CHAPTER XI. THE SIXTH AUDITOR OF THE TREASURY. THE ORIGIN, FUNCTIONS, AND OPERATIONS, OF THE SIXTH AUDITOR'S OFFICE. [1.] Summary of the Laws, Rules, and Regulations rela- 161-173 [2.] Summary and Classification of the Functions of the TABLES OF DETAILS. (A)-PRELIMINARIES, INSTRUCTIONS, RETURNS, REPORTS, &c. I. Certain communications from the Postmaster General and his Assistants, preliminary to the execution of the fundamental duties of the Auditor's Office,....... II. Instructions and Forms for Postmasters, in keep- ing and rendering their accounts of receipts and dis- bursements, which the Auditor receives and audits, together with miscellaneous claims,...... III. The Collections and Disbursements of Post Office Revenue, by Postmasters,........ IV. Collections of late Postmasters' balances, and dues from other violators of Post Office regulations, &c.. V. The FISCAL reports of the Auditor to the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Postmaster General,... (B)—AVERAGE OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES. II. Books kept in the Pay Division-relating to the pay of contractors for transporting the mails,........ III. Books kept in the Examiner's Division-relating to the examination and settlement of Postmasters' ao- IV. Books kept in the Register's Division-relating to the registry of Postmasters' accounts, in detail, as settled and transmitted from the Examiner's Division,....... V. Books kept in the Collecting Division-relating to 178 177 173-176 VII. Books kept in the Draft and Warrant Division— relating to the revenue receipts and expenditures of VIII. Books kept in the Book-keeper's Division-relating to the aggregate accounts of the receipts and expen- ditures of the General Post Office Department, in appropriate Day Books, Journals, and Ledgers,. COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. THE ORIGIN, FUNCTIONS, AND OPERATIONS, OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. [1.] Summary of the Laws relating to the Origin, Func- tions, and Operations of the General Land Office, VI. Books kept under the immediate superintendence of the Principal Clerk in the several (seven) sub-divi- sions of the Bureau of Public Land Sales, or "A c- VIII. Books kept under the immediate superintendence of the Recorder of Land Patents,...... IX. Books kept under the immediate superintendence of 229 the Clerk in charge of the distribution of lands ap Relating to essential Forms used in the disposition of the public domain, &c., viz:......... I. Of "Certificates of Purchase," and "Letters Patent" III. Question between Simplicity and Complexity in the disposal of the Public Domain-illustrated,.. THE ORIGIN, FUNCTIONS, AND OPERATIONS, OF THE REGISTER'S OFFICE. [1.] Summary of the Laws relating to the Origin, Func 338 [2.] Summary and Classification of those Functions, com. II. Returns, under said instructions, of EVIDENCES relative to American and foreign tonnage, &c........ III. Returns, under said instructions, of EVIDENCES relative I. Evidences of Revenue received, according to settled ac counts certified and transmitted by the Comptroller... II. Evidences of Expenditures in the civil Departments, according to settled accounts certified and transmitted III, IV, V. Evidences of Expenditures, in redemption of the public debt proper (loans and treasury notes) and in payment of claims (a quasi public debt), according to settled accounts certified and transmitted by the Comptroller.................... VI. Evidences of debts due to the United States, by offi- I. Warrant evidences of Revenue received, according to covering warrants of the Secretary, acknowledged by II. Warrant evidences of Appropriations made, according to appropriation warrants of the Secretary of the Treasury for placing the same on the books of the 246 I. The finance report; report of commerce and navigation; report of estimates for the fiscal year, &c., made to the Secretary of the Treasury for Congress, THE ORIGIN, FUNCTIONS, AND OPERATIONS, OF THE SOLICITOR'S OFFICE. [1.] Summary of the Laws relating to the Origin, CHAPTER I. OUTLINE OF THE ORIGIN AND ORGANIZATION OF THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT. "THE first Congress of Delegates, (1) chosen and appointed by the several Colonies and Provinces in North America to take into consideration the actual situation of the same, and the differences subsisting between them and Great Britain, was held at Carpenters' Hall, in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th of September, 1774." The Colonial Congress, thus organized, held their deliberations till the 26th of October of the same year. It then adjourned, to meet again on the 10th May, 1775: this second session having continued to the 1st of August of that year, it then adjourned, to convene again on the 5th September of the same year: and from that time, this third session continued through the balance of that year, the whole