[Report of the Secretary of War]

Mr. President: The reorganization of the Army required by the act of July 15, 1870, the provisions of which were alluded to in my last annual report, has been accomplished. The enforcement of that portion relating to a reduction of commissioned officers demanded strict investigation of the records of the military conduct and service of supernumerary officers, and forced upon the Department an unpleasant duty. It is believed, however, that the decisions finally reached were fair, impartial and for the good of the service. In accordance with the same act the number of enlisted men was on July 1 reduced to 30,000; indifferent soldiers were discharged, the standard of recruits was raised with a view to improving the character of the rank and file, and the following table of organization was established:

Enlisted men of engineers 301
Enlisted men of ordnance 475
Ordnance sergeants at posts 200
Military Academy band 24
60 enlisted men per company for 55 companies artillery 3,300
84 enlisted men per battery for 5 batteries light artillery 420
84 enlisted men per company for 120 companies cavalry 10,080
60 enlisted men per company for 250 companies infantry 15,000
Non-commissioned staff of regiments 200
30,000

The staff of general officers was also reduced to the simple requirements of the Army in time of peace, and the line officers thus relieved from detached duty were ordered to their regiments where they could be of more benefit to the service.

The total expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869, were $80,644,042 76; the expenditures for the year ending June 30, 1870, were $57,655,675 40, which sum includes $3,697,500 for river and harbor improvements. The expenditures for the year ending June 30, 1871, were about $40,000,000, including for river and harbor improvements $3,945,900. Thus during the year 1869–’70 the reduction in expenses of the War Department amounted to $22,988,367 36, and during the year 1870–’71 a further reduction of $17,655,675 40 was made. For the next fiscal year 1871–’72 there is appropriated $36,530,776, including for river and harbor improvements $4,407,500.

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The total estimate for military appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1873, is $32,415,472 85. Of this estimate the sum of $1,153,607 05 is necessitated by the prohibition of the use of unexpended balances of former years, thus requiring estimates for reappropriation of such sums as have reverted to the Treasury under the fifth section of the act of July 12, 1870. The estimate of the Chief of Engineers for fortifications, improvement of rivers and harbors, public buildings and grounds and Washington Aqueduct, are submitted separately, as presented by that officer, as follows: Fortifications and other works of defense $3,255,500; for river and harbor improvements $9,930,200; and for public buildings and grounds and Washington Aqueduct $446,704.

Up to this date, during the current fiscal year, there has been paid into the Treasury, as realized from the sale of arms and from other sources, during the current fiscal year, $21,766,403 07.

Under the act of July 27, 1861, providing for the adjustment and payment of the claims of the several States for enrolling, subsisting, and other expenses incurred by them for troops called into the service of the United States, these claims were paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. The act of July 12, 1870, repeals the appropriation clause of the act of July 27, 1861, and requires the proper Department to submit estimates for these expenses, in the usual manner. I have accordingly submitted an estimate of $3,000,000 for this purpose, that being the amount designated by the Third Auditor of the Treasury as being required for the settlement of claims now pending in his office for the next fiscal year.

The reports of the General of the Army and of the division and department commanders, herewith submitted, will convince the country that the officers and men of the Army have performed the duties devolving upon them faithfully and well. Though these duties, resulting from the determination of the Government to enforce the laws for the collection of the revenue and for the suppression of armed insurrection, have few agreeable features, they are performed with that cheerful energy which is the result of discipline. The records of the Department show that one hundred applications for troops for various purposes, and for military protection, have been made since January 1, 1871, all of which, where the necessity required it, have been promptly responded to.

It is with great embarrassment and difficulty that the appropriations made at the last session of Congress—reduced as they were below the estimates of the Department—can be so economized as to answer the pressing requirements of the service. The operations of active warfare in Arizona, in connection with Indian difficulties there, are such as necessarily require large expenditures, and the causes which have produced this necessity were not anticipated by Congress when the appropriations were made. The officers in charge of these operations—General [Page 45] Schofield, commanding the Division of the Pacific, and Colonel Crook, in immediate command of the Department of Arizona—have united with this Department in endeavoring to retain the expenses at the lowest possible limit, and have used the most judicious efforts in this direction, and the conduct of Colonel Crook in his administration of the affairs of his department has received my full approval. While, therefore, the full appropriations asked should be given, continued endeavor will be made to prevent any expenditures beyond those absolutely essential.

