From Thomas Lowrey, marshal, New Jersey, From Stephen Pleasonton, agent for paying the contin gent expenses of the office of the secretary of state, From Charles B. Cochrane, late marshal, S. Carolina, From Ambrose Gorden, late marshal, Georgia, From George Gale, late agent for paying Maryland militia, From Walter Hellen, late agent for paying the contingent expenses of the stamp-office, George W. Erving, agent at London, being monies advanced by the United States in prosecuting claims in prize causes and appeals, From George Simpson, for bills of exchange, From Thomas Smith, agent for paying interest in Pennsylvania, 1 44 9,154 74 131 95 105 67 1,464 28 36 32 122 84 152,563 50 120,000 946 51 $294,770 82 30th September, 1804. The sum in the treasury at this period was $ 4,882,222, a part of which is subject to warrants for appropriations yet unexpended. Without further departure from the elementary and summary plan of this work, all the principal sources for the supplies of the general treasury are here recapitulated with characteristic remarks. Calls on each state in 1775 to 1788. Foreign loans, in anticipation of the final value of public lands, Injudicious and ineffectual. Judiciously repealed. Improving post-roads. Inexhaustible if our money be Money being the "essential oil to the wheels of industry and vital principle of commerce," we ought to have our quota, in equality with our European commercial rivals, on a fair average of the money in circulation on both sides the Atlantic. On the subject of requisitions and their effects in the several states, after referring the enquirer to the statements, page 130, for the whole amount of the old paper money issued from the treasury, (which, with $2,060,485 of new paper at one for forty of the depreciated old money, are included in the total estimate of the costs of war, see page 129, where these sums are reduced to a specie valuation of 135 millions, but the sum was still further reduced by congress at the time of funding the war debt, as may be seen in the general table, and in note U.) we here add from the journals of congress for 1784, a remarkable characteristic of the imbecility and anti-financial state of those trying times. "Many of the states have thought hard that they should be so repeatedly called on ;" although in four years from this requisition only, the following was all that could be collected, on which congress, after reducing the claim to half its original sum, reported that they had no hopes of a compliance with this request! A TABLE of specie requisitions by congress and of the payments made under them. Since the new constitution we have much improved in our treasury arrangements, as may be seen by the following statement. S Official order in the Treasury of the United States since 1789. "By the constitution it is provided that "No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law." By the act to establish the treasury department, it is enacted, that the secretary of the treasury shall grant, under certain limitations, all warrants for monies, to be issued from the treasury, in pursuance of appropriations by law; and that the treasurer shall disburse the monies of the United States, upon warrants drawn by the SECRETARY of the treasury, countersigned by the COMPTROLLER, recorded by the REGISTER, and not otherwise." "Although the construction given by the treasury department to appropriation laws, may not have been universally uniform, yet it seems to have been generally understood, that the whole of the monies, appropriated for the annual support of the army and navy, respectively, were to be considered as making but one general appropriation for each of those two objects; and that the sums, thus appropriated, were indiscriminately applicable to every distinct object of expenditure, embraced under those two general heads. "The appropriations for the Indian department, and those made generally for fortifications, have also been mostly blended with those of the war department." "The appropriations in relation to the purchase of cannon, arms, ammunition and military stores, to the purchase or leasing of founderies and armories, and to the fortifications of designated harbors; and also, those in relation to the purchase of land with growing timber, or of timber, to the erecting of docks, to the purchase or building of vessels, six 74 gun ships and the public navy-yards, docks and wharves, and for erecting marine barracks, have been considered as distinct from each other, and from all other made in relation to the army and navy, respectively. "The appropriations made in relation to the public debt, to the Acivil department, to domestic expenses of a miscellaneous nature (such as the mint establishment, light-houses, census, &c.) and to foreign expenses, have been generally considered, as constituting for each distinct object of expenditure embraced under each of those general heads, a specific distinct appropriation, the amount of which was applicable only to that specific object for which it was appropriated." "Two principal objects of expenditure, to which this exception to the general rule applies, are the expenses incident to the courts of the United States, other than those for salary; namely, those for jurors, witnesses, fees, safe-keeping of prisoners and contingencies, which are advanced by the collectors of the customs to the marshals; and those incident to the ordinary support and repairs of light-houses, buoys and piers, which are also generally defrayed out of the public monies, in their hands, by those collectors, or other revenue officers, under whose superintendence those establishments are placed. In those instances warrants issue as if the monies expended had been previously drawn into the treasury, and afterwards paid out of the same, to