-BY TREASURER'S That those Drafts, with a receipt endorsed on them, be transmitted as soon as they are paid B 1409. All Treasurer's Drafts, in future, when paid by a Collector, are to be cancelled by punching a hole through the Treasurer's signature: S's cir. 21st September, 1791; V. 1, p. 97. to be cancelled by a hole through Treasu rer's signature: 1410. The Instructions of the 30th March, 1790, and the 21st September, 1791, respect- —neglected : ing the prompt return of cancelled Treasury Drafts, in consequence of a neglect to comply with them, are again repeated: S's cir. 21st February, 1792; V. 1, p. 106. 1411. The Instructions of the 21st September, 1791, respecting the cancellation of the continued neglect. Treasurer's Drafts, in consequence of continued neglect by Collectors to comply with them, are again enjoined on them: S's cir. 4th June, 1792; V. 1, p. 109. Drafts to Commis carried. 1412. (The Secretary of the Treasury gives notice that a letter addressed to the Commissioner of Loans for New Hampshire, containing bills of exchange (or Treasurer's sioner of Loans misDrafts) to the amount of $5,000, had miscarried by mail: S's cir. 15th September, 1792; V. 1, p. 127.) 1413. (The House of Representatives having directed the Treasury Department to prepare a complete list or statement of all the Receipts and Expenditures of the United States to the close of the present year, the information is communicated to Collectors: C's cir. 24th December, 1792; V. 1, p. 37.) 1414. Certain State Banks in North Carolina (six in number) are designated to Collectors by the Secretary, according to agreement with the United States Bank, as Depositories (78) of public moneys, saying "Herewith you will receive a list of the Banks in the State of North Carolina, which have been designated as the DEPOSITORIES of the public (78.) Such is the reciprocal connection and dependance between Deposites, Disbursements, and Transfers of public moneys, according to the practical operations of the Treasury, that it is of great importance so to concentrate the principal Instructions in relation thereto, as to furnish, as nearly as possible, a fair mirror of those operations from time to time, in order to attain some general idea of the same as a connected system-thus enabling one to supply the deficiencies arising from lost Instructions (or omissions possibly in some instances to embody the practice, or innovations thereon) by plain inferences from those which exist. By adverting to the Comptroller's circular of 1st December, 1789, (No. 1407,) it will be perceived, from the fact of the Secretary's Warrants being drawn on Collectors in favor of the Treasurer, that the Collectors were the virtual Depositaries at that early day, and agents of the Treasury for the disbursement of the moneys they received. Whether the amounts of a portion of those Warrants were broken and divided by Drafts of the Treasurer in partial instances, previous to the issue of what is called a "covering Warrant" in such instances, until the instructions of the Secretary of the 30th March, 1790, (No. 1408); or the whole of the Warrants anterior to the latter date were exempt from the nimble tender of Treasurer's Drafts in detail to make their aggregate amount, does not appear from the previous Instructions. But certainly as early as said Instructions of March, 1790, (No. 1408.) Treasurer's Drafts for disbursement (not for transfer) were introduced, as a convenience, to disburse small sums from the funds in Collector's hands, and “covering Warrants" of the Secretary on said Collectors were simultaneously introduced, to cover the amounts of such Treasurer's Drafts, at periods not stated, but probably at the end of each quarter. Nor does it appear when the system of making Deposites of public moneys in Bank by Collectors actually commenced, there being no intimation in existing Instructions of such Deposites having been ordered until the Secretary's circular of the 1st May, 1817, (No. 1414); but the fair presumption from that circular is, that those Deposites were made mainly in the United States Bank during the first charter as Banks resorted to, of the United States of public moneys. may Agency of State revenue agreeably to an arrangement made between the Treasury and the Bank of the with the concurrence United States; and, in pursuance of said agreement, I request that you will immediately which Bank, as Depositories take the measures necessary for depositing in one of the banks so designated, be the most convenient to your District, as well the public moneys now in your hands, as all others which may hereafter be received by you, reserving only so much as may be absolutely necessary for the current expenditures of your office. You will observe, however, that whenever a Branch of the United States Bank may be found more convenient to your District than either of the Banks alluded to, you will in that case give it the preference over all others. I will only add, that in all payments into Bank you will, as heretofore, take duplicate receipts (otherwise called Certificates of Deposite) from the Cashier, one of which is to be transmitted to this office': S's cir. 1st May, 1817; V. 2, p. 74. Instructions to Depositories, respecting public moneys: (being 1415. On the occasion of apprizing the Banks, employed as public Depositories, of