I recommend that the extra lieutenants now authorized by law to serve as regimental adjutants and quartermasters in the artillery, cavalry, and infantry regiments, as provided by sections 2, 3, and 4 of the act of July 28, 1866, be discontinued as vacancies occur in those grades. This would effect an ultimate reduction of eighty lie utenants; would result in a yearly saving, if the reduction should be completed, of nearly $160,000, and would be of no detriment to the service.

It is further recommended that the grade of quartermaster-sergeant for the companies of cavalry, infantry, and heavy artillery be abolished. The duties of this non-commissioned officer before the late war were usually discharged by the first sergeant, and the present strength of a company is such that a return to the old system in this respect can well be made.

With regard to the grades of enlisted men known as company artificer and company wagoner, the state of the service is now such as to justify the recommendation that they too be discontinued and their duties devolved upon a smaller number of private soldiers, detailed for extra-duty service and employed under direction of the Quartermaster Department. Should this recommendation be adopted, 1,165 enlisted men would be dispensed with, at a gross yearly saving of $412,740. From this deduct the probable cost of extra-duty men, estimated at two-thirds the number of artificers and wagoners—$72,240—and the net saving will be over $340,000.

By the act of March 3, 1863, the first six regiments of cavalry are each allowed one veterinary surgeon at a compensation of $75 per month. By the act of July 28, 1866, the four other cavalry regiments are provided with the same organization, with the additional allowance of one veterinary surgeon to each, at a compensation of $100 per month; that is to say, two veterinary surgeons are allowed to each of the latter regiments, one at a salary of $75 per month and the other at $100. To remedy this defective organization, I recommend that two veterinary surgeons be authorized for each cavalry regiment, at a compensation of $100 per month, and that the provisions of the acts above cited be repealed.

In the general regulations of the Army, of 1863, a plan is presented by which soldiers who are frugal enough to save their pay shall have a safe deposit for it. The outline is simply this: Not less than five dollars may be deposited at any one time with the paymaster, at pay-day [Page 46] when a check-book will be given the soldier in which the amount of deposit will be entered. These deposits cannot be drawn till the discharge of the soldier. They are not subject to forfeiture by sentence of court-martial, but belong to the personal estate of the soldier, voluntarily confided by him to the trust of the United States, until he receives final payment on discharge. The benefits of this plan are various. It prevents the vicious practice of confiding money to commissioned officers for safe keeping, which injures discipline by the invariable disputes engendered, and it avoids the lumbering of the pay-rolls by constant entry of pay not drawn.

By the restriction contained in section 7, act of July 12, 1870, which was interpreted by the Treasury Department to apply to these deposits, it became necessary to issue an order for rescinding this regulation, and to cause all the deposits to be drawn from the Treasury by soldiers holding check-books. The amount was considerable, and it is feared many men were induced to desert by thus coming into possession of unusually large sums during their term of service, instead of receiving them when discharged. It is recommended that provision be made to meet this unexpected application of the legislative restriction that the benefits of the regulation may be restored to the soldier.

The law authorizing the enlistment of men who are eighteen years of age, and by its language “the oath of enlistment taken by the recruit shall be conclusive as to his age.” The appeals to the Department for the discharge of soldiers are almost numberless. The force of clerks employed upon this branch of office duty is not sufficient to answer the repeated applications for discharge, which fill the Department mails, and the stereotype refusal which must in most cases be given only stimulates the applicant to obtain renewed appeals from persons of influence and character, who willingly apply to the Department, with a request for assistance, without reflecting upon the embarrassment which is given, or upon the cost of a result so easily recommended and so difficult to justify. The enlistment of each recruit and the cost of transportation to his regiment involves an average expense of $80 in each case. By his discharge this amount is a total loss to the Government.

The greater number of those for whom this costly favor is asked are under the age of 21 years, and in this connection I recommend that the law regarding enlistments be amended, and that no recruit be permitted to enter the service whose age, by his own oath, is not shown to be over 21 years—the oath, as now, to be taken as conclusive.

