Evening Star Newspaper, April 19, 1925, Page 32

The HUB Seventh & D Sts, | Army and Navy News By M. H. Mclneyre. ARMY. Of interest to every officer of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps is the favorable opinion handed down by the Court of Claims of the United States Monday in which it was decided that commutation of quarters should not be included in the income return of an officer. This opinion, which is known to the services as the Clifford Jones income tax tes e, will, in the event that it is sustained by the higher courts to which it is stated on authority the Government will ap- peal, will in the aggregate amount in the millions of dollars. The opinion was rendered by Judge Graham and wa concurred in by Judges Hay, Downey and Campbell. The history of the law governing the commutation of quarters for the Army was given in great detail by the court, which pointed out that the payment of this was necessary in er to maintain military efficiency, As officers and enlisted men are com- pelled to reside at or near Army posts, the court took the position that the allowance for commutation of quar- ters was not recognized as compensa- tion but was viewed more in the na- ture of a reimbursement for those members of the military establish- ment. The credit for pushing this case through to a favorable conclusion in the Court of Claims belongs to the finance department. When this ques- tion of income tax was presented to Maj. Gen. Kenzie W. Walker, chief of finance, in the form of a very able study of Col. Willam H. Graham, J. A. G. D., made separate from his official dutles, the chief of finance au- thorized Col. F. W. Coleman, assistant chief of finance, to proceed with the ase in the personal interest of al officers of the Army. The case was started in March of 1924, and, due to the friendly co-operation of the In- ternal Revenue Bureau, was pushed more quickly through the regular court channels than obtains usually in such cases. Credit also belongs to Capt. Willam P. Montgomery, J. A. G. D., now on duty at 9th Corps Area headquarters, who rendered valuable assistance in the case. A striking parallel was drawn by the court with the Attorney General and his corps of assistants with that of the officers and quarters for the Army. It was inferred that if the allowance for commutation of quar- ters is to be included in an office income tax return, that upon the rendition by the Attorney General of his income tax return he should likewise include the rent which the Government pays for his office. In concluding its opinion, the court The public quarters of the officer s his office as well as his temporacy home. 1t is not, as well said in tne case of Tennant vs. Smith, supra, ‘what is paid out, but what comes in, that constitutes income. It is indeed far from impressive that where an employer, in the course of the pro- motion and efficiency of the enter- prise in which he is engaged, must of necessity provide the indispensable facilities for the successful prosecu- tion of the same, because perchance an employe in the not to be avoided course of his duties may be in a position to avold an expense which in a different character of service he might be obliged to incur, that there- fore the use of the facility constizutes income. In any event, the contention is without merit. Situations must be faced as they exist; rights are not to be determined upon a hypothetical basis in the face of facts. The Army officer may not provide himself with his own quarters. No such regula- tion of law has ever prevailed. ton- gress has never accorded the priv- ilege, the provision for commutation empliasizes the fact. On the con trary, the Government furnishes the quarters as a part of the military astablishment itself. “From what has been said, we be- lieve the plaintiff is entitled to judg- ment for the amount claimad. It i3 €0 ordered.” Six classes of the United States Military Academy, it is stated, wil be affected by the decision in the Noce case, pertaining to cadet service at the Academy for longevity pur poses, which will be argued in the United States Supreme Court, hegir- ning April 20. The six classes arc: « of 1917, which graduated in class of 1918, which graduzted , 1917; class of 1919, which graduated in June, 1918; class of 1920, which graduated in November, J41%: class of 1921, which graduated in vember, 1918, and the cla which graduated in July, 3 As the act of May 28, 1924, is not retroactive, which took away from officers credit for service in the Mili- | tary Academy, it is not applicable to | these classes. Under normal condi- tions the same general principies would be applicable to graduates from the ' Naval Academy, and, as it is pointed out by officers interesied in the case, the Noce case should bhe a test of the points of law in-olved for the Naval Academy as well as for the West Pointers. According ,to the present plans, Maj. Gen. Robert H. Allen, the new chief of infantry, will make his first sit to the Infantry School at Fort lenning, Ga., about May 24, remain- ing at the Benning institution until after graduation. War Department orders were is- sued this week detailing Col. F' S. Cocheu, Infantry, who is at present chief of staff of the 3d Corps Area, Baltimore, Md., as the next as: commandant of the Infantry S He will relieve Brig. Gen. Alfred W.