of the next year, 1776, and, almost uninterruptedly, during the war of the revolution. In the course of the early part of this third session of the Colonial Congress, that is, on the 17th February, 1776, that Congress originated the germ of the Treasury Department, by passing a resolution, "That a standing committee of five be appointed for superintending the Treasury," detailing the duties devolving on the committee. On the 1st April, 1776, they 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 Accounts be under the direction and superintendence of the standing committee of the Treasury;" detailing, also, the functions to be performed in said office of accounts. On the 26th September, 1778, Congress, by resolution, established the offices of Comptroller, Auditor, Treasurer, and two Chambers of Accounts, to consist of three commissioners each, all of whom to be appointed by Congress annually; also, detailing their respective duties. On the 11th February, 1779, the office of "Secretary of the Treasury" was established by resolution, with a salary of $2,000, but without designating the duties of that office, which endured but a few months. On the 30th July, 1779, an ordinance was passed for establishing a BOARD OF TREASURY and the proper officers for managing the finances of the United States," consisting of five commissioners for the "Board of Treasury," an "Auditor General," and "six Auditors" (temporary) of the army; in which ordinance the office of Secretary of the Treasury is dropped. On the 7th February, 1781, it was resolved, "That there be a SUPERINTENDENT OF FINANCE,' a Secretary of War, and a Secretary of Marine." On the 11th September, 1781, by an ordinance for regulating the Treasury and adjusting public accounts, (1) The election of delegates to this first Colonial Congress may be fairly assumed as a virtual act of "Confederation" between the Colonies; or, if not so, the "Declaration of Independence," ratified on the 4th of July, 1776, during the third session of that Congress, surely was a virtual act of confederation between the states; although the initiatory steps, to appoint a committee "to prepare a Declaration of Independence," and another committee "to prepare and digest a form of Confederation." were separate measures, the former having been taken on the 10th June, and the latter on the 11th June, and although the Confederation was not consummated in form until the 15th November of the year following (1777.) So that the vacillations, noting great difficulty in organizing the Treasury Department, as exhibited above, are chiefly attributable to the loose bonds of union that subsisted during the Confederation, and more particularly to the absence of any thing like, or equivalent to, the revenue clause of the "Constitution," which afterwards gave validity and stability to the finances, and the materials as well as the necessity for organizing the Department on a consistent and permanent basis. Accordingly, at the first session of Congress under that instrument, the Department was organized in every essential respect, as it has remained ever since; only excepting such modifications and additions as the expansion of business called for, with Boine few departures, indeed, from the consistency of principles on which it was based, certainly without improving the original design. The details appropriate to the subjects of the subjoined "TABLE OF GENERAL ORGANIZATION," will be found in the subsequent Chapters and Tables of the Series, illustrative of the operations of the Secretary's office proper, and of the different Bureaus of the Department. it was ordered, "That from and after the 20th of said month, the functions and appointments of the Commissioners [or Board] of the Treasury, Chambers of Accounts, Auditor General, Auditors, and extra Commissioners of Accounts, their assistants, under officers and clerks, shall cease and determine;" "that, for the more effectual execution of the business of the Treasury, and the settlement of public accounts, the following officers shall be appointed in aid of the SUPERINTENDENT OF FINANCE, his assistant secretary and clerks, namely: a Comptroller, a Treasurer, a Register, Auditors [number left to the option of the Superintendent of Finance] and clerks;" also, designating their several duties, which were mainly the same as were adopted and prescribed by the act of 2d September, 1789, presently to be cited. On the 28th May, 1784, by an ordinance, (superseding the office of Superintendent of Finance,) it was ordered, "That a board, consisting of three 'commissioners', to be appointed by Congress, be instituted to superintend the Treasury, and manage the finances of the United States, which shall be styled the BOARD OF TREASURY;" on whom was conferred the authority to exercise all the powers vested in the Superintendent of Finance, &c. And here ended the efforts to organize the Treasury Department, under or during