Experience shows that the age of enlistment for music boys can, with advantage, be reduced, and it is advised that the law be so amended that hereafter enlistments in that class of recruits may be made at the age of twelve years.

It was found impossible to prepare, in time for submission to Congress at its last session, a system of regulations for the administration of the affairs of the Army, as contemplated by the act of July 15, 1870. A [Page 47] board of competent and experienced officers has been for some months diligently engaged in the compilation of a code of regulations, and the work is rapidly approaching completion.

Desertions during the past few months have largely increased. The reports received at the Department indicate that the reduction of the pay of soldiers from sixteen to thirteen dollars per month has contributed greatly to this result, as far as those men are concerned who enlisted prior to July 1, 1871, the date of reduction.

The board of officers directed to investigate the subject of military prisons and prison discipline in the British army, visited, last summer, the only military prison now in Canada, viz, the one at Quebec, and through the courtesy of the Inspector, Colonel H. F. Williams, were enabled to witness its practical workings. The board were very favorably impressed with the good results obtained from this system, which has now been fifteen years in operation in the British service, and recommend its adoption in our own. I invite the attention of Congress to this subject, believing it to be of great importance to the efficiency of our Army, which is greatly impaired by the inadequate and imperfect means of punishment now practiced. By having the pay of the convicts forfeited to the prisons, but little, if any, additional means would be required to support them after they were put in operation. The report of the board is full of interest and will hereafter be transmitted to Congress.

The retired list of the Army is now limited to 300. The endeavor has been to equalize the selections for that list from both the higher and lower grades of the officers entitled to be placed upon it, so that it may not be filled to an unreasonable extent by officers of high rank and consequently greater compensation. There have been sixteen deaths of retired officers during the past year.

By the act approved September 28, 1850, appropriation was made of $10,000 for purchasing, walling, and ditching a piece of land near the city of Mexico, for a cemetery for such of the officers and soldiers of our Army as fell in battle or died in and around that city during the Mexican war, and for the interment of American citizens who have died there.

In December, 1869, a report was made by the vice-consul of the United States at the city of Mexico, to the effect that, in consequence of neglect and the want of means for repairs, many depredations were being committed, and that the cemetery presented a lamentable appearance of dilapidation. An appeal was made to this Department for funds to the amount of about $1,150 to be sent to the consul to enable him to restore the cemetery to a condition creditable to the United States Government. The War Department was fortunately able to meet the temporary demand, but could not comply with a further suggestion for the employment of a superintendent at a salary of $50 per month instead of $20, the rate heretofore paid and which is deemed insufficient. By the act of July 21, 1852, [Page 48] there was appropriated $1,412 34, and by the act of August 31, 1852, $3,000 for the purchase of the cemetery, under the direction of the President, and these sums were all disbursed by the Department of State. It is recommended that, as the general subject of national cemeteries is now administered by the War Department, a special act be passed placing this cemetery upon the same footing as other cemeteries, with a regularly appointed superintendent, and that a sufficient portion of the appropriations for national cemeteries be made applicable to the repair and preservation of the one in question. The latest report of the condition of the cemetery shows that, with the temporary aid afforded by this Department, its condition was very materially improved. An appropriation of $1,200 is asked by the United States consul to complete the repairs and to construct an artesian well for irrigation, to preserve the shrubbery and save the annual tax for water.

By the tenth section of the act of July 15, 1870, the Secretary of War was required to investigate into what are known as the Montana Indian war claims of 1867, and to report to Congress the names of the persons entitled to relief, together with a statement of the facts and sums upon which such report may be based. The investigation was confided to an inspector general of the Army, whose report, setting forth the nature and amount of the claims and the amount required for an equitable settlement of them, was submitted to Congress at the last session and commended to favorable consideration.

To complete the investigation, there remained to be submitted a list of the persons entitled to relief and a statement of the award equitably due to each claimant. This list, when nearly finished, was, with most of the papers connected with the case, destroyed in the late fire at Chicago. A greater part of the original vouchers, however, had been returned to their owners after certified copies had been taken, and new copies can consequently be obtained. The claimants have been called upon by advertisement to furnish such copies, or, in default thereof, to file statements of their claims, and in this way the lost evidence will be measurably renewed. With these papers and such data as survived, a new report of awards can be made which will probably prove as reliable as the one destroyed. This report will be laid before Congress without material delay, its early preparation depending wholly upon the promptness with which claimants respond to the invitation to replace their evidence.

