The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-08-17
ARMY PAYsEAsTERs.
Their POSITION sand Duties.


The Washington q ontcle gives de-
tailed account of the duties of paymas-
tiers, s,whichcontainsu a eh interesting in
formation aboutla class of army officers
of whom the public Knows little, and
the soldiers would like to know more.
We copy the following paragraphs:
FOUR HUNDREp 4AYaIAsTERs.
Prior to the inaus fation of the now
defunct rebellion, when the regular
forces did not exceed lxteen thousand
men, the duties of a. qc Vmaster were, in
manner, easily per Fmed by officers
of the pay corps, each aying prescribed
duties ofXa routrne haracter. Then
there We're only two ey-fiVe paymaS-
tefs, wlI0f were undei the supervision
of the paymaster Gen fal who presided
oyer that bureau with lle rank of col
onel.
The late war having ade q necessary
to rapidly increase tn btitjso1r of arnlv
pnymasterS, it was probosed at the
close of the year 1864 to re-Orgnnize this
department. by comforting on its chief
officer the rank of brigadier general,
and the necessity of an additional num-
Der of paymasters in the field for the
purpose of having the troops promptly
and properly paid naturally Increased
the number of army paymasters to
within n fraction of four hundred.
THE PAY DISTRICTS.
These officers have the rank, pay, and
emolument of majors of cavalry, and
their time is devoted to paying officers
on staff duty without troops, the regi-
ments ana companies in thoir vicinity,
men who may be mustered out of scr
vice, &c. The pay district i'll which
these officers are stationed comprise
the loyal States and those over which
the Federal Government has military
are divided thus:
New England and New York, head
quarters, New York city.
Pennsylvania, HEADQUARTERS, Balti-
more, Md.
ton city.
North Carolina, headquarters, Nor
r1ca, OF the 3 South, headquarters, Hilton
OF the Gulf, headquarters, New Or
West Virginia, headquarters, Wheel
lmdinna and Illinois, headquarters,
indianapolis, Ind.
Kentucky, headquarters, Cincinnati,
OF the Cumberland, Headquarters.
Louisville, Ky.
OF the Mississippi, headquarters, st.
OF the Missouri, headquarters, st.
Louis, Mo.
OF the Northwest, headquarters, st.
Paul, MINI.
Kansas, headquarters, Fort Lenven-
\, New Mexico, headquarters, Santa Fe,
:, OF the Pacific, headquarters, San
Francisco, Cal.
DUTIES OF CaIRR p M nsTvps
A pRymiIstor-in-ch 4s assi0ned 10
eacn or the aboYe-named districts, to
whom each paymaster under him looks
for orders and instructions. Besides
their other duties, they furnish to the
pnymnSterS i'll the field all general or
ders, memorandums, and circulars re-
intlng to the payment of troops, as they
are issued from the Adiutant Generals
Office, and from the Pay and Treasury
Bureaus. These documents are of in
calculable value to paYmnsters, as they
contain decisions by courts-martial in
numerous cases of notices of "stOp-
pages against officers, and, if carefully
pernsed by them, will guide them cor
rectly in the proper distribution of the
tunds placed in their hands. Should
an officer fail to make proper return
to the Ordnance and QuartermaSter's
departments, or should have been, i'm
properly paid, the 'stoppage" notices
pnymastcr to pay no dues until the
regulations are complied with.
THE CENTRAL. BUREAU.
The central bureau of the Paymas-
ter's Department is located in n build
ing poorly adapted to the business of
the office, on the corner of F and Fir-
teenth streets. In this building are
crowded the offices of the Paymaster-
General and several subordinateo officers