American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-12-06

naal report of seeretary>of-War Nc:
Crazy:
| tne Secretary, in referring TO the tits out
break: takes the ground tact snc Government
aha Punishment of the Indians responsible
Tor the Meeker massacre, and the treacherous
attack upon Major ThornhSr*'c Command.
ionmef,t as earS .,lh military posts, and concur;
!" Uehera1 Shcrman's Recommendation thai
those on detached service, Ha mas reduced
the Engineers estimates for river and harbor
improvements during the next fiscal year from
slt,OoO,OoO to s5O0,Oo0 and he has also made a
reduction of over S3.Wo,0tO from estimates
miited for all other public works under the
War Department.
BUREAU OF MILITARY JCeTtcE.
"The Judge Advocate uenerai reports,
amonr ether Items of business, the receipt and
sssiew at his hsrf;s 1f ie7s SefGrds OF s
Secretary Of War Of s9c reports and opinions
Increased during the past year ny :%enty-four,
and expresses the oIirion that the two prin-
In the army are: Drinkness. or rather in
uulgence in intoxicating liquors: 2. Cypress
i've or injudicious treatment of soldiers by
| nOn-cOmmiSsioned officers, and especially
| First Sergeants of companies invested with m
He also repnm,nsbJis that the legislation
heret2sor., initiated in the Senate for making
gambling in the army punishable oifense be
renewed, and that the bin heretofore proposed
for the purpose, or some similar provision, be
| enacted by Congress.
" In view of the standing reward oHered for
the apprehension NJ dc-erters, and the duty
incumbent bay law Upon public officers to effect
| their arrest when practicable, cOurts-martal
| hre usually inclined to consider, in the absence
| of evidence that deserter's whereabouts
were known to the military authorities, that
| while absent he was not amenable to Justice.
Nevertheless the controversy that is cOntin-
ued this subject cannot fail to injuriously
by tending to extenuate in the minds of en-.
listed men the responsibility for this grave
that By for to
may escape punishment. Nor is the question
equally arise in the case of a mtItincer other
offender against the articles OF war, who pight
escape and evade arrest by seeretihg BIN self
LAS a settlement of the whole question
upon a satisfactory basis. 1 would advise, in
| Conformity with the views of the Judge Ad,
| vocate General, that some certain term OF
amenability be fixed in the case of deserters:
to n be too short. lest Sope Of speedy imm,i
| nifty should be Held out to encourage a crime
eiready too prevalent; nor should the law to
| be enacted be complicated by any provisO in
reference to the offenders having been within
or without the territorial domain of the
United States, which, as a rule, it would be
wholly impossible for the Government to as
certain or prove.
"The Quartermaster General reports that
the expenditures of the Quartermasner's Des
during ,S,t the ssai wear hsys been
from the approximation for support of the
military prison to the Commissary Depart
tnent on account of subsistence of prison.
ers; that $19s los. ,6 has been covered into tho
surplus fund in the Treasury, and that the
balance to credit of Quartermaster's DEPART
ment appropriation in Treasury on 3Oth of
June, 1879, was 1,2l9 701.15.
decreased. In is34 tbey were SH.h5s3I7. III; II,
1879 they were SO, 75s, COLL.
HE recommends the enlistment of Post.
and preserve knowledge of business affairs and
now lost by frequent changes of station OF
the lic1Itenanfs who act throughout the army
as tost Quartermasters, ana VINO Delng NJ,
company is detached and ordered to n new
ants when their dctaiI as has been
approved by the Secretary of War. be allowed
$40 per month extra pay rs compensation for
responsibility and risk Of loss involved I'm the
care of money and supplies. In these recon.
mendations fully concur.
THE Department moved during the year
On. IL persons, ASH beasts and ID, 40 tons of
supplies from the settlements to the military
posts, many Of which are in the far interior
and at the end of long lines of communities
ton The cost OF this transportation was
ing in the legislation against the Immigrant
railroads still continue, and the repeal of this
questions and claims to be settled on the prih.
ciples of law and equity decided TO be APP
mcnded by the Quartcrmaster General and
concurred in by me.
persons sn beasts nnd ss pounds sol Of
supplies during the, year: A. their regular
tariff rates the value Of this service was
S.2l ,9l3.4O. The total value of the military
transportation over these roads to June %,
1879. is Sl0,362, a3l.99.
"The railroads who purchased material
from the Quartermaster's Department, tndef
the United States, on the lst of July last, the
sum of 81 .sg2,877.n. or this amount the NASH
vile Northwestern Railroad, which Is insOlv=
supposed will ever be psid.
CLAIMS UNDER ACT OF JUDY u 1851
I'm the investigation and examination for
claims FOR compensation for Qnartermasters
taken ,b by the % snaeE ba the e aSt 1f
pended during the year; =, 450 claims for near
ly two millions of dollars have been investi-
recommended allowance of one-fourth of n
million; 3,796 claims have been considered
LEG. have been reported to the Treasury, with
recommendation for allowances amounting to
sl2l, 81 70 Under this law to;5ts claims have
ported on favorably FOR allowance of S4,143-
trs. y; z, I9t have been rejected, amounting
TO 81, se go; 11,649 reniain asking for So
"NEw MILITARY POSTS
have been under construction on the Yellow
stone or Milk River, near the northern bound
ary line, the line of communication of the
renegade Indians who fled into British Amer
lea; on Lake Chelan, in Northern Washington
Territory, and on the north fork of the Cana
dian dian River, in the Indian Territ2ryi also on
by law at FL Paso, Texas; at Pagosa springs,
Col, and on the Niubrara River, in Nebraska.
MILITARY CEMETERIES.
1.-THE military cemeteries, eighty in num-
Der, are in good order, and improve in beauty
as cultivation improves. 1 caused the mate
rails of the ancient portico of the old War De
partment, on its demolition to make room for
the new building, to he transferred to the Ar
lington Cemetery, where the old Columns
and entablature have been used in construct
ing two handsome and appropriate entrances
to that cemetery. 1t Is suggested by the
fords ample space, without encroaching ON the
ground occupied by the soldiers of the war, to
be used as National Government cemetery
officers of all services of the United States who
may die at the Capital or whose friends may
desire for them such place of sculpture.
SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT.
The COmmissary General recommends that
the appropriation for subsistence Of the army
be made available from the passage of the act
making it, in which recommendation concur.
Supplies, as a rule, are purchased from pro-
ducers and manufacturers or importers near
est points of consumption, when consistent
with a due regard to economy and the pro-
curement Of stores of proper quality.
Comrffissary General to detail such officers of
the Subsistence Department as may be neccs-
sary to investigate claims not already decided
upon by the Commissary General, or which,
having been decided, may be reopened on ac-
count of new evidence submitted, Is RECON-.
mended.
MEDICAL. DEPARTMENT.
THE total number of deaths from all causes
reported among the white troops was $50 or
@ or seven sf DER q of ssrenath died of ds
ease and 10i, five per loo of strength, of
wounds, accidents and injuries. The proper.
ton of deaths from all causes of cases treated
to 142. The total number of white
soldiers reported to have been discharged the
service on Surgeons certificate of disa.
bility' was ST. or thirty-one per l 900 of mean
THE total number of deaths of .colorcd