The Clerk read as follows:. Wm Dept PAYIASTEB GENERAL'SOrrion. WASlllNGTON. March 10.1866. Sin: I have the honor to reply toyour verbal application for suggestionson the s setof the' comparn l ‘IVOmerits o the presenteysts of compensationto 0 Army by " pay pnd allowances." and the other plan now under consideration in Congressof "fixed salaries.” This. you are aware, is no how question; the same lulucct has been mooted.discussed and considered heretofore on various occasions in Congress and in the Army. Theresults haveuniformly been the same namely, a cpnvietipnmfter aeareful investigation of the su met in all its bearings. that the presentplan is the most. equal. Just and economica that can be devised for officers of the Army who2ndition and sceornvtiicnegsenacripesnu0 edenl tl o.f wcohnicthinual change, modified make correspondin Changes of compensation expedient and proper, an which is so cast and)iistly regulatedby the system of “allowances. which, with slight modifications. has obtained in our servicefrom c beginningofits history to the recon day. I send you. erewith. an extract from an offlcisl report of that sellout and in uclidistinguished'offieer of the war of 1812. Brevet Maior GeDral Nathan TowIon, pay rumor Generpl of the or 35 Egagn, m( mof 819till his deceasein 1,)madeto the War. April 3. 1323. Also a letter on the same subject.addressedto the SecyWar. dated February 18.1856.by the excellent successor of General Towson. the late PayMGen Larned. These opinions of my intelligent and distinguished predeoegisorlesavenothing for me to add execit the expression of my entire concurrence in them. ears of familiarity With the military service.not alone in this dept of it, have confirmed in my mind the belief that a change from the present system of compensation to anyg an of stated salaries will work imunously to the 0 cars of the Army and to the Government of. such plans. as made apparent in the developmentof its workings. will necessarily lead to frequent future acts of legislation to correct them. till finally. bythat process.a system shall be attained having essentially the featuresof the presentone. It is perhaps worthy of rcmark: int a long line of eminent men who from the beginning of our history have filled the officeof Seeretar of ar. it is a traditional fact ifnotone of recorded history. that only one of the m has shown favor to the salary systemfor the Army. towit. JeffersonDavis. And the only Army officer of any note who Within the last 40 years is known to have advocated such a systema or a full consideration of the suhieut is General Braxton Bragg. fate of the rebel servicc. And as a commentary upon the opinions of thesetwowhile the 1st was at the head of the rebel governmentand the other a general officerhigh in his conlidence precisel thesame system as ours now DIEVllllllK; wasadopt and continuedfor the paymentof the insurrcctionary forces. Very respectfully your obedientservant. B. W. BRICE. PayMGen. The Ame ram Gnsnasi or run Aaiii'. PAYMGen Towsos. 18. Extract from n. r 1011madebulhe Ptlymanfer General to the SecWar. Dated April 3. 1820(.Vide lfc po21;ghmmium.1st sessionTwenlu third Com/real. no. To judge of the expediency of changingthe present mode of compensating officers of the Army. it will be proper to examine the severalitemsof allowance: to inquire the reasonswhy theywereso made and the probable effect that would be producedby substituting a fixed sum of money in lieu. I. P.w AND Sunsisrss'cs.. The allowances under this head may beconsidered similar to the salary of civil officers and on a slight view it would seem that.no inconveniencewould result.to the Government or officer from substituting a fixed sum of moneyfor the subsistence part which is so definite and unvarying. but a little reflection will show that the reasons for including rations in the allowance are cogent. It frequently happens that troops serve. both in peace and war. in unsettled or exhausted countries where provisions cannot be procured or where the prices would exceed the officers meansof purchase. t is: therefore indispensable that the Government provide food for the officer aswell as for the private and it is accordingly stipulatedto be done. '1‘ option of the ration is fixed in order that the compensation may be equal whereverdrawn. The option to.draw in kind or to commute isgranted to the officerthat the compensation for his services may be asentirely within his control as the salaries of civil officersare within theirs. It is evident that it would beembar rassing to the serviceaswell as to officers to deprive themof the privilege of drawing rations in kind. in many situations; they must therefore be furnished as at presentor sold to the officer by the subsistence dept.which amounts to the something. 