One of the most important questions in naval administration to-day—as directly affecting its military efficiency as any of ships or armament—concerns the increased care now required in look- ing after the welfare and contentment of the personnel. The change in the character of ships has brought with it a change in the character of their crews. The rough and ready tar has been largely replaced by the educated mechanic, whose requirements in the way of comfort are far greater. This is not an American problem only. It is one of the age and is a subject just now engaging the most serious attention of foreign admiralties, Service Papers abroad are full of complaints and discussion of methods affecting the personnel, which sufficed for the past, but do so no longer.
A principal topic of concern in this phase of naval administration relates to the food furnished. Not less important is that of providing means to supply the men with the numerous articles of personal convenience, —even those in the nature of delicacies, —to which the present day sailor is accustomed on shore. Fortunately, we are well to the fore in the matter of food. But we are lagging in the second respect.
I propose to show that our whole service, afloat and ashore needs, and should have in equity to it, the establishment of a general sales commissary system for the navy. No room for argument exists as to the benefit it would be to service and to individual to have a well-regulated system of canteen stores or shops extending throughout the navy. If it should be done, it will mean a substantial, as well as equitable, increase in personal incomes, through increase of their purchasing power.
I further propose to show bow it may be done; and at the same time effect much needed improvements in the present restricted supply of articles, through canteens and stocks of" small stores." An important merit of the suggestion is that it can be put in to effect immediately, or at any date the Navy Department chooses, without the necessity of seeking further authority from Executive or Congress.
The plan here put forward, so far as known, has not before been hit upon. It is not an undigested one, however. Since the idea was suggested, and the investigation it involved was completed, four years ago, it has been on the anvil, being tested at every point as time and experience gave opportunity, until the belief has come that it is proof against objection. While looking for new means to meet a new condition, we seem to have over- looked old means at hand; which can be fitted to our purposes with advantage to themselves and with singular ease.
The plan in brief:
(a) The amendment of the Regulations by the Department to provide that "small stores" shall be available on ships and at stations for delivery to persons in the service wishing to buy them at cost, for cash, or under proper restrictions, on credit.
(b) The increase of the items carried as small stores by the Department to include all practicable articles, necessary for the personal convenience of the service at large.
(c) Departmental provision for the sale of such stores at cost, or at a uniform price approximating cost throughout the service, through the establishment of "Small Stores Issue Rooms" to replace the present anomalous "Ships Stores."
These provisions would operate to revive the almost forgotten utility and function of small stores"; expand them to include substantially the area now covered by the canteen; and do away with it through the establishment of" small-stores issue rooms,"— as I should prefer to call them, to maintain a time honored title and avoid borrowing the word "commissary,"—for the sale of articles at cost price to the government, for the equal benefit of all persons in the service.
Thus, machinery, now existing and developed through years of experience will serve our purpose. In the purchase of stores in bulk in the cheapest market, their custody, shipment and ac- counting, it can be used to introduce with the minimum stock a complete system of commissary sales stores like those of the army; at the same time performing the double purpose of correcting the evils of the present canteen system and breaking down the obsolete rules which make the present small stores' list almost useless.
The plan thus outlined, it becomes necessary to show why it should be adopted,and its practicability. To anyone acquainted with the benefits and convenience conferred upon a ship's company by a well-conducted canteen, there need be no proof that it is worth while to increase its scope to cover the entire service, and to make it more efficient by combining all canteens into one system, if it can be done. The success of the can teen aboard ship, proves that it has come to stay. Though heretofore given recognition only grudgingly, with onerous restrictions imposed retarding its growth, the ship is now rare that has no canteen, and the ship's store that does not flourish, unknown. In fact, the canteen has quite outgrown its tentative character and some steps must be taken to fit it in as one of the regular parts of the naval organization. When this is done, the system devised for it must be elastic enough to enable its benefits to be shared equally by all persons in the service, wherever stationed. Any other basis of organization would be lacking in equity.
How THE ARMY DOES IT.