the the deposite, transfer, appointment of John Campbell, Esq., as Treasurer of the United States, and instructing and disbursement of them as to the mode of closing the accounts of his predecessor and opening accounts with the precursor to the the new Treasurer, the Secretary further instructs the said Depositories respecting the Denew Deposite system in State Banks, adopt- posites of public moneys, the disbursement of the same by Warrants, or the transfer thereof the Deposites from by Transfer Drafts, saying-"All public moneys received on or subsequently to the 1st of States June will be placed to the credit of Mr. Campbell, as Treasurer. They will be drawn for by him in the following manner, and in no other: 1. The Secretary of the Treasury will issue his WARRANT upon the Treasurer, directing the payment; which Warrant will be countersigned by the Comptroller of the Treasury, and recorded by the Register, who will ed on the removal of the United Bank in 1833.) well as the second, and partially in the State Banks, as shown by that circular; and also that the numble Treasurer's Drafts for small sums were resorted to as a convenience throughout, from the time they were introduced in March, 1790, to be summed up in a covering Warrant at suitable periods, until the Secretary's circular of 28th May, 1829, (No. 1415,) which clearly changed this practice, saying to Depositories that Warrants and Transfer Drafts are the only two modes in which the amounts of their Deposites to the credit of the Treasurer can be reduced. And as Transfer Drafts are not disbursements, their amount still going to the credit of the Treasurer in some other Depository, the disbursement in detail by Treasurer's Drafts, followed by covering Warrants in gross, must have ceased at the issuing of said circular of May, 1829. And this palpable inference is equally sustained by the Instructions of the Secretary of the 1st October, 1833, (No. 1417,) which is but a reprint of the chief part of that of May, 1829, to revive or enforce their observance. But the said inference is afterwards rendered more than problematical by the Secretary's circular of the 17th May, 1837, (No. 1420,) which, in so many words, in consequence of the Deposite system in State Banks, revives the issue of Treasury Drafts in small sums, and is a positive evidence that those Drafts had been abolished or suspended. And a new practice was then adopted, as appears by the same circular, of retaining the Warrants in the Treasurer's office as his vouchers, under the authority of which he thus disbursed by small Drafts in corresponding detail; which practice would seem well calculated to dispense with the revival of "covering Warrants" not mentioned in that circular, and which obviously were thereby rendered unnecessary, as the Warrants now preceding the issue of the Drafts strictly conform to the requirements of the law; whereas the covering Warrants* suppose previous disbursements in detail, by Drafts or otherwise, without the previous authority of Warrant, relying upon the subsequent sanction of a covering Warrant for the aggregate amount of those Drafts. By the by, (without going into particulars to show the embarrassing consequences of the explosion of the State Banking agency, brought about by the unfortunate action of the Government in effecting their destruction, indirectly indeed, and without intention, by blows directed and dealt out upon their antagonistical regulator, the United States Bank,) it cannot but be manifest that a great multiplication and confusion of business in the Department must have arisen from this cause alone, by which the agency, formerly transacted by the United States Bank with so much satisfaction and benefit, at length fell into the hands of individual public officers in all parts of the Union, which multiplied the debits and credits on the books of the Treasury of more than 400 small Drafts in some instances, and not far short of that in a great many others, in order to disburse or transmit in convenient sums the amount of a single Warrant, which used to be done with the single Warrant alone, through the agency of the United States Bank-to say nothing of the disastrous consequences of the insecurity and irresponsibility, in most instances, of such individual agency, tempting the weak to make improvident adventures, and affording opportunities to the dishonest to commit enormous peculations, all equally calamitous and overwhelming to the innocent families of their sureties, and demoralizing to the community that becomes familiar with such transactions. * The Warrants alluded to here, and in note (77) ante, which were formerly in use for covering moneys disbursed by Receivers and Collectors in payment of Drafts, will not be confounded with Warrants for covering moneys deposited to the credit of the Treasurer. authenticate the record by his signature; and, upon a suitable part of the Warrant, the Treasurer will give his order, directed to the proper Bank, for the payment of the money. 