1L SERVANTS. This allowance is contingent and cannot be granted unless the servants are actually employed. If it were intended solely nsan emolument. asisfraquently supposed.it would be of no importauce to the Government and for the interestot thoofficer that it should be granted Without ths condition of employment; but this is not the case; the good of the service.as well as the convenienceof officers. requiring that the expenseof employinaservantsshould be incurred. It would not do for o cers ona march near an enemy or in many other situations. to neglect. their proper and important duties to look after their baggage.take care of their horses or to cook their provisions. The compensationfor servants is made under the heads of pay subsistence, and clothing. The 2 last are included for the same reason that subsistence formsa part of the compensation for servicesn. amely. that they may be obtainedin all ituations and at a reasonableprice. They may. therefore.bedrawn in kind or commuted.as officers shall elect. The effect of grantingafixed sumin lieu of this allowance would be to hold out an inducement to dispense With the employment of waiters. which. it has been shown. would be injurious to theservice. It is true servants are frequentlya convenienceto eficers, independent. of their public duties. but this is incidental. The true reason for allowing them is that the interest of the Government is promotedby employing waiters. Instead of officers.to perform menial duties. BIZ Foams. Forage is only granted to officers whose particular duties require them to be mounted.which involves an expensethat it is reasonable should be borne‘bg' the Government.‘ the number‘of horsesfor which foragecan beclaimed is determined by the rank of the officer. The allowance is contingent. only be chargedwhen the horsesare actuaully nit ecpatn; consequently there can be no inducement;to keep a greater or loss number than the duties of eBieei s regpinreo.t furnw. hvd b the Government.iit would he frequently impossible for officers to obtain it. another reasonwhy it should be is the differencein the price of the article at different places. An officer traveling through the Creclt nation was compelled to payfour dollars per bushel for corp at a time when it could have been purchhsed in Ohio or kentucky for 25 cents. It is therefore evident that the some amount allow ed for forage at different places would be unequal in its value. IV. Anniriossi. on DouaLir RATIONS. These are granted to commandants of military depts, posts and arsenals. Engincer of hvcrssuter in tending the construction of fortifications. an to particular heads of the stall" at this place. on the ground that the duties and stations 0 s uchofficers unavoidably subject them to a greater intercourse with military men and persons on public business, and consequently. todzreater expense than officers who are not so situate. The reason formaking this allowance under the head of rations is to enable officersto draw ng greater quantity of‘provisionsfrom the bsistencodept than they are authorized to 0 when not suliicct to the expenseof entertaining official visitors. When the difficulty of procuring provisions does not exist. the rations are commute at 20 cents each which amountsto the same as allowing aspecific sum. The option to commuteto with the officer. This allowance is not considered an emolument.but the reimbursement of sn expense imposedon the officerby his particular situation and duty. It is contingent beinggovernedby command and locality. V. I‘usi. This article is always furnished in kind. Except at this place. It is supplied by the Governmentbecause it would frequently a difficult for officers to obtain it in any other way and because the price varies very materially at different posts. who would reduce iuetiality in the compensation ofo cersoft csame ran. The allowance is not intended to be greater than is necessaryfor current consumption; therefore. if not drawn monthly. it reverts to the Government. It is unnecessary to add that thispbicct would be defeated by substituting a fixed sum in lieu. VL QUARTl ZBS. It would often bs impossible and always inconven ient. for officers to procure lodgings when either in fortifications, cantonmc‘nts or camspesr.vamns if they could it would be prejudicial to the service to separate them from their commands. Quarters and tents are therefore provided by the Government for officers as well as privates. They are alwaysfurnished by the uartermaster'sdept i nkind. except at this place.whereit is mutually theinterest of the Government and officer to commute them. Many restrictions are imposed on this allowance. (See article on the quartermaster’sdept.No. 69 Army Regulations.) There is no allowance.erhaps. which would beso unequal in its value to o cersdifferentlylocated.as a fixed rum in lieu of quarters unless a