The army long ago recognized this principle-in the establishment of its sales commissary system. The act of July 28, 1866, on which Section 1144 of the Revised Statutes is based, provided in part:
"The officers of the Subsistence Department shall procure and keep for sale to officers and enlisted men, at cost prices, for cash or on credit, such articles as may, from time to time, be designated by the Inspector General of the Army…”
The reason for the passage of this act may be simply stated. It was thought since the government had established unvarying rates of pay for persons in the military service, taking no account of stations to which, at its convenience, they might be assigned, it was incumbent on it to equalize the purchasing power of the pay given as far as possible, so that the soldier on the frontier would be at no more expense in filling his commonest needs than the soldier detailed in the harbor of New York. It was thought the private, —and in still greater degree the officer with no ration or outfit given him, but having to subsist and clothe himself,—at a distant post, should not, in effect, have his pay reduced by reason of his assignment. The equity of this law to equalize the cost of living at different stations was emphasized when later Alaska, and finally Island possessions, made it necessary to send forces to points where accustomed articles in home brands were not to be found at any price.
The subsequent history of this law leaves no doubt of the acceptance of this responsibility by the government. Stores were sold under it till 1879,when on June 23,Congress provided that to the cost of all articles sold to officers and men, except tobacco, ten per cent should be added to cover wastage, transportation and incidental charges. It was found, however, at once that with this percentage added, at favored posts near good markets, the soldier could buy-outside more cheaply than his comrade at the commissary on the plains...The appropriation act of the following year, therefore, removed the additional percentage charged -
"Companies, Detachments and Hospitals," that is, practically altogether as far as enlisted men were concerned, and by act of July 5, 1884, rescinded it for officers as well.
This reasoning still holds at the present time, as shown at a hearing last winter before the Senate Military Committee on the army appropriation bill.
"Secretary Taft. —'Now the Government, of course, furnishes the provisions to army officers from the commissary at a much more reasonable price than the provisions can be purchased in the open market, especially at those posts that are far removed from the markets.'
"The Chairman Senate Committee. —'The price is based on the initial price where they are purchased?'
"Secretary Taft. —'Yes, sir, it costs no more to an officer remote from the railroad than for one on the railroad.'"
Army sales stores are bought by purchasing commissaries (like our purchasing pay officers) situated in the principal cities of the country, the purchases being set against the annual appropriation,
"Subsistence of the Army." These are distributed to the various posts, transportation charges being paid under a separate appropriation for that purpose, as with present ordinary naval stores. 'Proceeds of sales are utilized to make fresh purchases until finally the total balance of the appropriation is covered into the treasury. Losses, damage or deterioration in the case of regular articles are accounted for on approved survey, strict regulations being enforced looking toward the prevention of such deficiencies and to responsibility for care and custody of stores. The list of items on sale in these commissary stores comprises about 120 in number, in stores established for troops in the Philippines. This number does not include components of the ration which a real so kept for sale. At home stations, the number is not quite so large. As compared with this, there are about 20 items only, exclusive of parts of uniform, which appear on the present list of small stores carried for issue on our vessels. Any person in the army who desires an article not on the list of the sales commissary, can usually avail himself of the facilities for purchase and transportation furnished by the government to secure it through the store by signing a promise to the effect that, when bought without competition, he will take and pay for it upon arrival, regardless of its condition. This was an easy and money-saving practice to establish after the store was started and the routine of purchase at wholesale rates underway. It would be equally easy and safe to do with any like agency created for the navy.
In order to discover just what the difference would amount to in trading at such a store as proposed and at ordinary retail shops, the writer undertook, some time ago, a comparison between the sales prices at the army commissary at the Washington, D. C., barracks and the prices at ordinary retail stores in that city. It was found that if a unit of each item should be purchased as priced, the total purchase at retail would be $34.02 as against $26.35 at the commissary, a difference of $7.67, or an average difference in per cent of more than 22 per cent on the retail price or more than 29 per cent on the commissary price. Curiously enough, these figures tally almost exactly with those arrived at independently, by a writer in the Naval Institute, in a more recent comparison between the prices of a typical ship's store and those at retail, in which an advantage in favor of the ship's store of more than 21 per cent was figured as against 22 per cent in this case.
These surprising differences are accounted for by the fact that in addition to his net profit, the retail dealer has to pay transportation from the point of original purchase, fixed charges for rent, clerk hire, delivery, etc., none of which have to be taken into consideration in determining the government price. The advantage of trading at a government store could not be more strikingly illustrated than by the above figures.
