Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1830-01-26

Y
"eN' succeeding Session. On the 6ru OF February oil
each !ea the Secretary Of the Navy i, Z,
y before Congress- Staten. mt, under each spec DC
e"" oil appropriation, Of the appropriated for
me service OF the preceding year. of the amounts ex
Psnue', AMI OF the basnce remaining on hand at tie
close OF the year " "
When NAVY AGENT or other a;.h,rs;,n oH..r
wau's money, he writes 10 the Sccrc ary .(,py the
nead' OF appropriation under which IL il wanted TIL.
secretary Issues requsiton upon the Secretary Of
he reasury, Tor a warrSnt for the amount. stating
Zach item under its proper heal Of appropriations The
comptroller counterigns it, and charges each item 10
me p oper aprropr'aten. The Auditor registers it,
anu charges the items to the disbr ing officer alo
under tho proP'r heads The officer rsni.r, hi. ac.
counts Tor disbursements, under each head and re-.
ccives a credit under each
There are now enclosed accou t. en- the Fourth Au.
'or oook', under upwards ofury heads OF appropria
uon. Many disbursing officers have accounts under
Yen or nteen different heads. which are precisely like
zen or hftcen separate acconn's Did every person
ceivng money from tbs Ntvy Department, ask for i,
under the proper heads, expend il und.r tho mo
per hcad', and render hi. accounts under IN. pro.
per h'ad' and bad no transfers ever been made.
or wren made, hal they been reported to Congress
anu the dehesncy Immediately supplied, there would
nave been lille or irregulsrity In the account, of
the Department Bu', tho irregular and unlawful
pr'c'lcr oil the Department, encouraging and pro.luc
M: similar irreeuIiri'y among all its fiscal icers has
defeated tbs Object Of specific appropriations md in
vo,v"d its accounts in smo't il. xtricabie confusion
when Agen's have called for money unl. heads o.
appropriation VIII CHI exhsuGed f,rner .creati-s
have not he 'ita,ed to send them money und,r oher
neau'. This is vrt'al tranf-r from on appropria.
non 10 'no;iier. AMI a violation of low. When the Of
hcers account Tor this il stands charged 10 IN.
IN the Auditors book, unde- one heal and thew os
TAIN credit under another. The money has, in fact,
oeen applied to purposes other ia m those Tor which il
was Appropriated Bat VIII n another ap,ropriati,n IL
obtained under the deficient heal the amount borrow
cd Is refunded. This il another virtual transfer and
double violation Of law, because il i, transfer from
one year TO another
Whom the Auditor and Comptroller have settled an
account belonging to head OF appropri .on which i
exhausted ,h- practice ha, been to p,y |, Nv an all
vance out oil anolhar appropriation Tnii il also pal
Paoe evasion OF the law; the money applied t. pur
poses Tor which IL not appropr the
can never been closed the book, Of tis oic. un.
congress make another appropriation, under the
dehcient head and il must come out o. an.
other years appropriation.
MILLIONS OF money have been expended by the Ma.
department Tor purposes other than those for which
L was appropriated. The accounts now una diusted
arising solely from these iregulaie< probably EN-.
brace more than mill oa Of dollars Msny of them
are az much creditor under head "a debtor under
announcer; bnt h- Auditor has power to tran fer ths
"o"ns' am close them. u IL probable that so 900
Mo"n pay all MAT Is really due upon those account
Nh" an appropriation OF that sum. with power 10 maxi
me necessary transfers, would furnish the mean. TO
c'o'e 'hen Notalenis or skill adjust them with
nut the iaterpostion Of Congress
In every case where transfer 10 maie from OF, an
preparation to another, where money IN. been for.
