You request my decision as to the amount of compensation due Assistant Surgeon-General Williams for the month of February, 1905, on the facts stated.

Mr. Williams held but one position and he held that continuously during the month of February. There was no change or break in his service though his compensation was increased during the month by operation of law, in the same position, and he is to be paid at a different rate for the first and last parts of the month. Such a payment is not a payment for a fractional part of a month within the meaning of the act of April 28, 1904 (33 Stat., 513), though the amount to be paid is ascertained by applying different rates for different parts of the month for continuous service in one position. He should therefore be paid one full monthly installment of his pay at the different rates of pay in force during the month, or nine-thirtieths of one-twelfth of $3,770 and twenty-one thirtieths of one-twelfth of $4,060, provided those rates are correct.

My decision of February 24, 1905, has reference to payments for fractional parts of a month for service in separate and distinct positions each of which is held by the clerk for a part of the time during the month of February, 1905, and is not applicable to service of the kind indicated by the statement of facts in this case.

COMPUTING COMPENSATION OF RURAL LETTER CARRIER FOR A FRACTIONAL PART OF A MONTH.

Where a rural letter carrier, with compensation at $720 per annum, was suspended without pay for thirty days from January 24, 1905, onethirtieth of the monthly installment of his salary should be deducted for each day he was so absent during the months of January and February; and the temporary carrier who was appointed to serve during his absence, with compensation at $648 per annum, should be paid one-thirtieth of one-twelfth of $648 for each day he actually performed service.

(Comptroller Tracewell to the Postmaster-General, March 3, 1905.)

I am in receipt of your letter of the 27th ultimo, as follows: "As a matter of discipline Harlan Knotts, a rural letter carrier at Lucas, Iowa, was suspended for a period of thirty

days from January 24, 1905. In compliance with this order he ceased the performance of service on January 23. His salary is at the rate of $720 per annum. To serve the route during his absence J. Clark Baker was appointed a temporary carrier for thirty days from January 24 at a salary of $648 per annum. He qualified for the position and began serving the route on January 24 and will continue to serve it until February 22, 1905. On February 23, Carrier Knotts will resume the performance of service.

"For the guidance of this office will you please render a decision as to the amount of salary due Carrier Knotts for January, and Temporary Carrier Baker for January. Also as to what payment should be made to Temporary Carrier Baker for February service, and to Regular Carrier Knotts for February service."

For services in the month January Harlan Knotts should be paid the monthly installment for January of his salary at $720 per annum, less one-thirtieth of the monthly installment. for each day he was absent without pay. He was absent in January without pay eight days. Eight-thirtieths of the monthly installment for January should be deducted and he should be paid the balance, twenty-two thirtieths. (11 Comp. Dec., 130, 132.)

J. Clark Baker should be paid one-thirtieth of the monthly installment for January of his salary of $648 per annum for each day he actually served in January, or eight-thirtieths of the monthly installment. (11 Comp. Dec., 24; id., 48; id.. 84.)

For February Harlan Knotts should be paid the monthly installment for February of his salary at $720 per annum, less one-thirtieth thereof to be deducted for each day he was absent in February without pay. He was absent twenty-two days without pay, for which twenty-two thirtieths of the monthly installment of the salary should be deducted and he should be paid the balance, eight-thirtieths. (11 Comp. Dec., 130, 132.)

J. Clark Baker should be paid one-thirtieth of the monthly installment for February of the salary of $648 per annum for each day he actually served in February, or twenty-two thirtieths. (11 Comp. Dec., 24; id., 48; id., 84.)

COMPUTING PAYMENTS OF ANNUAL COMPENSATION FOR A FRACTIONAL PART OF A MONTH.

A post-office employee who was promoted from the position of clerk at $800 per annum to that of clerk at $900 per annum on the sixteenth day of a 28-day month is entitled for his services during said month to fifteen-thirtieths of a month's pay at $800 and thirteen-thirtieths at $900 per annum.

Where a clerk in a post-office died on the fifteenth day of a 28-day month, and was paid up to and including the fifteenth, his successor is entitled for his services during the remaining thirteen days of said month to thirteen-thirtieths of the monthly salary.

(Comptroller Tracewell to George I. Allen, postmaster, March 8, 1905.)

I have received your letter of the 28th ultimo, addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury, as follows:

"We have had some changes in our clerical force this month and I desire to assure myself in the matter of salary, as figured by the new salary tables.

"A death having occurred, one clerk who has been receiving $800 was advanced to $900 to date from and including February 16; in making up the pay I have taken fifteen days, at $500, $33.33, and fifteen days at $900, $37.50-$70.83.

