VI. Report Books. 1. BOOK OF REPORTS TO THE SECOND COMPTROLLER. In this book is recorded in full, the Auditor's report on every adjusted account or claim, (containing a summary of the official statement of the account,) accompanied with the Second Comptroller's certificate of his finding and decision, on his revision thereof, at the foot of the report. 2. GENERAL REPORT BOOK. In this book is recorded or registered, all other reports made by the Second Auditor, to the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Treasury, to Congress, &c., &c. VII. Chickasaw Fund Books. 1. REGISTER OF REQUISITIONS. This book contains a registry of all requisitions on the Chickasaw fund, drawn by the Secretary of War on the Secretary of the Treasury to meet the expenditures growing out of the wants and dues of the Chickasaw Indians, according to appropriations of the funds accruing from the sales of lands under the Chickasaw treaty. 2. REGISTER OF CHICKASAW ACCOUNTS. This book contains a registry of all accounts growing out of expenditures of the Chickasaw fund by Indian agents, as rendered to, and adjusted by the Second Auditor. 3. LEDGER OF CHICKASAW FUND. This book contains the posted accounts of the Chickasaw fund-showing the condition of that fund, under the heads of receipts from land sales, and interest on investments of said funds in trust of the United States, on their account; and the expenditures of the same according to appropriations, and divisions made of the funds, in pursuance of treaty stipulations with the Chickasaw nation. 4. LETTER BOOK. This book contains a record of the general correspondence of this office, on Chickasaw account. ADDENDA RELATING TO THE PAY, SUBSISTENCE, AND FORAGE, OF OFFICERS OF THE ARMY. By the joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress of the 27th April, 1816, a Biennial Register, (called the Blue Book,) containing a correct list of all the officers and agents, civil, military, and naval, in the service of the United States, was ordered to be prepared and printed under the direction of the Secretary of State-which list, among other details, was required to "exhibit the amount of compensation, pay, and emoluments, allowed to each officer, agent," &c., &c. And by the resolution of the 14th July, 1832, the purport of the above was extended to officers and agents, &c., of the Post Office Department. Until this moment, however, the Biennial Register (for want of information from the proper Departments of course) has never shown the amount of annual "compensation, pay, and emoluments," actually received by officers of the army and navy, as it does in regard to officers and agents in the civil departments, in obedience to said resolutions. To remedy this omission, or to afford a substitute for it, as nearly as possible, Col. Peter Force made a computation, in 1830, of the pay and emoluments of officers of the army and navy, respectively, which he reduced to tabular form. That which relates to the officers of the army, is table 1, appended to this chapter; and, in like manner, that which relates to officers of the navy, forms table I, appended to the chapter on the Fourth Auditor's office. But those computations, though they came as near the mark as was practicable, in the nature of things, were not pledged to show the actual amount that might be received by every or indeed any officer, under all circumstances, in any year. The effort was a good one, however, and came near enough to the mystical amount to be officially discountenanced, and the further publication of it dropped. It resulted nevertheless, in inquiry, which has penetrated and partially exploded the mystery of the pay and emoluments of those two branches of the public servico. In 1835, whether as a direct consequence is immaterial, an act was passed, "to regulate the pay of the navy of the United States." That act, though it increases the pay, and justly too, of officers of the navy, greatly simplifies the subject, by removing the complication and mystery of technical allowances in most respects, as is shown in table II, appended to the chapter on the Fourth Auditor's office, after table I, computing said complicated pay and allowances in 1830. But, as yet, Congress has not done the same thing in regard to simplifying the pay and emoluments of officers of the army-which, by the bye, has always been inore complex and mysterious than that of the navy, and still remains in that condition-an opprobrium to that republican perspicacity professed and essayed in all other departments and institutions of our government. This complexity and mysterious technicality which still rests upon the allowances and emoluments of officers of the army, is in some degree elucidated in table II, following table I, as appended to this chapter. Said table II, compiled from the partial edition of the Army Register of 1846, 45, and '44, is probably one of the fruits of a desire still existing in Congress to obtain the proper comparative light on this subject, when the House of Representatives, on the 3d March. 