is properly expended. The provisions of section 3709 are in the line of a wise public policy, insuring to the Government the advantage of competition in making contracts for supplies. No reason can be suggested why this institution, which is taken care of by the Government under the head of the Interior Department, should be exempted from those prudent regulations which apply not only to the Interior but to all departments in the purchase of supplies. Your question, therefore, is answered in the affirmative. Very respectfully, Approved. JOHN K. RICHARDS, Solicitor-General. JOSEPH MCKENNA. The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. CIVIL SERVICE.-WAR DEPARTMENT. The volunteer pension branch of the War Department was not within the classified service, and the fact that said branch was merged into the Record and Pension Division of that Department, which is now under the civil service, would not bring positions in it within the classified service. An army officer detailed for duty in a clerical position can not be considered as a member of the "classified service," and after separation therefrom can not be reinstated therein under Rule IX, by reason of his service during the war. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours of July 28 last, inclosing papers in the case of Maj. A. H. Nickerson, which, at the request of the Civil Service Commission, you have submitted to me for an opinion. The facts in the case are as follows: Major Nickerson was enlisted in the military service of the United States as a second lieutenant of volunteers on the 17th day of August, 1861, and served continuously from that time in the active service of the United States in the war of the rebellion, and after the war remained in the military service until his resignation, on the 15th day of November, 1883. On the 28th day of June, 1882, Major Nickerson was, at his own request, placed upon the retired list, the reason for his retirement being, as stated, "that he was incapacitated for active service by reason of gunshot wounds received in the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg, as described by the medical officers, and other injuries incident to the military service." On the 1st of April, 1881, there was organized in the War Department what is called the volunteer pension branch, and in order to constitute the volunteer pension branch the following-named divisions, then existing in the War Department, were transferred and merged into it, viz: Volunteer rolls, prisoners of war, death and disability, and discontinued commissions. The volunteer pension branch thus constituted continued in existence for some time and until it was merged into the Record and Pension Division of the War Department, which is still one of the divisions of the said Department, and which is now under the classified civil service of the United States. Upon the organization of the volunteer pension branch in the War Department, on the 1st of April, 1881, Maj. A. H. Nickerson, who was then Assistant Adjutant-General in the United States Army, was detailed as chief of that branch, and he retained this position and conducted the affairs of this branch of the War Department as its chief until he was put upon the retired list, June 28, 1882. Since the date last named he has not been employed in the civil service of the United States, and has been out of the military service since the date of his resignation, on the 15th of November, 1883. My opinion is desired as to whether Major Nickerson is entitled to reinstatement in the classified service in the War Department, with a view to transfer to the Treasury Department, under the provisions of Rule IX. Rule IX is as follows: "A vacancy in any position which has been, or may hereafter be, classified under the civil-service act, may, upon requisition of the proper officer and the certificate of the commission, be filled by the reinstatement, without examination, of any person who, within one year next preceding the date of said requisition, has, through no delinquency or misconduct, been separated from a position included within the classified service at the date of said requisition and in that department or office and that branch of the service in which said vacancy exists: "Provided, That for original entrance to the position proposed to be filled by reinstatement there is not required by these rules, in the opinion of the commission, an examination involving essential tests different from or higher than those involved in the examination for original entrance to the position formerly held by the person proposed to be reinstated: And provided further, That, subject to the other conditions of these rules, any person who served in the military or naval service of the United States in the late war of the rebellion, and was honorably discharged therefrom, or the widow of any such person, may be reinstated without regard to the length of time he or she has been separated from the service." Major Nickerson has never been in the classified civil service, and the positions in the volunteer pension branch in the War Department, to which he was detailed as chief, never were and can not now be classified, because the volunteer pension branch has been merged into the Record and Pension Division, as before stated, and no longer exists. But if we assume that these positions could still be classified so as to bring them within the provisions of Rule IX, we are then confronted with the fact that Major Nickerson was in the military service of the United States, and that duties performed by him in the civil service were under detail by a military order. This being the case, I think the question you ask is settled by opinion of Attorney-General of May 9, 1890 (19 Opin., 552), to which I respectfully call your attention. The facts upon which that opinion is based seem to constitute a case analogous to this, and, following in the line of said opinion, you are advised that Major Nickerson is not eligible to be certified under Rule IX as requested by the Secretary of War. Very respectfully, yours, The PRESIDENT. JOSEPH MCKENNA. BUILDING REGULATIONS, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The approval of the Secretary of War is required for projections beyond the building line in that part of the city of Washington formerly known as Georgetown. Congress having power to prevent all projections beyond the building line in any part of the city of Washington, as now established, may permit projections upon such conditions as it may see fit to impose. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, December 22, 1897. SIR: The deficiency appropriation act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat., 862, 868), contains the following provisions: "That the action of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia in heretofore granting permits for the extension of any building or buildings, or any part or parts thereof, in the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, beyond the building line, and upon the streets and avenues of said city, is hereby ratified, without prejudice, however, to the legal rights of the Government in the event of the destruction by fire, or otherwise, of any such structure. And hereafter no such permits shall be granted except upon special application and with the concurrence of all of said Commissioners, and the approval of the Secretary of War." Subsequently, by the act of February 11, 1895 (28 Stat., 650), that part of the District of Columbia embraced within the bounds and then constituting the city of Georgetown, was made "a part of the city of Washington, the Federal capital," and "all general laws, ordinances, and regulations of the city of Washington" were "extended and made applicable to that part of the District of Columbia formerly known as the city of Georgetown. After calling attention to these enactments, and to the fact that, in the part of Washington formerly known as Georgetown, the fee to the streets is not vested in the United States, while in the original city of Washington it is, you request my opinion as to whether the approval of the Secretary of War is required for projections beyond the building line in that part of the city of Washington formerly known as the city of Georgetown, this question being sub mitted in view of a pending application requesting such action upon your part. I have no hesitation in answering your question in the affirmative. Congress is vested by the Constitution with exclusive legislative authority within the District of Columbia. The power to establish and maintain streets, to fix a building line and prevent projections beyond it without express permission, is included in this grant of legislative authority, and is in no wise dependent upon the ownership of the fee in the streets. Congress having power to prevent all projections beyond the building line in any part of the city of Washington as now established, may permit projections upon such conditions as it may see fit to impose, one of which conditions at present is the approval of the Secretary of War. Very respectfully, JOHN K. RICHARDS, Approved. JOSEPH MCKENNA. The SECRETARY OF WAR. LICENSE-PATENTS. In the manufacture of a patented breech mechanism under a certain license the United States is confined to its own shops and can not contract with others therefor. From the right to use a patent the right to make or have made may be implied; but this implication can only be made when the right to use is unrestricted. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of yours of October 1, 1897, inclosing a copy of a license dated January 22, 1892, granted to the Bureau of Ordnance of the Navy Department of the United States by R. B. Dashiell. Dashiell was the owner of certain letters patent granted for an improvement in breech-loading ordnance, and by this contract or license he conveyed to the Bureau of Ordnance of the |