10 same time recommend some suitable person or per11 sons, members of said company, to fill the vacancy or 12 vacancies that may exist therein as aforesaid. And 13 the commander-in-chief is hereby authorized and em14 powered by and with the advice of his council to ap15 point and commission such person or persons to fill 16 said existing vacancy or vacancies. SEC. 51. Whenever any individual so appointed, 2 having been duly commissioned as an officer in the 3 militia of this State, shall for the space of more than 4 two months, after notice thereof, neglect to take and 5 subscribe the oath required by the Constitution, as is 6 hereinafter provided, to qualify him to enter upon the 7 duties of his office, he shall forfeit and pay not less 8 than one hundred dollars, nor more than two hundred 9 dollars to the use of the State, to be recovered by in10 dictment before the district court. SEC. 52. In case of neglect or refusal by any com2 pany to do duty, as prescribed by law, or to elect offi3 cers when duly notified and ordered thereto, the gov4 ernor may immediately disband the said company, and 5 order the non-commissioned officers, musicians and 6 privates thereof, to be enrolled in the oldest, adjoining 7 standing company, and they shall be held to do there8 in all the duties required by law. SEC. 53. The commission of every officer shall 2 designate the division, brigade, regiment or battalion 3 and the corps, in which he shall be commissioned, 4 and the day of his election or appointment; and he 5 shall take rank from that day; and whenever an offi6 cer is transferred from one corps or station, to anoth7 er in the same grade, the day of the date of his origi8 nal appointment, or election, shall be expressed in his 9 new commission, and that day be considered the date 10 of his commission. SEC. 54. When an officer shall by any casualty 2 lose his commission, upon his making affidavit thereof, 3 before any justice of the peace of the county wherein 4 he resides, and on filing such affidavit in the office of 5 the adjutant general, he shall be entitled to receive 6 a new commission of the same tenor and date, as the 7 one so lost. SEC. 55. When two or more officers of the same 2 grade are on duty together, and their commissions 3 bear an equal date, and former pretensions of some 4 commission do not decide, then their relative rank 5 with each other shall be determined by lot, to be 6 drawn by them before the commanding officer pres7 ent; and when on a court martial, before the presi8 dent thereof. SEC. 56. Every officer duly commissioned shall, 2 before he enters upon the discharge of the duties of 3 his office, take and subscribe the oaths, required by 4 the Constitution, before some justice of the peace, or 5 before some superior field or general officer, or staff 6 officer of the rank of field officer, who has previously 7 taken and subscribed them, himself. And on the back 8 of every military commission, the following form of 9 certificate of qualification shall be printed: 10 STATE OF MAINE. 11 This may certify, that commissioned as in the year 18—, 13 personally appeared, and took and subscribed the 14 oaths, required by the Constitution of this State, to 15 qualify him to discharge the duties of his office. SEC..57. To every company there shall be a clerk, 2 who shall be one of the sergeants, and he shall be 3 appointed by the captain or commanding officer 4 thereof, and on the back of his warrant as sergeant, 5 the captain or commanding officer shall in writing 6 certify, that he does thereby appoint him to be clerk 7 of the company. And, before such clerk enters upon 8 the duties of his clerkship, he shall be sworn to the 9 faithful discharge of his duty, by taking the following 10 oath before the captain or commanding officer of the 11 company to which he belongs, who is hereby autho12 rized to administer the same, viz: 13 "I, A. B., do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully 14 and impartially perform all the duties incumbent on 15 me, as clerk of the company to which I belong, ac16 cording to the best of my abilities and understanding. 17 So help me God." 18 And the captain or commanding officer of the com19 pany shall, at the time of administering said oath, cer20 tify on the back of the warrant of the sergeant ap 21 pointed to be clerk, that he was duly qualified by tak22 ing the oath required by law. SEC. 58. The clerk shall keep a fair and exact 2 roll of the company, together with the state of the 3 arms and equipments belonging to each man, which 4 roll he shall annually revise on the first Tuesday of 5 May, and correct the same from time to time, as the 6 state of the company may require. He shall register 7 all orders and proceedings of the company in the 8 orderly book; keep exact details of all drafts and 9 detachments; distribute all company orders and noti10 fications, which he may be required to do; examine 11 the equipments of the men, when ordered; note all 12 delinquencies, sue for and recover all fines, and for13 feitures, which he may be required to be sued for, in 14 this chapter; and keep accounts in the orderly book 15 of all fines and forfeitures, and all other monies col16 lected by him, with the person's names, of whom they 17 were collected, and of the times when, and for what 18 offence; which book shall not be alienated from the 19 company, and shall always be open to the inspection 20 of any officer or private of the company. SEC. 59. In case of the sickness, absence or other 2 disability of the clerk of any company, the command3 ing officer thereof may appoint a clerk pro tempore, 4 who shall be duly sworn before he enters on the duties 5 of the office; and shall for the time expressed in his 6 appointment or until specially discharged, have all 7 the powers and be subject to all the duties, and liable 8 to all the penalties of the clerk in whose place he is 9 put. SEC. 60. In case of such sickness, absence or other 2 disability, or whenever the office of clerk in any com3 pany shall become vacant and it shall satisfactorily 4 appear to the commanding officer, that no person will 5 accept the same, temporarily or permanently, as the 6 case may be, he may issue his order in writing to any 7 non-commissioned officer or private in said company, 8 requiring him to perform all the duties of clerk of said 9 company, except keeping the records, until the clerk 10 shall be able to perform the same, or some other person 11 be appointed, for a term not exceeding three months; 12 and if any non-commissioned officer or private, so 13 appointed, and who shall not have been, within one 14 year previous, requested to perform the same duties, 15 shall refuse or neglect to perform all or any of the 16 duties of said office, during said term, except keeping 17 the records, he shall forfeit and pay not less than ten, 18 nor more than twenty dollars, to be recovered by in19 dictment, or by action on the case, by any person 20 whatever; one half to the use of the State and the 21 other half to the use of the prosecutor. SEC. 61. In all such cases, the records of the com2 pany shall be kept by the commanding officer, so 3 long as such vacancy, absence, sickness or other dis4 ability shall continue; and the records, so kept, shall |