Mr. SCHENK. I ask permission, on behalf of the Gentfrom Wisconsin [Mr. Pants] and myself, to make a statement. We met the conferees on the part of the Senate, and agreed to take up, as the basis of our action, the Benate amendment or substitute for the House substitute or amended bill; that is, the Son ate’s last form of a bill upon this subject. We found very soon that there was a material difference between us upon 2 or 3 leading points relating specially to what should be the general aggregate force of the Army. The House and Senate have approached each other nearlyin the actual number of regiments. The House provided for 61 and the Senate for 62 regiments. The Senate had provided for 12 regiments of cavalry, and the House for 6. The Senate converted the 9 old larr'e regiments of infantry into 27. The House converted them into 22. The House took the 216 companies, added 4 comnies, and made 22 regiments. The ‘enatetook each battalion, added 2 companies to it, and made 27 re iments. The senate has provided for 5 additional regiments of infantry. It refused any provision for a Veteran Reserve corps, or an provision by which men wounded or disable in the service, either the volunteer or regular, could be retained in the Army. The Senate allowed but 3 colored regiments. All these things were discuSsed proand con. The House conferees advanced from point. to point, and at length (although they knew they were going against the sense of the House) agreed in regard to the Veteran Reserve corps, to give up one half, making the corps consist of 5 regiments. They agreed to drop 3 regi ments of the colored infantry, coming down from 8 to 5. This was upon the condition that, having agreed to raise the cavalry from 6 regiments to ten, 2 of those cavalry regiments should be colored. This the Senate conferees agreed to. They insisted under these circumstances on having 32 regular white infantry regiments, made up of the old regiments. Proposition after proposition was made; and it may not be improper to state that at one time the House conferees were entirely satisfied that the whole question was settled by an agreement with them on the part of a majority o the Senate conferees. what they proposed to a co to'ultitnately as the most that they would concede was 32 regiments of infantry, to be made up of the old infantry regiments ten regiments of cavalry, 2 to e colored; leaving the artillery (which both were agreed upon) at 5 regiments; and cutting down the Veteran Reserve corps to 5 rewi ments, (1/2 of what the House had insisted upon;‘) and the colored infantry to 5.