THE CANTEEN'S INHERENT DEFECTS.
The fact that the current form of canteen is defective, even in its present sphere, has been referred to. As it has grown, defects impossible to foresee have developed until now they are patent to every observer. The recent article referred to, indicated these objections and stated that at the base of all was the fact that each canteen is a separate, private institution and therefore, not wholly subject to regulation, or able to secure the benefits of cooperation. A scheme cannot stand the test of scrutiny which requires one set of men to contribute to create the store in order that another set may later enjoy greater benefits from it than possible to its founders; which makes optional the establishment of the store and thus renders it possible for some ships to enjoy its advantages and some not; which requires a changing policy with respect to profit-making in forcing unnecessarily high selling prices at first to gain a capital before they can be lowered to cost; and under which, therefore, there can be no uniformity in prices or quality amongst the different stores. The following recommendation from his last report, indicates what the chief of Bureau of Supplies and Accounts thinks of it:
"Drastic restrictive rules are needed for the government of the ship's store, in order that the incurring of debts may be immediately and entirely stopped."
A moment's reference to the beginning of the canteen in our service will show how such an institution was permitted to grow up to supply a need which the proper agency could not do. With the inception of the modern navy, the enlisted personnel began to be of a higher class than formerly and their needs to be more complex. It was found that the old allowances for their comfort would no longer do. The ration was early improved, and again and again amended, in partial recognition of this state of affairs. Various attempts were made to increase the list of small stores but, as we shall see, the complex and ironclad system of issue of these articles made them of no avail. The bumboat man came in at this point, at home ports, to supply the demand for toilet articles and minor delicacies in food, in addition to exercising his ancient vocation as tradesman in pies and fruits. When the Spanish war came, with its consequent increase in service in out- ports like those of the Philippines, the need for some regular source of such supplies became more acutely noticeable. An at- tempt was made, officially, to start a system of sales stores, when in 1899 a stock of such stores bought under "Provisions Navy" was sent to Cavite for sale to officers and men. This effort to meet conditions, however, failed as it turned out that the wrong means was employed. The Comptroller of the Treasury (6 Comp. Dec., 321) held there was no authority to establish such stock, and that:
"The appropriation for subsistence of the navy (provisions navy) is not available for the purchase of any article of subsistence except such as the law authorizes to be purchased and issued to the enlisted men of the navy, and cannot be used for the purchase of articles of subsistence which may be authorized to be purchased and sold in the commissary stores of the army."
Thus, one effort to conduct such a store under navy auspices was nullified and we were forced to the rather humbling expedient, to relieve a situation of serious discomfort, of getting per- mission from the War Department for the naval forces to deal at the army sales commissaries in the Philippines.
The British navy is still struggling in the bumboat stage of the development of its canteen, except that it has gone so far as to transfer the bum boatmen from the dock or a boat alongside, to quarters aboard ship. They thus have made the way more difficult for proper reform. British ship's stores are usually conducted on the "tenant" system, in which the citizen proprietor, not connected with the service, pays rent for the privilege of running a store on board, under the supervision of a committee of the crew. The whole tendency of the plan is to give the customers of the canteen poor service to the resulting profit of the proprietor, —and it is no wonder there is loud criticism of it.
With better fortune we took the course of permitting cooperative canteens on board, with the commissary officer in charge, wherever the pressure for them was sufficient to overcome the onerous condition requiring private subscription and prohibiting purchase of stock on credit. We at least, were spared the difficulty now lying before the British of having to correct an entirely false start along the line of private ownership before taking the right course.
In our service, it was soon noticed on ships where canteens were started that there were in effect two distinct stocks of articles of convenience on board. The canteen stock and that of small stores, paralleled each other. Though managed by the same officer, they were kept distinct because of the private nature of the one, and the difficulties in issue of the other. The canteen, being much the more accessible, immediately usurped the function of the small store stock at all points where the two touched, besides furnishing many other items not in the very restricted list of small stores.