2. When transfers are to be made of public funds from one Bank to another, the Treasurer will issue a TRANSFER DRAFT upon the Bank in which the funds may be at his credit, in favor of the Bank to which they are to be transferred, for the amount required, stating that it is to be placed to his credit in such Bank. This Draft will be recorded by the Register, who will authenticate the record by his signature upon the Draft; and [then] it finally receives the written sanction of the Secretary of the Treasury. No deduction whatever is to be made from the moneys placed to the credit of the Treasurer, except in these two modes. "On the payment of any Warrant or [Transfer] Draft, the party to whom it is paid will receipt it. The Bank will note on it the day of payment, will charge it on the same day to the Treasurer, and will transmit it to him with the return of his account in which it is charged. In charging these payments, it will be proper to enter each Warrant or Draft [meaning Transfer Draft] separately, and to state the number and kind of the Warrant, (whether Treasury, War, &c.,) the date, the name of the party in whose favor it was drawn, and the amount." To the above, the Secretary adds-"I take this occasion to call the attention of the Banks to some other matters connected with the Treasury accounts. "It is necessary to state in the returns, in regard to each sum which may be deposited to the credit of the Treasurer, the name of the person by whom deposited, his office, (if he be a public officer or agent,) and in what manner or from what sources the money has accrued to the United States-whether from Customs, Internal Duties, Direct Taxes, sales of Public Lands, &c., &c., &c.; and if it be a repayment, to state on what account the money repaid was originally advanced. This information may, in almost every case, be obtained from the party who makes the Deposite; and, as the Department is often subjected to great inconvenience for the want of it, the officers of the Banks are requested to be particular in obtaining it, and in stating it in the entry of the Deposite. "It is also necessary that those Banks which transmit weekly returns of the Treasurer's account, close them with the conclusion of Saturday's business. When the quarter of the year terminates on any other day of the week, it is requisite that the returns should close on the last day of the quarter, leaving for an additional return the transactions from that time to the close of the week; so that neither the receipts nor payments of different quarters should be included in one return. Punctuality in transmitting the returns is indispensable. "To produce uniformity in the manner of making the returns of the Treasurer's accounts, a form is herewith transmitted; for the purpose of binding, it is requested that they be made on paper of nearly the same size. "A form of the monthly statements of the deposites of public officers and agents is also transmitted, with the same view," &c.: S's cir. 28th May, 1829; V. 2, p. 212. 1416. (The erroneous practice which has subsisted to this day of officers of the Government [meaning those only whose accounts are audited by the 1st Auditor and revised by the 1st Comptroller] rendering their accounts of receipts and disbursements to the Comptroller's office, instead of the 1st Auditor's, for settlement, is required to be corrected, by addressing all their accounts for settlement to the 1st Auditor: C's cir. 1st March, 1830; V. 3, p. 49.) The foregoing in structions of 28th 1417. The Secretary of the Treasury reiterates to Deposite Banks the principal part of May, 1829, repeated, the instructions of the 28th May, 1829, (No. 1415,) saying: "All public moneys received in substance, in relation to will be placed to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States. They will be drawn for deposites, transfers, and dis- by him in the following manner, and in no other: bursements of public moneys, under the arrangement with State mating the removal of "1. The Secretary of the Treasury will issue his Warrant upon the Treasurer directing Banks, (on consum- the payment, which Warrant will be countersigned by the Comptroller of the Treasury, and recorded by the Register, who will authenticate the record by his signature; and upon a suitable part of the Warrant the Treasurer will give his order, directed to the proper Bank, for the payment of the money. A private letter of advice will be transmitted by the Treasurer in each case. the deposites from the United States Bank, projected in 1829.) "2. When transfers are to be made of public funds from one Bank to another, the Treasurer will issue a Transfer Draft upon the Bank in which the funds may be at his credit in favor of the Bank to which they are to be transferred, for the amount required, stating that it is to be placed to his credit in such Bank. This Draft will be recorded by the Register, who will authenticate the record by his signature upon the Draft; and [then] it will, finally, receive the written sanction of the Secretary of the Treasury. "No deduction whatever is to be made from the moneys placed to the credit of the Treasurer except in these two modes. "On payment of any Warrant or Draft, [meaning transfer Draft,] the party to whom it is paid will receipt it. The Bank will note on it the day of payment, will charge it on the same day to the Treasurer, and will transmit it to him, with the return of his account in which it is charged. In charging these payments it will be proper to enter each Warrant or Draft separately, and to state the number and kind of the Warrant, (whether Treasury, War, or Navy,) the date, the name of the party in whose favor