New-York tribune., 1877-03-15
CURRENT TOPICS Ar THE CAPITAL.
NO ARMY SUPPLIES AFTER JULY FIR5E

MAsiIINGTON, Wednesday, Malch IL lS''.
The following letter, referring to the pur-
chase OF supplies &C.. for the army in the absence oi an
appropriation therefor has been addressed to Gen Sher
man ly the Judge Advocate General:
GENERAL: Referring 10 The matter OF tde lnqIliry ao
dressed 10 me ths morning through Col. IourIli0;'r,
A. c. haye to gMPr@ in9 or SH otr ni' spseaa
statutory authority for the purpose. re military
iis t h, nthozed by the provisions of Section
Nc. 72 Of the Revised Statutes, 10 purchase OF c"n-
tract for ANY of the supplies, &c ior the 3iS in @
Toned in said section, 70 3Iy longer pcriJd thai" dGrin%
the remaining part Of the present f"c year lie sec
tou Indicated was quite evidently va. measure ana
j,tCuded 10 authorize the purchase O supplies III tEo
auscnco OF any appropriation therefor IA a case
ti,e same were absolutely required Tor the troops
But even this extraordinary anhorliy was limited 10
necessities oi the "cuiitnt year., anu is Term must III
s Yc,r r,s view Of thc crnn and he Interpretation of
ibe term current gear confirmed, III my iu,lc
Inent 10y the provisions Of Section 1873 of tc revised
.fStutes This section positive rms forbids amy d.
partmcnt OF the Government from cxpending ~ any oIo
fiscal year any fum III excess of NC appfolIiu"ns
from involving the Governmn.t iii any contract
for the future payment or moncy IN exc eIc'S. 80 0i
might well have been regarded rcpcaiuE he eSccp-
ton med Section 3732. That exception now
view 81 lie provision scc:ion 3,G79, ccrlialy be
strictly construed, the latter lcng statute enactej
years after AMI expressing very evidently ihr re-
lied poc, Of the Government in the matter ot public
expenditures aud CONT sets uadcr peace status nave
tie honor 10 remain, General, very rc3pGc'InJ your
obcdicnt servant, W ~ dunn,
cAdyOcatc-Gcncral,U L. >. Army.
AWARD or THE STAMP CONTRACT.
The Poslmaster-Gcneral to-day awarded the
supplying postage stamps for the ensuing
Of four years to the Continental Bank Note Com
i,ay a. NcN-York City, the present contractors. The
contract embraces all the various kinds of postage
stamps that are used either by the pubic the Govern
Incnt and will require about 10000 stamps tc lie
furnished each year. The prices TO be PAID
are $500 cents per 1,G90 for ordinary stamps,
IL cents Tor official stamps and abont Is cents
per 900 for newspaper and periodical STAMPS.
The department the contract to the NeT- York
City company instead Of 10 TIC Standard RAJ 5aIhS
ColIpauy 0f syracuse although the lateI's bid
fo,ncwat lower. for two reasons: First, because the
Syracuse company are not steel plate engraEc!s AM
platr printers as required by the advertisement and
second because in the opinion Of the department. the
few hundred dollars difference between the aggregate
aLloluts O! the tSO bids would De much more tLan
contcrialanced by the eXpensc delay and other injury
10 tie puDc interests involved ia transfer OF the h"i
10 syracuse from thc place where IL Is now per
formed.
DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS TO BE APPOINTED
1t is now reported that ex-Gov. DennisOn
Will for c present retain bis position one Of The Com
missoncrs Of the District o; Columbia but that Gen.
Kcelan who las been elected 10 Congress from bis Old
district NewYork, and Capt. Phelps, the other two
Commissioners Will resign II these Two vacancies occur
the President intends to ill them by the appointment o.
Two men residents Of the District, HcDub
lean and the other Democrat For tue
first OF these places less than dozen
p0nnru citizens Of Washington are already applicants.
AniOng tnru cX-ilayOr Saylcs j. lOWeu cN-hayGr
EnuN III. MrheGcn, recently president Of one Of The
banks, ccpicsentatiye Lynch formerly Ol 5ialnc,
JGu&e Lowe Iowa, aud several others Some OF Lcse
eeutI DO not come WITHIN tie hmatlUn which Is
und. stood 10 have fixed by the President thcv
do reside in The District TIE Presidents intention Is
select for these positions whose appointment viii
be accePtcd by tie citizens OF the District and ny the
country large uuqucsrnablc evidence that the az
fans Of the District WA be ho.cStly aud ciccntlv al
mnstcred. These appointments arc strictly P'caidl-
tal, being responsible T. d.
partincnt AMI President Hayes drsiics tia a..
snail be MED by hcn WAO-c very names VIII u
pledge Ui tncir fitness and fidelity.