The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1868-12-12

placed on the footing of enlisted men.
! General Townsend says that at the date
of his annual report there We're 203 vol
unteer officers in the service, all of whom
! but General Howard, head of the Freed
mems Bureau, have since been mustered
out-at that date there were mastering
and disbursing officers at Albany, Phila-
delphia, and Columbia, Ohio, which have
since been closed. Communication money
to the amount OF S87 no has been refund
| ed under the act of February, 1867. and
as one clause Of said act prevents the
payment of some just claims that have
been received at the department since it
was passed, the repeal of that proviso is
recommended. Nearly all the legal
claims for collecting, drilling, and orga-
nizing volunteers have been paid, or are
on file undergoing examination and veri-
| fication, with view to payment. The
Adjutant General speaks of fraudulent
claims that are from time to time pre-
sented, and recommends that laws be
| enacted limiting the time within which
claims for expenses incurred prior to
muster into service may be presented.
The Adjutant General speaks at some
| length on the subject of military prisons.
He says that the present system of pun
ishment in the army not only fails to
reform the men. but tends toEdegrade
them, and that by throwing hardened
and desperate criminals into close con-
tact with young and thoughtless soldiers,
subjects the latter to contamination by
both preeept and example. He forcibly
alludes to the evils of guard house CON
finement, and holds that they are the
fruitful cause of desertion. He remarks
that men who have been guilty of Of
! fences against the civil law often enter
the army to escape the penalty of their
offences, and at this time there is no way
of getting rid of these men; for if they
are discharged from one regiment, they
will go to another part of the country
and enlist again under other names. At
ter speaking further, and with much
! feeling and judgment, on this subject of
army discipline and punishment, the Ad-
jutant General declares again, as he did
/ last year, for military prisons. These.
he says, il properly managed, would
serve as retormatory institutions, and
would rid the army Of many vicious and
insubordinate men; they would materi-
ally diminish the heed and expense OF
courts-martial, prevent the discharge of
many desperate men in the unsettled
parts of the country, where they always
become pests and outlaws, and would
facilitate the recognition of offenders
against the civil law who have entered
the ranks Of the army. He proposes to
! build the frstprison in New York harbor,
and if that is found to work well, then
he would have Congress provide for SIM
/ liar institutions ON Ship Island, at one
point on the Pacific coast, and at one
point in the Mississippi valley. The
labor of conviets and the stoppages of
pay would, he thinks, nearly support
feach prison after its erection. He, would
have companies of discipline attached to
! each prison, into which, under proper
! regulations, all idle and worthless men
of the class, who prefer being in the
guard house to doing duty should be
transferred, and would have these vaga-
bonds severely dealt with. He sketches
his plan in detail, and suggests that it be
submitted to Congress. The report
closes with tables showing the number
and rank of officers in the Adjutant
Generals Department. .1s