TREASURY DEPARTMENT, UNITED STATES. 



681 



1849; A. A. Hall, Tennessee, 1849; W. L. 

 Hodffe, Louisiana, 1850 ; Peter G. "Washington, 

 District of Oolrfmbia, 1853; Philip Clayton, 

 Georgia, 1857 ; George Harrington, District of 

 Columbia, 1861 ; and J. F. Hartley, Maine, 

 1865. In 1864 an additional Assistant Secre- 

 tary was authorized, and the place has been 

 filled by Maunsell B. Field, of New York, 1864 ; 

 William Eaton Chandler, New Hampshire, 

 1865 ; Edmund Cooper (for six months), Ten- 

 nessee, 1867 ; and W. A. Richardson, 1869. 



The Treasury Department, as now organized, 

 is divided into eighteen Bureaus, of which ten 

 have to do with the collection, safe-keeping, 

 and distribution of the public moneys ; eight 

 with the Mint, statistics, coast survey, light- 

 houses, etc. The Secretary has the appoint- 

 ment of about sixteen thousand employes, of 

 whom over three thousand are in the Bureaus 

 at Washington, five thousand in the various 

 custom-houses and sub-Treasuries, and over 

 seven thousand in the internalrevenue ser- 

 vice. About two-fifths of the officers of Gov- 

 ernment act under the direction of the Secre- 

 tary. The collection of moneys is chiefly made 

 through the Customs and Internal Revenue 

 Bureaus ; the distribution of them is under the 

 charge of the two Comptrollers and the six 

 Auditors. All claims for money must first pass 

 the decision of an Auditor, then of a Comp- 

 troller. The Comptrollers decide all legal 

 questions ; their decisions overule the opinion 

 of the Secretary himself; no moneys can be 

 paid out, unless, in their judgment, authorized 

 by law. They instruct the Auditors how to 

 state accounts and correct the settlements ; 

 with them lies the ultimate power of control 

 in the settlement of accounts. The Auditors 

 examine and adjust all claims for payment, and 

 certify their correctness to the Comptroller. 

 The system of checks and balances in the set- 

 tlement of accounts and management of moneys 

 in the Treasury Department is as perfect as 

 eighty years of financial experience can make it. 



The oflace of the Treasurer of the United 

 States is the highest in the Treasury under the 

 Secretary. During the current year he has 

 had at all times about one hundred and fifty 

 million dollars in his hands for safe-keeping. 

 It is his duty to receive and keep the moneys 

 of the United States, and to disburse the same 

 upon warrants drawn by the Secretary, ex- 

 amined by the Auditor, countersigned by the 

 Comptroller, and recorded by the Register. 

 Seven Assistant-Treasurers, at New York, 

 Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, New Orleans, 

 St. Louis, and San Francisco, are his deputies 

 to aid in the charge of the public funds. Dur- 

 ing the six years from 1862 to 1868 the Treasury 

 has annually received and expended six billion 

 five hundred million dollars a year. The fol- 

 lowing persons have been Treasurers of the 

 United States: Samuel Meredith, 1789 ; Thomas 

 T. Tucker, 1801 ; Michael Nourse (ad interim), 

 1828; William Clark, 1828; John Campbell, 

 1830 ; William Selden, 1840 ; John Sloane, 



1850; Samuel Casey, 1853; W. C. Price, 1860; 

 and Francis E. Spinner, 1861. 



The First Comptroller revises the accounts 

 settled by the First and Fifth Auditors, and 

 the Commissioner of the Land-Office ; these 

 include all the civil accounts except those re- 

 lating to customs and the postal service. The 

 Second Comptroller revises the accounts settled 

 by the Second, Third, and Fourth Auditors, 

 which are exclusively naval and military. The 

 Comptroller of the Currency is charged with 

 the execution of all laws concerning the issue 

 and regulation of the national currency. 



The First Auditor examines all accounts ac- 

 cruing in the Treasury Department, and the 

 salaries and contingent expenses of all the de- 

 partments, including the salaries of the civil 

 list, the construction of public buildings, the 

 contingent expenses of Congress, the salaries 

 of Government clerks, etc., etc. The Second 

 Auditor, whose Bureau is the largest at Wash- 

 ington, audits all accounts relating to the pay 

 of the army, the recruiting, hospital, and 

 medical service, and the property account of 

 officers. The Third Auditor examines the 

 Quartermasters' accounts, and all such as re- 

 late to the subsistence of the army, pension- 

 agents' accounts, and the claims of States and 

 Territories for national military services. The 

 Fourth Auditor supervises the expenses of the 

 naval service exclusively. The Fifth Auditor 

 examines and adjusts accounts connected with 

 the diplomatic and internal revenue service ; 

 and the Auditor of the Treasury for the Post- 

 Office Department, commonly called the Sixth 

 Auditor, is both auditor and comptroller for 

 all post-office work. 



The Internal Revenue Bureau, established 

 July 1, 1862, collects the moneys assessed for 

 internal duties, stamps, licenses, etc. The 

 Commissioner pays over daily to the Treasurer 

 all public moneys which come into his posses- 

 sion. To facilitate the collection of these ex- 

 tensive revenues, the country is divided into 

 two hundred and forty districts, each having 

 its assessor and collector. In the fiscal year 

 1866, this Bureau collected and paid over more 

 than three hundred and nine million dollars, 

 a sum that considerably exceeded the entire 

 revenue of Great Britain for that year, includ- 

 ing customs, excise, stamps, property-tax, and 

 postal receipts. By the acts of 1867 and 1868 

 considerable reductions have been made in the 

 collections of this Bureau, but during the pres- 

 ent year (1869) there have been paid into the 

 Treasury from this source nearly one hundred 

 and sixty million dollars. 



The National Currency Bureau, established 

 March 25, 1863, is charged with the execution 

 of all laws respecting the issue and regulation 

 of the national currency. The head of the 

 Bureau is the Comptroller of the Currency. 

 By this act, banking associations may be formed 

 by any number of persons not less than five, 

 with a capital of at least $100,000 ; in cities 

 containing over 50,000 inhabitants, the cap- 