1843, passed a resolution, That in all future publications of the Army and Navy Registers of the United States, there shall be affixed opposite the name of each person published therein, in separate columns, the annual pay of each officer or person; the amount paid him for rations serrants, and forage; and the gross amount paid or allowed him in all respects for and on his account, and for and during the year preceding such publication." Forthwith the Navy Register of the next year published the said resolution, with a letter from the Fourth Auditor to the Secretary of the Navy, transmitting to him a tabular statement of the pay actually received by every officer of the naval service during the year, which was inserted in the entire edition of the Navy Register for that year, and has been so repeated for each year since. The Army Register, however, has still evaded the law, by making a partial edition for Congress only, showing the pay and emoluments received by each officer and others in the military service, whilst those statements of pay and emoluments are excluded from the larger editions printed for general distribution in the army, &c.--a mere hoodwinking of Congress, as to the full observance of the resolutions. Though this may startle the undissembling frankness of all republican minds, it is no idle conjecture-for, upon application at the Adjutant General's office for a copy of the con gressional edition, it was refused by the then acting Adjutant General, and I was under the necessity of applying to a member of Con. gress for the loan of his, when I discovered he was unaware of a difference between the Congress edition and the Popular edition. The respective partial editions of the Army Register showing the annual pay and emoluments of officers and others in the military service, make the following explanations under the head of "General Remarks," viz: "GENERAL REMARKS.-The tabular statement of pay, subsistence, &c., annexed to the Register in conformity with the above resolution [of 1843] embraces the fiscal year ending June 30, 1845; but pay accounts, in numerous instances, not having been received at the office of the Second Auditor, the period of payment to the respective officers, varies from one to twelve months. "Officers on duty with troops, are furnished with quarters and fuel in kind; but at stations where there are no public quarters, they receive the commutation value therefor, according to the table of allowances fixed by the General Regulations. See paragraph 953, page 185, (Army Regulations.) "The amount paid for TRANSPORTATION of officers' baggage, when travelling under orders for any duty, as tours of inspection, to attend courts martial, &c., and the per diem allowed by law to members of courts, do not constitute a part of the officers' compensation, as these allowances do not more than cover the EXTRA expenses to which he is subjected in the performance of the duties assigned him [oxcept in cases where the officer gets leave of absence for his own convenience, and an order is given, to cover his expenses!!] "The regulations' authorize the issue of a small amount of stationery to each officer, for the transaction of his public duties. The stationery is always issued in kind, and cannot therefore be regarded as an emolument. "Officers of the same grade in a regiment or corps, independent of what is said above, do not appear always to receive equal compensation, owing, first, to the additional rations allowed (except to general officers) under the provisions of the 15th section of the act of July 5, 1838, which vary according to length of service; secondly, double rations allowed by law to some officers, as commanders of posts and departments; thirdly, promotion, when pay, &c., for the whole year may have accrued in the inferior grade from which the officer had been advanced; fourthly, officers on leave of absence, who, during the time, are not entitled to quarters, fuel, or transportation-such allowances being restricted to the officer when actually on duty." The compensation of officers of the navy and officers of the army having necessarily a relative bearing, (or ought to have,) a perfect comprehension of the one cannot be attained without a survey of the other; therefore, it is proper to make a reciprocal reference to the respective abstracts thereof, subjoined to this chapter, and to that on the Fourth Auditor's office in which latter will be found the comparative compensation of relative rank in these two branches of the public service. Justice to the officers of the military service would seem to require that all allowances under the heads of "transportation," "per diem for attending courts martial," and "stationery" for official use, should be excluded from the tables of their pay and emoluments, or be abated in the aggregates, as they make no part of such emoluments, being only matters of account or claim of such officers for such extra services and expenses, to be adjusted and settled by the accounting officers, as other matters of account or claim sustained by Vouchers are. For whilst they are