Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1889-10-25
TREASURY WORK.
HOW MONEY Is DISBURSED BY
THE UNITED STATES.
The Method of Making Payments
Out of Uncle Sans Big Cash
Box Observation-Disclosures
and Postal Moneys

When Congress has authorized pay
ment for any purpose the Secretary
promptly advises the Register thereof,
and directs him to make an entry of the
amount on his books under proper head
ing, that it may be drawn against as
needed. This done, the Treasury is
ready to pay any claimant the sum due
him out of this appropriation, and if the
Comptroller has received from the Audi
tor, approved and in proper form, a
claim made thereon, he will, if he sees
no objection to paying it, ask the Secre-
tary to issue his warrant upon the Treas
urer in favor of the claimant for the
amount stated. A warrant will conse-
quently issue, but it will first 90 to the
Comptroller, that he may minute it on the
account, then to the Register, who will
charge the amount to the claimant and to
the proper appropriation, enter it in the
general account of expenditure under the
proper classification, then send it to the
Treasurer, who will pay the claimant as
directed, obtaining his receipt therefor
on the warrant, or on check issued in
his favor, and then send warrant and re-
ceipt to the Auditor as a credit voucher
for moneys paid out. Thus this pay
warrant, like the covering warrant, be-
comes the authority for the needed en-
tries of the amount, and ends its course,
as did the covering warrant, by becom-
ing a credit voucher in an account of
moneys paid
The number of warrants issued annu-
ally is about 5000, and to prepare,
sign and properly examine and enter
them involves no little clerical labor.
But to pay every public creditor in this
way would require millions of warrants in
stead of thousands, and to avoid such labor
and consequent delay moneys are drawn
in bulk upon warrant in favor of some
disbursing officer, and placed in his hands
to distribute among the claimants upon
their receipt therefor. As a guarantee,
however, the disburser is required to
give a bond, with sureties, to the Comp
troller, for the proper disposition of the
money. Although in this way the claim
ant gets his money without delay, the
Treasury relaXes no vigilance in its scru-
tiny of the payment, and if voucher
rendered is found insufficient in any way,
its amount is disallowed, and the officer,
or his bondsmen, must make good any
loss the Government has sustained through
the unfortunate transaction.
OF what payments the officers can
properly make, the Auditor is advised
by law, regulations or by other sources
independent of the disbursing officer,
and there is no escape from his vigilance.
If payments have been made to the army,
the Auditor has been furnished with the
muster-rolls; if to pensioners, with list
of pension certificates issued; if to con-
tractor for constructing IA building or
war vessel, with a copy of all contracts
and agreements pertaining to the matter;
and f the disbursing officer does not
keep himself equally as well informed as
to the law and regulations governing the
disbursement as does the Auditor, he will
quite likely some day pay dearly for his
ignorance. Every year 5000, 900 of
these vouchers are received at the Treas
ury, and in case of pay-rolls, hundreds
Of names are sometimes upon one vouch-
er. Every item is, however, subjected
to searching inquiry as to its correct
ness in every respect, and to avoid posi-
BILE chances of wrong, the Comptroller as
we'll as the Auditor examines the vouch-
ers, thus duplicating the work; yet every
item is passed on, the circulations neces-
sary are verified, and the work completed
i'll uuc iiDlc Nv Il ScCllOH VI thc tlcIhS per
tanning to the Treasury.
Then four times every year the fifty
thousand holders of the public debt want
the interest due them. The Register has
a record of these bondholders, where they
live and how much each one holds. He
therefore, by the direction of the Secre-
tary, sends a schedule of them, near the
close of each quarter, to the Treasurer,
who, by same direction, draws a check in
favor of each holder for the amount due,
payable at the New York or other Sub
Treasury Office. Then puts the fifty
thousand checks into the same number of
envelopes and sends them by mail to
their respective owners. When paid,
these checks are returned to the Treas
urer, Cancelled, and he wants credit for
Al. = L.. a.