A research developed the reason for the present atrophy of the small stores' list. In the early days of the navy, supplies of this kind were considered separately from clothing, with which in later times, through an accidental and temporary likeness, they got confused. The consolidation of the Clothing and of the Small Stores' funds served to increase the confusion of ideas concerning the real functions of these two classes of articles. Once on the right track, a moment's clear thinking will show their essential difference. Clothing is provided where enlisted men are, for a military reason, to keep them in uniform. From the pea- coat to undershirt, every article is prescribed and must not be varied, in form or texture. It is necessary to issue clothing to a man sometimes when he does not want it, and, on proper authority, to charge its value to him with or without his sanction. For this reason, close oversight of each item is imperative and any system of cash payment is impossible with clothing. The commanding officer's strict oversight is required, not only as a means of assuming control of the issue of uniform but to protect the man under a system of charging-up cost of purchases.
WHY THE SMALL STORES SYSTEM FAILED.
On the other hand, small stores are kept solely for the convenience of the men, not to serve any military purpose of the government. They are not of prescribed type. There is no such thing as " regulation" shape of plug tobacco or bar of soap. Specifications for them are to secure the delivery of good quality only. For this class of stores the man "puts down" willingly. He is never required to take them nor does the commanding officer of the present day care whether he uses them at all, or prefers to provide himself from other sources.
In the early days, the ship's purser was allowed a percentage on small stores charged up against the crew. Experience proved, as long as he had a monetary interest in the quantity sold, that some effective check should be put upon him for the protection of the men. The scrutiny of the commanding officer of each article issued, as well as of amount charged, was already required for clothing. Someone conceived the idea that this check might be applied to small stores as well. This makes it obvious how the confusion referred to occurred. It came about as desirable for the captain to direct the issue and charging of clothing by article to keep the crew in uniform; and of small stores to keep check of the issues. Provision to this effect was therefore embodied, not to say embalmed, in the regulations of 1841 and, was copied from volume to volume because no particular reason appeared for striking it out. But in 1842, that is the very next year, the necessity for it in the case of small stores was done away with when all private supplies aboard ship were taken over by the government and pursers' percentages abolished. The incubus of trouble and delay involved in such a routine, and in its necessary accompaniments of charging up issues has gradually made small stores, carried solely for the convenience of the men, most inconveniently inaccessible to them.
Such a system might well serve, without bringing particular notice to its defects, until a better one presented itself. Up to the time of the entry of the canteen aboard our ships, we did not conceive, generally, of any better plan than that given in the issue, once a month, of clothing with all purchases put "on the books." The ship's store has, however, illustrated the enormous advance in convenience and simplicity, gained in doing a daily business on a cash basis. The canteen's method of handling this class of stores holds up to ridiculous comparison, one by which a man is required to foresee a month ahead that he is going to lose a whisk broom, or to run short of tobacco. Lack of foresight, or hard luck, with regard to small stores will not usually make his division officer undertake to overcome the quiet opposition he meets, from the captain to the jack-o-dust, to the special issue of an article not palpably essential for a man's welfare. Under the regulations, the division officer is only required to:
"make out a special requisition for clothing that is absolutely necessary to preserve the health of any member of the division."
So when the canteen came, the small stores' stock was duplicated for all practical purposes and left to its fate, —to be throttled by red tape.
It was the consideration of all these questions, the desirability of a general canteen system for the navy, the defects of the present ship's store organization, and the sad state of the small stores' list, that finally brought the dawn of the idea that they might be all so related as to be susceptible, possibly, of the same solution. It then became obvious that the logical step would be the development of small stores, to take the place of the present canteen. This would certainly seem a more logical procedure than to start
up any parallel system which would be wholly new. If this could be done, the mechanism of the clothing and small stores' fund could be put into operation towards the maintenance of the proposed "Small Stores Issue Rooms," and that fund could be made the reservoir, as it should be, for all stores of this character. All the machinery for receiving, inspection, storing and shipping to any part of the world is now in operation at the principal depots for clothing and small stores. Paymasters of ships could make requisitions as now, to be ordered shipped from the nearest depot, cost of transportation, as now, being paid from the special appropriation provided for that purpose. Such articles as might be on the revised list of small stores and which it might not be desirable or necessary to buy in large quantities, could be obtained as needed from these depots, on open purchase requisition in the usual manner. On foreign stations, or with stores of perishable nature, purchase could be covered by a ship's requisition with the approval of the commanding officer, just as articles of small stores, particularly soap, are now purchased abroad when necessary. In fact, the modification in the present routine of responsibility and accounting for these supplies to meet the changed conditions, would be slight indeed as compared with the creation entire of a new system. The changes involved would seem to be principally in bringing up the method of issue and increasing the variety of small stores to a point to compete on favorable terms with the present canteen.
