Quartermaster's Department.Forms.

No. 52.-Continued.

Privates of, do hereby acknowledge to have received of opposite our respective names.

As the metallic shoulder-scales, letters, numbers, castles, and shells and

flames will last for many years, they will be borne on the returns as company property, in the same manner as are sashes, knapsacks and straps, haversacks, canteens and straps, and other articles of camp and garrison equipage, and will be charged to the soldier only when lost or destroyed through neglect.

the

No. 53.

I certify that the above is a true list of persons and articles transferred by me to

day of

186-; and that the periods of service, rates of hire or compensation, and amounts due, are correctly stated.

1176. The Commissary-General of Subsistence will designate, as far as practicable, the places where contracts and purchases for subsistence supplies shall be made, and, under the direction of the Secretary of War, assign to stations and duties the officers and agents of his Department.

SUBSISTENCE SUPPLIES.

1177. These supplies comprise: 1st, articles composing the ration, such as pork, flour, coffee, candles, &c., called SUBSISTENCE STORES; 2d, the necessary means of issuing and preserving these stores, such as stationery, scales, measures, tools, &c., called COMMISSARY PROPERTY. Subsistence supplies shall not be transferred gratuitously to another staffdepartment, nor obtained, issued, sold, or otherwise disposed of, except as herein prescribed.

CONTRACTS.*

1178. Subsistence stores for the army, when time and circumstances permit, shall be procured under written contracts with suitable bonds, made by the Commissary-General or other authorized officer of the Subsistence Department. The Commissary at the place of delivery, if not provided with funds for payment, shall receipt for the articles accepted, on duplicate inspection certificates (Form 18), one of which he shall give to the contractor, and the other forward to the Commissary-General or officer authorized to pay for the stores, with a report on the quality of the articles and the condition of the packages. The inspector shall be one holding his appointment by law, if at the place of delivery there be such an officer, for the articles to be inspected.

1179. Contracts for subsistence stores shall be made after due public notice, and on the lowest proposal received from a responsible person who produces the required article. These agreements shall expressly provide for their termination at such time as the Commissary-General may direct, and for the exclusion of any interest in them on the part of members of Congress, officers or agents of the Government, and all persons employed in the public service. (Forms 36 and 37.)

1180. A contract shall be executed in quintuplicate: one copy to be kept by the contractor, and one by the contracting officer or agent; two copies to be sent to the Commissary-General (with the bond), and the remaining one to the Returns-Office, at Washington, D.C. (See Act,

*See Act, approved July 17, 1862.

approved June 2, 1862.) The copies of the contract for the CommissaryGeneral and the Returns-Office will be sent by the officer making and signing them, as soon as possible after completion, accompanied by the advertisement and one copy of every bid received.

1181. Under the provisions of the excise law, each copy of every contract for subsistence supplies is liable to a stamp duty of five cents for every sheet or piece of paper upon which it is written, and each copy of the bond to these contracts is likewise liable to a stamp duty of twenty-five cents.* The adhesive stamp for each copy of a contract, and for each copy of the accompanying bond, must be furnished, affixed, and cancelled. by the contractor. The stamp is cancelled by the contractor writing on its face his initials and the date.

1182. When bids to furnish subsistence are solicited, the advertisement or notice shall call for sealed proposals, in duplicate. If the bids received be deemed unreasonable, or if there be other sufficient cause for not accepting them, they will be rejected, and others again invited. The time and place of opening proposals shall be stated in the advertisement, and bidders allowed to be present at the opening.

PURCHASES.

1183. Subsistence stores for such corps or posts as, by reason of their position, the climate, or other cause, the Secretary of War may authorize to be so supplied, will be procured in open market, on due public notice, and from the lowest bidder who produces the required article. The advertisement, and all the bids received, will be sent to the CommissaryGeneral as soon as the purchasing-officer has accepted the proposals.

1184. When a deficiency of subsistence stores makes an additional supply necessary, the Commissary where they are needed will make a requisition for them on the proper purchasing or issuing Commissary. (Form 15.) If the stores can be obtained in his vicinity, of good quality, and on terms advantageous to the Subsistence Department, the Commissary requiring them shall represent such facts by a detailed statement to the officer charged with the duty of providing him with subsistence, and, when authorized, will himself procure the stores in the manner prescribed in preceding paragraphs.

1185. A disbursing officer, or agent of the Subsistence Department, when provided with sufficient public funds, shall pay for supplies purchased by him. (Form 23.) When not in funds he shall furnish the seller with a certified account of the purchase, in duplicate, stating thereon the

A bond for the performance of duties pertaining to an office (a Commissary's bond, for example) is liable to a stamp duty of fifty cents. The officer executing this bond furnishes, affixes, and cancels the stamp required.

Subsistence Department.- Storage.

cause of its non-payment, and on what Return he has taken up the articles. (Form 24.)

1186. Subsistence supplies purchased by a Commissary, or agent, whether paid for or not, must be accounted for by him on the proper Return. (Forms 1 and 8.) The name of each person from whom stores have been purchased during a month, date of purchase, articles and quantities procured, must be entered on the Return of Provisions for that month (Form 1), or, when the purchase bills are many, on the Abstract which accompanies the Return. (Form 6.) When stores are purchased but not paid for, a note to that effect will be entered by the purchasing officer or agent, in the column of "Remarks" to his Return of Provisions, or its accompanying Abstract.

1187. Salt meats and flour, whether procured under contract or otherwise, must be inspected before acceptance, and by a legal inspector for these articles when the services of such an officer can be obtained. A certificate of inspection, in duplicate (Form 18), will be taken and attached to the voucher for payment.

1188. The Subsistence Department will purchase at cost-prices, without including cost of transportation, all sound articles of subsistence saved by troops or employees by an economical use or management of the ration, --molasses, green or desiccated vegetables, and articles furnished as antiscorbutics, excepted. This is intended to embrace savings of companies, of bakeries, and all savings from the ration made by an organized command. The purchase-bill (Form 26) will be made out in the letter or name of the company to which the savings belong, and in quadruplicate ; two copies for the Commissary who takes up the stores (one to accompany his Return of Provisions to the Commissary-General), and two copies for the Commissary who pays the bill. Payment for these savings will be made to the actual commanders of companies, to officers in charge of bakeries, &c., by any officer of the Subsistence Department having funds for the purpose, and on proof that the Commissary certifying to the bill has made a Return to the Commissary-General satisfactorily accounting for the stores.

STORAGE.

1189. Good and sufficient storehouses, sheds, paulins, or other proper and adequate means of covering and protecting subsistence supplies, will be provided by the Quartermaster's Department. Care must be taken to keep the store-rooms dry and well ventilated. (For information on storing, see "Miscellaneous Items," page 301.)