INTERNAL RELATIONS. 257 



the right should be a space for each appropriation under which 

 purchases are made. Adding up the articles consolidates the 

 property; adding up the amounts consolidates the cash. See 

 form proposed, page 258. 



4. The Quarterly Abstract of Purchases. 



(b.) Replace the quarterly abstract of purchases now made by 

 a new double abstract, C, which would become the " Abstract of 

 articles received by purchase." The agencies would be a serial 

 list of the fly bills received from public creditors ; the articles 

 received would be arranged under the headings given by the 

 nomenclature, precisely as is now done with the quarterly abstract. 

 The only difference would be in the agencies, which would 

 depend upon actual receipts without regard to whether they had 

 yet been paid for or not. 



(r.) Consolidate quarterly or annually the footings of the 

 monthly abstracts and compare their aggregate with that of the 

 consolidated abstracts C. Differences would be explained by an 

 abstract of articles received but not paid for. I should prefer this 

 consolidation to be made annually, because, since purchases must 

 always be received before they are paid for, abstract C would be 

 always ahead throughout the year, until its expiration compelled 

 a settlement of all accounts. 



5. The Abstract of Disbursements. 



Transfer to this abstract on one line the footings under each 

 appropriation on the proposed monthly abstract of purchases, as 

 is now done with the footings on the return of hired men. 



This would be logical and labor-saving, and would tend to 

 reduce the abstract to a two-line paper, one line for services and 

 the other for material, to which two headings all expenditures can 

 be definitely referred. 



ADVANTAGES. 



1. The consolidation would be progressive, and work need not 

 be done twice and even three times over, as is now required. 



2. Detailed information would be given by papers of the proper 



