680 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT, UNITED STATES. 



characterized by a judicial deliberation and 

 coolness, and usually by sound judgment. He 

 was never impetuous or violent, never rash or 

 hasty. It should be said, in justice to his 

 memory, that the two charges persistently 

 made against him while in this position, that 

 he deliberately sent away the vessels of the 

 Navy to distant seas, to prevent their use in 

 suppressing secession at its commencement, 

 and that he favored and aided it, had very 

 little foundation in truth. It was proved 

 before the "Committee oi\ the Conduct of 

 the War," that in the summer and autumn 

 of 1860 the number of vessels on the Home 

 Squadron was larger than for many years, and 

 that the dispatch of some of the best ships of 

 that squadron to foreign stations, late in 1860, 

 was only a necessary change, in accordance 

 with all previous precedent. We have his own 

 distinct avowal that in the Cabinet from first to 

 last he opposed secession, believing that it was 

 entirely inadmissible under the Constitution. 

 But, though as a jurist he held this view, it 

 cannot be denied that his personal sympathies 

 were with the South, and opposed to the war. 

 He returned to Hartford in March, 1861, and 

 thenceforward seldom appeared in public, de- 

 voting himself to the duties of his profession, 

 and to literary studies, in which he always took 

 delight. In private life Mr. Toucey was re- 

 markable for his dignified courtesy, his hospi- 

 tality, ajid his general amiability. His manners 

 were refined, and no political strife or contro- 

 versy ever caused him to neglect those social 

 amenities which give so much of its charm to 

 private life. 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT, UNITED 

 STATES. In the early part of the third ses- 

 sion of the Colonial Congress, a resolve was 

 passed, dated February 17, 1776, "that a 

 standing committee of five be appointed for 

 superintending the Treasury." On the first 

 of April subsequent, it was resolved that 

 "a Treasury Office of Accounts be instituted 

 and established, and that such office be kept 

 in the city or place where Congress shall 

 from time to time be assembled and hold 

 their sessions, and that the said office of ac- 

 counts be under the direction and superin- 

 tendence of the standing committee of the 

 Treasury." On the 26th of September, 1778, 

 Congress established the offices of Comptroller, 

 Auditor, Treasurer, and two Chambers of 

 Accounts, to consist of three commissioners 

 each, all of whom were to be annually ap- 

 pointed by Congress. On the llth of February, 

 1779, the office of " Secretary of the Treasury " 

 was established,. with a salary of $2,000, but 

 without any designation of the duties of the 

 office ; this law lasted but a few months. July 

 30, 1779, an ordinance was passed " establish- 

 ing a Board of Treasury and the proper offices 

 for managing the finances of the United States," 

 consisting of five commissioners for " the 

 Board," an Auditor-General, and six (tempo- 

 rary) auditors of the army; this ordinance 



dropped the Secretary, but clothed the Auditor 

 with his powers. On the 7th of February, 

 1781, it was resolved "that there be a Super- 

 intendent of Finance, a Secretary of War, and 

 a Secretary of .Marine." In the September 

 following, " the functions and appointments of 

 the Commissioners of the Treasury, Chamber 

 of Accounts, Auditor-General, auditors, and 

 extra commissioners of accounts, their assist- 

 ants, under-officers, and clerks" were ended, 

 and a Comptroller, a Treasurer, a Register, 

 auditors and clerks were appointed in their 

 place. On the 28th of May, 1784, it was or- 

 dered " that a board, consisting of three com- 

 missioners to be appointed by Congress, be 

 instituted to superintend the Treasury, and 

 manage the affairs of the United States, which 

 shall be styled " The Board of Treasury." And 

 here ended the efforts to organize the Treasury 

 during the Confederation. 



In the first session of Congress under the 

 Constitution, an act was passed dated Septem- 

 ber 2, 1789, "to establish the Treasury De- 

 partment," which was thus organized : " There 

 shall be a Department of Treasury, in which 

 shall be the following officers, namely, a Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, to be deemed the head 

 of the department, a Comptroller, an Auditor, 

 a Treasurer, a Register, and an Assistant to 

 the Secretary of the Treasury." That law has 

 met with various modifications in the eignty 

 years that have elapsed since its passage ; it 

 has been enlarged to meet the requirements of 

 a growing nation ; but so perfect is its theory, 

 that its general provisions still remain the law 

 of the land. Under it the following persons 

 have been Secretaries of the Treasury : 



Alexander Hamilton, of New York, appointed 

 in 1789 ; Oliver Wolcott, Jr., of Connecticut, 

 1795 ; Samuel Dexter, of Massachusetts, 1800 ; 

 Albert Gallatin, from Pennsylvania, 1801 ; G. 

 W. Campbell, of Tennessee, 1814 ; A. J. Dal- 

 las, of Pennsylvania, 1814 ; W. H. Crawford, 

 Georgia, 1816 ; Richard Rush, Pennsylvania, 

 1825 ; Samuel D. Ingham, Pennsylvania, 1829 ; 

 Louis McLane, Delaware, 1831 ; W. J. Duane, 

 Pennsylvania, 1833 ; Roger B. Taney, Maryland, 

 1833 ; Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire, 1834; 

 Thomas Ewing, Ohio, 1841 ; Walter Forward, 

 Pennsylvania, 1841 ; John 0. Spencer, New 

 York, 1843 ; George M. Bibb, Kentucky, 1844 ; 

 R. J. Walker, Mississippi, 1845 ; W. M. Mere- 

 dith, Pennsylvania, 1849 ; Thomas Corwin, 

 Ohio, 1850 ; James Guthrie, Kentucky, 1853 ; 

 Howell Cobb, Georgia, 1857 ; Philip F. Thomas, 

 Maryland, 1860 ; John A. Dix, New York, 1861 ; 

 Salmon P. Chase, Ohio, 1861 ; W. P. Fessen- 

 den, Maine, 1864 ; Hugh McCulloch, Indiana, 

 1865 ; and George S. Boutwell, of Massachu-* 

 setts, 1869. 



The office of Assistant-Secretary, established 

 in 1789, was abolished as early as May, 1792, 

 Tench Coxe, of Pennsylvania, having been the 

 only incumbent. The law was renewed sixty 

 years later, and the following persons appointed 

 under it : Charles B. Penrose, of Pennsylvania, 