charge is raised against those who occupy public buildings. For instance. it would make the entire differenceof the sum allowed between officersof the some rank stationed at Greenleaf's Point and in this city. A fixed sumin moneyin lieu of the present allowance would bemuch more expensive to the Government. unlessrent bechargedfor public quarters. VIl. Sn'riossnr. Thisis furnished by the Government in kind. be cause‘iteannot. at frontier posts and in time of war. he procured by oficers in any other way. The allowance is very limited and so far from beingan emolument is in most casesnot equal to the actual consumtion on public business. The allowance of a disesum inlieu would. in all caseswhere a of the article was precarious.produce great esmupaprly rassmentto officers and to the servicegenerally. VHI. Ts.issronrnios. This is soentirely contingent asto make it impossible to fix a given sum as an equivalent. All thatean be doneis to regulatethe allowance according to the rank ot the officer. and to fix the rate permile. which is now the case. In many instances the means of transportation must he furpished by Government from necessit; in others it is its interest todo so. The 0tion therefore. of furnishing it in kind is reserve to t a Government, The allowance is very ftrictly guarded. (See article No. 69, Army Reguations. The foregoing embraceall regular allowances authorized b law or regulations and from theseitwill be seen at pay lllld subsistence proper include everythinggiven in lieu ofsalary and in paymentfor services; all other allowances are contingent and granted to cover expenditures which the duty of officers and theinterest of the Government reqnireshou'ld be made. These allowances frequently add to the officers’ convenience.but this. as I have beforeobserved is incidental and not the object for which they are made. Hence the condition, that officers must keep the servants and horses; commend double ration posts; receive fuel as it is used: occ upythe quarters: travel the distance stated in their transportation accounts and draw the stationery in kind. to entitle them to the allowances under theseseveral heads. In many‘cssesthey are not even a convenience and than. if the good of the service does not requii‘bit, the expenseis not ln curied. he Government has a secnrity 1iii the high 861156 of honor of military men that those contingent allowances will not be abused and if this were not so. the fact that an officer plaeg is himself at the mercy of his enemies and that his commission would be the price of an improper certificate.is a sufficient guarantee. Our laws and regulationswhich relate to pay and allowances were formedwith a thorough knowledge of the usagesin other services, and in whatever par ticulars they maydiffer I am persuadeda sufficient reasonwill be found, either in local circumstancesor in advantageto the service.to justify the change. There is noserviceiii whicht ie piiy proper includes all allowances. In time of war it would be impossible for the operationsof an army to be carried on, evenin Europe, wherciill supplies can be more read ily provided than in this country, iftho Government did not furnish its officers with such as are indispensable. In this countrytheimpossibility of procuring them exists in timeof peaceaswcll aswar it follows, therefore, that certain allowancesmust be made in kind, in numerouscases.at all times. The practice, both in the French and British service, is to grant the allowancesas ermanentemoluments, and tofurnish the article in ind whenever it is necessary for the good of the servicc. We have preferred to make allowances, not as emoluments, but to cover official excpuepnisdcist.to prevent the service from suffering fromthe patrioticof somc, and to remuneratethe faithful and discharge of dutyin others. The option with the ot!i cer troeceivein kind has the advantage, also, of equalizmg the compensation much better in this country, than a differencein a moneyed allowance at different stations would, for the prices of the soveral articles ranted in kind fluctuate as much with time as they 0 With place and what might bea fair allowance in one year would be unfair in the next. It is scarcely thought necessaryfurther to urge the up ortnnce o ‘e uiilizin the compensation at the di erent posts. no of the privileges of seniority is the choiccof command a necessary privilege. No senior officer would relinquish his claim to iin eco nomical commandin favor of a junior, howeverben eficial it mighthe totheservicc. It is true this might and would become the duty of superior authority to decide and to order accordingly; but.if the decision was against the senior, it would produce much dissatisfaction. it is thereforebetterto avoid the cause of contention, unless some positive advantagewere to result from the