retained, they unjustly swell the apparent aggregate of officers' annual receipts, and constitute the chief cause of the great difference in the compensation of the similar grades in the two branches of the service, as well as increase the technical mystery of their compensation. As a further evidence that such discrimination should be made, the pay accounts proper are settled by the Second Auditor, whilst the claims for transportation, &c., are settled by the Third Auditor, according to legal provision. After all, it may be alleged that mystery in the pay and emoluments of officers of the army is essential to the maintenance of the esprit du corps, to the discipline of the soldiery, to strategy and good fighting, &c. If the facts would sustain this suggestion, it would be a strong argument in favor of its continuance. But why would not the same apply to naval officers? Their esprit du corps, discipline of seamen, strategy and good fighting, may be also affected by similar causes; and in the army itself, there is no mystery about the pay of the privates, the common soldiery, who receive the fixed pay of eight dollars a month, and yet they do most of the hard fighting, without this incentive of mystery enveloping their compensation!! Duly to estimate the great confusion and embarrassment that has continually arisen in the War Department in determining the pay and allowances for brevet rank alone, it would perhaps be desirable to refer to the numerous opinions of Attorneys General on this subject, called for from time to time, by that Department. But to narrow such reference down to the smallest compass that may yet embrace all essential points, it will sutico probably to subjoin the special references to opinions of this nature, as they are made in the following letter of the Attorney General of the 30th June, 1834, to the Secretary of War, copied from the record of the Attorney General's office, but omitted in the "Compilation of Opinions," reported and printed under resolution of the House of Representatives in 1841, viz: 4 "SIR: I have considered the case of brevet Lieutenant Thayer, as stated in the paper submitted to me by your letter of 27th inst. On the subject of brevet pay, I think it safer to refer to the opinions already given to the War Department by myself and my predecessors upon the laws of 1812 and 1818, than to furnish any new commentaries upon them. In the opinions of Mr. Wirt, of December 29, 1821, and September 21, 1822, on the cases of Generals Gaines and Scott; of Mr. Berrien, of the 18th July, 1829; and of myself, of the 18th April, 1834, on the case of Major Payne; you will, I think, find all the legal principles by which the present case is to be decided. I refer particularly to the concluding paragraph of that part of Mr. Berrien's opinion which relates to .brevet pay. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, &c., (Signed) B. F. BUTLER. "To the Hon. LEWIS CASS, Secretary of War." page 697,) viz: This is the paragraph referred to :-(see the published “Opinions of Attorney General," "It does not occur to me," says Mr. Berrien, “that it will be expected from me to proceed further into details in answering the general inquiry which has been propounded to me, how far and to what extent brevet pay can be allowed? Yet it may be proper to say, looking to the cases of officers in the bureaus of the War Depart ment, in the Ordnance and Engineer corps, and commanding the military academy and cadets, that the terms used by Congress in the grant of brevet pay seem wholly unsuitable to these cases. I do not profess to be familiar with the technical language of military science; but it appears to me that when Congress used the expression, command according to rank, they had reference to troops--bodies of soldiers constituting ordinarily the elements of an army--and not to artificers, or to officers whose rank and science might be held equivalent to the numerical force required by the act, or the pupils of the military academy, whether prosecuting their scientific studies, or embodied for the drill, and acquiring a knowledge of tactics. But each of these cases has been specifically decided not, as I apprehend, in the exercise of the power to make regulations for the army, but in the fulfilment by the President of his obligation to see the laws executed. As such, though not obligatory, they are cer tainly entitled to respect. Besides, they [meaning these decisions'j have been acted upon for some years; and having been probably brought to the notice of committees of Congress, in the explanations given to estimates submitted by the War Department, may, therefore, be supposed to have received the implied approbation of that body. These considerations concur with others to recommend an early submission to Congress of this branch of the subject. The question whether, in the mean time, it may be advisable to disturb the actual status or present interpretation of the rule by reversing these decisions of your predecessors, is one of expediency; on which, I pre it is hardly expected I should express an opinion." TABLE I. [The following Table is extracted from the "Register of the Army and Navy of the United States, compiled, printed, and published, Washington, 1830, by Col. PETER FORCE.] "TARIFF of the present rate of Compensation to Officers of the United States Army." Same, double rations, a. 25 56 00 20 0 24 33 10 00 492 8315 75 90 00 90 00 Com'ry Gen. of Subsis 90 00 tence & Col. of Ord.,e Lt. Col. of Ordnance,.... 