the amount and results of target practice, practice marches, practice in outpost duty, field service, minor tactics, gymnastic exercises, etc. Through this department the military governor has been advised of the housing of the troops throughout the island, the condition of their barracks, the state of their messing, the sufficiency, variety, and preparation of their food; whether the labor of the supply departments is performed by soldiers or civilians, and if the latter, their number, cost, and reasons for their employment; the means of transportation-horses, mules, wagons, carts, etc.; number of public animals, serviceable and unserviceable, their condition, grooming, training, shoeing, and suitability for the service, veterinary treatment, etc.; the condition of all public property and accounts, and whether public property is secured against fire, theft, and damage; whether authorized sales of public stores are made to enlisted men according to regulations; the condition of the water supply at each post; the facilities for laundry work, bathing, and swimming; condition of sewerage and drainage; the means of extinguishing fire; whether the troops are organized into fire detachments and their efficiency therein; as to the management and success of the post exchange, and whether properly supplied and conducted according to regulations; the extent, necessity for, and kind of gardens, the number of men employed therein, and the success attending the same; the management and application of the regimental and company funds; whether the post, regimental, and company books of all kinds are correctly kept and all official papers properly filed; the condition of the cemeteries; efficiency of the hospital corps and company bearers; their proficiency in the litter-bearer drill and the method of rendering first aid to the wounded. All disbursements by the United States Government in Cuba have been thoroughly examined and the balances verified on an average of every four months. To the credit of the Army it may be stated that since its arrival in Cuba no officer of the Regular Army has been found a defaulter, and many of them have expended large sums of money.

In addition to the duties above indicated, the department has investigated all questions arising at camps, posts, or wherever officers and troops may be serving, harmonizing differences where possible and reporting facts to the military governor where corrections by him were rendered necessary.

The department has inspected, five or six times a year, the money accountability of all officers-military or civilian, American or native disbursing insular funds and reported the true state of their balances to the military governor. From the inception of the military government, January 1, 1899, to June 30, 1901, these frequent inspections have covered the examination of accounts involving transactions as follows: United States funds, $39,271,708.02; insular funds,$92,420,128.98. These large sums, made up of expenditures, transfers, redeposits, etc., required as delicate scrutiny as if consisting of expenditures only. The present system of inspection of money accountability in vogue in the inspector-general's department is the result of over a century's experience and is wellnigh proof against successful attempt at fraud. An idea of the minuteness and completeness of these inspections may be obtained from the following general statement of the methods pursued: First, a verification is made of all moneys received by the disbursing officer from the Treasury or by transfer from other officers; second, all vouchers are carefully examined with reference to their

form, legality, authority, and economy and compared with the stubs in the check books; third, all funds transferred to other officers or deposited to the credit of the Treasurer are noted and authenticated. The sum of all expenditures, transfers, and Treasury deposits subtracted from the total receipts will show the true balance for which the officer is accountable at date of inspection.

Oftentimes it is necessary for disbursing officers to keep cash on hand (although the practice is now reduced to a minimum), and in such cases the same is counted. The difference between the cash on hand and the balance due at date of inspection should be on deposit in the official depository. To ascertain if this balance is on deposit the last depositary's statement (which is furnished all disbursing officers monthly) is examined and the balance at that date noted. All checks which have not been presented to the depositary for payment and those issued since the date of last statement (called outstanding checks) are authenticated and a list thereof made, which is forwarded to the depositary with request to note thereon any funds received to the credit of the disbursing officer, together with a statement of all checks paid since the last statement and the balance now standing to the credit of the officer. This, when received back from the depositary, is compared with the inspector's statement of the officer's account and verification made accordingly. But the great function of the department here, as in the United States, is not so much to detect as to prevent fraud and to instruct inexperienced officers, both civilian and military, in the proper method of rendering accounts, bookkeeping, and the specific manner of stating vouchers. During the first six months of the department's duties in Cuba it was found that a great many inexperienced agents were drawing more or less large sums of cash on their official checks and keeping excessive amounts thereof in their safes, boxes, etc. In each case of this nature observed the officer was advised to turn the currency at once into authorized depositories and to pay all vouchers by check. During these inspections there have been many irregularities discovered and corrected, but it must be said, to the credit of the numerous officials, both military and civil, disbursing the island revenues, that there has not been but one defalcation of a grave character and not to exceed three or four of minor importance during the entire period of the American intervention. It can be safely stated that the inspector-general's department in Cuba has saved to the island government many hundreds of thousands of dollars, not so much by detecting frauds as by its constant and careful watchfulness over all expenditures and insistence upon compliance with the law respecting the propriety of and proper authority for disbursements of every nature.

In addition to the money responsibility recounted above, the department has inspected and reported upon, for the information of the governor-general, public property, various in character, such as railroads, buildings, wharves, sewers, parks, bridges, etc., with reference to their care and preservation, as well as the system of accounting and method of carrying on the work of the various departments of the military government, particularly as to the efficiency and economy thereof, and has made recommendations looking to a simplification of the work and a curtailment of expenses.

The ethics of the department are such that very little is known of its doings except to the officers concerned. All of its work is, more

or less, of a confidential character, and it is the solace of the department that its officers never spread its virtues before the public to cover its neglects. The duties of the office of an inspector-general are very laborious and the responsibilities grave. His travels are never-ending. He barely recognizes the comforts of home life from his first entry into the corps to old age. If honest and strictly conscientious, he must be prepared to part with many friends, for his duty calls for inexorable action, without fear, favor, or affection; hence few, if their prevision were equal to their after experience, would ever care to change a coveted position in the line to assume responsibilities so burdensome where resulting compensations are so rare. Therefore, to be efficient, an inspector-general must be independent in action; to be courageous, his permanency must be assured. The department has been fortunate in its encouragement by the military governor, General Wood, who believes in thorough and frequent inspections, and who at all times has furnished aid and given directions to uplift the department in the fulfillment of its duties. The Cuban government could not do better, at its inception, than to appoint its inspectors-whether in its army, custom-house, treasury, or internal-revenue service-from men of high standing, with tenures for life or during good behavior— their fairest hope of insuring virtuous administration.

INSPECTOR-GENERAL.