I am inclined to the view that the application of the above-cited decisions should be limited to cases involving specific statutory restrictions or limitations upon the use of appropriated moneys; and that they should not be regarded as prohibiting the expenditure of the company's funds for objects which are within the company's corporate powers and reasonably necessary to the conduct of the corporate business, even though such objects may go beyond those for which, as a matter of policy, appropriated funds usually are expended by regular Government departments or agencies.

Operating under the provisions of its charter, The Virgin Islands Co. has acquired legal title to certain stores, stocks, supplies and other property, and it is the obvious duty of the company's directors to take such action as is dictated by normal business practices for the protec tion and preservation of the company's property, provided, of course, that such practices do not require expenditures for objects for which the company's funds are not legally available. Since the Government's practice of self-insurance is one of policy and not of positive law, and since the practice has not been observed strictly in cases involving insurance of property of Government corporations, 23 Comp. Dec. 297, supra, I feel justified in holding that funds which otherwise are legally chargeable with the necessary operating expenses of The Virgin Islands Co. are available for payment of premiums on contracts insuring the company's property against loss from fire, theft, hurricane, marine, and other perils-the insurance to run to the corporation rather than to the United States.

With respect to materials and supplies purchased f. o. b. New York for use in the company's manufacturing processes, it is assumed that, as is customary with sales f. o. b. a named shipping point, the company would take title to the materials and supplies at New York and, if such be the case, there would appear to be no objection to payments from the company's funds for premiums on contracts insuring such materials and supplies while in transit. With reference to the statement in your letter that "Since neither the Federal Government nor any agency thereof has an interest in such materials and supplies, the Government Losses in Shipment Act is not applicable * your attention is invited to the fact that it has been held that The Virgin Islands Co. is, itself, an agency of the Government (15 Comp. Gen. 485), and it is clear that the United States has an interest in the property of the company, since the agreement under which the company operates certain of the Government's properties and facilities in the Virgin Islands contemplates that the company's profits, if any, shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. See 14 Comp. Gen. 798. However, a determination as to whether the shipments here in question are subject to the provisions of the Government Losses in

Shipment Act, as amended, does not rest entirely on that point. Said act relates to the shipment of "valuables" by the Government and, as amended by section 3 of the act of August 10, 1939, 53 Stat. 1359, covers only "articles or things or representatives of value in which the United States has any interest," or in connection with which it has any obligation or responsibility, direct or indirect, and which are declared by the Secretary of the Treasury to be valuables within the meaning of the act. The articles so declared by the Secre tary of the Treasury to be "valuables" include four general classes: A, money of the United States and foreign countries; B, securities and other instruments or documents, private and public; C, precious metals and stones, and D, certain works and collections of artistic, historical, scientific or educational value. 4 F. R. 3796; 5 id. 2653. Hence, it does not appear that materials or supplies purchased for use in the manufacturing processes of The Virgin Islands Co. would fall within the purview of the Government Losses in Shipment Act.

(B-24335), (B–24553)

PAY-ADDITIONAL-SEA AND FOREIGN SHORE DUTY

Under section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, providing that the per centum increase in base pay authorized thereby for sea or foreign shore duty be included in computing increases in pay for submarine duty, Navy enlisted men assigned to duty aboard a submarine and also to the duty of diving are entitled to the per centum increase on their additional submarine-duty pay but not upon their additional pay for diving.

The per centum increase in base pay for sea or foreign shore duty authorized by section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, for Navy and Coast Guard warrant officers should be computed on the base pay rate applicable to their length of service as established by section 10 of the act of June 10, 1922, as amended, while the increase authorized by the said section 18 for Marine Corps warrant officers is required to be limited to a per centum of $148 per month, the invariable base pay rate established for such officers by section 9 of the act of June 10, 1922, regardless of any longevity increases. Under section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, providing for a 20 percent increase in the base pay of enlisted men and warrant officers, and for a 10 percent increase in the base pay of commissioned officers, for sea or foreign shore duty, the increase for commissioned warrant officers who receive the saved pay of their former warrant officer grade pursuant to section 1 of the act of June 10, 1922, should be computed on the basis of the 20 percent applicable to warrant officers.

The several annual rates of pay, depending upon length of service, established by section 13 of the act of June 10, 1922, for nurses, female, of the Navy. rather than merely the annual rate established for the first period of service, are to be considered as "base" pay for purposes of computing the per centum increase in base pay for sea or foreign shore duty authorized by section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, and, therefore, the per centum increase should be computed on the annual pay rate to which the individual nurse is entitled for her length of service.