Under the joint resolution approved May 7, 1870, authorizing and empowering the Secretary of War to select and set apart for a permanent military post so much of the military reservation of Fort Snelling, not less than 1,000 acres, as the public interests might require for that purpose, and to quiet the title to said reservation, and to settle all claims in relation thereto, and for the use and occupation thereof upon principles of equity, I have selected and set apart for a permanent military post at Fort Snelling 1,521 20/100 acres, embracing the fort and buildings pertaining, and in full settlement and release of all claims in relation [Page 49] thereto, and for the use and occupation thereof, have conveyed to the purchasers of the property the remainder of the reservation, amounting to 6,394 80/100 acres.

The proceeds of sales of clothing from June 30, 1870, to the present date amount to the sum of $1,875,728 84, all of which, as collected, is turned into the Treasury and cannot be used by the Department. Some of the purchasers have not been able, on account of the disastrous effects of the Chicago fire to meet their engagements promptly, but the time of payment has been extended. A great amount of old clothing and equipage is unfit for Army use, and hence larger appropriations will become necessary. The cost of transportation for this year has been about $1,500,000, which is but little less than for the previous year. The reduced Army is compelled to increased activity to compensate for its loss in numbers.

The appropriation for barracks and quarters has not been sufficient to shelter the Army in a manner essential to its comfort and health, and hence it is earnestly desired that the appropriation asked for that purpose may not be reduced.

Of the southern railroads which were allowed to purchase rolling stock and other railroad supplies from the United States, twenty-seven have paid in full, and twenty-four are still in debt to the Department in the sum of $4,724,350 53.

In the office of the Quartermaster General large numbers of miscellaneous claims for transportation and for stores taken and used by the Army in certain States and Territories, under the act of July 4, 1864, have been filed and final action had as far as possible. These claims amount to many millions of dollars, and the large interests involved require that there should be more care taken of these important records than can be given them in the present building, in which a fire would be disastrous.

The number of graves in national cemeteries is 317,850, including 2,295 added during the year. The cemeteries cover an area, in the aggregate, of about 1,800 acres of land, acquired at a cost of $170,000.

The attention of Congress is asked to the loss and embarrassment resulting from the condition of the title to sites of military posts in Texas. The law forbids the purchase by the Secretary of War of any lands without special authority from Congress. New posts on the remote and unsettled frontier of that State have generally been located on the public lands belonging to the State, as there are no public lands available owned by the United States in Texas. As soon as this Department begins to erect shelter for the troops, speculators enter these lands, and hence claims arise for rent and timber to an amount, far beyond their value. An act authorizing the Department to quiet title to sites already occupied, and to purchase such as may hereafter be required, is necessary to remedy the evil.

The report of the Commissary General of Subsistence shows that the [Page 50] Army has been well supplied during the past year. I agree with him that according to the varying necessities of troops stationed in the different climates of the country, there should be authorized for issue substitute articles, so that the food of the soldier may be at times varied from the regular ration. Since the last annual report a detailed statement has been furnished the Department of the Interior of the expenses incurred in the fiscal year of 1869–’70 by the Subsistence Department in furnishing supplies for Indians, which shows the amount to have been over $1,600,000, of which $1,200,000 has been repaid by transfer at the Treasury. It is desirable that appropriations for the subsistence of Indians, when necessary, be made for the disposition of the Interior Department, as the subsistence fund of this Department, based upon the appropriation actually necessary for the support of the Army, is not large enough to allow any portion to be diverted from its legitimate use without embarrassment to the service.

Owing to the deficiency existing in the clerical force of the Surgeon General’s Office, a large number of official demands for information from the records of the office for the settlement of pension and other claims have remained unanswered. Under the act of Congress authorizing the appointment of hospital stewards, that force has been strengthened, and it is hoped that the accumulated work will be rapidly disposed of. There were 206 military posts requiring medical attendance on July 1, 1870. The number of medical officers is insufficient for the service, and I renew the recommendation that the law prohibiting promotions and appointments in that corps be repealed.