| Bjornstad, subsequent to his appoint- ment as a general officer. Word has been received that Col. Cocheu has already been relieved from his duties at 3d Corps Area headquarters, and that upon his arrival at Fort Benning, which will be about June 30, he will immediately assume the office and duties of assistant commandant of the school. Beginning about May"1, Col. John Axton, chief of chaplains, will leave Washington for visits of inspection of the various posts and stations, to inspect the activities of the chaplains | on duty at points included in his itin- erary, and to hold conferences of Re. serve and National Guard chaplains residing in the vicinity of the posts visited. He is making this inspection trip primarily for the purpose of ac- quainting himself with the latest de- velopments and problems in this branch of the service, as the last offi- cial visit of inspection was made three years ago without expense. to the gov- ernment. Under the operations of the Manchu law 16 officers out of the 77 _who are assigned to duty with the War De- partment general staff will be relieved Dbetween now and July 1, while of the 97 general staff officers serving with troops only 7 are slated for new ssigggnents. Under the established policy of the department 25 per cent of the officers on duty with the War Department general staff should be relieved, but until matters have be- come adjudicated as the result of sus- pending the Manchu law during the war a free flow of changes to and from the general staff every year will not become normal. Officers on duty in the War Department point out that there will not be a normal flow to and from the general staff for some time, due to the fact that the majority of the members of the general staff, serv- ing both in the department and with troops, were only assigned last year. ° Brig. Gen. Leroy Elti chief of | chief of staff, China expedition. ment general staff, has already been relieved and on June 1 Col. John B. Bennett, acting assistant chief of staff, G-2, will be due for relief. Though neither the Secretary of War nor the chief of staff has indicated what as- signments will be made in the future. it is believed that Brig. Gen. Campbeli King, who is returning from the Philippines and is under orders to re- port to the chief of staff, will relieve Col. Bennett. Likewise, as to Brig. Gen. H. A. Smith, who will be re- lieved from Fort Leavenworth, there is an impression that he will go to the war plans division. The other 14 general staff officers who have been or soon will be or- dered from duty in the War Depart- ment to new assignments are: Cols. George C. Barnhardt, G-3; George Estes, G3; Frank C. Jewell, G-3; Julian R. Lindsey, G-4; Willam R. Smedberg, G-1; Willlam E. Welch, -3; John E. Woodward, G-1; F. U. Clark, G-4; Albert W. Foreman, war plans’ division; Lieut. Cols. Raymond s, G-1; James H. Bryson, office of the deputy chief of staff; Lo- renzo D. Gasser, secretary of the gen- eral staff; Asa L. Singleton, war plans division, and Capt. James H. Bogart, G The seven officers serving on the | general staff with troops who are due to be relleved are: Cols. Frank S. Cocheu, chief of staff, 3d Corps Area; William P. Jackson, chlef of staff, || *d Corps Area; Irving J. Carr, chief of staff, Hawailan division; Ralph E. Ingram, assistant chief of staff, G-4, 3d Corps Area; James Justice, as. sistant_chief of staff, G-2, 2d Corps Area; Lieut. Cols. Willlam P. Ennis, assistant chief of staff, G-4, Panama Canal department; Joseph -F. Barnes, New faces will also be seen in the | offices of the various War Department branches, some of the changes al- ready being made. In the office of the chief signal officer, Lieut. Col. C. A. Secane, Sjgnal Corps, executive offi- cer, will go to the War College. Col. Irving J. Carr, Signal Corps, chief of | taff of the Hawailan dlvision, will come to this office, as will also Lieut. Col. John E. Hemphill, Signal Corps, now on duty at the Signal School at Camp Vail. It is expected that either Col. Carr or Col. Hemphill will be as- signed as executive officer of the of- || fice. Col. James B. Allison, ignal | Corps, now on duty at the Army War College, will go to Camp Alfred Vail, | N. J., as commanding officer and a: commandant of the Signal School 1 Only one change will be made in the | office of the chlef of cavalry, this, being Lieut. Col. Robert Mc Beck, jr., on duty in the plans and training section, who will go to the War Col- | lege. He will be relieved by Lieut. | Col. Douglas McCaskey, some time in | 's tour of duty expir- Col. McCaskey is al- ready in Washington. Maj. James W. Lyon. has been on duty in the industr lations division of this office, will re- lieve Maj. A. L. Rockwood, C. W. 8., chief of the supply division, this omfice who will go to the Army War College. | Maj. L. F. J. Zerbee, C. W. head the industrial relations but, as he is under orders to become a member of the general staff on June 30, a successor will have to be ap. pointed. Capt. G. Marshall, chief of the personnel division of the office, who will complete his four years in June, is slated to go to Edgewood Arsenal, where he will report about August 15. Lieut. Col. Harry C. Barnes, C. A. C, executive officer of the office