This act established the Weather Service as a civilian Bureau.
[Act
of Oct. 1, 1890, Sess. I, ch. 1266, 26 Stat. 653-55 (1890)]
FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS. SESS. I. CH. 1265, 1266. 1890
653
CHAP.
1266. - An act to increase the efficiency and reduce the
expenses of the Signal Corps of the Army, and to transfer the Weather
Service to the Department of Agriculture.
SEC. I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the civilian duties now performed by the Signal Corps of
the Army shall hereafter devolve upon a bureau to be known as the
Weather Bureau, which, on and after July first, eighteen hundred and
ninety-one, shall be established in and attached to the Department
of Agriculture, and the Signal Corps of the Army shall remain a part
of the Military Establishment under the direction of the Secretary
of War, and all estimates for its support shall be included with other
estimates for the support of the Military Establishment.
SEC. 2. That the Chief Signal Officer shall have charge, under the
direction of the Secretary of War, of all military signal duties,
and of books, papers, and devices connected therewith, including telegraph
and telephone apparatus and the necessary meteorological instruments
for use on target ranges, and other military uses; the construction,
repair, and operation of military telegraph lines, and the duty of
collecting and transmitting information for the Army by telegraph
or otherwise, and all other duties usually pertaining to military
signaling; and the operations of said corps shall be confined to strictly
military matters.
SEC. 3. That the Chief of the Weather Bureau, under the direction
of the Secretary of Agriculture, on and after July first, eighteen
hundred and ninety-one, shall have charge of the forecasting of weather,
the issue of storm warnings, the display of weather and flood signals
for the benefit of agriculture, commerce, and navigation, the gauging
and reporting of rivers, the maintenance and operation of sea-coast
telegraph lines and the collection and transmission of marine intelligence
for the benefit of commerce and navigation, the reporting of temperature
and rain-fall conditions for the cotton interests, the display of
frost and cold-wave signals, the distribution of meteorological information
in the interests of agriculture and commerce, and the taking of such
meteorological observations as may be necessary to establish and record
the climatic conditions of the United States, or as are essential
for the proper execution of the foregoing duties.
SEC. 4. That the Weather Bureau shall hereafter consist of one Chief
of Weather Bureau and such civilian employees as Congress may annually
provide for and as may be necessary to properly perform the duties
devolving on said bureau by law, and the chierf of said bureau shall
receive an annual compensation of four thousand five hundred dollars,
and be appointed by the President , by and with the consent of the
Senate: Provided, That the Chief Signal Officer of the Army
may, in the discretion of the President, be detailed to take charge
of said bureau, and in like manner other officers of the Army, not
exceeding four, expert in the duties of the weather service may be
assigned to duty with the Weather Bureau and while so serving shall
receive the pay and allowances to which they are entitled by law.
SEC. 5. That the enlisted force of the Signal Corps , excepting those
hereinafter provided for, shall be honorably discharged from the Army
on June thirtieth , eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and such portion
of this entire force, including the civilian employees of the Signal
Service, as may be necessary for the proper performance of the duties
of the Weather Bureau shall, if they so elect, be transferred to the
Department of Agriculture, and the compensation of the force so transferred
shall continue as it shall be in the Signal Service on June thirtieth,
eighteen hundred and ninety-one, until otherwise provided by law:
Provided, That skilled observers serving in the Signal Service
at said date shall be entitled to preference over other persons not
in the Signal Service for appointment in the Weather Bureau to places
for which they may be properly qualified until the expiration of the
time for which they were last enlisted.
SEC. 6. That in addition to the Chief Signal Officer the commissioned
force of the Signal Corps shall hereafter consist of one major, four
captains (mounted), and four first lieutenants (mounted), who shall
receive the pay and allowances of like grades in the Army. The officers
herein provided for shall be appointed from the Army, including lieutenants
of the Signal Corps, preference being given to officers who have performed
long and efficient service in the Signal Service: Provided,
That no appointment shall be made until a board, to be appointed by
the Secretary of War, shall have submitted a report recommending officers
for appointment in the Signal Corps in the order of merit, based upon
the importance and usefulness of work performed in the Signal Service,
as said board may determine from the official records. And such second
lieutenants of the Signal Corps as may not be promoted under the provisions
of this act shall be appointed second lieutenants in the line of the
Army with present date of commission, and shall be assigned to the
first vacancies which may occur in the grade of second lieutenant
after the appointments herein provided for have been made.
SEC. 7. That all appointments and promotions in the Signal Corps after
this reorganization shall be made after examination and approval under
sections twelve hundred and six and twelve hundred and seven of the
Revised Statutes, which are hereby amended so as to be applicable
to and to provide for the promotion of the lieutenants of the Signal
Corps in the same manner as they now apply to the Corps of Engineers
and the Ordnance Corps; and all vacancies which may hereafter exist
in the grade of first lieutenant in the Signal Corps shall be filled
by transfer from the line of the Army, after competitive examination
and recommendation by a board of officers of the Signal Corps to be
appointed by the Secretary of War.
SEC. 8. That the enlisted force of the Signal Corps of the Army shall
hereafter consist of fifty sergeants , of which ten shall be of the
first class, with pay of hospital stewards. No further enlistments
shall be made in the Signal Corps for duties enumerated in section
three: Provided, That any vacancy existing or hereafter occurring
in that portion of the force of the Signal Corps engaged in said duties
may be filled by a civilian at a salary not exceeding that now paid
for the same class of work in the State or Territory where the services
may be performed, and this compensation for said services shall continue
until July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, which compensation
may be paid out of the appropriation for the pay of the present enlisted
force.
SEC. 9. That on and after July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one,
the appropriations for the support of the Signal Corps of the Army
shall be made with those of other staff corps of the Army, and the
appropriations for the support of the Weather Bureau shall be made
with those of the other bureaus of the Department of the Agriculture,
and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of Agriculture to prepare
future estimates for the Weather Bureau which shall be hereafter specially
developed and extended in the interests of agriculture.
SEC. 10. That the President is authorized to appoint on or before
March first, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, a board of three officials,
which board shall be charged with the duty of examining the classes
and kinds of property and the amount of moneys pertaining to and in
the possession of the Signal Corps, and said board shall as soon as
practicable make to the Secretary of War a report setting forth the
amount of moneys and the quantities and kinds of property more suitable
for the work of the Weather Bureau and not necessary for the use of
the Signal Corps, and what part of said property will be suitable
and necessary for the Signal Corps, and upon the approval of said
report by the Secretary of War the property and moneys which shall
be decided to properly pertain to the Weather Bureau work shall be
transferred to such bureau, and to the custody of the Secretary of
Agriculture, while the remaining property and funds shall continue
in the possession of the Signal Corps.
Approved, October 1, 1890.