the revenue officers, in order to enable them to defray the expense. All warrants regularly granted by the secretary of the treasury, on the treasurer, for the disbursement of public monies, issue, either in payment of a balance actually due, or in advance: in the first case, they are drawn in pursuance of a settled account certified by the comptroller; in the last case, they rest on the authorization of that particular department, which has the controul of the object of expenditure, to which they refer. "The payments on account of the compensations of the members of the senate, and of the contingent expenses of that body, are made on his requisition to the secretary of the senate; those on account of the compensation of the members of the house of representatives, on his requisition to the speaker of the house; those, on account of the contingent expenses of the house, in the same manner, to the clerk of the house. "The payments on account of the official contingent expenses of the several departments, are made at the requisition, and are afterwards under the controul of the head of each department, respectively; those on account of the expenses relative to the courts of the United States, other than those for salary, are made on the requisition of, and to the marshals. "The payments on account of the mint are made to the treasurer thereof, on the requisition of the director; those on account of invalid pensions, to the several commissioners of loans, or other agents, on the requisition of the secretary of war. "The greater part of all other payments, in relation to the civil list, and to miscellaneous domestic expenses of a civil nature, as they are made only after the amount has become due, and the account has been settled, never can be liable to abuse. All other payments whatever, are generally made in advance, and in the following man ner: "1. Those on account of the interest on the whole of the public debt, of the annual reimbursement of the principal of the six per cent. and deferred stocks, and of the instalments of the Dutch debt, are made by the secretary of the treasury, as follow, viz. those on account of the interest and principal of the Dutch debt, to the commissioners of the United States, at Amsterdam; those on account of the interest and reimbursement of the domestic debt, standing on the books of the treasury, to the bank of the United States; those on account of the interest and reimbursement of the same debt, standing on the books of the several commissioners of loans, to the said commissioners respectively. "The advances to the commissioners in Holland are made from time to time, by remittances purchased heretofore, by the several cashiers of the bank of the United States; and the commissioners render their accounts annually to the treasury. Those to the bank and commissioners of loans are made quarterly, and to the amount ascertained to be due to the creditors, on the respective books of the treasury and commissioners. The commissioners of loans render their accounts to the treasury quarterly; and as the dividends, which remain unclaimed for nine months, are payable only at this treasury, such unclaimed amount is quarterly deducted from the advances, which otherwise should be made to the commissioners, and is paid to the bank. From this arrangement it results, that the accounts of the commissioners of loans uniformly exhibit a considerable apparent balance charged to them, and which consists, partly, of the dividends paid by them during the six preceding months, and not yet accounted for, and partly of the sums necessary to pay the outstanding dividends. The accounts with the banks of the United States, for advances and payments of interest and reimbursement of the domestic debt, not having been settled since the year 1797, they exhibit an apparent balance against the bank of more than six millions of dollars, the whole of which, however, has been paid by them, with the exception of the accumulated unclaimed dividends, the amount of which is not ascertained. "It is here proper to add, in relation to the other payments on account of the public debt, that those for interest, on the temporary loans obtained from the bank, are made as the same became due, quarterly or semi-annually, in pursuance of accounts settled and certified by the comptroller; those for the principal of the same loans, occasionally, and at the discretion of the secretary of the treasury, as the situation of the treasury may permit, and that those for purchase of the public debt, or in payment of any part of the same, which may be payable at the will of the United States, but is not actually demandable by the creditors, are under the exclusive controul of the commissioners of the sinking fund. "For the purpose of paying either the interest or principal of any part of the public debt, all the agents are immediately accountable, and generally account regularly, to the treasury. The whole amount of balances, due on that account to the United States for monies not accounted for, is only 3,393 dollars and 49 cents. "2. The advances for the war and navy departments are uniformly made on the requisition of the secretaries of war and of the navy, respectively, to the treasurer of the United States, who becomes thereby treasurer of each department, and disburses the monies, thus placed in his hands, according to law, on warrants signed by the secretary and countersigned by the accountant of each department respectively. The monies thus advanced by the treasury are charged, in fact, to the proper department, in accounts opened in the names of the accountants of the same. Individuals who receive monies from the treasurer, by virtue of warrants of either of those two departments, are accountable to the accountants, who settle provisionally |