With the situation so far defined, it became necessary to under- take a search to determine definitely, if possible:
(1) If any reason exists which will prohibit the change from the present method of issue of small stores to substantially a cash method.
(2) If any reason exists which would prevent the expansion of the small stores' list to include all classes of articles now on sale in canteens.
(3) If any exists which would prevent sale at cost as in army commissaries.
Aside from the interest developed in this investigation, its results were happy in proving the plan to be not only practicable, but the only logical one in the light of the history of such stores in our navy. Its outcome more than justified the weeks of research it involved. It demonstrated that the department has within itself all the necessary authority to make the required changes, and consequently, that the usual stumbling-block to reforms in the service, —an appeal to Congress,—is not to be met With. It proved that far from there being impediment to the expansion of the small stores' list, to include all articles needed for the convenience of the service, that such was its original condition and function. An unexpected result was the discovery that food-stuffs now excluded from small stores, were originally a principal part of small stores' issues, as they are now of the business of the canteen. It developed also the justice of the conviction that equity can only be accomplished in the sale of these stores, at cost, by disclosing the convincing reasoning governing their disposal in that way, in the other branch of the service. However, aside from his general interest in the past of our navy, it is but fair that the reader should judge for himself whether these positions are maintained in a resume of the field covered in the search.
THE HISTORY OF OUR SMALL STORES.
The earliest regulations of the navy were those passed by Congress on March 2, 1799,and among many things quaintly stated, they provide:
"The captains are frequently to cause to be inspected the conditions of the provisions, and, if the bread proves damp, to have it aired upon the quarter-deck or other convenient places, and in case of the pickle being leaked out of the flesh casks, he is to have new pickle made and put therein after such casks are repaired."
"The men shall, at their request, be furnished with slops (clothing) that are necessary, by order of the captain, and the amount delivered to each man shall be regularly returned by the purser so that the same may be stopped out of his pay."
The regulations of April 23, 1800, though of great interest as the basis of the present "Articles for the Government of the Navy," are concerned chiefly with disciplinary matters. Those of September 17, 1817, prepared under authority of Congress of February 15, 1815, make the first mention of what would now be called small stores. Besides providing for the issue by the ship's purser of clothing at 10 per cent advance (as "compensation for the risk and responsibility"), they permit him to sell tobacco at 50 per cent advance over "cost and charges" as furnished by the government, and also certain other articles on his own account, among them mustard and pepper, at an advance of 25 per cent. His profits on clothing, tobacco and other articles were to be strictly accounted for to the treasury, and "wages" and profits on tobacco were not to be allowed him in his account until his returns were settled. When the pay of pursers was increased in 1841 these profits were set off against his pay, but till that time they were perquisites and he was merely required to submit his account of receipts and expenditures in order that his profit- taking might be supervised. That this was so is corroborated by the fact that the act of April 18, 1814, which allowed pursers $40 a month and two rations, remained in force long after the pay of all other officers was much increased; while the purser's bond was fixed by act of March 1, 1817, at $25,000, instead of $10,000 as previously, —heavy amounts for those days.
The purchase of clothing and tobacco furnished pursers by the government was affected through "navy agents" from general appropriations providing for construction of ships, and pay and subsistence, from 1798 to 1843. It is not until the latter year that the first specific appropriation for clothing is made. Small stores are not named in appropriation or other acts till 1879.
The number of articles the pursers were permitted to carry on board to sell for their own profit by the regulations of 1817 as well as the percentage allowed them were soon much increased, for a volume of the early orders and customs of the Navy Department, compiled in March, 1838, states under the head "Allowances to Pursers."
“…They are also allowed 5 per cent upon clothing delivered to the crew (January 29,1803).
"25 per cent upon articles of secondary necessity, embracing all articles not denominated luxuries, upon which 5 per cent is not charged (July 27, 1809).
"50 per cent upon luxuries such as tea, coffee, sugar, and tobacco, when furnished either to officers or crew.