75 00 Same, double rations, f. 24 33 32 00 10 00 12 163 5 00143 50 9.00 Lieut. Colonel,. 60 00 Same, double rations, f. Major,....... 50 00 Same, double rations, f. Surgeon,....... 45 00 24 3324 00 10 00 12 168 5 00149 833 9 00 5 00 6 08 Assistant Surgeon,.... Captain of Ordnance,... Same, additional, h..... Captain,....... 40 00 12 163 16 00 40 06 24 331 Same, additional, h..... 1st Lt. of Ordnance, h33 33 24 331 2d Lt. of Ordnance, h 1st Lieutenant,...... Same, additional, h...... 2d Lieutenant,. Same, additional, h...... Aides-de-Cp. to Maj. Gen. 5 62 5 624 5 62 10 00 24 331 5 00 6 0812 50 105 58 10 00 24 331 30 00 24 333 5 00 6 082 50 102 25 10 00 24 331 25 00 24 331 36 00 51 75 544 386, 535 00 7,539 60, Scott. 1, 594 50 2,105 43, Barnum 7 50 10 311 112 561 1, 350 75 7 50 10 31 107 56 1,290 75 1,510 00 2,920 22, Mason. 1, 228 50 1,937 22, Sarg't. 1, 714 50 1,861 25, Bull. ...... Aides.de-Camp & Lt. & Ast. Qr'mast. S 10 00 16 00 *6 083 19 912 811| 7 50 10 31 30 23 ad. to pay in line. 603 75 482 76 432 00 290 76 362 76 [The following notes were appended to the original table, to illustrate the circumstances under which double rations and additional pay accrue to most of the officers of the army.] Note.--Some monthly allowances are governed by the number of days: in the above, the calculations are made for the 12th of the year. • Deduct one ration where these allowances ar received. This column is added to show the pay and allowances actually received by officers of corresponding grades, according to the Army Register of 1844. TABLE II. The following Table is an abstract of the Pay and Emoluments stated in the partial edition of the Army Register of 1846, with the ag▪ gregates of those of '45 and '44. 0720 00 670 00365 00 360 00 2,385 00 246 93 510 00 75 50 a3,217 43 4, 133 94 3,813 15 62,632 69 3, 852 24 3, 552 27 46 1, 144 03 66 66 Thos. Swords, 46 550 00 804 00514 50 400 00 2,862 50 61 86200 00 150 20 1 50 7 35 46 G. H Crosman, 66 600 00 "6 S. B. Dusenberry," 600 00 4. Subsistence Department. Com. Gl.G.Gibson, bet.Bg.Gl. 1, 080 00 Ast.Cm.Gl.J.P.Taylor, Lt. Col. 900 00 Cm.Sub.T.W.Lendrum,as Mj. 720 00 "6 R. B. Lee, 720 00 J. B. Grayson, as Cpt. 600 00 A. B. Eaton, 66 550 00 2, 499 96 720 00 439 20 2,939 16 74 25240 00 3,253 41 3,751 12 3, 573 82 43, 324 74 2,961 84 2,880 24 2,930 53 2,673 40 2, 783 98 d2, 524 69 2,482 70 1,924 88 2,915 52 42, 634 74 2,092 91 2, 108 20 a1, 968 85 1,477 25 1,811 52 2, 166 22 d1, 338 31 941 83 2, 147 79 2, 176 83 2,091 35 al, 962 47 3,568 50 3,521 70 1,892 26 2,874 43 2, 704 09 a2, 530 09 2, 721 582, 553 58 c2, 232 59 2,095 54 2,241 98 2,059 74 2,062 48 1,891 76 3, 629 50 3,786 49 3, 135 22 a2, 920 22 2, 533 97 2,533 15 2,222 62 al, 937 22 2,252 86 al, 996 61 Maj. J. L. Smith, bet. Major, 720 00 Captain H. Brewerton,.. 600 00 1st Lieut. Jas. L. Mason, 399 96 2d Lieut. Z. B. Tower,....... 399 96 720 00 600 00 399 93 a366 64 775 20 365 00 400 1,080 00 1st Lieut. T. J. Lee,.... 2d Lieut. J. W. Gunnison,.... 3. Corps of Ordnance. Col. Geo. Bomford, bet. Col.. Major H. K. Craig,. Captain W. H. Bell,.. 2d Lieut. A. B. Dyer, †. 1,344 81a1, 236 18 The columns numbered 10, 11, and 12 in the manuscript, headed stationery," "forage in kind,” and “straw for servants", showing very rare items, and of unim portant amount, have been omitted here for the sake of room, as might that numbered 9, for the same reason. Without pursuing this comparative table further, it will be sufficient to say, that the pay and emoluments of the officers of military corps of the army proper, from Colonels down, (which would next come in order by continuance of the above table) correspond very nearly with that of these demi-civil corps of the same official grade: that is to say, the dragoons and mounted riflemen do, exactly--the pay and emoluments of dragoons being assumed by law as the basis of the pay and allowances to those corps, but not being assumed as the basis for the pay and emolumen, of the officers of like grade in the corps of artillery and infantry, the compensations of these are fixed at somewhat reduced rates-attended, however, with similar details with those given in the above columns. (a) These received for eleven months. (b) This received for eight months. (c) These received for nine months. (d) These received for ten months. 