it was drawn, and the amount. "The attention of the Banks is particularly called to some other matters connected with the accounts of the Treasury. "It is necessary to state, in the returns, in regard to each sum which may be deposited to the credit of the Treasurer, the name of the person to whom deposited, his office, (if he be a public officer or agent,) and in what manner, or from what source, the money has accrued to the United States-whether from Customs, Internal Duties, Direct Taxes, Public Lands, &c., &c.; and, if it be a repayment, to state on what account the money repaid was originally advanced. This information may, in almost every case, be obtained from the party who makes the deposite; and as the Department is often subjected to great inconvenience for want of it, the officers of the Banks are requested to be particular in obtaining it, and in transmitting it in the entry of the déposite. "It is also necessary that the Treasurer's weekly account be closed with the conclusion of Saturday's business. When the quarter of the year terminates on any other day of the week, the account should close on the last day of the quarter, leaving, for an additional return, the transactions from that time to the close of the week, so that neither the receipts nor payments of different quarters should be included in one return. Punctuality in transmitting the returns is indispensable. "To produce uniformity in the manner of making the returns of the Treasurer's ac count, a form is herewith transmitted; for the purpose of binding, it is requested that they be made on paper of nearly the same size. Duplicate [returns] statements of the Treasurer's account should be transmitted-one addressed to the Secretary and one to the TreaC's cir. 1st October, 1833; V. 2, p. 322. surer: 1418. Upon the Select State Deposite Bank System adopted in 1833, (as partially shown in the aforesaid circular of October of that year, of which the circular of May, 1829, (No. 1415,) was the preparatory movement, as a substitute for the United States Bank, from which the public deposites were at length entirely withdrawn,) proving its insufficiency as an agency for the public disbursements in all sections of the Union, a temporary expedient was adopted by the Secretary of the Treasury in making anomalous disbursements by Receivers of Public Moneys, in the character of depositaries, in such sections, without or with the authority of Warrants, addressing and instructing such triple agents thus: "For the mutual accommodation of the public officers and creditors in your neighborhood, and of yourself and the Treasury Department, I propose hereafter to direct WARRANTS in their favor to yourself, for payment, when desired by them. "It will be in your power also, before a Warrant is obtained by them, and whenever you have confidence in their honesty and solvency, to take an assignment or draft by them, in your favor, of their supposed claim on the Treasury to pay its amount, and, on its being forwarded here, to receive a Warrant in your own behalf for the sum due. All the Warrants paid in the manner first stated or received in your own name, will be ample vouchers in your behalf, on a settlement of your accounts; and, in this way, the officers and creditors of the Government will often be saved travel and expense. You will have to make less frequent deposites, and at less hazard, as the balance on hand, to be deposited at the end of each month, will, probably, in this way, become considerably reduced, and the Department will have the satisfaction of obliging others through its own officers, without increasing sensibly the risk or labor of any. You will please notify such public officers as live near you of the existence of this arrangement, in order that they may, if convenient and agreeable, take advantage of its benefits: S's cir. 6th August, 1834; V. 3, pp. 19, 20. (79.) 1419. Upon the commencement of a general failure of the State Bank Deposite system, in 1837, the Secretary of the Treasury was at length reduced to the straits of formally constituting the Collectors of the Customs and the Receivers of public moneys as depositaries of the public moneys they received, in all cases wherein the Banks in which they usually deposited should become insolvent, or suspend specie payments, "until further orders or directions are given by the Department how to deposite, transfer, or pay them": S's cirs. 12th May, 1837; V. 3, pp. 130, 131. 1420. In pursuance of the above intimation of further directions how to pay, transfer, or deposite the public moneys, the Secretary, in a few days thereafter, gave the following direction for the government of Deposite Banks, and of Collectors and Receivers acting as temporary depositaries, how to pay the same-being a new expedient not before practisedviz: "You will receive, enclosed, the blank form in which the Treasurer of the United States will hereafter issue his Drafts in convenient sums for payments to the creditors of the Government, and for advances made, in pursuance of law, to disbursing officers, with the signature of the Treasurer and Register written on its face, for information as to their handwriting. (79.) To the same effect, officers at a distance receiving salaries direct from the Treasury, were notified by the Secretary's circular, 10th October, 1834, V. 3, p. 23. |