Under section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, providing for a 20 percent increase in the base pay of enlisted men and warrant officers, and for a 10 percent increase in the base pay of commissioned officers, for sea or foreign shore duty, the increase for Navy enlisted men and warrant officers who are temporarily promoted under authority of the act of July 24, 1941.

to warrant or commissioned grades, and who, by reason of section 7 (a) thereof, receive the saved pay and allowances of their permanent enlisted or warrant grades, should be computed on 20 percent of the base pay of such permanent grades. The pay of enlisted men of the insular force of the Navy, which is fixed by section 10 of the act of June 10, 1922, at one-half the pay rates prescribed for Navy enlisted men in corresponding grades, should include the per centum increase authorized for Navy enlisted men by section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, for any periods during which they meet the terms of the statute by serving on sea duty or on duty in any place beyond the continental limits of the United States or in Alaska. While midshipmen may be considered officers of the Navy for certain purposes, they are neither commissioned officers nor enlisted men, so that midshipmen of the Naval Reserve, whose active duty pay is assimilated to the pay of midshipmen of the Regular Navy by section 7 of the Naval Reserve Act of 1938, are not entitled while on sea duty to the per centum increase authorized by section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, to be paid to enlisted men, commissioned officers, etc., of the Navy on sea duty. Where the facts in a particular case establish that temporary additional duty ashore in the United States to which a Navy officer or enlisted man in a sea-duty status is ordered is merely ancillary to a paramount sea duty, the officer or man should be credited during the temporary duty period with the pay increase for sea duty authorized by section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, but where the facts establish that such is not the case, credit for the increase should be discontinued from the date of detachment from sea duty and should be resumed upon return to the ship from which detached.

Navy personnel on foreign service, as distinguished from sea duty, who are ordered to temporary additional duty in the United States, are not entitled, after arrival in the United States to the date of departure therefrom, to the per centum increase in pay authorized by section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, for any period of service while on duty "in any place beyond the continental limits of the United States or in Alaska."

The per centum increase in pay authorized by section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, for military and naval personnel is payable under the terms of the statute "for any period of service while on sea duty, or duty in any place beyond the continental limits of the United States or in Alaska," so that it is immaterial whether the duty is or is not denominated "temporary."

The per centum increase in pay authorized by section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, for military and naval personnel for sea duty is payable from the date of reporting aboard the vessel to which assigned and that for foreign shore duty is payable from the date of departure from the United States. While the question as to whether a person is performing "service while on sea duty" within the meaning of section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, authorizing an increase in pay for military and naval personnel on sea or foreign shore duty, is primarily one of fact, when a person on sea duty is ordered to temporary additional duty in connection with the fitting out, conversion and fitting out of a vessel and the conditions of "service while on sea duty" continue during the period of additional temporary duty, the sea duty status is not affected.

Assistant Comptroller General Elliott to the Secretary of the Navy, April 17, 1942: There has been considered your letter of March 23, 1942, transmitting a letter dated March 19, 1942, from the Chief of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, requesting decision upon questions arising under section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, Public No. 490, 56 Stat. 148.

This section provides:

Hereafter the base pay of any enlisted man, warrant officer, or nurse (female) in the military or naval forces of the United States shall be increased by 20 per centum and the base pay of any commissioned officer in such forces shall be increased by 10 per centum for any period of service while on sea duty, or duty in any place beyond the continental limits of the United States or in Alaska, which increases in pay shall be in addition to pay and allowances as now

authorized: Provided, That the per centum increases herein authorized shall be included in computing increases in pay for aviation and submarine duty: Provided further, That this section shall be effective from December 7, 1941. and shall cease to be in effect twelve months after the termination of the present war is proclaimed by the President.

The points upon which decision is requested will be considered and answered in the order stated in the letter of March 19, 1942.

(1) It is requested that a decision be obtained from the Comptroller General whether enlisted men qualified and detailed or assigned as Master Divers, Divers first and second class and enlisted men assigned to duty aboard submarines are entitled to the 20 per cent increase in the computation of their diving and submarine pay.

