The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-06-12
Depository of Disbursing Officers.

The Senate, yesterday passed the House DILL
relative 10 the dispo -it'on to be made by DIS
bursting officers OF moneys remaining in their
hands. The bill makes it the duty of every dis
bursting officer of the United States, having any
public money intrusted to him for disbursement,
to deposit the same with the Treasurer, or some
one of the Assistant Treasurers of the United
States, and 10 draw for the same only as it may
be required for payments to be made by him in
pursuance of Law; and all transfers from the
Treasurer of the United States to disbursng
officer shall be by draft or warrant on the Trea-
surer or an Assistant Treasurer of the United
States provided that in places where there is
no Treasurer nor Assistant Treasurer of the
United States, the Secretary of the Treasury
may specially authorize, in writing, the deposit
of such public money in any other public de-
pOsitory.
To facilitate the payments to public creditors,
the second section provides that il any disburs-
ing officer of the United States shall deposit
any public money entrusted to him in any place
or IN any manner except as authorized by law,
or shall convert to his own use, or shall loan,
with or without interest, every such act shall
be deemed aud adjudged an embezzlement of
the money so deposited.
The third section provides that any bank or
broker, or other person not an authorized de-
pository of public money, who shall kno wingly
receive ffom any disbursing officer or collector
of internal revenue, or other agent of the
United States, any public money on deposit, or
by way of loan or accommodation, in so doing
shall be, for every such act, deemed and adjudged
guilty of an embezzlement, and any President,
Cashier, Teller, Director, or other officer of
bank, who shall violate any of the provisions
of this act shall be adjudged guilty of an en-
lbezzlement OF public money, and punished as
provided.
The adoption of such a law as his is a needed
reform in a matter of great Importance to the
nation. The recent example of the failure of a
Washington bank and the loss to the Govern
ment of over half million of dollars, is the
most cogent argument in favor of preventing the
officers having the selection of depository for
the funds in their possession. The vast power
which has been thus vested has been in the
greater number of cases faithfully exercised
but the opportunity for evil has been fully
demonstrated by the evidently fraudulent action
of the Paymaster in the capital. Under the ne "
system no discretion is given to the officer. The
Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer will be the re-
cipients, and in their hands the moneys of the
pNuhO VIII DO odlCs IL dlsO BIcdtly IesGIlCJS Ju6
amount OF funds in the hands OF the paymasters,
They will not hereafter pay the subordinates in
currency, but in orders on the designated depod-
tories. By this arrangement the Government
secures for itself the interest on the sums which
would otherwise have gone to swell the peraui-
sites of the public servants. The new plan
peculiarly commends ITSELF and we can see no
objection to 1t, unless it comes from these whose
emoluments are eurtailed by the reform