Henry Billings Brown

“ These allowances are both of them, presumptively, for expenses actually incurred, as is evident from the provision that they may be furnished in kind, and are designed to reimburse the soldier for all necessary outlays of returning to the place of his enlistment, which is treated as, presumptively, his home. Indeed, the law of 1812 originally provided (2 Stat. 674) that the travel and subsistence should be allowed from the place of discharge to the place of residence of the claimant. ”

“ If, for instance, the claimant did not intend to re-enlist when first discharged, but subsequently changed his mind, it does not necessarily follow that he should be recharged these allowances, if the government chose to re-enlist him. ”