Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1871-10-27
EoMwASI5INGTON.
TEo Fourth Auditors Report.

tee of its contents would be inter
esting to your readers generally,
and parti' ularly to his fellow citi-
zens of Buchanan, Ihave determin-
ed to transmit this brief synopsis,
which will, hope, give some idea
Of the amount of-work performed in
his office, as.well as of the great re-
sponsibility resting upon him as its
head.
The Fourth Auditor is charged
with the settlement Of the accounts
.,f the Paymasters in the Navy,
whcti, ar aHoat or ashore, as well as
those who act as purchasing and
distributing officers, or what was
formerly known rs Navy Agents.
BESIDES these large and intricate
accounts, he has also to settle all
claims Tor arrears of pay, bounty
and prize money accruing to per-
sons ON account Of services III the
L. S. Navy. 94te4r
The several Pension law 8 passed
by Congress- entail upon the Audi
tors office great amount OF labor
in yetit'Ninr the service of the nu.
merous applicants for pensions.
This vcri6cat;on Of service is ex-
ceedinyly troublesome in eases
where the party was in the late war
with England, 4 whole day being
often consumed in the search, ow-
ing to the imperfect condition of the
records Of that period. The act of
March I'd, 1861, grants a pension
to persons who have served in the
Navy twenty years, and also to
those who have performed like
service ten years. 1t is in this
class of applications that the most
trouble and labor are experienced,
the man having to be traced from
one vessel to another over so long
a period, in order that the exact
amount of service performed by
Inn may be reported to the Com
missioner of Pensions, for whose in
formation the investigation rs made.
The time necessarily occupied in
these examinations, and the great
pains required to identify the party
through all his service, can hardly
be appreciated by persons outside
the Office.
The Aalitor's report contains
number Of tables showing the
amount of work performed by the
several "Divlsions" into which the
Office is divided, in order TO fac;li-
tate the transaction Of the public
business. From the tables | find
that from the lst Of July, 1870, to
the 30th OF June, 1871, there were
settled 39G Paymasters' accounts,
involving cash disbursements Of
sl6,o75,674.75. Number of pension
accounts settled, 225 involving
1862, 020.66. Besides these larrc
accounts 1852 general claims were
settled, Accounting to s334,ol9.oo;
prize claims 1880, amounting to
$780, 22.63. In the Navy Agents
division 629 accounts were settled
in which the sum of s6,3o4, 992. rs
was involved. Many other interest
ing facts might be mentioned in
connection with the subject, but I
Will merely state, for the purpose of
showing the amount of correspon-
dence required, that during the
year l7,7l6 letters were received,
and l4,57s written.
In his report the Auditor earnest
iy recommends the passage of 4
law authorizing the employment of
three persons, experts in Navy az
counts, to be styled Accounting
Agents, and to be attached to and
under the direction Of his Bureau.
Their duties to be similar to those
Of the bank examiners now employ
ed in connection with the national
banks, and that they should have
authority to call upon any paymas-
Ter, whether upon shore or upon a
vessel, without previous notice, to
exhibit his books and cash for ex-
animation. In this recommenda-
ton the Auditor will, ain sure, be
sustained by the entire community,
for it can be readily seen that the
enactment of such law would eff
tcctually prevent paymaster from
using for private speculation the
public money placed in his hands,
from the fact that he would at any
moment be liable to Il visit from
the Accounting Agents.
LII concluding this notice I would
state that Judge Tabor was ap-
pointed Fourth Auditor nearly nine
years 40. Since then numerous
laws have been passed and rtgula-
tons established for the govern
ment Of the Navy, and affecting the
pay of officers and men. With
these the Auditor has, during his
long service, become familiar, and
the experience he has acquired is
Of great value to the Government,
III fact its Importance in that re-
spcct can hardly he over estimated.
1t may be well for the public to
know that Judge Tabor is not a man
for cred tape" and that any bust