the confederation. On the 2d September, 1789, (during the first session of Congress under the Constitution, commenced on the 4th March, 1789, when the Constitution went into operation,) an act was passed, "To establish the Treasury Department," in which the outline of the organization of the Department ran thus: Section 1, Be it enacted, &c., "That there shall be a DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY, in which shall be the following officers, namely, a SECRETARY 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; which assistant shall be appointed by the Secretary." The act then goes on to designate the duties of each officer, which it would be out of place to state here, as they are set forth in detail in the caption and body of the appropriate chapters in this series, with such modifications as were subsequently made, both respective of the officers and their duties. It is proper, however, to mention here a paramount and general feature, which provides for the settlement of all public accounts, both primarily and finally, in the Treasury Department. On the 8th May, 1792, an act "making alterations in the Treasury and War Departments," created the office of an "Accountant of the Department of War," (somewhat in derogation of the plan of the former act,) with duties appropriate, and to report his settlement of accounts for the inspection and revision of the Comptroller of the Treasury: it abolished the office of Assistant to the Secretary, and in his stead created the office of "Commissioner of the Revenue," to collect the other revenues (from internal duties and direct taxes) than those of import and tonnage duties, and to execute such other services as shall be directed by the Secretary and it authorized the Secretary to have "two principal clerks." The office of Commissioner of the Revenue was abolished by the act of the 6th April, 1802; it was re-established by the act of the 24th July, 1813, and again abolished by the act of the 23d December, 1817: thus vacillating with the enactment and repeal of internal duties and direct taxes, for the superintendence of the collection of which the office was created. On the 16th July, 1798, an act "to alter and amend the several acts for the establishment and regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments," created the office of an "Accountant of the Navy Department,' with duties appropriate, and to report his settlements of accounts for the revision and approval of the Comptroller of the Treasury. Also, by the act of the 29th April, 1816, supplementary to the act of the 8th May, 1792, "an additional Accountant of the War Department" was created. On the occasions of the said acts of '92 and '98, the disbursements from the Treasury of appropriations for the War and Navy Departments were required to be made, not by warrants of the Secretary of the Treasury countersigned by the Comptroller of the Treasury, as previously done in pursuance of the requisitions of those Departments according to the act of '89, but by warrants of the Secretaries of War and Navy, countersigned by their respective accountants, who were, nevertheless, partially held in check, by being required to report their settlements, from time to time, for the revision and approval of the officers of the Treasury. On the 25th April, 1812, an act "for the establishment of a General Land Office in the Department of the Treasury" created the office of Commissioner of the General Land Office, in these words: "Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That there shall be established in the Department of the Treasury an office, to be denominated the General Land Office, the chief officer of which shall be called the Commissioner of the General Land Office; whose duty it shall be, under the direction of the head of the Department, to superintend, execute, and perform, all such acts and things, touching or respecting the public lands of the United States, and other lands patented or granted by the United States, as heretofore been directed, by law, to be done or performed in the office the Secretary of State, of the Secretary and the Register of the Treasury, and of the Secretary of War, which shall hereafter, by law, be assigned to said office;" also designating the appropriate functions of said officer, for which see the caption of the chapter of the operations of that office. or On the 9th of April, 1816, was passed "an act to authorize the payment for property lost, captured, or destroyed by the enemy, while in the military service of the United States, and for other purposes;" the 11th section of which act created the office of "Commissioner of Claims," and, with the residue of the act, prescribes the duties of his office, and regulates the proceedings to be observed in settling the claims that might arise under the provisions of the act, the said office being limited to two years; at the expiration of which term, |