The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1857-12-10

twenty dollars Is recommended 70 the consideration Oh
those under whose jurisdiction these State institutions
exist
Previous to the act OF goth February 1851 the direc
tor OF the mint required by law 10 make his annual
report the President BY the 7th section of that act
he is directed make his report to the Secretary OF the
Treasury the 30h June Of each year that It may APP
pear in the annual report the finances The director
has made his annual report TO the President ior the cal
endar year the LIST January last and has now reported
to this department the operations Of the mint and its
branches during the remaining half OF the last fiscal year
to the sOth last The report is herewith transmit
ted, marked TO-
The director calls the attention of this department 10
the proprety of such amendment of existing laws rel
alive coinage that where fine gold bars are made and
paid depostor of bullion in addition 10 the charges
made for parting and toughening there shall be
charge of per paid into the treasury there
on which would have been imposed had the same been
coined BY the 9th section of the act of LIST February
1853 this charge of oneha per cent was payable into
the treasury in addition to the charges Tor refining OF
parting bullion whether it paid TO depositors In the
form of CON- in bars ngots, disks But the 9th
section of the act March g. 1883 chapter &c. provides
that charge for refining casting forming bars in
gopr disks shall not exceed the actual cost OF the OPP
Grafton The effect OF this provision Is to repeal the
segnoge of onehalf per cent imposed equally ON bull
lion coined withdrawn in the form OF fine bars, by the
act of February 81 1885, and to restrict this duty entire
" to coin This is of course equivalent TO paying pre-
MUM OF half per cent upon all bullion exported In
the form fine bars it would have been subjected by
law to that burden had ID been coined concur with the
director in the opinion that it is not good policy to inn
pose this half per cent all bullion coined for circua-
ton and at the time exempt fine bars withdrawn
for expectation If depositos of bullion choose to export
il in the form of fine bars they should be at liberty 10 eX-
ercise that option but they should not be allowed pre-
MUM of half per cent upon such as is withdrawn for
expectation which is the effect of imposing that duty
that bullion which is coined, and exempng, as is done
by the section of the act of March 1888 referred to-
that which is withdrawn in the form of fine bars ac-
eordingy recommend that the original provision of the
9th section Of the of February 81 1883 be restored
By the act of March g. 1851 amendatory of IAN act
to provide for the better organization of the treasury and
for the collection saiekeepng transfer and dsburse
ment the public revenue it provided that each
and every discussing officer or agent OF the United States
having any money of the United States nrusted to him
for disbursement shall be- and he is hereby required to
deposit the with the Treasurer of the United States
or with some of the assistant treasurer public de-
posaes and draw for the only in favor OF the per-
sons whom payment is to be made in pursuance OF law
and instructions, except when payments are to be made
in sums under twenty dollars, in which such dis
bursting agent check III his own name, satlng that
it is to pay small claims -
The object of this provision of law to protect the
government from the improper of the public funds in
the hands OF dsbursng officers 1t the desire OF the
department to carry it out to the fullest extent that it
could be done An enforcement of its provisions ac-
! cordng to its letter impractcable. 1t would
have required considerable increase of the clerical
force of different offices, for which no provision had
been made by Congress, and in some OF the depart
ments compliance with its requirements impOs-
sibe. Payments by the disbursing officers of the
| army and navy, as we'll payments by portion
of such officers in the Interior Department. could not be
made in the mode pointed ont Pursers in the navy set
Ting with the officers and of vessel in foreign
ports paymasters in the army at remote points from any
public depostary discussing agents charged with the
ment Indian annues could not discharge their duties
literal compliance with this law had been required.
Regarding the object of the law wise and proper and
feeling bound enforce it to the utmost extent in my
power caused circulars Nos and g. appended to this
report issued the various public depostaes and
dsbursng agents of this department. by which it will be
that the object Of the law has been carried out and
in the mode prescribed far as it was possible to do
1t is believed that the regulations thus adopted will eff
fectualy the object which Congress had in view in
the passage of the act of March g. 1857 and would
recommend that the law be amended to conform to
these gulations At all events legislation alb
soluely necessary the subject, and would ask the
early attention of Congress to it.
The sum of two thousand five hundred dollars APP
popraed at the last session of Congress to enable the
of the Treasury to such experiments and
analyses of different beds of test whether OF
such ores in their native state possess alloys that will
resist the tendency oxyiZe to greater extent than
Others and ascertain under what circumstances they
are found and where in order TO facilitate the proper
lections of iron for public works To carry out the OBJ
ject in view caused circulars TO be sent to all iron
tiers whose could he ascertaned soliciting speci
of and ron and calling for information pertinent
the subject and in compliance with the request already
large number of specimens have been received and are
being received daily The specimens accompanied by
letters manifcstng great interest in the result and
municating much valuable information in relation to the
production of iron which has become of the great
national industrial interests. So the specimens
are all received and arranged and the information which
accompanies them has been distracted and collated
competent chemist meiaurgist will be employed to
make the experiments and analyses Conclusive evidence
has already been received that decided difference in the
susceptibility of different irons to oxydze does exist and
it is hoped that the proposed analyses will discover the
cause However, should the experiments fail in this
spect they will at least show the localities from which
the least oxydiNible iron be procured Some idea
may be formedof the importance of being able to dis
crminae between irons to their susceptibility to oxy
die from the fact that the quantity used by the govern
ment in this department alone since January 1882
cees 40 900 900 pounds and the Navy and War Depart
ments may each safely be put down for equal amounts
The of iron capable of resisting oxygen for rigging
anchors chain plates sheathng, &C. in commercial
marine would be immense.
In accordance with the authority vested in the Secre
tary of the Treasury by the joint resolution approved
February &C. 1857 to provide for ascertainng the rela
tive value of the coinage of the United States and Great
Britain and fixing the relative value of the unitary
coins of the two countries appointed Professor j. H.
Alexander of Baltimore, commissioner to confer with the
proper funconaiies in Great Britain in relation to
plan plans of mutually arranging, the decimal
basis the coinage of the two countries that the
spectve units shall hereafter be easily and exactly
measurable Professor Alexander is in London and
expect the result of his mission will be imbodied in
statement and report from him at an carly day. which
will be laid before Congress received.
The Joint resolution to prevent the counterfeitng the
coins of the United States approved February &C. 1857
empowered the Secretary of the Treasury to inquiry
to be made, by two competent commissioners into pro-
and claimed to have been discovered by