National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-06-17
CAPITOL AND DEPARTMENT..
THE STAFF OF THE ARMY

THE STAFF OF THE ARMY.
Among the bills which passed the Senate on
Friday and sent to the House was one to open the
medical and ordnance corps Of the army to promo
President 9a dsa 81 with the ADVICE and
sent Of the Senate, to MI all such vacancies as
| now exist in the medical department Of the army
sdlOaol tS.. an positions and once. above said
| grade Of lieutenant colonel in said department
which are now vacant are hereoy abolished; that
whenever the ONCE Of Surgeon General shall be-
| come vacant by death, resignation or otherwise,
/ thsreupon the grade Of brigadier general In said
| department shall at once cease TO exist anc AL
the duties and functions Of said office Of Surgeon
General shall devolve upon and be performed BY
such oficer OF said department Is shall be desig'
mated by the President, and known a. chief medi-
That the President 10 also authorised, with
the ADVICE and consent Of the Senate, 70 nil such
vscancies Is now exist In the ordnance depart.
iisussnsns Witch srsas Is sSotlshsd ProSfSes
That Whenever the once Of chief Of ordnance
\ eral In said department. shall q once cease TO
exist. and all the duties and functions Of said
lbs.performsd by such osacer Of said dspsrtmenf
e shall be designated By the President, and
known as chief Of ordnance"
1t Is an legislation that h Absolutely neces-
| sary at the present time, and one that has been
twice receunended By the Secretary Of War in
In the medical department the number of OIL
GERS have decreased 20 such an extent that not
more than one half the calls for surgeons from
che different posts can be supplied with regular
ohcers, and the employment OF contract sur
\ Eeonsn therefore becomes necessary. However
skillful these men may be they do not pay the
| a,regularly commissioned surgeon would, and
ProaSti0n snd spp0intnsst win ssrvs the best
e IN the ordnanes dspsrtmsattAs same dehcIsncy
s5tt4 The dthefent arsensls cannot be supplied
With spfopsr aamber, % ofaeers, and importAat
to be abandoned or postponed In consequence.
As this bill provides that some Of the higher
grades shall cease 70 exist when the present In
otherwise, In the case Of the chiefof ordnance no
new promotion can be made to fill the brigadier-
but the otnesrs Of the lower grades will be bene,
ted by IT, as In the event of Its passage they will
receive the promotion from which they have boon
the vacancies WIN be filled from among The most
distinguished graduates OF the Military Academy
who are now in 4. the line &C the army: Thus BY
81 the military service be placed In Q position to
be Of use to the Government and the country in
present.
THE CONFERENCE MoIETY REPORT.
The conference report on the moiety bill makes
the following arrangement Of the points Of dis
Agreement between the House and Senate:
The repeal Of noieties is confined to those aris-
ing under the customs revenue laws as provided
| by the Senate. Section nye Of tho House bill as
passed BY the Senate, authorizing the production
OF any book or paper in court on the motion of the
District attorney, with the proyiso that the owner
fof agent should be present and retain their Gus
tody turing the examination, which must be con-
hneo to the specific point at issue, Is recommended
for retention; The defendants are to be allowed
to appear and testify in their own behalf in order
TO secure uniformity in this respect in all the
States. Judges arc to be allowed to decide i'm
prtsonfnent not exceeding two years in addition
n lad NV
ialfe entries with intent to deiraud the revenue.
2Tha Senate amendment, extending the forfeit
70 fHs snt5s b1 Inc FGs
Of the entire invoice this account, las required
by existing laws,) is retained by the conference
The Committee restore the provision OF the orig
inal House bill allowing any owner claimant 70
obtain the release OF merchandise seized by CIV
ing bonds satisfactory to the collector, after all
accrued duties shall have been paid. The COM
mttee also restores the section, originally offered
by the Finance Committee, requiring the Judge,
on his own motion, motion Of either party to
suif to submit to the Jury as distinct and Sep
arate proposition, the question whether an actual
intentto defrsud the revenue has been shown.
Iseveutsen,ofthe original House bill, forbidding
United States otfeers from making any comprd-
mise Of to settle any claim or the United states
arising under tho customs laws, but amend this
section as to allow the Secretary of the Treas.
ury 70 remit fines or penaltessas provided by ex-
The conference committee reeomnends fixing
one year instead OF three IS The term after which
no cfafmi snail be made by the United States for
duties on imported goods, unless fraud s diseos-
They also M two years instead Of thrss ~ the
time after which no suit shall be commenced for
The conference coTmitsse EspOrs Il Sstor II AZ.
ing the salaries of the customs officers at New
York, Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, New
Finance oommittee and herstosOfs I pSbifsheS,
hnd recommends that the Salaries Of all other
customs pficers remain as hxed BY existing laws.
The conferences committee recommend that the
last section Of the bill, as passed by the Ssnata
shall be amended 50 IS to read as fellovs;n Thai
ell acts-and parts Of acts ineonsistsnt with the
provisions Of this act are hereby repealed; that
nothing herein contained shall affect existing
laws Of the United States, and in all cases in
which Prosecltions have bssn. actually com:
the Treasury shall have power to make compen-
sation, as provided in the fourth section Of this
have been entitled to share IN The disposttiOn Of
such forfeitures."
The report is signed on part of the Senate by
by Messrs. Roberts, Sheldon and Wood. The
signature of Senator Howe, the refraining con-
fierce, is not appended. s
APPOINTMENTS BY THE PRESIDENT.
The President sent the following nominations
| to the Senate yesterday:
r.tsry I Of State: Daniel J. MSIaafey' United
| States marshal for Oregon; Major Absalom Baird,
to be assistant inspector general and lieutenant
colonel, United States army. Postmesters: George
s. Merrill, Lawrence, Mass; Geo. W. Brigham,
Rockville, Conn; James Robo, Ottawa, Kant
ger, Hudson, Via; 1no. Il. Prunkershoff, wan
pun, Wis; H. S. Tonne, Ripon, WISH X. p.
Strong, Beloit, Wis. -Consuls General; Thos. B.
Van Buren,, Of N. Y, at Kanagawa; Thos. Adam
son, jr., Of Penn, at Mslbourns; Joseph NJ Hinds
OF Ala, at Rio dc Janeiro; George Pornats, Of
sTa at 81 ss1 g
Consuls: VIM. W. Doug lass, Of Va, al Bradford,
England; James Crowley, Of Mass, at AFmoor
tame; Geo. Gerard, Of Penn, ct Port stanley;
l. P. Pellet, of N. Y, at Sabsnilla; II. ". Trim
bio, N. j., at Nolan; Paul Jones, Of Ohio
at San Domingo; W. H. Young, ofOhfo, ct Mapn-
helm; Henry Driver, st Auckland; howard Fox,
at Falmouth.