change. It may be urged that the arguments founded on the neoessit of furnishing allowancesin kind apply stoalaarsytateo war, and are not forcible objections to a in time of peace. f this were admittedto the fullest extent it is respectfully conceived that it would not be an men to justify the change. All changes must be Vicious in a body whose operations are somultifarious and complicated as those of the Army. unless they produce la positive advantage. The alterations in the supplying depts. alone, on recurring to the war al owances, would heof the most embarrassing nature, and would take place at the most inconvenient and perplexmg crisis. An other, and I think. an important objection, is that the economy of officers: arrangements would be broken, and mustbe studiedanewon everychange; and, in this respect, the officer in peaceand the officer in war would beas unlike as the recruit is unlike the soldier. But if my view of the an outbe correct the necessity. in 0urservice, of gupp yin the articles in kind, alt. particular posts, exists aswe in time of peace as of war. The alteration, then. can only be adopted at particular stations. I am therefore of opinion that it would not be expedient to change the present pay and allowances of officersfor a fixed compensation and I most respectfully recommendthat i it should at any time be thought advisable to augmentor di minish the compensation, it maybe done b changing the amount of the gllowanccs, and not y abolishing them, and granting money in lieu. If engress should view the subject differently and decide on a "fixed compensation, " justice to the officers requires that in ctermining the amount to be allowe. they should consider the great and unavoidable exonce to which the erratic life of an otIi cer subjects im and the extravagant price offiving at many stations. It should also be considered that our serviee holds out, noneof those pecuniary rewards which are so liberally bestowedby other Governmeats. Your officerhas no life estatein his commission which hecan sell out at great profit; no nominal command for which he receives p. as well as jor the onehe exercises: no emolumentfromthe paymg, clothing, $50.of his regiment or company: no booty or prize mone: no shareof the estimated value of all contraban articles seized by his regimentin aid of the revenuelaws. Not so the o the crin other services: the greater art of the rewards enumerated are granted by all t. c European Governments and the whole by that Government whose troops yours have been twice called on to meet in battle. The movable property capturedby the Duke of Welling1 twoanr, in the eninsula and other campaignsof that which was claimed by him nslawful prize of the army and admittedby the British Government, amounted to 916, 4502:. 6rd. In our service everything captured by the army becomesthe property of the Government, while the Navy is entitled tot a whole amount capturedfrom an equal or superiorforce, and half the amount cap ture from up inferior force. In all services, exceptours, allowance is made for the loss of officers’ baggage. The officers’ baggage of Sir John Moore's armylost on its retreat to Coranna was estimated at 40, 7003c.911s.terling, and paid for by the Government. The same quantity lost by officersof the U.S.Army would neither have been estimated nor paid for. Ifitbe tructhat " eflicers are the soul of the army." and that victory will accompany the army bestpaid, fed.clothed, and lodged, everything else being equal, then it is as politic as it is just to makea liberal provision for those on whom you must rely in the hour of danger. Respectfully submitted. N. TOWSON PaumaclerGeneral. charge. Psnns'rsa Gunman. Liane. 1856. PAYMGEN’SOFFICE. Wasnixorox, D. 0. February18, 1856. Sill: I have the honor to acknowledgethe receipt of acopyof the resolution of theMilitary Committee, HoRep, on the subject of establilshing a fixed salary for officersof the Army in lieu ofrations, allowances, and emolumentsnew authorized, on which I amrequiredto report. The late PayMGen gave to this subjcct the most eareful consideration and embodiedhis views in an elaborate report madeto the SecyWar on the 3dof April. 1826.a on y of which wassentto a select committee of the louse, appointed at‘the 1st session, 23rd Congress, to inquire into the expediency of equalizmg the pay of oii’icersof the Army and Navy, and will 0 found in Reports of Committees, 1st session. 23rd Congress. Volume four.document 467, to which I respectfullyrefer the SecyWar. I fully concur in the views oxpressed terein, and am confirmedin the opinion that such is the iiature of our service that it would be difficult, if not impossible. to fix a salary for officersof the Army that would not be liable to serious objections. BENJAMIN I". LARNED, I’m/MGen. Hon. Jarrsnsos DAVIS, SecyWar.