of chief of Coast Artillery, will leave this office the latter part of May and proceed to the Philippines. He will be relieved by Lieut. Col. Charles E. Kilbourne, who is now assigned to the 9th Coast Artillery, at Fort Banks, Mass. Four changes will be made in the office of the chief of Infantry, which are: Col. John H. Hughes, Infantry, executive officer, who will be assigned to a regiment, the designation of which is not yet known; Lieut. Col. Augustus F. Dannemiller, Infantry, on duty in the personnel section, who has been assigned as professor of military science and tactics at George town University, Washington, D. C. Maj. Jesse C. Drain, Infantry, assist- ant executive officer, who will go to the War College, and Maj. Vernon Evans, Infantry, on duty in the per- sonnel section, who will attend the Command and General Staff School. Maj. P. D. Parkinson, Infantry, now at the Infantry School, will relieve Maj. Evans. NAVY Selection of the commander-in-chief of the United States fleet to succeed Admiral Robert E. Coontz and the next commanders-in-chief of the Asiaticand European fleets, it is not believed will be made by the Secretary of the Navy until shortly before the date of their reliefs. Admiral Coontz will not be released until October, and, according to the present plans, the successor of Ad- miral Thomas Washington, com- mander-in-chief of the Asiatic fleet, who will not be due for shore duty un- til Fall, will not be named by the Sec- retary ‘until a short time before Ad- m Washington's term of duty ex- pires. The term of duty of Vi Ad- miral Philip Andrews as commander- in-chief of the European fleet will terminate during the middle part of the Summer, and it is possible that Admiral Andrews may not be relieved until sometime in the Fall also. In all likelihood the delay in select- ing the commander-in-chiefs of the three large American fleets will defer the new reliefs of flag officers now afloat in the high naval commands. If the manner in which vacancies in the Navy Department bureaus have been filled in the past is any criterion, the Secretary will probably not announce the new reliefs in the fleet until a short time before they become ef- fective. As anticipated in these columns several Weeks ago, Capt. Edward H. Campbellf U. 8. N., who is at present on duty as assistant chief of the|| Bureau of Navigation, Navy Depart- ment, has been appointed judge ad- vocate general of the Navy, succeed- ing Rear Admiral Julian L. Latimer,|| whose term as chief of this depart- ment will terminate on April 29. The latter has been assigned to command || the special service squadron. Urgent requests received by the Navy Department from Australia and New Zealand has caused the depart- ment to revise the itinerary of the cruise to Australian and New Zealand waters, approval of which was made this week by the chief of naval op- erations of the Navy Department. The new itinerary will include the Island of Tahiti of the Society Group under French control. Under the new schedule the light cruiser division, consisting of the U. S. ships Marblehead and Memphis, will accompany the Seattle to Tahiti, and, after calling at Galapogis Island, will’ proeeed to canal waters, arriving at Guam on Octobér S.' The Seattle will sail direct for San Diego. The v, A Idaho, originally scheduled || to remain at Honolulu during the month of July and to proceed to the Puget Sound Navy Yard for docking and overhaul, has been included in the list of ships to make the cruise to Australia. The Idaho will join || Battleship Division 4 on the cruise and will go to Sydney and Auckland. The visiting dates under the ne schedule are as follows: Melbourne, July the Sydney detachment is|! due at Sydney on the same date; HUBS Formal OPEN A CHARGE'ACCOUNT = \\ (9N Porch Shades Hang them on your porch this Summer and live “comfort ven on the ON CREDIT Screen Doors All sizes of doors, from the plain to the very t days fancy styles, in hardwood finish. Please bring made —no- exact measurements when ordering doors. Opening e Di of Lawn Mower, with 12-inch cutting Hammock Chair $1.49 Hard wood folding frame. Strong canvas stretcher. Folding Lawn Bench Porch Rocker Made wood. A double $ I .75 and inexp ensive bench for porch or Natural - finish hardwood, rattan seat lawn 15 Inches High Open to 33 Inches Sizes-are standard and usually are cut down to fit the desired space. Screen Doors, plain walnut- stained frames; sizes 2 ft. 6 in. $1 .69 by 6 ft. 6 in. 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As shown—davenport, arm= thade, On Credit at This Low Price The picture hardly does the suite justice! Consists of full vanity, bow-foot bed, chiffo- rette and dresser. Two-toned gold-line dec- Wellington_detachment will arrive at (Continued on. Page 33.) orated panels. Special price. On Credit at This Low Price 4-Piece Bed Davenport Suite 73 Bed-Davenport, Table, Arm- ‘chair and Rocker of golden oak. Covering is of good quality imita- tion leather. A practical group for the living room. On Credit Phone Stand and Stool s Strongly made of hard- wood—fumed finish. Three-Piece Tapéstry Covered Suite ¢ Settee, Armchair and Fireside Chair, with spring-filled “Comfy seats—covering of tapestry. An unusual value. 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