Part First of the Medical and Surgical History of the War is near completion, and will be laid before Congress during its coming session, when it is hoped sufficient appropriation will be made to continue the publication of the remaining parts. The report of the Medical Statistics of the Provost Marshal Genera’s Bureau, the compilation of which was authorized by the act of July 28, 1866, is also nearly completed and is in process of being printed at the Government Printing Office. It is expected that the entire report will be printed and ready for distribution during the approaching session.

The Corps of Engineers during the past year has been actively en gaged upon the works for the defense of our sea-coasts, on river and harbor improvements, and in surveys and reconnaissances and construction of light-houses. With the appropriations granted for fortifications in our principal harbors, these works along the Northern Atlantic and Pacific coasts have been pushed forward in their modifications as rapidly as the circumstances would permit, and already the batteries are beginning to assume the character needed by the requirements of modern warfare. The modifications referred to look to the strengthening of our works by the introduction of heavy earthen batteries for the largest guns and mortars.

Since the last report the battalion of engineers has been reduced to [Page 51] 354 enlisted men, and constitutes an efficient body of troops, and is carefully instructed and drilled in its duties. The engineer posts and depots of Jefferson Barracks and Yerba Buena Island have been broken up and the troops are now concentrated at Willet’s Point and West Point, New York. Besides assisting in the instruction of the cadets of the Military Academy, the battalion of engineers constitutes the school for the trials with torpedoes for the defense of our harbors, and takes charge of the depots for the bridge-trains and equipage and engineer tools for the use of the Army in general. The appropriation asked for torpedoes and other purposes at the engineer depot at Willet’s Point and recommended to Congress.

A visit made to Willet’s Point in September last gave me an opportunity for inspecting closely the management of the post, and for observing the advantages offered the men in drill and discipline, and in the education necessary for that arm of the service. The result was very gratifying. The thorough mode of instruction and the perfected drill of the battalion deserve commendation.

Satisfactory progress has been made in the prosecution of works for the improvement of rivers and harbors, and of the surveys connected therewith. The annual report of the Chief of Engineers contains a detailed account of the progress and condition of these works, and of the results of the surveys ordered by Congress. This report also contains information concerning the public buildings and grounds and the Washington Aqueduct.

Proper measures have been taken to carry out the joint resolution of February 21, 1871, in relation to the establishment of water-gauges, and making daily observations of the rise and fall of the Lower Mississippi and its chief tributaries.

Under the act of April 4, 1871, for the appointment by the President, of a commission to examine and report on the Sutro tunnel, Lieutenant Colonels H. G. Wright and John G. Foster, of the Corps of Engineers, and Professor Wesley Newcomb, a mining engineer, were thus appointed, and Captain W. R. King, Corps of Engineers, was directed to act as secretary to the commission. The commission has completed the investigations at the tunnel and the mines of the Comstock lode, and is now preparing to report.

In the survey of the lakes, operations were carried on in Lakes Superior, Michigan, St. Clair, and Champlain, and the progress of the work in the field and office has been highly satisfactory. The geological survey along the central route of communication with the Pacific coast has been actively continued, and the publication of the results, already begun, is looked for with much interest.

During the fiscal year small-arms and ordnance stores to the amount of $10,000,000 have been sold, and the entire proceeds, except a small sum retained to meet expense of preparing other stores for sale, have passed into the Treasury beyond the control of this Department. The [Page 52] operations at the arsenals have been confined to the manufacture of supplies required by the troops, to the care of stores on hand, and to the manufacture of one or two experimental gun-carriages. It is hoped that Congress will grant the appropriations asked for to carry out the plans for the continuance of the work at the great arsenal of construction for the Mississippi Valley at Rock Island. Several kinds of experimental rifles and carbines, as recommended by the St. Louis board, have been manufactured at Springfield armory for comparative trial in the field. An inspection of that armory, not long since, satisfies me of the necessity for continuing the appropriations for its maintenance and support. The ability of its present administration especially commends this well-appointed armory to the attention of Congress.

