Evening star., 1869-12-06

ST, branch mints have b1en Ct abli-lesl "a y9ri
oys times In different PartS u the country ons
4 "a San Francisco, one at New Orleans. onc st
\ Charlotte, North Crralina one at Dahlcncga
\ t'eorgia. one at Denver. Colorado, and one ~
4 Portland, Oregon. Since the c0mmencrulrHi ~
ihe var. the branches at \cs orleans.
! nahlonega. and Charlotte have b,,.n
| clSsNI An assay "ficc, il believed,
! VIII satisfy the necc~Siii,s oi the mining inter
| est IN colorado. and for the present. only a
! limited business VIII le done At TIE Portlarl
i mint Indeed, with the construction ct rail-
| r0Sds, and the consequently Increasing facilities
! ier c"inmuhicatioh, am Of opinion t'i1t fts
, business of coming VIII hr chiefly az oile mat
! ulson the Pacific, and az one mint upan tl.. at-
} lautic coast. Cndcr an act Uf Congrs>S. pasSc,I
! .luly -. i>f preparations are makiug tor tho
sale of the Ininf> at Charlotte and Dahloue-s.
( The mining anu coming" "i The precious metal
hoN :" large a national int' ret thai u d,-eTN
more att, nt'on uan IL has hitherto re-
! ctiNcd- NJ present there i No bgr'2t
! or officer Ina the Treasury Department at Mash-
I mgton charged specially with the mans mtuC
/ 81 this great interest. ! therefore reComns 4
! that provision lie made for the appoiutihcnt ~
I arr"per officer 10 hc mtrustsd with this bran n
Sml m me public business under the direction of tic
| secretary of the In, asury.
| The coinae, Of the country Is diminished m
! amount by thc fact tia; I'm England and Fran .
/ thc mint cVpeliSes at, much ls>~ than with u.
. N wouid no doubt have = tendency - prckeug
the export Of the prccioIs metals ia the form e
ht,li' n, ~ the mint cl.a~gr> were Ia b. rcdaCgi
or altogether abolished
An agreement wa> made on the Iltii .lav -
| February. lSsl, between shc Secrrtgr, 81 tic
Treasury. un behalf of thr nltcd Stat"~. aul
certain parties in California. lc;tSiag d llt 81
/ land in SSr Francisco. kuoNu a. s'tic custom
house block. FOR the period Cf tNcnt y-fNe V,a--.
IiS lease Is subject io tine condition that II -l'al
We Void AZ Congress. on or before the l., isN -
! January, iSsp, shall taLc adverse action in r.
. ercncc th' rctc. In view Of the fact that th,.
tcaS, s for long period oG tine. and lcing II
, the o. mon that The Gost at should retain
, contTcl oi property that nay h. needed for pub
lie purposes, thiuk il tNl.cCni for Congress ID
! aEnul fhc lease.
tHonSi Si.feranlp ppopFgss las haSp rna.Ia rst.,.,
the foundations oIthe !.5>i office building IA the
city of New York, and al the post oiiicc aud "a
dependent treasury huil,ling i'm the cit, Of Bos-
ton. The Supervising Architect OF the Treasury
Department Is OF the opinion that the walls snI
TVois a. the buildings may be completed during
the next year il sufficient appropriations are
furnished The work. having been undertaken
I am Of cPinion that il >ccoGonical O. make tls
necessary appropriations for their speedy coin
pletion.
During the month oi December IN, D.parr-
: mcnt viii he prepared to submit report uFoa
the condition "f our commercial marine. That
report viii show that the navigation inrgrs>f Of
the copniry has noj rrco, red frofn the loss
sustained ourihS the war. and al-o that sfiicillt
measures are necessary for IT. restoration.
cannot omit to call the attention Of Congress
to the iuadcquacy of thc salaries paid 90 cffccs
of the Treasury Department Who exercise H.
erection and whose acts bind the Government or
affect directly its expenditures or revenues.
Some OF the salaries were fixed when the Gov
ernmcnt was organized. Others when new Offices
were added, aud but few Of them have been IN
creased recently. Ii il unluestiOEahly true that
persons having equal ability and clothed
with similar responsibility receive much
I larger compensation from indi, iduals lll
! corporations; and. although many "I
vice are likely 10 continue. from the crcGtn-
stance that their vocation has led them aside
| from the ordinary channels of business, yet.
an act OF justice 10 them. and I'm the iutercs; Il
! the Government i earnestly recommend IN In
! crease OF their pay. Speaking generally. Ills
/ iucreasc Of paw should be extended 20 r,ve,ns
Sufslf a.
