CHAPTER XIII.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

The development of administrative organization within the Treasury Department during the period from 1860 to the present time is marked by: (1) The establishment of a large number of new bureaus and divisions for the administration of duties imposed upon the department by acts of Congress, and the expansion of existing services; (2) the transfer of several bureaus concerned with duties relating to commerce and navigation from the Treasury Department to the Department of Commerce and Labor, upon the establishment of the latter department in 1903; and (3) the reorganization of the accounting and auditing system in the department, first by the passage of the Dockery Act in 1894, and more recently, by the passage of the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. Some of the more important bureaus and offices in the Treasury Department were created during the Civil War period.

Commissioner of Internal Revenue; Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The act of July 1, 1862, " to provide internal revenue to support the government, and to pay interest on the public debt," created in the Treasury Department the office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, charged with superintending the assessment and collection of internal duties, stamp duties, licenses, or taxes imposed by this or subsequent acts. A Commissioner was placed at the head of this office, to be appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate, and to direct its work, under the supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury.' The great number of paper notes issued during the Civil War made it advisable to abandon the system of private contracts for engraving and printing for the Treasury Department, and Congress, accordingly, authorized the Secretary of the Treasury, by act of July 11, 1862, to cause notes

112 Stat. L., 432. The history, present organization, and activities of the Bureau of Internal Revenue are described in Institute for Government Research, The Bureau of Internal Revenue (1923).

to be engraved, printed, and executed at the Treasury Department, to purchase the necessary machinery and materials, and to employ persons to do the work. A bureau was organized in the Treasury Department in 1863 to have charge of this work, which was designated as the National Currency Bureau. The title was later changed to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The first statutory recognition of this bureau was accorded by Congress in the act of June 20, 1874, which made appropriation for the salary of the chief of the bureau."

Comptroller of the Currency; Assistant Secretary; Supervising Architect. The act of February 25, 1863, established a bureau in the Treasury Department, charged with the execution of all laws passed by Congress respecting the issue and regulation of a national currency secured by United States bonds. The chief officer of this bureau who was to be appointed by the President, upon nomination by the Secretary of the Treasury, and with the consent of the Senate, was denominated the Comptroller of the Currency, and was to hold office for a term of five years, unless sooner removed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The appointment of a deputy comptroller by the Secretary of the Treasury was also authorized, to perform the duties of the Comptroller during his absence or inability, or during a vacancy in his office.' A deficiency appropriation act of March 14, 1864, authorized the appointment by the President, with the consent of the Senate, of an additional Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. This act also authorized the appointment of a Superintending Architect in the construction branch of the Treasury, "to be employed and continued only during the rebellion and for one year after its close." The act of March 2, 1865, made appropriation for a Supervising Architect, which was continued by subsequent annual appropriation acts, and the Office of Supervising Architect was permanently authorized by the Revised Statutes."

12 Stat. L., 532; 18 Stat. L., 85, 110. Cf. Checklist of U. S. public documents, 1789-1909 (hereinafter cited as "Checklist "), 1079; 38 Cong. 2 sess. (1864-65), H. ex. doc. 50, et seq.

12 Stat. L., 665.

12 Stat. L., 22, 26-27; 13 Stat. L., 445, 449; Revised Statutes, 38. The detail of a practical engineer from the War Department in 1853 to take charge of the work of the erection of customs-houses and other public buildings, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, resulted

Special Commissioner of the Revenue; Bureau of Statistics. A Revenue Commission was organized by the Secretary of the Treasury in June, 1865, in accordance with an act of March 3, 1865, which authorized that officer to appoint a commission of three persons to inquire and report upon the best mode of raising revenue for the support of the government. The existence of this commission was terminated by act of July 13, 1866, which authorized the appointment, by the Secretary of the Treasury, of a Special Commissioner of the Revenue, to perform the duties of the commission; such office to terminate in four years from June 30, 1866. A Bureau of Statistics was established in the Treasury Department by act of July 28, 1866, in charge of a Director appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury. The office of Director was abolished by act of July 20, 1868, and the bureau placed under the superintendence of the Special Commissioner of the Revenue. This act authorized the appointment of a division clerk, by the Secretary of the Treasury, in the office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in respect to the Bureau of Statistics. As noted above, the office of Special Commissioner of the Revenue terminated on June 30, 1870. The Deputy Special Commissioner continued to act as chief of the bureau, and appropriation was made in the act of March 3, 1871, and subsequent acts, for the salary of "the officer in charge of the Bureau of Statistics.""

