# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/2nd Congress/1st Session/Chapter 37

Chap. XXXVII.—An Act making alterations in the Treasury and War Departments.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there ​be an accountantAccountant in the war department, his duty. to the department of war, who shall be charged with the settlement of all accounts relative to the pay of the army, the subsistence of officers, bounties to soldiers, the expenses of the recruiting service, the incidental and contingent expenses of the department; and who shall report from time to time,May 27, 1796. all such settlements as shall have been made by him, for the inspection and revision of the accounting officers of the treasury; and the said accountant shall also be charged with the settlement of all claims for personal service authorized by the act of this Congress of the twenty-seventh of March last, and of all military claims lodged in the late office of the paymaster general and commissioner of army accounts, which are not foreclosed by the acts of limitation of the late Congress, and he shall report from time to time, all such settlements as have been made by him, for the inspection and revision of the Comptroller of the Treasury. The compensation of the said accountantSalary. shall be a yearly salary of one thousand two hundred dollars.
Duty of the Treasurer of the U. S. herein.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the treasurer of the United States shall disburse all such monies as shall have been previously ordered for the use of the department of war by warrants from the treasury, which disbursements shall be made pursuant to warrants from the Secretary at War, countersigned by the accountant.
Paymaster of the troops, his duty. 1822, ch. 98.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That there be a paymaster to reside near the head-quarters of the troops of the United States. That it shall be the duty of the said paymaster, to receive from the treasurer all the monies which shall be entrusted to him for the purpose of paying the pay, the arrears of pay, subsistence or forage, due to the troops of the United States. That he shall receive the pay abstracts of the paymasters of the several regiments or corps, and compare the same with the returns or muster rolls which shall accompany the said pay abstracts. That he shall certify accurately to the commanding officer, the sums due to the respective corps, which shall have been examined as aforesaid, who shall thereon issue his warrant on the said deputy paymaster, for the payment accordingly. That copies of all reports to the commanding officer, and the warrants thereon, shall be duly transmitted to the office of the accountant of the war department, in order to be there examined and finally adjusted at the treasury. To give bond.That the said paymaster shall give bond in the sum of twenty thousand dollars, with two sufficient sureties, for the faithful discharge of his duty, and he shall take an oath faithfully to execute the duties of his office. That the compensation to the said paymasterHis salary. shall be sixty dollars monthly, with the same rations and forage as a major.
Assignment of pay by a soldier after 1st June next not valid.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That no assignment of pay made after the first day of June next, by a non-commissioned officer or private, shall be valid.
Contracts for supplying the army to be made under the Secretary of the Treasury.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That all purchases and contracts for supplying the army with provisions, clothing, supplies in the quartermaster's department, military stores, Indian goods, and all other supplies or articles for the use of the department of war, be made by or under the direction of the treasury department.
To direct the collection of duties, &c.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall direct the superintendence of the collection of the duties on impost and tonnage as he shall judge best. That the present office of assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, be abolished,Assistant Secretary abolished, and Commissioner of the Revenue substituted, his duty. and that instead thereof there be an officer in the department of the treasury, to be denominated Commissioner of the Revenue, who shall be charged with superintending, under the direction of the head of the department, the collection of the other revenues of the United States, and shall execute such other services, being conformable to the constitution of the department, as shall be directed by the Secretary of the Treasury. That the ​compensation of the said commissionerSalary. shall be a salary of one thousand nine hundred dollars per annum.
And powers, with the Auditor and Attorney-General.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That in every case of an account or claim not finally adjusted, upon which the present comptroller of the treasury, as auditor, may have decided, it shall be the duty of the commissioner of the revenue, and of the auditor of the treasury, finally to adjust the same, and in case of disagreement between the said commissioner and auditor, the decision of the attorney general shall be final.
Power of the President on death, &c. of the heads of the three departments.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That in case of the death, absence from the seat of government, or sickness of the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, or of the Secretary of the War department, or of any officer of either of the said departments whose appointment is not in the head thereof, whereby they cannot perform the duties of their said respective offices, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, in case he shall think it necessary, to authorize any person or persons at his discretion1795, ch. 21. to perform the duties of the said respective offices until a successor be appointed, or until such absence or inability by sickness shall cease.
Treasury department to prescribe forms for keeping accounts.Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the forms of keeping and rendering all public accounts whatsoever, shall be prescribed by the department of the Treasury.
1789, ch. 13.Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That in addition to the compensations allowed to the comptroller, auditor, treasurer, and register of the treasury, by the “act for establishing the salaries of the executive officers of government, their assistants and clerks,” and to the attorney generalYearly allowance to certain officers of the Treasury and Attorney General. 1789, ch. 18. by the “act for allowing certain compensations to the judges of the supreme and other courts, and to the attorney general of the United States,” the said officers respectively shall be allowed the following yearly sums, viz: the comptroller four hundred dollars; the auditor four hundred dollars; the treasurer four hundred dollars; the register five hundred dollars; the attorney general four hundred dollars.
Secretary of the Treasury allowed two principal clerks.Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be authorized to have two principal clerks, each of whom to have a salary of eight hundred dollars per annum; and that the salary of the chief clerk of the department of war, be at the rate of eight hundred dollars per year.
Restriction on his clerks as to carrying on trade abolished; and that as to the funds extended to all revenue officers, &c.Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the restriction on the clerks of the department of the treasury so far as respects the carrying on of any trade or business, other than in the funds or debts of the United States or of any state, or in any kind of public property, be abolished, and that such restriction, so far as respects the funds or debts of the United States, or of any state, or any public property of either, be extended to the commissioner of the revenue, to the several commissioners of loans, and to all persons employed in their respective offices, and to all officers of the United States concerned in the collection or disbursement of the revenues thereof, under the penalties prescribed1789, ch. 12. in the eighth section of the act, intitled “An act to establish the treasury department,” and the provisions1792, ch. 7. Privilege of franking extended to Commissioner of the Revenue. relative to the officers in the treasury department, contained in the “Act to establish the post-office and post roads,” shall be and hereby are extended and applied to the commissioner of the revenue.
Approved, May 8, 1792.