Sufficient information will doubtless be derived from the use of the experimental arms in the field, to enable a board to recommend a breech-loading system for adoption. The armament of State troops should be like that of the national forces, who now use breech-loading small arms. The reserve of 10,000 arms of that kind now on hand is not half sufficient to supply the States upon quotas now due.

Attention is called to the recommendation of the Chief of Ordnance concerning the repeal of the act prohibiting promotions and appointments in the Ordnance Corps.

An increase of the annual appropriations under the law of 1808, providing for arming and equipping the militia is urgently required.

The small clerical force allowed the office of the Judge Advocate General of the Army is not sufficient to perform the great amount of labor required to copy, on the demand of persons who have been tried, the voluminous proceedings of the courts-martial in their cases. The duty is an imperative one under the law, but the force is inadequate to its accomplishment, as may easily be seen upon an inspection of the record of the vast amount of work performed in that office. I recommend the continuance of the appropriation by which special copyists could be employed for this purpose.

At Fort Whipple, Virginia, instruction has been given in the meteorological duties and studies required at the signal-stations for observations and reports of storms throughout the United States, and in military signaling and telegraphy to officers of the Army and Navy. During the year the observation and report of storms has been necessarily rather in the process of organization for future success than as completely organized. A duty without precedent has had to be originated in all its details of plans and discipline—the observation, reports, and mode of making public the necessary deductions and reports. The progress made has been fully as great as could have been anticipated, and has secured valuable results and gives promise of extended usefulness.

By a comprehensive telegraphic organization each of the signal-stations is in telegraphic communication with the Signal Office at Washington, [Page 53] and from each of them daily and nightly weather reports are received at the Department. These reports are studied, bulletined, and charted at the office of the Chief Signal Officer, and are furnished at the same time to most of the principal cities and ports of the country. The deductions from the study of the reports are instantly telegraphed to the press and bulletined as soon as practicable at the observing offices, in board of trade rooms, merchants’ exchanges, and other prominent places, and during the past year there have issued in this manner from the Chief Signal Office and the observing stations fifty thousand charts.

In the month of October the display of cautionary signals, announcing the probable approach of storms, was commenced, for the first time in the United States, at twenty ports upon the lakes and Atlantic and Gulf coasts. These signals are arranged to be displayed at any hour of the day or night, upon the receipt of telegraphic orders from Washington.

While the service has been rapidly organized and pressed to these results, each step has been taken only when the public mind seemed to be educated and prepared for it, and the public necessity demanded it. The average time of the receipt by telegraph of the reports and observations made simultaneously from ail the stations throughout the United States has been 45 minutes. The average time elapsing between the moment at which telegrams were sent to the office at Washington from the most distant stations, to that at which the deductions are made, published, and issued to the press, has been 90 minutes.

Of the deductions published from the office, 69 per cent. are, after a careful examination of the statistics, considered to have been fully verified. This percentage, increased by those regarded as partially verified, will make an aggregate of 90 per cent. of average verifications.

It has been the policy of the Department to diffuse, as widely as possible, for the use of co-operating institutions, and for scientific study everywhere, the meteorological information collected at its stations and upon its records. It is believed that the United States now possesses a service more extensive and better organized for these purposes than that of any other country.

The steadiness, regularity, and promptness with which the varied labors incident to a work co-extensive with the United States, and which requires in its details a vigilance reaching through both night and day, have been accomplished, illustrate the advantages gained by placing these duties under military direction. A rigor less than that of military discipline would fail to insure the accuracy and strict obedience to orders which have been necessary.

Under the second section of the act of July 24, 1866, to aid in the construction of telegraph lines, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes, the Postmaster General has fixed the rates at which telegraphic communications for the Government shall be sent. The plan and method of compensation have [Page 54] worked well, and are found to be of much economy to the signal service.

The wisdom of Congress in affording facilities for its prosecution is daily exemplified. The labors of this branch of the Department, undertaken with some hesitation as to the result and received at first with doubt in many quarters, have gradually grown into popular favor, and by the really wonderful results accomplished in this new field have commanded the attention and approval of the country. The fact that the reports daily issued find in most cases full confirmation, impresses itself on the minds of the people, and men of all callings, especially those engaged in commerce and agriculture, evince the greatest interest in this important work. Full recognition of its value has been given by the press and by the scientific men of other countries as well as of our own, and the results attained so clearly indicate its importance that I can, without hesitation, rely upon Congress for an appropriation for the prosecution and extension of its duties to the full extent of the estimate submitted.

