TREASURY DEPARTMENT 



5867 



TREATY 



seldom used. Objects of any kind belong to 

 the true owner, and the laws uphold his claims ; 

 however, if he cannot be located articles are 

 given to the finder. 



TREASURY, trezh'uri, DEPART'MENT, 

 the executive department of the United States 

 government which has control of the nation's 

 financial affairs. The Treasury Department 

 collects all taxes levied by Congress, including 

 customs duties and internal revenue fees, and 

 it also disburses all moneys collected. It has 

 direct management of the minting of coins, as 

 well as the printing of paper money and post- 

 age and other stamps. It protects the people 

 from counterfeiters, and maintains a fleet of 

 small, armed vessels to prevent smuggling and 

 violation of quarantine laws. The construction 

 and maintenance of all United States govern- 

 ment buildings throughout the country are 

 part- of its work, and the auditing and general 

 control of the financial accounts of the other 

 executive departments. The merchant marine, 

 the lighthouse and life-saving system and coast 

 survey are all managed by . the Treasury De- 

 partment. With the exception of its duties as 

 financial agent for the government, perhaps 

 the department's chief responsibility is the 

 supervision of the national banks. 



These varied duties require a complex organi- 

 zation of more than 5,000 people. The head 

 of the department is the Secretaiy of the Treas- 

 ury, who is appointed by the President, with 

 the approval of the Senate. The Secretary re- 

 ceives a salary of $12,000 a year, and is next 

 to the Secretary of State in the line of succes- 

 sion to the Presidency. He is aided by three 

 assistant secretaries, whose salaries are $5,000 a 

 year. Many of the most famous Americans 

 have held this important position, including 

 Alexander Hamilton, Albert Gallatin, Alexan- 

 der J. Dallas, William H. Crawford, Roger B. 

 Taney, Salmon P. Chase, William P. Fessenden, 

 Hugh McCulloch and John Sherman. The de- 

 tails of management are divided among a num- 

 ber of officials and bureaus, the most impor- 

 tant of which are listed below: 



The Comptroller of the Currency is usually 

 considered the most important of the subordi- 

 nate officials. The Comptroller of the Treas- 

 ury ($6,000 a year) has general supervision 

 over the auditors, and he also countersigns war- 

 rants (orders to pay) and other documents; no 

 money can leave the United States Treasury 

 until he gives his approval. Questions about 

 appropriations are referred to him, and his de- 

 cision as to what the appropriation law means 



is final. The six auditors are assigned respec- 

 tively to the Treasury, War, Navy, Interior, 

 Postoffice and the State and other departments. 

 They examine and approve all accounts for 

 their departments. The Treasurer of the United 

 States ($8,000 a year) signs all the paper money 

 issued by the government, and is the official 

 directly responsible for the care and disburse- 

 ment of all money belonging to the United 

 States. The Register ($4,000 a year) signs all 

 United States bonds and, with the Treasurer 

 of the United States, all paper money issued 

 by the national government. Originally the 

 signatures of the register and the treasurer 

 were written on paper money, but they are 

 now printed in facsimile. 



The Commissioner of Internal Revenue 

 ($5,000 a year) enforces the internal revenue 

 laws and collects all fees, including income 

 taxes. There is a collector of internal reve- 

 nue for each district into which the country 

 is divided. For the collection of customs du- 

 ties there are collectors in each district, all 

 responsible to the bureau at Washington. The 

 Secret Service branch of the department tries 

 to prevent smuggling, counterfeiting, making 

 whisky in secret ("moonshining") and other 

 violations of internal revenue laws, and mem- 

 bers of the service invariably are assigned to 

 guard the President when he appears in pub- 

 lic. The Director of the Mint ($5,000 a year) 

 has charge of the coinage at the various mints, 

 and the Solicitor of the Treasury is the legal 

 advisor of the department. The bureau of print- 

 ing and engraving, established in 1874, prepares 

 the designs and prints postage and revenue 

 stamps, government bonds, treasury drafts and 

 paper currency. It is under the charge of a di- 

 rector, who receives $6,000 per annum. W.F.Z. 



Related Subjects. The following articles in 

 these volumes will explain the references in the 

 above discussion of the Treasury Department and 

 will give further information : 

 Assaying, subhead Customs Duties 



Assay Office Internal Revenue 



Banks and Banking, Mint 



subhead Banking in Revenue-Cutter Service 



the United States Secret Service 



Coinage, subhead Smuggling 



United States Tax and Taxes 



Counterfeiting 



TREATY, tre'ti, a formal agreement, usu- 

 ally, but not necessarily, in writing, between 

 two or more governments or rulers of inde- 

 pendent states, corresponding, in a general way, 

 to contracts between private parties. Only sov- 

 ereign states can make treaties, and the nego- 