"In vessels of 20 guns an additional allowance is made upon groceries, of 5 percent, and in vessels under 20 guns of to percent upon the same articles."
That is, pursers were allowed to charge 25 per cent upon all articles including groceries, not clothing or "luxuries," with an additional 5 or Jo per cent upon all groceries either luxuries or "of secondary necessity."
The practice of carrying groceries on board for sale to the crew was a nearly and a long established one, for though tea and sugar appear in the ration table incorporated in the regulations of 1817, their addition was declared unauthorized, it not being until 1842 that tea, sugar, coffee or cocoa were first made part of the ration by Congress. As confirming this, forms for pursers' provision return of ration stores as late as 1838, and the ration tables in the regulations of 1841, do not include any of these articles. That they were considered as" small stores" appears from the "Regulations for the Government of Pursers" of 1838 which provide for accounting for the purser's personal stores under that name, as distinguished from "slop clothing" and the ship's "provisions.'
The regulations of 1841 were the first published after 1817. They show ample evidence of a thorough hand, which besides combining under one cover the traditions which had grown up outside the older volume, changed many ancient practices. For the first time purser's stores are formally defined.
"Art. 296. —All articles forming part of the ration, or taken on board as substitutes for parts of the ration, shall be considered as 'provisions.'
'Art. 297. —All articles of clothing or bedding ... shall be considered and called slop clothing.'
" Art. 298. —All articles of groceries not being parts of the ration, and all other articles not being 'provisions' or 'slop clothing' taken on board in conformity with the regulations to sell for the convenience of the crew, shall be considered as 'small stores.'"
Tradition as to the purser's percentages and rates of pay was not treated so respectfully. Article309provides:
"All articles of slop clothing and small stores, issued by pursers shall be charged at an advance of 15 per centum on their net cost, excluding freight and other charges. In the settlement of their accounts, they shall be allowed for the sale of these articles such sum as with their pay and ration, shall make their whole annual compensation as follows:
"If Congress shall hereafter regulate the pay of pursers in such manner as shall entitle them to receive their entire compensation from the United States instead of deriving a part of their emoluments from the proceeds of sales to the seamen, as proposed in the next preceding article, then the percentage to be charged on all articles of clothing and small stores shall be 5 per centum on the net cost and no more."
Following the older regulations in which the issue of small stores to each man was limited to a definite quantity of each article yearly, not to be exceeded except on written order of the commanding officer, those of 1841 provide, with a familiar ring, that the captain" will order in writing, such clothing, small stores, and such only, as may be required for the health and comfort of the men." The reason for this provision has been explained. Though on account of its continuing application to clothing, a similar provision has come down to the present day; the necessity for this check in the case of small stores was obviated the next year, for Congress in 1842, besides reorganizing the Navy Department, substituting the present bureau system for the Board of Navy Commissioners, also on August 28, provided for the removal of all private stores on board ship and fixed definitely the pay of pursers in the following terms:
"Sec. I. —Be it enacted, etc., that all purchases of clothing, groceries, stores, and supplies of every description, for the use of the navy, as well as for vessels in commission as for yards and stations, shall be made with and out of the public monies appropriated for the support of the navy, under such directions and regulations as may be made by the executive for that purpose; and it shall not be lawful for pursers or other officers, or persons holding commission or employment in the naval service, to procure stores, or any other articles, or supplies for, and dispense thereof to the officers or to the crew during the period of their enlistment, on or for their own account or benefit; nor shall any profit or percentage upon stores or supplies be charged to or received from persons in the naval service other than those which are hereinafter described."
"Sec. 2. —Gives power to the executive to prescribe all necessary rules for the purchase, preservation, and disposition of supplies for persons in the navy.'"
"Sec. 9. —All stores of pursers on board ships in commission shall be taken by the government at a fair valuation under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy."
Apparently the percentage previously contemplated by the department in case of the passage of this act was not deemed sufficient, for in less than three months, on November 17,the chief of the new Bureau of Provisions and Clothing, Charles W. Goldsborough (for 19 years before secretary to the Board of Navy Commissioners), over his own signature, published a circular to the following effect:
"In order to protect the government from loss in the issue of clothing and small stores, it has been decided for the present that 10 per cent shall be added to the cost of all such articles and that they shall be issued to the seamen and others at such addition to their cost."