Supervising Surgeon General, Marine Hospital Service; Solicitor Transferred to the Department of Justice. The decade from 1870 to 1880 witnessed the creation of a number of important and permanent bureaus in the Treasury Department, as well as the establishment by law of a number of administrative divisions in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury. The first bureau

in the creation of a Department of Construction in the Treasury Department. The office of Construction of Buildings was called the Construction Bureau after 1861. Annual reports were submitted by the engineer in charge to the Secretary of the Treasury. Cf. Checklist, 1190; Van Tyne and Leland, Guide to the archives of the government of the U. S. in Washington, 99 (1907); Institute for Government Research, The Office of the Supervising Architect (1923).

13 Stat. L., 469, 487; 14 Stat. L., 98, 170.

14 Stat. L., 328, 330; 15 Stat. L., 92, 99; 16 Stat. L., 475, 483. Cf. Parmelee, The statistical work of the federal government, Yale Review, XIX, 303-05 (November, 1910).

or office to be organized during this period was the office of the Supervising Surgeon General, Marine-Hospital Service. In a previous chapter of this monograph devoted to the organization of the Treasury Department, mention was made of the several acts passed by Congress authorizing the creation of a marine-hospital fund for the erection of marine-hospitals, under the direction of the President. An act of June 29, 1870, " to reorganize the MarineHospital Service," authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to appoint a Supervising Surgeon General to superintend, under his direction, the disbursement of the marine-hospital fund and all matters connected with the marine-hospital service.' The office of Solicitor of the Treasury was transferred to the Department of Justice by the act of June 22, 1870, creating that department. Supervising Inspector General; Coast and Geodetic Survey. A single administrative head for the Steamboat-Inspection Service, under the supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury, was provided by act of February 28, 1871, which authorized the President, with the consent of the Senate, to appoint a Supervising Inspector General, who should superintend the administration of the steamboat-inspection laws. He was also directed to preside over the annual meetings of the Board of Supervising Inspectors; this board being empowered to establish rules and regulations for the administration and enforcement of the steamboat-inspection laws, which, when approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, were accorded the full force of law.' By act approved March 3, 1871, the work of the Coast Survey was extended to include a primary triangulation across the continent to form a geodetic connection between the work on the Atlantic and Pacific Coast. The title of the service was not changed, however, until the subhead "Coast and Geodetic Survey" was used in the sundry civil appropriation act

T Supra, 157; 16 Stat. L., 169, 170. For an historical account of the Marine-Hospital Service, see 42 Cong. 3 sess. (1872-73), H. ex. doc. 131, 7-19; Institute for Government Research, The Public Health Service (1923). 16 Stat. L., 162.

16 Stat. L., 440, 458. An attempt had been made two years before the passage of this act to provide an administrative head for the SteamboatInspection Service in the Treasury Department by the creation of a Revenue-Marine and Steamboat-Inspection Division in the immediate office of the Secretary of the Treasury.-62 Cong. 2 sess. (1911-12), H. ex. doc. 670, 313. Institute for Government Research, The Steamboat-Inspection Service (1922).

of June 20, 1878. Since that date, the service has been denominated the Coast and Geodetic Survey."

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Bureau of the Mint. An act of February 12, 1873, revising and amending the laws relative to the Mint of the United States, provided for the establishment of that agency as a bureau of the Treasury Department, embracing in its organization and under its control, all mints and assay-offices authorized by law. The act further provided that the chief officer of the bureau should be denominated the Director of the Mint, and should be under the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. The appointment of the Director was vested in the President, with the consent of the Senate, and the length of his term of office fixed at five years, unless sooner removed by the President, upon reasons to be communicated by him to the Senate."

Divisions Established in Secretary's Office. The sundry civil appropriation act of March 3, 1875, made detailed provision for the administrative organization of the Treasury Department, including bureaus, offices, and divisions. Two important innovations in the organization of the department introduced by this act deserve mention. Ten divisions in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury were authorized, the titles of three of which were expressly designated, namely, Division of Warrants, Estimates, and Appropriations, Division of Loans, and Division of Currency. The remaining seven divisions organized in the department in accordance with this act included the following: Appointments, Customs, Public Moneys, Revenue-Marine, Stationery, Printing, and Blanks, Mails and Files, and Mercantile Marine and Internal Revenue. A second innovation was introduced by Section 3 of this act, which authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to appoint a Superintendent and a designated number of tellers, bookkeepers, clerks, and messengers in the offices of the Treasurer and the

1o 16 Stat. L., 495, 508; 20 Stat. L., 206, 215. Cf. Institute for Government Research, The Coast and Geodetic Survey (1923).

17 Stat. L., 424. The creation of a Bureau of the Mint in the Treasury Department was urged by the Secretary of the Treasury in his annual report for 1871. The Secretary pointed out that, while all of the mints and assay-offices were nominally in charge of the Treasury Department, there was not, by law, any person in the department whose duty it was to be informed on matters relating thereto. Cf. 42 Cong. 2 sess. (1871-72), H ex. doc. 2, xv.