Under the first proviso of section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, the per centum increase is authorized to be computed upon the increase in pay for submarine duty. The act of January 16, 1936, 49 Stat. 1091, 34 U. S. C. 886, provides:

* * That hereafter all officers of the Navy on duty on board a submarine of the Navy, including submarines under construction for the Navy from the time builders' trials commence, or on duty at submarine escape training tanks, the Navy Deep Sea Diving School, or the Naval Experimental Diving Unit, shall, while so serving, receive 25 per centum additional of the pay for their rank and service as now provided by law; and an enlisted man of the United States Navy assigned to duty aboard a submarine of the Navy, including submarines under construction for the Navy from the time builders' trials commence, or to the duty of diving, shall, in lieu of the additional pay now authorized, receive pay under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy, at the rate of not less than $5 per month and not exceeding $30 per month, in addition to the pay and allowances of his rating and service: Provided, That divers employed in actual salvage operations in depths of over ninety feet shall, in addition to the foregoing, receive the sum of $5 per hour for each hour or fraction thereof so employed.

Submarine duty and diving duty are separate and distinct duties with additional pay provided for each. This was true prior to the act of April 9, 1928, 45 Stat. 412, of which the act of January 16, 1936, was amendatory and this continues to be true at the present time. Additional pay for diving duty is not necessarily dependent upon assignment to duty aboard a submarine. 12 Comp. Gen. 498. In view of this well-understood distinction it appears clear that as used in section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, the term "submarine duty" does not comprehend the additional pay for diving. This question is answered that the enlisted men referred to when assigned to duty aboard submarines entitling them to additional pay for submarine duty are entitled to the increase on their submarine pay but not upon the additional pay authorized for diving.

(2) It is requested that a decision be obtained from the Comp troller General as to the rate of pay which should be used as a basis for computing the percentage increases for sea and foreign shore duty pay under the provisions of Section 18 of the Act of March 7, 1942, in the case of warrant officers of the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps.

Section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, provides that the base pay of warrant officers in the military and naval forces shall be increased by 20 per centum.

Section 9 of the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat. 629, 37 U. S. C. 13, provides:

* * *

That commencing July 1, 1922, the monthly base pay of warrant officers and enlisted men of the Army and Marine Corps shall be as follows: Warrant officers of the Army and Marine Corps, $148; Commencing July 1, 1922, warrant officers of the Army and Marine Corps shall receive, as a permanent addition to their pay, an increase of 5 per centum of their base pay for each four years of service in any of the services mentioned in the title of this Act not to exceed 25 per centum.

Section 10 of the act of June 10, 1922, as amended by section 3 of the act of February 16, 1929, 45 Stat. 1187, 37 U. S. C. 14, provides:

That hereafter the monthly base pay of warrant officers of the Navy and Coast Guard shall be as follows: During the first six years of service, $153; during the second six years of service, $168; after twelve years' service, $189.

It is undoubtedly true that the higher rates of pay authorized in amended section 10 of the act of June 10, 1922, for warrant officers of the Navy and Coast Guard are premised on length of service, such new rates equaling those previously provided for these warrant officers while serving at sea, but it is equally true that such higher rates of pay have been specifically denominated in the statute as the monthly base pay. Section 9 applicable to warrant officers of the Marine Corps defines only their initial pay rate as base pay and in providing the increase per centum for each four years of service thereafter authorizes the increase on a per centum of their base pay. The pay fixed for warrant officers of the Navy and Coast Guard, whether serving in their first 6 years of service, in their second 6 years of service, or after 12 years' service, is base pay while the longevity pay of warrant officers of the Marine Corps in excess of $148 per month by reason of length of service does not represent base pay. As a consequence of the law the increase in pay of warrant officers of the Navy and Coast Guard when entitled to the per centum increase under section 18 of the act of March 7, 1942, should be computed on the base pay rate applicable to their length of service under section 10 of the act of June 10, 1922, as amended, and the increase of warrant officers of the Marine Corps is required to be limited to a per centum of the base pay rate of $148 per month. (3) It is requested that a decision be obtained from the Comptroller General as to whether commissioned warrant officers drawing the saved pay of a warrant officer are entitled to percentage increases based on 20 percent as provided for warrant officers, or based on 10 percent as provided for commissioned officers, under the provisions of Section 18 of the Act of March 7, 1942.

*

Section 1 of the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat. 625, 37 U. S. C. 5, contains a proviso: "That a commissioned warrant officer promoted from the grade of warrant officer shall suffer no reduction of pay by reason of such promotion." Commissioned warrant officers on pro

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