Mr. THAYER. It thus appears that allowances in the Navy, which were formerly prohibited, have been restored and of cour'se the argument founded upon the retusal of these allowances to the officers of the Navy falls to the round. The House, if it listened to the renting of the order of the SecyNavy, will observe the discrimination which is made in it in reference to these allowances. '1 he order allows 33 and 1/3rd%. of the pay of every officer of the Nayy in addition to his ordinary pay and in lieu ot all allowances where he is upon shore duty and no‘ quarters are provided by the Government; and when he is upon shore duty, and quarters are provided, he is allowed 13 and a half%. upon his pay, to be added to his regular pay. 1 suppoae, therefore, that so much of. the argument of the Gentfrom Ohio [ML Seussex] as was founded on the difference in the system which prevails in the Navy and that which prevails in the Amy must, in view of these facts. fall to the group. l adverted yesterday to the hardships which would be inflicted upon many olllcers, if this measure should become a law, in consequence of the exceedingly high price of the necessaries of bio at certain posts to which they must resort in put suance of their orders and in the dicharge of their duties. I alluded to the cost of living on the western plains, at those forts in the for it out which are established for the protection of the overland emigration and of the settlers in that country. In proofof the correctness of my stiiternent s upon that subject l desire now to read a law ovords from one who can speak with accuracy on the subject because he speaks from actual observation. I refer to the work of Mr. Ssmuel Bowles, entitled “ ross the Comment.” Mr. llowlcs, as we all know, was the historiographer. of thatpleasautsiimiucrjoni irey in 1860accomplished by the Speaker of this House and I companions across the continent to the Pacific ocean. in his account of that Journey he gives many interesting facts and some which have a strong bearing upon the mint which I am considt rin'r: Writing from enver, in Colorado,Ul"ldcf date of May 23), 1865, he says: Wood costson the plaius 875p er cord.so distant“ are the thin forests t'liat furnish it; lumber whenitil used at all, which is rately. for it must be fred ted from one end orthe other of the route.8150to AN per 1,000 ct: a wagon and team of oxen, 5 pairs. 950to $35 perday: common labor 82 and 33 perday and board. And at Denver, the end of Us. l route. ore is a specimenof a priecstoday: potatoes. 25 cents perpound or $1 1perbushel: hour. 15 and 2D eentsper ptiundzlcorn. 8oents perand or $10)Gfbushel: mechanics and laborers. per ny: beef. 40 cents per pound. mails cents; girls as house servants. $10 and hams t'rto 1 week. rates are likely to becut down 1/3rd or 1/2 during the present season.however.as General connor gives securityto transportation acrossthe plains and competition in freighting and merchandising works its legitimate influences." Now, it will be observed from this how enor mous are the expenses of living in that country. For example, this writer says that at the time he wrote wood was 75 dollars a cord. Suppose this bill es, and an officer is stationed out there. Qou have deprived him of his allowance of fuel, and he must buy wood or freeze. The amount of fuel now allowed by law changes with the location. An officer stationed south of the thirt 9th parallel of lat itude gets 3 cords 0 wood permonth for the cold months of the year; north of the 39th parallel he gets fou'r cords permonth and the allowance is still further in; creased for stations north of the 40 secoiid parallel. Now, at Fort Bridger an officer would e entitled to receive 4 cords of wood permonth for 7 months and one cord permonth for the balance of the year from the Government according to existing law. 4 cords'of wood permonth for the 7 cold months, and one cord per month for the remainder of the year won d make a total for the year of 33 cords of wood which an officer in that locality would be entitled to draw from the Government; at 75 dollars percord that would amount to $2, 375. The pay of a captain under this bill is $2,000 a year, or deducting the tax $1, 930 perannum. So that if the Government deprives him of the allowance for fuel he is now entitled to receive by law, he would be obliged to pay for his wood alone $445 more than all the pay which you propose to give him by this bill. I think that illustration is a tolerably complete answer to this whole bill. Now. let us look for a moment at the prices at Salt Lake City. I find from the statements of this traveler the following rate of prices there at the time he wrote: hams $1 perpound; wood $18 percord lumber $100 per 1,000 feet; sugar from 15 to 85 cents perpound; coffee from $1 to $1 10 perpound; tea from $3 60 to $5 perpound; tobacco from $2 to $2 50 perpound; heavy brown sheetings, 85 to 90 cents peryard; fine sheetings, 75 to 90 cents peryard; dried apples, 60 cents per pound; molasses, $3 to $3 50 pergal ou; labor, $3 perday, die. Now, anyone with very little arithmetic can soon ascertain how farth e salary of a captain, as proposed by this bill, would go toward his support in the localities I havementioned. It would be impossible for an oficer to exist in that locality upon the pay you propose to give him by this bill, afier on have cut off the allowances !which the government hitherto has made to im. I now ask the Clerk to read a letter upon this subject written by General Brice, PayMGen of the Army, to the Adjutant general of the Army, together with the papers therein referred to, and which are attached.