Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-09-14
LEDGERS OF THE NATION.
Alexander HamiltOn's System of Book
keeping Still in Use.
Correspondence Of tie Korn5n0 Neaos.

S "9NCU -ui' n - EIOyu, one OF TN
experts employed there, about the earl
/ bookkeeping of the government. He re
| piled: Il have most of the first ledger
Kept by the government in my possession
but unfortunately there is not complete
set. When the British troops burned
Washington, there were some six volume
destroyed. The first ledger was, however
by some means saved. 1t is as clear ant
bright now as when first written. B,
the way, it is an interesting fact to not,
that the sy stem of bookkeeping is now thu
same as that introduced by Alexander
Hamilton, the first Secretary of the
Treasury. 1t is simple, and admirably
meets all the requirements of the business
OF this office. This is big and growing
| country, but it has not outgroWn Alex
ander HamiltOn's system of Bookkeeping
Many OF the terms used are peculiar. A
Do0kkeeper of commercial house would
be all at sea the moment he undertook tC
understand the entries and balances But
to those accustomed to it it is plair
enough. | can let you examine the first
ledger of the United States if YOU
like to- Mr.. Floyd brought down
a bulky volume of 419 pages
The writing in it was elegant and
CANNNAhAs AbC lCIbCIS lOOhCu Ilk6
copy-plate, and the ink was as black as
though it was from the inkstand but YES
terday. The first account was opened
April l6, l776, with James Warren, Paw.
master General. Then follows the ac-
count with David G. ClaypOle, 'Prnter
TO Congress" a few pages further on |
noticed the account of ''JOhn Riddle
Isaac Howell, Peter Thomson, Isaac
snowden, and Nathaniel Falconer, In
spectOrs of we Press The figures show
that they received $155,O3O 10, March I'd.
1873, for their services.
JOHN ADAMS NAME
appears. Under date of June eth, 1880.
he drew $2,4 30, as the Commissioned
OF the United states for negotiating peace
with Great Britain" The account OF
General George Washington was
opened June 9th, 1776, and closed June
18th, 1884. Hedrew in all from the public
treasury $l94,S70 "a. '"rhe saltpetre COM
mlttee" also has place, but its demands
were very modest. 1t was paid but
$5S6 II. Next comes the "cloathing ac-
count;" from December 9TH, 1881, to April
I'D, l195 The ledger shows that under it
S94S,56O 80 were expended. ''The secret
committee from June 9th, 1176, to NOvem-
Der 18th, 1875, drew $2,0S2, sos j51%. 'The
Massachusetts Bay Colony" opened an
account June 9th, 1776. Later on it
is designated as the 81 State of Massachu-
setts Bay" 1t received various sums
amounting in all to $4,S11, ,205 90. There
are several entries on the account of Ben
jamin Franklin and Samuel Chase from
June 9th, 1776, to October 25th of the same
year. Those two patriots received jointly
during that time $3.50. The account of
the Georgia colony was opened June 9th,
1776, and closed May 18th, 1I79. The col
Ony received s., $50, ,427. The South Caro-
lima delegates in Congress were paid
$4,000 from June 9th, 1916, to July 23d
lI1. George Bond, who is given the title
OF Deputy Secretary of Congress- drew
from November 9th, 1873, to February 9th,
1880, $l2,5S0. Richard Phillips, who is
called steward to the President of Con-
gress," was paid $33,673 80 from January
Sth, 1873, to February 7th, 1850. Various
Generals of the revolutionary period got
sums ranging from $4,000 to $293,6 A
good deal of this money was for extra
services. Baron DeKalb got S22S,550
from August 18th, l777, to December 3lst,
1882. Baron Steuben had $15j,6S0 from
July 10th, 177S, to April 18th, 1880. They
had lotteries in those days as well as
now. An entry in the ledger says
that the ''managers of the United States
Publick Lottery" received from April 80,
II7S, to March 81, 1885, the sum of 81, 443,-
II,
ing what were the receipts from that en-
terprise. For the scare of prisoners
from February 13, 1777, to May 81, 1874,
there were expended $54,0S9 Is. Under
date of June -, 1884, there appears sim
gle item entitled ''IIousehOld expenses Of
the COmmander-in-Chief, General Wash
ingtOn." The amount drawn is $l3l ,607
56.
''HON. JOHN HANCOCK, ESQUIRE,
President of Congress-" drew from
the Treasury the sum of s., 1872 80 on the
10Th day of August, 1777. There is vet
due him for certain expenses the sum of
Sll7. This has never been claimed. but
his heirs can have it now by making the
proper application. From February IA,
1872, to November 6, 1872, there were paid
to ''RObert Lamb, Deputy Commissioner
of Hides at Boston, the sum of $11 900.
Benjamin Franklin, Minister PlenipOten-
tiary for the United States to the Court of
France, was paid $649, 80 for ex-
penses. That wise man, it will be
thus @seen, cost the government
something, even if he would not appear
before the King i'm court suit, nor do
what is now called ''slinging style"
All the vouchers, which would explain
more fully for what the above and other
payments recorded in the ledger were in
CURED, were destroyed when the British
occupied Washington. Doubtless they
would prove very interesting. The gen.
eral idea which one gets from looking
over the first public government ledger is
that human nature is the same now
as it ever was. Our sturdy fore
fathers were not any more averse to
money that came from the public purse
than are the eminent statesmen of to-day,
provided they got it illegally. In the pro-
vision lies the difference between the old
and many of the latter day statesmen.
MR.. A. E. BATEMAN,
the banker, of this city, has a number of
customers who move high in diplomatic
circles. Some Of them are inclined to
speculation in stocks. Acting upon
pointers and ''inside infOrmatiOn'' they
get badly bitten, like many
others who fool with Wall street
The other day member of the Austrian
Legation called at Mr.. Bateman's office.
He talked awhile with dOleful face. and
then said: ~ do not think / will take
any more of what you call the 'fyers.'"
"Why nOtY asked Bateman.
"Well,'' was the reply, ''when | invest
my money in speculation, and the stocks
advance, you say just look aU the profits.
what strong, healthy market it isp But
when stocks go down, what do you say?
\ on look me calmly in the eye, and tell
me 1T is only healthy reaction Be
tween the profits, the healthy reaction
and the worry, | find at the end of the
year that l have lost much money!"
Mr.. Phillips, the Presidents Private
Secretary, was asked by your correspon.
lent to-day if it were true that Colonel
sheridan is going to write a book about
the Presidents recent Western trip. 1t
has been pretty widely printed that such
a volume was i'll preparation by that
officer, at the request of the President.
Mr.. Phillips said that of course there
would be no book written about the trip.
He said that the President had
read the report to which |
called attention, and had laughed
at it heartily. ''The very idea is absurd.
If course" continued Mr.. Phillips. '"The
President took pleasant trip out West.
and that ends it, He is not The kind of a
man who wants his cOmings and gOings
fully detailed even in the daily papers.
How ridiculous it is, therefore, for anv
lne to believe that he desires TO have a
book written about a little trip that he
mas made across the continent for health
and pleasure. Such a thing is too nm
republican for the President to even think
about"
A TRIP TO THE EyERGLADEs.
The Route and Plans ofthe New Orleans
"Times-DemOcrat's" Expedition.
New ORLEANS, Sept 13.-The Times