52 PRESENT SYSTEM, 



supplied from a given arsenal, but so situated as to make the 

 transportation of bulky material a troublesome and expensive 

 matter. Let us take Fort Gaston in the forests covering the 

 northern part of California as in want of scantling for making 

 targets, or the Light Battery stationed at the Presidio as in want 

 of coal, as examples, both being supplied from this, Benicia, 

 Arsenal. 



In these cases the regulations present the following dilemma: 



A. To buy the material in San Francisco, pay for its transpor- 

 tation to the Arsenal, and then immediately reship it to its desti- 

 nation, possibly within sight of the spot from which it originally 

 came ; or 



B. To let the requiring officer select what material he wants, 

 to pay the bill approved by him, and then by fictitious entries on 

 the Return assume and discharge a responsibility which has 

 never existed in fact. It is difficult to say which of these alterna- 

 tives is to be preferred. 



But if, on the other hand, purchases and receipts were dealt 

 with separately, one being a cash paper and the other a property 

 paper, like abstracts A and D in the Quartermaster's Department, 

 such a transaction would be perfectly plain and straightforward. 

 The purchase at the Arsenal would be explained, if necessary, by 

 reference to the obligation assumed by the requiring officer on 

 his own property return. Then the regulations would cease to 

 be obstructive to natural methods, but would properly fulfill their 

 true functions, by directing all proper actions to sure and speedy 

 ends. 



These objections are in part modified by the present method 

 of making payments on " certificates of inspection," explained 

 chap. XV; but the difference is only of degiee. The payment is 

 not made now until approved by the Chef of Ordnance, nor 

 does he approve it until the receipt of die material has been 

 acknowledged by the signature of the Ordnance Storekeeper. 

 But in practice the latter is often obliged to sign for things of 

 which he has never had personal knowledge or control. His 

 attention is not necessarily called to them until long after they 