By law the control of the Military Academy at West Point is devolved upon the Secretary of War. For some years past its immediate management had been intrusted to an officer of the Inspector General’s Department, who faithfully discharged his duties. Feeling, however, that, for his better information and that he might more efficiently perform the duties that this responsibility placed upon him, there should be a more direct communication between the Secretary of War and the Academy, the system was changed, and now all reports are made directly to this office.

The present strength of the Corps of Cadets at the Academy is 229. Several instances of improper interference by cadets with their fellows have occurred, but the offenders have been summarily dealt with, and strenuous exertions have been made by the Department to prevent the recurrence of such disorders, and to improve generally the tone of military discipline. Legislation on the subject of the expenses of the Board of Visitors is desirable, as under existing laws for the payment of the board and lodging of the members, doubts arise as to what is properly to be included under the head of board. A per diem allowance would remove this uncertainty, and it is recommended that such an allowance be made in the next appropriation.

By the fire at the cadet barracks last winter, many cadets who were engaged, under the direction of their officers, in extinguishing the flames, suffered the loss of clothing, books, &c., and an appropriation is recommended to compensate them for such losses. The sum necessary for this purpose will not exceed six thousand dollars, and should be confined to compensation for their clothing and books.

The intelligence of the great fire of October in Chicago reached the Department while the flames were in progress, and orders were at once telegraphed to officers in charge of Army depots to forward to that city supplies [Page 55] for the homeless and destitute. The promptness with which the wishes of the Department were carried out, merits high commendation. In a few hours, clothing, blankets, tents, and provisions were on their way to the stricken city, and this immediate action relieved much distress. The records and property in the building occupied for headquarters of the Military Division of the Missouri were totally destroyed, but the greater portion of the most valuable can be duplicated from the War Department. Several companies of troops were ordered to the city by General Sheridan, under whose supervision they assisted in preserving order during the trying days which succeeded the conflagration. The official and personal conduct of General Sheridan, while intrusted, by common consent, with the management of affairs in the city, receives the emphatic approval of this Department.

Similar issues of supplies of various kinds were made to the governor of Wisconsin for the relief of the sufferers in that State, and relief was also afforded to those in Michigan. Without further application, Congress will, without doubt, record its sanction of this action.

A perfect system of financial disbursements is a subject which, from the beginning of the Government, has commanded the attention of all the Departments; and the discovery of the astounding frauds, which have startled the country by their magnitude, has recalled attention anew to the causes which have combined to permit these dishonest actions to go so long undetected. No system of regulations can be devised which will make embezzlement, under all circumstances, impossible. The rogue is always vigilant. Counter-vigilance alone can thwart his schemes. The regulations now governing disbursements appear to be ample for the prevention of fraud. The failure to enforce them makes the path to fraud an easy one. The daring deceptions lately practiced provoke an inquiry as to some mode for the prevention of their recurrence. Relaxed duty, failing vigilance, and excessive confidence suspend all checks on dishonesty, and render regulations a farce. A careful scrutiny, by frequent inspections of the accounts of disbursing officers and of their cash balances, followed up, without loss of time, by a comparison of the result of this searching inspection with the officer’s balance at the place of deposit, is clearly the only safe resort. The objection that a sentinel is thereby placed at every disbursing officer’s door is not entitled to consideration. Integrity does not object to test. It invites scrutiny. An honest public officer prefers that his discretion should be limited. He accepts responsibility when it comes, but he cheerfully submits to any examination of his public conduct, deeming it no reproach that he is subjected to the operation of an inflexible rule, which the dishonest acts of others have made a necessity. Men of large experience as disbursing officers have told me that they do not remember a single defalcation which might not have been prevented or speedily detected by the exercise of proper vigilance on the part of the [Page 56] supervising officer. In this he does not transcend his duty. He only performs it.

