the Quartermaster-General, to the chief of the proper divisions, such portions of these reports as may be necessary for their information and use: Provided, That the officers assigned to inspection duty shall have power not only to report and to point out any errors or abuses which they may discover in the practical operations of the Quartermaster's Department, but to give, by order of the Quartermaster-General, the orders which may be immediately necessary to correct and to prevent a continuance of such abuses or errors: Provided further, That all such orders shall be immediately reported to the chief of the inspection division for the approval or otherwise of the Quartermaster- General.

The Ninth Division shall have charge of all the correspondence, returns, reports, and records received, filed, and preserved in the office of the Quartermaster-General, and of the transmission thereof to the several other divisions of this office and departments of the Government.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the heads of the several divisions above mentioned shall, under the direction of the Quartermaster-General, from time to time advertise for proposals for the supplies necessary for the movements and operations of the several armies, posts, detachments, garrisons, hospitals, and for other military purposes, in newspapers having general circulation in those parts of the country where such supplies can be most advantageously furnished, having regard also to the places where such supplies are to be delivered and used; and all such supplies so purchased or contracted for shall be subject to careful inspection; and all clothing and camp and garrison equipage shall be subject to a double inspection, first, as to the quality of the material, and second, as to the kind and character of the workmanship; which inspection shall in all cases by performed by a competent inspector, with suitable assistance, who shall have had ample experience in the the inspection of cloth, clothing, knapsacks, camp and garrison equipage; and all payments for supplies so purchased shall be made under the direction of the officers in charge of the several divisions above mentioned upon receipts or certificates from the officers inspecting and receiving such supplies, prepared in such form and attested in such manner as may be prescribed by the Quartermaster-General.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Quartermaster-General to establish depots, from time to time, at places convenient to the principal armies in the field, for receiving and distributing the supplies necessary for such armies, and for the detachments, posts, and hospitals most accessible to such depots; and the business of inspecting, weighing, measuring, and receiving supplies for such armies, detachments, posts, and hospitals, and of giving receipts or certificates therefor to the persons furnishing such supplies, shall be carried on as far as practicable at such depots; but the Quartermaster-General, or the heads of the several divisions above mentioned, may cause such supplies to be sent from the place of purchase directly to the quartermasters of the commands for whose use they are procured, in any cases where it may be more economical or advantageous so to do; and in cases where horses, mules, clothing, or camp and garrison equipage may be so sent, suitable and competent inspectors shall be sent to examine the same before they shall be issued and receipted for.

SEC. 4. And be if further enacted, That when emergency shall exist requiring the immediate procurement of supplies for the necessary movements and operations of an army or detachment, and when such supplies cannot be procured from any established depot of the Quartermaster's Department, or from the head of the division charged with the duty of furnishing such supplies, within the required time, then it shall be lawful for the commanding officer of such army or detachment to order the chief quartermaster of such army or detachment to procure such supplies during the continuance of such emergency, but no longer, in the most expeditions manner, and without advertisement; and it shall be the duty of such quartermaster to obey such order; and his accounts of the disbursement of moneys for such supplies shall be accompanied by the order of the commanding officer as aforesaid, or a certified copy of the same, and also by a statement of the particular facts and circumstances, with their dates, constituting such emergency.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of Quartermaster-General, immediately after the passage of this act, and at least once in every month thereafter, to require from the principal quartermasters of the several military departments and depots approximate statements of the aggregate amount to supplies on hand, and estimates of the additional amounts required for the service for the ensuing month, stating at what places such supplies will be required, and what amounts are legally contracted for but not yet delivered. And it shall be the duty of the heads of the several divisions above mentioned to cause to be made purchases or contracts for the supplies which the Quartermaster-General may estimate to be