Confrfceratc States, of $lmericat IV. When notice of impressment has been given, and thebusine'ss is only awaiting settlement, if the holder instead of retaining it for the government, refuses to deliver it or disposes of it otherwise, then the same reserve force shall be invoked, and the impressed property seized or an,equal quantity taken from the party, on the ground that he has not alienated what was the Government's but what was his own. V. Officers will proceed to impress all the surplus available as rapidly as they can. VI. Bonded agriculturists are as much in the service as they would have been if not conditionally exempted. Whenever one of these is found bartering any of his surplus or selling any to others that the Government, or families of officers ^or soldiers, or at rates other than prescribed, or is not strictly devoting his whole attention to the production of supplies, evidence of the fact must be at once furnished to the appropriate Enrolling Officer, and the name of the party and the Enrolling Officer sent to the Bureau of Conscription. The District Attorney shall be furnished with the information preliminary to a prosecution of the offender on his Bond. Officers will also ascertain from the bonded farmers with whom they deal, the amount of meat they have contracted to deliver, and how much surplus subsistence they have ; and see that one half goes to the Government. . ' The Secretary of War will direct that the orders to the Enrolling Officers and Commandants of Reserves be given, also that directions to the District Attorney's be sent to prosecute promptly all who have not fulfilled the terms of their Bonds. VII. If any man liable to military service, who has been detailed or exempted from such service for any purpose whatever is found engaged in speculation in articles of Army Subsistence or engaged in any other business prejudicial to the interests of the Government, it is your duty as one of its officers, promptly to report him. (Signed.) L. B. NORTHROP, Gommiss^^ General Approved.: , (Signed.) JAMES A. SEDDON, Secretary of War. Official. S. B. BREWER, Major & C. S. • .SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT,, Richmond, Septej^r 5, 1864. Major: • I. When enacting law*, for impressment. Congress could not have expected impressing officers, as a class, to be competent to settle the meaning of the words value or just■ compensation, since Jurists and Political Economists have been unable to determine on a definition or principle of ascertaining the just value of an article. Under these circumstances, . Congress enacted that Commissioners, jointly chosen by the Confederate .and State Executives, should, at intervals, • fix the value of commodities as the best mode of settling what was just compensation, and thus fulfilling the constitutional requirement in cases of impressment. The schedules fixed by these Boards for the respective States monthly were objected to by certain parties, and the objection sustained, on the ground that value at the time for an.impressment could not be determined'by ratio fixed anteriorly ; consequently, in any case of impressment, whether of property in the hands of speculators or producers, the appraisement by neighbors selected by both parties is required, and either party, if not satisfied with the award, can appeal to the joint commissioners. In cases where one half of the meat which a party had secured for the subsistence of those dependant on him was impressed in accordance with the law promulgated in General Order No. 89, the necessity of promptly supplying him with an equivalent, settled the principle that just compensation required the local cost of the articles, and such appraise¬ ment by neighbors mutually selected, was made final without appeal. II. Whenever the local appraisement of a man's surplus exceeds the price fixed by the last schedule of the Commissioners in the State by an amount more than to be understood by any 'superiority of the special articles to the ordinary standard, and no extraordinary changes in the condition of the country have occurred since the last schedule was fixed ; then the impressing officer is advised to appeal from the ]®cal appraisement to the Commissioners as the legally appointed tribunals to settle value, and as in the order of reason, the most competent, they having been constantly studying the circumstances which might modify conclusions on this mooted question. * , III. When a party refuses to give information to an impressing Agent who exhibits his credentials, the officer shall apply to the officer in charge of the nearest reserve organization, who will be required to enable him to examine into the stock of supplies in the possession of the party refusing information.