Why the necessity of furnishing duplicate statements to different Departments if no comparison is made? When the shock of discovery comes, and a great fraud is made manifest, it is clear that there is neglect somewhere. Is it in the regulations and orders and circulars issued for the prevention of these very frauds? Not at all; but in the disregard of supervising officers of their provisions. The vigilance which these circulars prompt, would, if exercised, furnish a different result. Holding these views as to the necessity for frequent inspections, and recognizing their great advantages, I propose, in this Department, to test their efficacy in the most thorough manner. In assigning inspectors to districts, I shall deem it my duty to hold each one of them responsible for every misdemeanor which occurs in connection with the accounts of any disbursing officer in his district, which due diligence on his part would have prevented, so that he will feel that he has a trust with which he dare not trifle. A plan of inspection can, in my judgment, be established, which will be simple and direct, and I shall endeavor to show by its operation that it is eminently practicable. With detection made morally certain, and with punishment sure and speedy, there can be no safety for fraud.

The proclamation of the President of May 3, 1871, calling attention to the act of Congress entitled “An act to enforce the provisions of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes,” approved April 20, 1871, necessitated orders for the enforcement of the same by this Department, and consequently it was directed—

That whenever occasion shall arise, the regular forces of the United States stationed in the vicinity of any locality where offenses described by the aforesaid act, approved April 20, 1871, may be committed, shall, in strict accordance with the provisions of said act, be employed by their commanding officers in assisting the authorized civil authorities of the United States in making arrests of persons accused under the said act; in preventing the rescue of persons arrested for such cause; in breaking up and dispersing bands of disguised marauders and of armed organizations against the peace and quiet or the lawful pursuits of the citizens in any State.

It has been absolutely necessary to retain about one-sixth of the Army in those States of the South, east of the Mississippi, which were engaged in the war of the rebellion. Numerous applications for troops to aid in the enforcement of the laws were received from United States marshals, officers of internal revenue, and State officials; urgent appeals for assistance crowded in from private citizens, and it soon became evident that the security of the people demanded the continued presence of the regular forces. It is a painful fact, which merits serious consideration, that in some portions of the South freedom of opinion is not tolerated, if that opinion is expressed in opposition to the doctrines which originated the late rebellion. Indisputable evidence establishes the fact, which is proven, too, by the experience of numerous sufferers, that an [Page 57] armed rebellion of regular organization and great strength now exists in parts of those States. The frequent reports by Army officers of perfect reliability, made after mature observation and judgment, conclusively show that the ramifications of this organized body are extensive; that its system is arranged with great care and shrewdness; that its persecutions extend in the dark hours of the night, and in cowardly disguise, to persons of every age, sex, and condition who dare to exercise a freedom of conduct, action, or speech which disagrees with the political doctrines of these marauders. This body of conspirators, constituted for the purpose of crushing out many of the inherent liberties of the defenseless people of those States, defies the law and spurns the authority of the Government, and, so long as it exists, so long will it be necessary to aid the civil authorities with the armed force of the nation in putting down this second rebellion and in bringing its leaders to speedy punishment.

The attention, of Congress has been repeatedly called to the necessity of appropriations for the speedy erection of a substantial fire-proof building for the War Department, and I cannot close this report without again alluding to the subject. The rented buildings, scattered all over the city, are remote from the main office and ridiculously unsafe. Many tons of records, to which the public business requires daily reference, are stored in these buildings. Besides their historical interest, these papers are of immense value for the protection of the Government against fraud, comprising all the muster-rolls of the regular and volunteer armies, reports of Army officers, hospital records, accounts of public property, and, in fact, the accumulated records of the Department for seventy years, and are scattered here and there in such buildings as can be secured by rent from private parties, and utterly unsuited to the purposes for which they must be used. Every consideration of public interest urges me to press this matter upon the attention of the people’s representatives, in the hope that they will act before a conflagration sweeps from the possession of the nation those records whose value cannot be told in figures.

Reflection on the mode of clerical selection and appointments suggests the hope that a system may be devised by the civil service commission which may extend its beneficial effects to the various Departments of the Government. The experience of those who have watched with interest the workings of this Department teaches that time is lost, money wasted, and business demanding attention delayed by the constant changes which occur under present laws and customs. A judicious reform would soon exhibit the great advantage of an improved system.

WM. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War.