tor, surveyors. naval officers, and especially 70
appraisers and examiners in the appraisers Sc
partmeut. Should the recommendation t0 c,s-
peal the laws granting shares of penaities. fine,
and ioTfeitures to public officers be adopted. l.
viii be necessary to increase the salaries oi col,
/ lcctorS. naval officers and surveyors M all the
! principal ports az the country. " j. a piaIa
1 Truth that the Government had mo right tosN-
peCt the services OF comp, tent men att.iFa 20
ers and examiners at the present inadelua.e al
! aries I'm the larger cit"s they are iIi~univi'nl
: for the support of family. and under such cir
| cun>tanceS the Government l. mot NItli8st rr-
>Iol.-iblity when t places its officers in such
! I.osition thar they aTe compelled TO cnpgSe b.
! tweru dishonesty on the one hand and Pclurv
on the other. The salaries of the Assistant
! 1r, asuTcrs and their principal officers shn %
| also be ncreasa-l, and for substantially the
same reasons. IL has been found impossible
J for the last few wears to retain the services
OF thc ni0st efricitht clerks i'm the Treas
uTI Department except by additions ~ their
! lawful salaries, through an aprr84~i.-
tion placed in the hands ,i the Secrat,-,; 49,.
that purpose. fhe distribution OF this snpr,,-
pIiatlon II an unpleasant duty for the Secretary,
and cannot bc performed without proaacir,..
Ieaou>8es and diScontents among the OF cers ~
the Department. Speaking generally. it may ba
said that the heads oi burcans chief cerl,s ami
clerks IN charge OF divisions. are naie.itately
compensated for the SeFNirgS they pert.,r,a TT,,,
IOGtinc business 0t the Department cam Ita no.
formed in a satisfactory manner nv clerks r.,
ceiyilg the compensation now provided hv law:
but men on whose Judgment and discretion th,.
Government relies for the proper Transaction al.
the business Of the country. ana whose lab,rS
are not limited to the ordinary hours OF ,luty.
should Ice made to- feel that they are properly
compensated.
There are two changes IN the organization or
the Treasury DEPARTMENT which I con~i .ler i'm
IoTtanr. The first change to which \ refer IL
the creation of a chief comptroller OF the Tr...-
sury. who shall hc authorized TO control the
system OF accounting by the several auqitors
snd comltrollerS, and 20 whom all appeals shall
l'e made ulOn Questions arising i'm the account
ing offices "f the Treasury. The creation ~
this office, cloth with the powers Indicated. win
give uniformity to the accounting system. aud a
trust II will he IN the power Of the officer APP
I'oinied 10 simplify the system aud materially
reduce the expenses of the Department in this
The second change to which I call attention
II, m INV opinion. even more important. Ac
present. there are eight divisions in the Sccrc-
tary Office. whose duties are connected cNcfa-
siyely with the custOns-rcyenus system. There
IL no person, except the Secretary Of the Tr.a-
sury, Who II by Law authorized 10 pass finally. or
i'm ANY WAY auihOritStiyeiN. upon questions aris-
ing i'm the administration of the ScuStamS-rev..-
nuc laws. At the present time the revesuc
from customs il large as the revenue
from the excise system. The number OF
m.n employed and the held or ils
operations are nearly great. u,is impossible
for the Secretary of the Treasury 20 give L. tha
various questions that arise ia the adluisis.ra-
tiOn OF the system that attention which is eSssn-
ta To the service. The duties of supcriut-nd-
ing the collection Of the customs-rcvcnuc are
- varied. delicate. and important. 20 lastly
and Tea luire the exclusive attention OF the most
competent person whose services can IA OBJ
tanned. The experience OF the present wear
I'm the administration OF the internal rev
cIIu- Nstt and the collection OF the eNciss
tax. iustificS thc opinion chat the eSta bliSin mt
Of the Office of commissioner al custOm>-rcv.-
nue. cOrreSl londins in lOwrrs and position ~
that OF the oifice of Commissioner OF Internal
Revenue. and the appointment OF cOmpctcnt
commissioner. would render the execution OF
the ctI>toms-rcNtlluc laws much more efficient
an,ihsI moni0uS. while thc revenue would prOba-
bl, be increased 30 thsfam0unt of manv millions
Oi dollars annually. Nor il it probable that tb,
expenses would bc materially greater.
Including interest earned and not paid, and
dcduCiing cash on hand, the debt of the United
States. the first OF March last, VAS
-, ,525 iGS ,22G00I and subject 10 the same con
ditions. IL ~ a., SO % ON the first of the
present moHth, showing decrease of
Ssl 500 .52ias
This apparent decrese Of the public debt s
less than the actual decrease. Considerable