should not be occupied with accountability for property, and he should have an assistant who will receive, receipt for, and take charge of all property which comes into his hands.

He should himself be active in visiting the different columns and camps, and see with his own eyes the condition of the troops and supplies.

He should be in daily communication with the commanding officer of his command, and be prepared at all times to second his exertions for the comfort, safety, health, effips.

To this end he should be accurately informed as to the supplies on hand, their position and condition, as to the means of transportation in the regimental, division, and general supply trains, and be prepared to supply any deficiency.

He should be habitually an out-of-door, not an office, man.

III. All reports should be made, as far as possible, upon the blanks prescribed in the Army Regulations.

IV. There are abuses and irregularities in the employment of clerks. Some quartermasters employ a much larger number than is necessary for the transaction of the public business, and pay prices which are not authorized by the department.

The attention of officers is called to this matter. It is the duty of every officer to correct this abuse in those under his command, according to rank.

V. The practice, which it is reported prevails to some extent, of accumulating surplus stores and animals, of being "ahead," is in violation of regulations, is wrong, and leads to many abuses. No officer can properly be "ahead," for it is his duty to take up upon his returns and account for all property which may be in his possession.

If he finds a stray mule, he should report the time, place, and manner in which it came into his possession, and should not use it to balance his returns of property by substituting it for another animal which he has lost.

The loss of animals or of property should be reported, with explanations of the manner and cause of the loss, which, if according to regulations and sufficient, will exonerate the officer from blame and settle his accounts for the property lost.

No officer has the right to appropriate the property strayed from another officer and charged to him to make up deficiencies in his own.

VI. The attention of officers is called to the Revised Regulations of the Army in relation to the public property, money, and accounts, as modified by general orders and circulars from the War Department and from the Quartermaster-General's Office.

Officers who have not received full sets of general orders of the Quartermaster-General's Office for the past year should apply for them direct to Washington, stating the cause, if known, of the failure, and calling for the particular orders needed to complete their files.

VII. Every wagon should be supplied with a shovel or spade, a pick, and an ax.

These tools should be habitually used to repair roads on the march of trains.

Half an hour's labor of the wagon-masters and teamsters of a train of twenty-five wagons will, under intelligent directions by their officers, repair places which, if not repaired, will delay the marc of a large train for hours.

It is a disgrace to a quartermaster to lie for days in camp with a large force of idle men under his command while the road within