wsrded under one head to be expended under another
OF wheh an advance is made under one head TO pay
oep du" under another the Compfrollers book, do not
represent truly the purpose for which IN. money 1,
pended For ins,snce'n Agent asks for 10 900 dol
'ars' nn Ter Pay Of tho Navy;" it i. sent to hia IN
der Pfovisions IL is intended 10 be applied and ac
tuai'y applied 10 Pay yet, the 81 Comp,roiier,
books, " s charged 10 PTovion. and undr IN Al saJ
reported 10 Congress Honce there has be IN for
many years, correct report male to Congress Of the
purposes to which the money has been an
piled. ~
On recurrence 10 the Comptroller R-p,rt, FIR 1928
you WIZ md the hrst column he "B.lanre, Of
the tirst DAY nj January 1925" IN.
second, 4" Appromiated in 1925" the third, e RE-
payments in ls2s;' these three added togethrr fo m
the fourth, headed " Amount applicable I, the ser
vice OF 1885, the fifth i, head I'd Anoun, drawn
by reguisiti IN from the Treasury, during the wear
ls2S; and this subtracted from the fourth forms the
December, 1928" The first column gives the ,,noun,
standing 10 the credit OF each appropriation on III.
Comptroller hooks on The first day January 1928
but, as all ansiers I'd. during the precedny var
are debed to the appro riaton which the money
was taken, aud credited to that in aid of wh.h the
transfer IL made. those balances lar from true re
presentation o. the actual state OF the several sppro
aons at that time Non. oil the prncip appropriations
appear 10 have been exhausted; yet some OF tham wer
Exhausted, and h al borrowed large amouu.s fro n
Tiers. The amounts borrowe ed were repaid out of
the appropriation for 1873 Before the expiration al
that yeir seine Of the appropriations were again ex
haustcd x sums Of money again borrowed from oiher
All sums 'iiu' refunded and borrowed well az all
sums transferred from he al OF appropra to sao
The Tor the purpose OF adjusting accounts inctn
led III The column Of "Repsymens" II is obvious tina
non: OF there sums can at all increase the 'Amsun
are all added in TO make the items OF the columns
hus headed. The bo'iq fde repayment. are small in
amosnt. or the $369,909 81, under the had OF
RePaymsnts in lS2S - not believed that this sc-
ual repaymcnts amount $4,000. The report
therefore, represents that there were upward, OF
$500 900 applicable 10 the services Of 1928 more tina
actually were so applicable.
Indeed the systes Of borrowing from one apprnpr.
alton to maxi up Deficiencies in another is nothing
more nor les than anticipating the appropriation, of the
next year For instance; "Pdy ahoIt !, de heisn 10
make up the deficiency, ths Secretary borrows
900 out Of "Provision,;" this 900 10 refund
ed out Of the sm Appropriated for "Psy sno for the
next year Thus $4,000 Of the appropriation for "Pay
sioat in 1928, actually Anticipated, and spent in
1875 and The amount applicable to the service Of 1928
is reduced IN that sum. Yet. by representing the pay
ment OF this debt repayment, thi Comptroller
Report represen IL az increasing that amount.
The fifth column is not true repre,ena sion Of the
"Anoun' drawn from the Treasury, during the year
1925, because II includes all tran sfsr rt quistons
which take nothing from the Treasury, hut merely
transpose The money from appropriation to another
In some casrs that column represents the
OF money as drawn from The Treasury twice over. IL
srelresenied az drawn from the Treasury by the
qDisiuon which transfers II from appropriation to
another; and II isrepfesened drawn again by the
acquisitions which take u from he latter
and pay N out 10 public officers agents Hence that
column represents the amoun's drawn from the Trea-
sury as much greater than tn " really are.
The Balance of appropri ,iions on the 3Ist day of
December 1928" are made up in the same manner as
the balances IN the first column. They are Tar from
conveying 10 Congress any correct idea OF the OF
the appropriations,
In fine from the Ccup'roller's Reports neither Con-
gess any body else obtain any accurate infor-
NATION in relation 10 the amounts expended under each
head Of appropriation, of the actual condition OF the
APPROX iaions. As system Of bookkeeping exhibit
Ing the smoun's debel and credited TO each sppro
praHo", the mode Of keeping these accounts in the
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