The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-12-06

Received by paymaSterS from other
sources, exclusive OF sums transferred
among themselves. ....................... 23s, l92
Total to be accounted 464, 40
Accounted for as fOllows:-
Disbursements to the regular army. ... sls,G7s,251
Disbursements TO the Military Academy. 1929
Disbursements TO volunteers (back pay ana
bounties). l99Is 1886
Total disbursements ... ............ .s3s 7s2, 145
Amount refunded to Treasury. .......... 4s94s
Balance in hands OF paymasterS June 80,
.....,................... 3633,617
Total. ............. .s42, 1914 40
Congress, by an act approved March B. 1869, au-
thorized and directed the transfer, from this office
to the Second Auditor OF the Treasury, OF all add-
tlonal bounty claims pending and unsettled on the
first day OF May following, After that transfer was
accomplished, II became practicable to dispense with
the services OF additional paymasters and they were
accordingly honorably discharged, There remain
now in service only the sixty regular paymasters
authorized by the act for the reorganization of the
army, passed July 2S, 1866 This force cannot with
safety be subjected to much reduction while the
number Of military stations shall remain as at pre-
sent
The Paymaster-General states that he is confirmed
in the opinion that no system can be devised which,
equal to the present one, can be made to combine
the advantages of prompt payment to the troops, the
date accountability with the slightest osslbe liza
bility to embezzlement or dealcation, with the
least cost to the Government.
The disbursements for reconstruction purposes are
S26l8 29346 and the balances in hands OF paymasters
october 2, 1869, are S1l0,643'I9.
In accordance with the requirements OF law, all
claims for the additional Dountes granted by the act
OF July 2S, remaining in the Paymaster-Generas
ferred to the Second Auditor OF the Treasury set
tement OF the total .number-441, ,959-received.
there were examined and settled by the Pay Depart-
ment 44OG0s, leaving for transfer the Auditor but
1851 cases. OF which the major part had been ex-
amined and determined but not yet paid for want
OF receipted vouchers from the claimants
The total amount dlsbursed by the Pay Depart
ment for additional bounties, including those settled
Inv fha IL nrt.,,
on Treasury certificates, from the beginning to the
Both June last, is S5T,220, $50.
Engineer Department.
The report Of the Chief OF Engineers gives de-
tailed account Of the operations of the Engineer De-
partment and Of the means required to execute the
duties devoved upon 1t. The officers OF the Corps of
Engineers, aided by details from other arms of the
service and a number of civil engineers, have been
engaged upon the permanent national defenses
survey OF the lakes, river and harbor improvements
explorations and surveys, command and instruction
OF engineer troops and in charge of public bcidngs
grounds, and works in the District of Columbia
Twenty-Five officers of the corps have been doing
duty in the several military divisions, departments
as instructors at the Military Academy.
Work has been continued on the permanent de-
lenses to the extent permitted by The small balances
remaining of old appropriations. These have been
hausted for the most part during the year, and the
works have consequently been closed up.
Ordnance Department.
The fiscal affairs OF the Ordnance Department
during the year ending June 80, 1869, as fol-
Amount available from all sources. SIS 2ss s1s
Expenditures since June 80, 1SGS........ 2,7s7325
Turned into surplus fund.- .......,....... 100000
In Treasury, not credited TO approprla-
In depositares to credit OF disbursing Of
In Treasury on June 80 1869. ........ l3 3g9 2O6
The expenditures OF The department during the
year included over $780, coo for claims and about
1872 GOO for cartridges made for the Navy Department
and not yet paid Tor.
Ereedmen's Bureau. rH
The operations OF this bureau have been closed
eNCe0G educational nj
two hospitals for freedmen. The number of officers
agents. and clerks has been reduced from nine bun,
dred and one TO one hundred and hfty-eght. No
further reduction is practicable long the present
operations shall cOntiaue
The bureau has had under its care, up to June 80,
1862 1884, l7S persons. All the hospitals but two have
been closed or transferred to the civil authori-
ties, and one OF the remaining two is about being
closed There WIZ then remain but one, which IS
located in the District Of Columbia, and cannot be
dispensed with at present
The general average during the whole period OF
the existence OF the bureau shows that about in
TWO hundred, or one-half OF one per cent, Of the
freed people have been supported by the Govern
ment.
The freedmen were advised to make written con-
tracts with their employers, and have the same eX-
planned ana approved 10y bureau Oficer. In a single
state more than hfty thousand such contracts We're
made
The labor OF the reedmen has produced nearly all
the food consumed in the South, besides large
amounts OF rice sugar ahd TOBACCO Tor expectation,
which were paid into the United States Treasury,
during the years 1850 and 1867, taxes amounting to
Much disappointment and il-feeling were caused
by the failure of the original plan 10 lease sell the
abandoned lands in small tracts to refugees and
freedmen. Information has been published respect
ing lands under the homestead act OF June 2l, 1866
ana some aid given TO those who desired TO enter
them. Attention is beginning TO turn in that direc-
tion, and about four thousand families have already
made entries and obtained homes OF their own. In
a few instances freedmen have united In the pur-
chase OF farms under cultivation. Ihey are very
anxious to become land owners, and the possession
of lands and homes is one OF the chief means OF
theiI elevation.
But the most urgent wants education, ana more
attention has been paid to this than to any other
subject. In each State at least one normal school
has been organized. Several chartered colleges for
freed people are In operation; also university in
the District Of Columbia.
In the 211s schools under the care of the bureau,
and Oniciay reported, the number of teachers en-
ployed Is 246b and the number of pupils is ia, 622
Adding those estimated In private and Sabbath
schools, the number under instruction OF some kind
during the last year is not less than 100000. The
freed people are doing what they can for their own
education, having during the last year, paid for
tuition and the construction OF buildings about
100000. -l.