"The deceased died on the 15th and is paid up to and including the 15th. The new clerk appointed to fill vacancy dates from the 16th at $600, and for the balance of February receives thirteen-thirtieths, or $21.45.

"Are we correct in both these cases?"

The act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat., 841) provides:

* *That the Postmaster-General be, and he is hereby, authorized to classify and fix the salaries of the clerks and employees attached to the first-class post-offices from and after July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, as hereinafter provided: Provided, however, That the aggregate salaries as fixed by such classification shall not exceed the sum hereby appropriated, namely: * (843) Mailing clerks, letter distributers, dispatchers, registry, money order, directory, and nixie clerks, nine classes, salary, graded in even hundreds of dollars, from six hundred dollars to not exceeding one thousand four hundred dollars per annum.

* *

"Separators and assorters, paper distributors, record clerks, general-delivery clerks, inquiry clerks, clerks for specialdelivery mail, raters of third and fourth class mail matter, weighers of second-class mail matter, stock or supply clerks

and timekeepers, seven classes, salary, graded in even hundred dollars, from six hundred dollars to not exceeding one thousand two hundred dollars per annum."

I will answer your questions in the order stated.

1. The act of March 2, 1889, supra, creates clerks of different classes, the salary of each being dependent upon the class of the clerkship held. Each of these classes represents positions separate and distinct from any other class of clerk of said office and a change from one to the other would require a new appointment, and is to be distinguished from a mere raise in the salary effected by operation of law or executive order while holding the same position. Service in each position held represents service for a fractional part of a month in said position, and payment therefor is payment for a fractional part of a month within the meaning of the act of April 28, 1904 (33 Stat., 513), (11 Comp. Dec., 24; id., 48; id., 84).

For the service indicated he should be paid one-thirtieth of the monthly installment of February for each day he actually served in each position, or fifteen-thirtieths of onetwelfth of $800 and thirteen-thirtieths of one-twelfth of $900. The clerk mentioned in the last paragraph of your letter should be paid as indicated therein.

EXEMPTION OF BANKS FROM TAXES ON NOTE CIRCULATION.

The provision in section 3411, Revised Statutes, exempting banks from the payment of taxes on the amount of their notes in circulation in certain cases therein specified, is limited to State banks and associations and has no application to national banks.

(Comptroller Tracewell to the Secretary of the Treasury, March 8, 1905.)

By your reference, dated February 7, 1905, of a communication from the Treasurer of the United States, dated Febru ary 6, 1905, you request my opinion upon the question therein presented as follows:

"A considerable number of national banks have filed, and others are contemplating the filing of claims for refund of

money paid at different times as semiannual duty on the average amount of their notes in circulation. These claims are based on section 3411, Revised Statutes of the United States. "In the opinion of this Office this money should not be refunded for the reason that section 3411, above referred to, does not apply to such claims.

"The claim of the Merchants National Bank, Baltimore, Md., is transmitted herewith, and it is requested that you refer it to the Comptroller of the Treasury for adjudication upon the true intent of the statute."

Sections 5214, 5215, and 5218 of the Revised Statutes, under the title "National banks," provide as follows:

"SEC. 5214. In lieu of all existing taxes, every association shall pay to the Treasurer of the United States, in the months of January and July, a duty of one-half of one per centum each half-year upon the average amount of its notes in circulation, and a duty of one-quarter of one per centum each halfyear upon the average amount of its deposits, and a duty of one-quarter of one per centum each half-year on the average amount of its capital stock, beyond the amount invested in United States bonds."

"SEC. 5215. In order to enable the Treasurer to assess the duties imposed by the preceding section, each association shall, within ten days from the first days of January and July of each year, make a return, under the oath of its president or cashier, to the Treasurer of the United States, in such form as the Treasurer may prescribe, of the average amount of its notes in circulation, and of the average amount of its deposits, and of the average amount of its capital stock, beyond the amount invested in United States bonds, for the six months next preceding the most recent first day of January or July

*

"SEC. 5218. In all cases where an association has paid or may pay in excess of what may be or has been found due from it on account of the duty required to be paid to the Treasurer of the United States the association may state an account therefor, which, on being certified by the Treasurer of the United States, and found correct by the First Comptroller of the Treasury, shall be refunded in the ordinary manner by warrant on the Treasury."

By section 13 of the act of March 14, 1900 (31 Stat., 49), the tax to be paid by national banking associations upon notes in circulation based on bonds of the United States bearing interest at the rate of 2 per centum per annum was reduced to onequarter of 1 per centum each half year.