New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-08-06
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HOW The INTERNAL REvRSUE HAS BEIS COLLECTED
FOR FIVE YEARs-rrIE SYSTEM or INSPECTION
| DUTIES OF COLLECTORS AND DEPUTIES
| iBr TELEGRAPH 10 rRIBuxEI
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5.-"Five years of admins.
tratlon ending last Tuesday evening more than
@ooo,oO0,000 collected and not a cent mss,non y is
tue proud record made by Commissioner Raurn
Inc machine which performs such perfect work
ana "ithai operates noiselessIy, deserves 10 DO
better known in its details than il is
Inc system of management of the Internal Rev
onue bureau Is not the invention Of an inspired
genius nor yet the outgrowth OF Congressional wis
ooh' out the result OF years Of diligent stndy bv
men OF experience who We're themselves resnons,bla
Ior the work they were undertaking 10 aocomplish
nheh IL ls considered that among It's other func-
uons, the Internal Revenue Bureau undertakes 10
guard every gallon of distilled liqnors manufac
cured within the United States and 10 keep an eve
upon every pound of ingredients which enter into
It's manufacture, from the time the wagon laden
",'h gram backs up to tie warehouse until the fin
lshed lntoxcant reaches the shelves OF tbe retailer
'he result seems marvel of administrative ae-
curacy.
In tho working methods Of tho Brreau. two cc,.
uai principles stand ont prominently; namely the
oty rendering of accounts TO the last cent and the
system OF inspection at irregular intervals bv differ
ent individuals. which renders combiuations .na
rings Impossible There arcv saws Co,nrntssio,,,.
hauh IN MS letter to Secretary Window "l2G
collectors and 226 deputy collectors with senarata
Offices and financial responsibility There are he
sues SA9 deputies 3G3 cl rks, Gf3 storeleelpers
I,loo storekeepers aud gaugers 69S gauQers and 25
internal Revenue agents" The subcrdnafes Of the
collectors, with the exception of the gauvers and
storekeepers, are selected and employed by the col
iectors themselves DepycollectoTSw Who are res,on-
sole ior the money collected in their respective di
visions are bonded officials their bonds being made
10 the collec ors, while the collectors themselves
give bonds TO the Government
Each deputy collector is REQUIRED to tprn in nj,
corrections as often as they amount to the sum of
Slooo IN hand, and furthermore To make monthly
reports 10 the collectors covering their operations
during the month Their subordin,te deputies are
required to faIniiarize themselves with their no
spectlve districts, learning the names and locations
Oh every man or firm dealing in taxable articles and
to visit such places at least once every month. ON
winch occasion they make a thorough examination
OF the books and premises making a eomprebens;va
ana detailed statement of the diion of affairs "a
''ey ma them. The deputies alternate in their re-
sponAblhty for specified portion of their respect
I've divisions, and thus following each other become
check In some sense upon their fellows. Dealers
never know when their premises are TO be inspected
nor 10y whom, and hence are bound To be always in
condition of readiness. Under any other system
the efficiency of the Bureau could hardly be main
tanned at its present high standard COLLECTORS
make daily returns to the Commissioner of an
moneys received at their Offices: no balances are
carried over and if collector is stricken with dis
ease or death half an hour after closing his Office az
night any special of the Bureau can enter his
Office on the following morning aud continue the
work OF the district without confusion
SYSTEM OF SUPERVISION
AS 10 inspections, perhaps the most elaborate gvs-
tenn ever put into practical use is employed in tha
| Internal Revenue Bureau. Under il the accuracy
OF the work performed seems less marvel than it
otherwise would he. Dupnty collectors inspect
their suhordinates, and collectors inspectD and
make reports upon their deputy COLLECTORS This
inspection comprehends almost everything that
could form the subject OF legitimate inquiry :-tbe
habits, characteristics and requirements of the in
dIvidual as well as his method of performing tbe
work he has IN charge, and his familiarity with the
regulations of the service and the Internal Reveone
laws. The system of changing deputies about from
division to division within their districts serves ~
make these inspections varied in Character and
gives the Commissioners and his officials in Wash
ington the material out Of which to frame record
Tor any man in the service so complete that the
term photograph gallery" applied to the series,
expresses no more than the truth.
This however is not the end of the system of in
spectlon, nor, indeed, IFS important feafore
Thirty-iive special revenue agents-experts in ali
that relates TO the Internal Revenue servce-are
constantly performing their itineraries in every part
OF the land 10 the majority of these assigned
districts, the boundaries of which are constantlv
changing, and for which they are held Responsible
in certain sense. for several months at time
Their functions lnquistOrial the last degree
The age, length of service standing in the commu-
nifty. methods of performing duties and-in cases of
10 inform themselves of the qualifications faithful.
ness and efficiency OF their subOpdnatcs-area few
OF the subjects of inquiry. Hypothetical cases are
gotten up by the speyia agents with which the ex-
aminee is required TO deal in his presence More
over, the special agent accompanies the collector
and his deputies upon tour of inspection covering
uortion of his district division TO with IS ihs,
methods adopted and for the purpose Of learning
facts of interest to the Government and 20 see for
himself the condition of affairs. As in the case OF
deputy collectors within their dl tricts special
agents succeed each other in charge Of affairs of
given territory; and. following each other about
each applying his own especial methods of inspec.
tion, the variety and COMPLETENESS of the records for
warded TO the Commissioner is changed many fold
FIVE GRAND DIVISIONS.
Complete as the system of inspection would seem
to be, il is not enough. The whole country is di-
vided into five grand divisions; and live of the
most expert Of the revenue agents are assigned TO
special duty within them. Their duties besides the
general work of inspection in the same line as that
already described, includes the counting Of stamps
and cash in the possession of collectors and deputy
collectors TO if they tally with the reports made
to the Commissioner and to inspect more especially
the system of bookkeeping aud accounting prac-
ticed in each office. These officials although per-
manently assigned To the duty mentioned, rotate
from grand division TO grand division, each sup
pementing the work of his predecessor not beinR
aware of the recommendations the other has made.
but seeing for himself and gathering the material
for his report from original sources.
Their routes of inspection laid ont that,
when "A tour of inspection through a given grand
division they find themselves with the exception,
of the agent upon the Pacific COAST within twelyg
hours ride of ashington aud they required TO
repair to the office of tho Commissioner here for
work in the territory they have visited. The dis
tinctve features of this system Of cOmDaratveto
point OF inspectors and other officials having had
it's rise at the time of the Whiskey Ring exposures
Civil Service tn, ories as they are understood at
the present day, have little 10 do with the manage
al Internal Revenue Btlrcau. ara