The amount of accounts approved since the first of the present month is $822,195 07, making, from July 1 to the present date, $6,325,004 09, which exceeds the whole appropriation $619,020 09. The claims constituting this excess, of course, have not been paid, but remain suspended in the various examining offices, of the treasury. In addition to the great magnitude of the service and the accidents of war, several circumstances have contributed to make the expenditures of this department, for the last five months, unusually large. The balance remaining to the credit of the medical and hospital department on the 1st of May, 1862, was $293,546 99, which was entirely exhausted by the middle of that month. Thus there remained to the 30th of June a month and a half, during which nothing was paid, and the accumulated claims of that period considerably exceeded a million dollars, and to meet which there was only the small sum of $125,000 appropriated by the act of July 5. On the 11th of June, 1862, General Orders of the War Department, No. 64, transferred the settlement of claims for the board of sick soldiers in private hospitals from the subsistence to the medical and hospital department, on which account there has been paid since July 1 the sum of $35,036 48, which would otherwise have been charged to the appropriation for the subsistence of the army. Under the authority of the act of July 5, 1862, a considerable number of citizens have been employed as hospital attendants, with pay at the rate of $20 50 per month, instead of withdrawing enlisted men from field duty, an extra pay of $7 50 per month. The persons of this class now number 3,000, the excess of whose pay over that of enlisted men, as drawn from the medical and hospital department, is $39,000 per month. At the same time there is a saving to the pay department of the same amount, and the immediate cost to the government is the same. The inadequacy of the medical staff of the army for the present exigencies of the service has necessitated the employment of a large number of citizen physicians under contract, at a cost to this department since July 1, 1862, of $300,691 53. The number of private physicians now employed is about 1,000, the pay of whom, at an average of $50 per month, amounts to $80,000 per month, which would naturally be expected to be drawn from the appropriation for the pay of the army. There have also been paid during the present fiscal year, for ice, milk, butter, fruits, &c., for use of the sick and convalescent in hospitals, $74,882 68, and for hospital clothing $67,938 56, expenditures which were not deemed necessary during the peace establishment. When these points are taken into consideration, together with the fact that hospital accommodations for 60,000 patients have been provided almost from the foundation, I am confident that the expenditure indicated above, large as it is, will not appear to have been either extravagant or injudicious. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. WILLIAM H. HAMMOND, Estimate of funds required for the medical and hospital department of the army for the remainder of the year ending June 30, 1863, in addition to appropriation made by act of July 5, 1862.-(Little & Brown's United States Statutes at Large; session of 1861-'62, page 507.) BUREAU OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, SIR: In answer to the letter of Brigadier General C. P. Buckingham, A. A. G., directing that the chiefs of bureaus report to the Secretary of War, as soon as practicable, an estimate for the deficiencies of appropriations of their respective bureaus for the remainder of the fiscal year, I have the honor to state that the existing balances of appropriations for the service of this bureau are deemed quite sufficient for the remainder of the present fiscal year, with the exception of that for "surveys for military defences," for which an additional amount of fifty thousand dollars is required. It is suggested that there be appended to the law the words including the purchase of campaign maps, manuscript surreys of railroads, canals, &c., of lines within the States in rebellion, to obviate difficulties in the settlement of accounts; the practice of the accounting officers of the treasury being to disallow purchases of such maps from the appropriation in question, whilst it is not disputed that any amount may be expended for making the survey and map of the country embraced therein. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. H. LONG, Colonel Corps of Topographical Engineers. Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War. OFFICE COMMISSARY GENERAL of Subsistence, SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith an estimate of the probable amount required for subsisting the regular troops, volunteers, and drafted men in the service of the United States, and for employés, in addition to the amount heretofore appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1863. With great respect, your most obedient servant, Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. J. P. TAYLOR, Commissary General of Subsistence. Estimate of the probable amount required for subsisting the regular troops, volunteers, and drafted men in the service of the United States, and for the employés, in addition to the amount heretofore appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1863. Regulars, volunteers, and drafted men.. Data from which the estimate is made: 1,418,060 00 Regular army. Troops, employés, and women to companies.. Troops, employés, and women to companies... Volunteers and drafted men. Total regular army, volunteers, and drafted men..... 46,026 00 1,372,034 00 1,418,060 00 1,418,060 men, 212 days, is $300,628,720, at 26 cents per ra In submitting the above estimate, I would state that it became necessary in consequence of the very large increase in the numbers of volunteers and drafted men in the service of the United States, since the meeting of Congress at its last session, and for which no estimate has been submitted. J. P. TAYLOR, Commissary General of Subsistence. OFFICE COMMISSARY GENERAL OF SUBSISTENCE, Washington, November 28, 1862. Estimates of permanent appropriations, specific and indefinite, made by former acts of Congress, which may be required for the service of the last three quarters of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1863. MISCELLANEOUS. For payment of horses and other property lost in the military service of the United States, per act of March 3, 1849; 9 Laws, page 414..... For repayment to importers the excess of deposits for unascer- For payment of debentures or drawbacks, bounties, and allow- For expenses of the Smithsonian Institution, per act of August For compensation to the Post Office Department for mail services performed for the several departments of the government, per act of March 3, 1847; 9 Laws, page 201, section 12 For further compensation to the Post Office Department for mail services performed for the two houses of Congress, &c., per act of March 3, 1851; 9 Laws, page 591, section 9.... $50,000 00 1,200, 000 00 600,000 00 1, 800, 000 00 140,000 00 15, 455 07 200,000 00 750,000 00 4,755, 455 07 6, 880, 537 42 4,755, 455 07 SIR: Agreeably to the joint resolution of Congress of January 7, 1846, I have the honor to transmit, for the information of the House of Representatives, printed estimates of the appropriations proposed to be made for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1864, as follows, viz: For civil list, foreign intercourse, and miscellaneous objects, including expenses of collecting the revenue, from sales of public lands, and expenses of courts.. For pensions... For Indian department. For army proper, &c., including miscel laneous For Military Academy.. For fortifications, ordnance, &c. For naval establishment... To the estimates are added statements showing 1. The appropriations estimated for the $10,392, 235 80 7,685, 300 00 700, 794, 282 80 6, 230, 914 14 $827, 279, 134 88 |