Mr. SCHENK. Iwill answer that question presently; I prefer to proceed now. The PayMGen says: "I sendgen. herewith, an extract froman official report oft at gallant andmuch dISIHIBHIEhCK officer of the war of 1812 BrcvetMaJorGencral Nathan Tow son. PayMGen of the [ trmyfor 35 years, (from1819till hi sdecensein 1354.m) adeto the SecyWar. A r113, 1826. “Also a letter on tosamesubject, addressedto the SecyWar, dated February 18, 1856.by the excellentsuccessor of General Towson. the late Pay inasterGeneral Larned." We have here got 3 witnesses on the stand, and it is fiiir to look at the interest of witnesses; they are PayMGen Brice, Paymnster Larned, and PayMGen Towson; all of the 3, according to the present policy, bein stationed, where they get these allowances. ery naturally they do not want the law changed. That is the whole of it. I do not say this for the purpose of im caching either of these 3 gentlemen, and Fwill not be misconstrued by having it said that I impeached them by referring to them in this way. but I do say that PayMGens are akin to us, and to human nature the human nature that characterizesus as much so as any others; and it is a most unnatural thing to call upon gentlemen and expect them to decry a system y which they themselves benefit, and ask them to come forward as volunteer witnesses to tes tify a inst it. [Wish those gentlemen had written to the officers in the fie d. I wish they had sent out to those who are serving on the lains, or who are on duty at the various posts throu bout the country; who are with their troops oing the hard, active work of their profession, constituting as they do a very large majority of the whole number of the officers of the Army, and obtained their opinions upon this subject. I oppose witness to witness. I have had not merely one but many communications and appeals from officers of that class, who desire that this bill shall pass, because it seeks to do justice to them, and aims to establish some fair and equitable relation between them and others. Now, I proposeto illustrate this, not at any great length, because I suppose the House has had enough not only of the discussion upon the general merits of the bill, but also of the illustrations which have been presented here. I will show how this bill will work, by taking for instance the 1st officer upon the list, a major general, and I do this at the risk of repeating to some extent what I have already said upon this subject. The pay proper of a major general, under the present system, is $220 a month, or $2, 640 a year. To that pay is added commutation for 4 servants, at 16 dollars each permonth, or $708 aycar. The allowance for clothing for those 4 servants is $312 a year. He is allowed for subsistence for himself 15 rations perday for 365 days, or 5,475 peryear; and for his servants 4 rations perday, or 1460 peryear, making an aggregate of 6,935 rations, which, at thirt cents perration, would make $2,080 60. Then he is allowed to draw forage for 5 horses, amounting, at the present appraised value of forage here in this city, to $208 50 for each horse, making an addition of $1,042 60. He also gets an allowance for fuel, which varies a little in different places. But in making out the allowance for fuel, they generally take the aver age cost of the best dry hickor wood, and set that down as the price of fue to be allowed. As estimated here a major general is allowed $509 62 for fuel. And then he is allowed as commutation for uarters the further sum of $1, 206, making his aggregate pay $8,048 62; or $648 62 more than the SecyWar receives. That is the pay of a major general, when on duty here in Washington, or at head qunrters in Baltimore, Philadelphia, or NewYork, or out upon the plains at a post, or I wherever else he may be, doing the duty of a major general at a station, as is the case with most if not all major generals in time of peace. Now it is true that of this sum $1,042 60 is for forage, which is in kind and not in cash. All the rest of it is paid in cash. The Gentfrom Vermont [Ma Woonnaine nj says that these poor suffering soldiers cannot afford even to keep a carriage. Sir, the peculiarity of the pay of an officer of the Army is that he can keep his carriage, while but few of the officers of the naval or civil service can do so. The officer of the Army can draw for his horses forage in kind, and therefore he can be sure of having enough to keep his horses. And it is also true that some of them drive around in ambulances which belong to the Government, and which cost the officers no more than their forage does.