The Washington times., 1901-10-30
PAY FOR RANK And FILE.
The Disbursements of the Army
Paymaster's Department.
General Bates Reports SiG.22S,3ss.So
Paid to the Regular and Volunteer
Troops-Rccommend of In
creased Pay for Retired Officers.


creased Pay for Retired Officers.
The annual report of Brig. Gen y. f..
Rates. Paymaster General, United States
Army. for the fiscal year ended June 30
1901, containing "A complete statement OF
| the finances of the army, was made pup
lie last night by the Secretary Of war
The total receipts Of the Pay Depart
ment amounted to s53,215.3i5.6l, of whlch
| $40 22S, ,3T7 SO was disbu:sed to the regular
and volunteer. troops. on account OF
extra nav to the Regular Army for the
war with Spain, SSS. 1886 was paid, and
to the Volunteer Army, for the same
/ purpose. $3.50, ,15912
| The sum Of $3.50, 6.i2 is shown to have
! been the cost of mileage paid to officers
while the travelling expenses of contract
| surgeons Amounted to Sl,470. The sal
| aries of the Cadets at the Military Acad-
emy cost 1857, ,7s7.O9
The expendi -rI.as for the last fiscal year
show an incrc asc Of 81, ,S0l, 81 over those
of the preceding "=ar. This is accounteu
for by Gener Al IIJas because or the Iact
that the entire rn' unteer force was mus
tered out of service at the close of the
fiscal year, requiring settlement OF
large soldiers deposit. amounting to about
7
for an average army OF 95,5SS men. Since
1873, the report shows, the deposits re-
ceiyed from soldiers have reached the
enormous sum of $751; ,353.2 "a, Of which
amount $15, ,O62 765. &c has been paid, leav-
ing with the Government to the credit OF
the depositors 50, SITS.
An enabling act similar to that passed
after the civil war, for the purpose of
closing the accounts of disbursing officers
from suspensions and disallowances rails
ed by the accounting officers of the Treas
ury, is recommended by General Bates.
OiIicers of the army and navy, he adds,
should now have their accounts closed up.
The new mileage law governing the
army, adds General Bates. has been
found easy Of execution. and is operating
so satisfactorily that he recommends no
change In it, Tle cost of the inspection
of the army by the lieutenant general
comm snd.ng the army is s5.405Ss. while
for the general inspection of the army
S54,627.55 was taken from the public
treasury. Under the head travel in
Europe and other foreign countries is
an expense of Sl0,42L7l, while the travel
Of general officers and their aides, other
than for inspection. cost S4, 4,267.61.
The distribution of officers of the Pay
Department on June 30 was. Twenty
eight officers in the United States. i7clud
ing Alaska; ~ in the Philippines, paying
100 posts and stations; in Cuba, and l
III Porto Rico.
In the philippines on the LIST of June
last" says General Bates, there were,
in sixteen of these islands, 469 garrisoned
towns, exclusive of the garrisoned city of
Manila. The garrisons had increased,
therefore, as compared with returns from
the Philippines last winter, 10y about fifty
posts. Consequently it Is needless to say
that paymasters have been fully occupied
in field duties, that were at all times
arduous and frequently very hazardous,
as in the instances OF Majors Goodman
and Pickett, the former having been twice
fired upon by insurgents in September,
1909. while the latter in March of this year
successfully defended the public funds
from an attack by large body of insur-
gents, losing noncommissioned officer OF
his escort
The plan referred to in my last annual
report as having been inaugurated in
September, 1899, is working admirably.
From the date of its adoption by this de-
partment to July u. 1901 S7,105, 900 cash
has been turned ever by two banking
corporations in the Philippines to the
chief paymaster there for disbursement
and, with the exception of Sl3,J06 sub
sldiary ccln shipped from this country in
July las.. II has not been necessary to
ship out Of this country any currency or
coin to the Philippines since February 16.
1901, whereas between July 81, 1898, and
the latter date. S2o.155 1891 had been
transported for the payment of the army
in the Philippines.
Cash transfers since December. 1899. by
the postal authorities in Cuba and Porto
Rico to paymastors I'm those countries,
amounting TO total of $l10,00O. have rem
dcred II unnecessary to transport the
same amount of money from this country
IT seems to me. continues the Pay
master General, that the entire system
Of requiring bonds from officers belong
ing to the permanent establishment
should be abolished. The officers COM
mission itself is bond much more valu-
able than the one required. The commits
sion of second lieutenant, even, figured
In dollars and cents, would be worth
more than $4,000. while that of a cap
tain with twenty years service would be
worth more than $4,000. Any dereliction
In the iine of duty which would be COW
cred by the surety OF bonsy sywould work
the forfeiture of such commission. which
IL seems 20 me IS guarantee enough for
the safety of the Government In this
connection il might not be out Of place
| to call attention to the fact that the En-
gineer Department disburses annually.
| through its officers of the different grades
| from that Of lieutenant to colonel. mil
| Hons OF collars, and none of these officers
| have ever been required to furnish a
| bond; yet, with the exception Of an un-
J fortunate case or two. the Government
/ has never lost penny, So that the pres
| eut system makes an invidious distinction
! in regard to other departments whose Of
fcers are required to furnish bonds.
IF It is not considered proper to accept
mission itself for the guaranty Of the hon
/ esty of tie disbursing officer, | would
| recommend that the course which now
| obtains very generally among the great
! corporations banks etc. be adopted by
| the Government-thatt the Government it
| self pay the cost Of the insurance. This
! might be done by increasing the salary
! or pay Of the officer required to furnish
! bonds or by refunding to the officer at
| the end Of his bond the entire amount his
| bond has cost him, provided he has had
| satisfactory settlement Of his accounts
! and furnished tie ordinary clearance
| from the auditor.
! Upon the subject of retirements, General
! Bates recommends that hereafter Off
/ GERS retired from active duty at the end
| Of thirty years service shall receive IS
per cent of the pay of the rank under
| which they are retired, while those re-
, tired with less than thirty years service
/ shal receive a proporuonate amount OF
| the 10 per cent
| He also recommends in a statement con-
corning the clerical force of the Pay De-
| partment that legislation be enacted es-
| tablishing some system Of retirement for
old clerks who have served at least thirty
| years.
MONEY MISSING FROM TRUNK.
Corneiia KOehne Reports the Loss of