ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



bankrupt law and the constitution of the State, 

 construed together, the claims of the bankrupts 

 could not be sustained. He added : 



But, conceding that the language of the bankrupt 

 act and of the constitution of the State is not so 

 clear to this end as to exclude doubt, the general 

 principles of the law are against the allowance of 

 the exemption claimed. Wnere, as in this case, the 

 partnership and all its members are declared bank- 

 rupt, the firm is treated as being dead, except to 

 close up its affairs. There is no exemption to the 

 firm as such ; nor is it contended that there can be. 

 But each of the partners claims an individual exemp- 

 tion to the amount of $2,000 out of the firm property, 

 and at the expense of the firm creditors ; and if the 

 claim is valid it would equally be so if there were 

 six partners instead of two. It is a claim not de- 

 pending upon the amount of capital which the part- 

 ner making the claim contributed to the firm, or 

 upon the state of the accounts between him and his 

 copartners. He may never have put a dollar of capi- 

 tal into the firm, or he may have drawn out all his 

 capital and owe the firm, yet it is insisted that not 

 only as against his copartners but as against the 

 creditors of the firm he may, in default of not pos- 

 sessing individual estate, lay his hand upon $2,000 

 of the joint estate, and appropriate it as exempt. 

 This, I am sure, he could not do before bankruptcy 

 without his copartners' consent, and after the bank- 

 ruptcy, the copartner is incapable of giving any con- 

 sent to affect rights fixed by that event. The pre- 

 tension set up in this case, whether considered with 

 reference to the rights of copartners or the rights of 

 the firm creditors, cannot be maintained. The case 

 might be different as to mere joint ownership where 

 no partnership relation existed, but it is not neces- 

 sary to consider this point. 



ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. The 

 Army of the United States now consists of 

 25,000 men. The headquarters are established 

 at St. Louis, Mo., under William T. Sherman, 

 General. There are four military divisions : 

 that of the Missouri, under Lieutenant-General 

 Philip H. Sheridan, headquarters at Chicago, 

 111. ; that of the South, under Major-General 

 Irwin McDowell, headquarters at Louisville, 

 Ky. ; that of the Atlantic, under Major-Gen- 

 eral Winfield S. Hancock, headquarters at New 

 York; and that of the Pacific, under Major- 

 General J. M. Schofield, headquarters at San 

 Francisco, Oal. The Division of the Missouri 

 includes the Department of the Gulf, under 

 Brigadier-General 0. 0. Augur, headquarters 

 at New Orleans, La. ; the Department of Da- 

 kota, under Brigadier-General Alfred H. Terry, 

 headquarters at St. Paul, Minn. ; the Depart- 

 ment of the Missouri under Brigadier- General 

 John Pope, headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, 

 Kan. ; the Department of the Platte, under 

 Brigadier-General St. George Crook, head- 

 quarters at Omaha, Neb. ; and the Depart- 

 ment of Texas, under Brigadier-General E. O. 

 C. Ord, headquarters at San Antonio, Texas. 

 The Division of the South comprises only one 

 Department, that of the South, under General 

 McDowell ; and the Division of the Atlantic, 

 under General Hancock, is also undivided. The 

 Military Division of the Pacific comprises the 

 Department of the Columbia, under ' Brevet 

 Major-General O. O. Howard, headquarters at 

 Portland, Oregon ; and tho Department of Ari- 



zona, under Brevet Major-General August V. 

 Kantz, headquarters at Prescott. 



The number of desertions during the year 

 ending June 30th was 2,521, or 2,085 less than 

 during the preceding year. There were 1,986 

 reenlistments, or 1,287 more than in the year 

 previous. The condition of the army is re- 

 porte*d to be excellent. There were 362 pris- 

 oners received at the military prison during 

 the year, and 225 remaining there at the end 

 of the year. These are employed about the 

 institution, but it is proposed to have work- 

 shops established to make their labor more 

 systematic and profitable. The regimental 

 bands have all been mustered out of service, 

 and the only authorized band connected with 

 the army is that at the Military Academy at 

 West Point. There are 1,300 laundresses em- 

 ployed in the army, at an annual expense to 

 the Government of about $100,000 for rations 

 and $200,000 for transportation and quarters. 



The actual expenditures of the War Depart- 

 ment for the year ending June 30th were, 

 $41,277,375.28, a reduction of $1,048,939.43 

 from the amount expended the previous year. 

 The estimates for expenditures for the year 

 ending June 80, 1876, were $32,488,969.50, 

 bat the appropriations made were but $28,- 

 727,407.99. The estimates for the year 1876- 

 '77 are $33,452,396.50. The estimates of the 

 Chief of Engineers for his department are, 

 $2,044,000 for fortifications and other works 

 of defense, $14,301,100 for road and harbor 

 improvements, $714,474 for public buildings 

 and grounds and the Washington Aqueduct, 

 $35,000 for surveys, and $34,300 for Engineer 

 depot at Willett's Point, N. Y., or, $17,298,874 

 in all. 



The battalion of engineers has been reduced 

 to 200 enlisted men, which, in the opinion of 

 the chief, is far too small a number. He rec- 

 ommends that 500 be established as the mini- 

 mum. The works for seaboard defense are re- 

 ported as having made satisfactory progress. 

 They consist mainly of heavy earth -batteries 

 arranged for guns and mortars suitable to re- 

 sist the attacks of the most powerful iron- 

 clads. The trials with torpedoes have con- 

 tinued, and their importance as an auxiliary 

 in the defense of harbors is regarded as thor- 

 oughly demonstrated. Among the works for 

 the improvement of rivers and harbors, per- 

 manent jetties are to be constructed at the 

 mouth of the Mississippi Kiver, for the purpose 

 of maintaining a wide, deep, and permanent 

 channel to the Gulf through the South Pass of 

 the river. The work is under the charge of 

 Captain James B. Eads ; and the surveys, con- 

 ducted by Major 0. B. Comstock, of the Engi- 

 neers, are well advanced. The work of con- 

 struction is also under way. 



The work of concentrating the arsenals has 

 made some progress. The Detroit Arsenal has 

 been turned over to the Interior Department 

 for sale ; that at Columbus, O., has been trans- 

 ferred to the recruiting service to be used for 