2,362 63 a3.165 20 2, 782 99 2,530 26 3, 118 13 3, 129 58 3, 916 123, 680 13 2,874 21 62, 625 89 2, 397 44 ₪2, 327 90 2, 184 582, 024 38 1,390 65 al, 330 30 1, 109 25 1,290 59 3, 422 10 3, 417 62 3, 053 20 2,728 60 2,730 592, 428 32 1,723 18 1,058 99 1,335 941, 592 60 c967 04d1, 219 20 3,748 00 3,781 47 a2,669 25 3,288 12 1,875 22 1,558 88 1,384 76 3,069 55 72, 698 72 1,960 17 2,278 50 1,915 91 1,861 25 1,593 75a1, 547 71 CHAPTER VIII. THIRD AUDITOR OF THE TREASURY. THE ORIGIN, FUNCTIONS, AND OPERATIONS, OF THE THIRD AUDITOR'S OFFICE. Summary of the Laws relative thereto. The act of the 3d of March, 1817, "providing for the prompt settlement of Public Accounts," after abolishing certain offices, and establishing others, (the Third Auditor's among the rest,) as already mentioned in the beginning of several of the preceding chapters, defines the duties of the Third Auditor in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 11th, and 12th sections, thus: "It shall be the duty of the Third Auditor to receive all accounts relative to the subsistence of the Army, the Quartermaster's department, and, generally, all accounts of the War Department, other than those provided for [in the Second Auditor's office, those others not so provided for being accounts relative to revolutionary, invalid, and half-pay pensions-to fortifications—the military academy-surveys of roads, canals, and other internal improvements]-he shall examine said accounts, certify the balances, and transmit the accounts, with the vouchers and certificates, to the Second Comptroller, for his decision thereon; and he shall keep all accounts of the receipts and expenditures of the public money [appropriated in reference to those objects] and of all debts due to the United States on money advanced [by the Secretary of the Treasury] relative to said objects; and he shall receive from the Second Comptroller the accounts which shall have been finally adjusted, and shall preserve such accounts, with their vouchers and certificates; and he shall record all warrants drawn by the Secretary of War [now drawn by the Secretary of the Treasury] for the objects whereof he audits the accounts of expenditure. And it shall be his duty to make such reports on the business assigned to him, as the Secretary of War may deem necessary, and require, for the service of the Department. And the said Auditor, shall annually, on the first Monday in November, report, to the Secretary of the Treasury, the application of the money appropriated for the objects aforesaid, for the preceding year, which shall be laid before Congress by the Secretary, with his annual statement of the public expenditures." "And the provision contained in the 2d section of the act of the 3d March, 1797, 'providing more effectually for the settlement of accounts between the United States and receivers of public money,' which directs that in every case where suit has been, or shall be, instituted, 'a TRANSCRIPT from the books and proceedings of the Treasury, certified by the Register, shall be admitted as evidence,' shall be extended, in regard to the accounts of the War and Navy Departments, to the Auditors respectively [including the Third Auditor] charged with the examination of those accounts, and that certificates, signed by them, shall be of the same effect as that directed to be signed by the Register." "And the auditors of public accounts [including the Third Auditor] shall be empowered to administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses in any case in which they may deem it necessary for the due examination of the accounts with which they shall be charged." Also, by the direction of the President of the United States, under the proviso of the 4th section of the aforesaid act of 1817, authorizing him to assign to the Second or Third Auditor the settlement of the accounts which had been confided to the additional accountant of the War Department, the Third Auditor is charged with the settlement of "all outstanding accounts of the War Department, originating anterior to the 1st July, 1815," being unsettled claims for military pay and bounty existing previous to that period-but subject to the revision of the Second Comptroller. By the act of the 6th April, 1838, directing the "transfer to the Treasury of the United States, of all moneys transmitted to agents for paying pensions, remaining unclaimed for eight [afterwards extended to fourteen] months after the same shall have been due," and making the pensions so uncla med, "payable only at the Treasury"all such claims for pensions are required to be examined and settled by the Third Auditor, and are subject to the revision of the Second Comptroller. (See note on this item, in "Tables of Details," sequel.) The Third Auditor also settles the claims of states and territories for military services to the United States assumed by sundry special acts of Congress, as noted in the details of the subjoined Tables-subject to revision by the Second Comptroller. And it appears, by the 11th section of the act 9th April, 1816, "authorizing the payment for PROPERTY lost, captured, or destroyed [by the enemy] while in the military service of the United States," that the office of a Commissioner to settle said claims was created, defining his duties to be, "to decide upon all cases arising under said act, and requiring that in the discharge of said duties he shall be subject to such rules and regulations as |