretary of War,’ to receive and distribute all clothing and camp and garrison equipage, and, ‘under the direction of the
Secretary of War,’ to enforce a system of accountability for the same.
In the same manner the
Surgeon-General by law performs his duties under the direction of the
Secretary of War, and, in short, the whole
general staff is, by law, governed by regulations which the
Secretary of War is, by direct statute provision, obliged to make.
By the law creating it, the
Bureau of
Military Justice was ‘attached to and made a part of the War Department.’
Paragraph 1,063 of Revised Army Regulations, which were enacted by Congress into law, reads as follows
‘The Signal Officer shall have charge, under the direction of the Secretary of War, of all signal duty, and of all books, papers, and apparatus connected therewith.’
The following extracts from regulations, taken from many similar provisions, show clearly that Congress placed the
general staff under the
Secretary of War, and these regulations have been recognized by Congress since the office of General was established:
Paragraph 1,010.
The Chief of such Military Bureau in the War Department shall, under the direction of the Secretary of War, regulate, as far as practicable, the employment of hired persons required by the administrative service of his department.
‘Paragraph 1,043.
Chiefs of the Disbursing Department shall, under the direction of the Secretary of War, designate where principal contracts shall be made, etc.’
Paragraph 1,197 makes the approval of the
Secretary of War necessary to rules which the
Surgeon-General may prescribe for supplying hospitals.