Thus the government assumed charge of all pursers' stores including groceries, and thus, the additional percentage to be charged by it on issue was first fixed.
In 1843, $380,000 was appropriated by Congress for clothing for the navy, including transfers, and every other expense to be reimbursed out of the sale of clothing for the first half of the calendar year 1843. This was the first separate appropriation for clothing; and while it is not stated to be its purpose, this act operated to create a fund, which was added to in the following years:
That the establishment of a fund under this act was not entirely without question appears from the fact that it had to be definitely settled by the insertion in the appropriation of 1847 of the following provision; the first act to name specifically the Clothing fund:
"That from and after the passage of this act, all moneys derived from sale of all stores and other articles belonging to the navy shall revert to that appropriation from which such stores and other articles were originally purchased; … that it shall not be lawful hereafter to make transfer from the clothing fund, or the head of the appropriation for clothing for the navy, to another head of appropriation, except in the adjustment of the accounts of disbursing officers."
No mention is made in the acts of appropriations of small stores, they evidently having been originally purchased and maintained through other appropriations. Neither a volume containing the regulations, circulars, etc., of the department, 1832 to 1851, or the instructions to pursers of '55, '62, '65, or '76 yield information as to how this was accomplished. It is certain, however, that in 1878 just before the creation of the small stores' fund they were carried under "Pay of the Navy," the fuller forms of that date showing all expenditures and receipts of small stores as accounted for under that appropriation.
The ten percent advance for purposes of issue provided in 1842 obtained till 1869. The record of subsequent years is of two fold interest as showing the variation of opinion as to the necessity or the propriety of issues at advanced price, and the means taken to register the changes it occasioned. Under authority of a series of bureau circulars, approved by the department, after 1869 clothing and small stores were first issued at invoice price with no advance (September 18, 1869); then at ten per cent on cost again (September 22, 1874); then at average cost with percentage once more abolished (June 30, 1877), which method held for 13 years till (July 9, 1890), five per cent to cost was added, shortly after increased to ten per cent, at which figure it remained till September 9, 1902, (G. 0. No. 107), when a uniform price was established by annual circular, the percentage of advance over cost to cover losses being adjusted in Washington.
Before 1855, and probably soon after 1842, the number of articles of provisions carried for so many years as small stores, was reduced as a new ration was established by act of August 29, 1842, which included among a number of new items, sugar, tea, coffee, and cocoa, formerly considered "luxuries" as will be remembered; and made it unnecessary to carry them separately from the ship's provisions. Mustard and pepper, however, on the list of pursers' stores of 1817 still appeared on the small stores' forms of 1855 and survived as articles regularly carried under that name to a time within present memory. Among other things, "grass" for hats coming in "hands" was also carried for a while, appearing on the forms of 1855 but disappearing before those of 1878. For a while as is also shown in the forms of 1855 to 1878 small stores were issued to mess cooks upon mess requisitions instead of on divisional requisitions, as in the case of clothing. This issue by messes as the social unit on board, as distinguished from the division, the military unit, seems a partial recognition of the distinction existing between small stores and clothing. However that may be, this practice has disappeared. In February, 1879, small stores carried under "Pay of the Navy," as a matter of account, were constituted the stock of a fund in the following language:
"From and after the first day of April, 1879, the value of issues of small stores shall be credited to a fund to be designated as the "Small Stores Fund" in the same manner as the value of issues of clothing is now credited to the "Clothing Fund," the resources of the fund to be used hereafter in the purchase of small stores for issue."
In 1890 the two funds were consolidated and with the addition of a million dollars in each of the years 1898, 1899, and 1903 ($1,000,000 having been returned to the treasury in 1870, and $325,000 by the appropriation act of 1888), the clothing and small stores' fund on July 1, 1906, amounted to $4,478,242.62.
In conclusion, the reader is reminded that though he may possibly have seemed to wander a field, and the subject of small stores to have taken on an importance beyond its merit, in comparison with the large questions affecting the navy, it is, after all, the humble means by which great benefits and efficiency may be promoted. The contentment of our personnel is a large question, — one of the largest in our service,—and nothing so much affects that contentment as easy access to creature comforts.
Looked at in this perspective, he will agree that in importance our subject takes rank with the greatest.