Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-05-11
MOT AN EASY JOB.
Many and Arduous Duties of the Secre-
tary of tho Treasury.

hAn3 una ArouOuS Duties OF the SeCre-
tary of tho Treasury.
The position of secretary of the treas
ury is one of work in several different
lines. The word treasury, says Kate
Foote in the Independent, makes
one think only cf the millions in the
vaults. But the departments under the
treasury roof are numerous. They are
those of the supervising architect, the
bureau of engraving and printing-that
IS where I'll our notes, bonds and GER
tlhcatcs and revenue and custom stamps
arc printed; the secret service division
they watch out" for countcrfciterS and
smugglers; the office of steamboat in
spection. the bureau of statistics, the
lnc-saving service, the comptrollcr's
Offices, the commissioner of customs,
the register of the treasury, who is
the bOolIlSecpcr Of the United States,
and who has to know how every dollar
of the public money is spent or else
ccmcto grief. Then there arc six aud
itcrsr who help the register keep his
eyes on all the claims and accounts that
como to the treasury and the treasurer
OF the United States, who, with his
CLERKS, receipts and pays out money to
BANKS and keeps their bondSL The
comptroller of the currency has the
organization of our national banks and
the redemption and destruction CT notes
that are worn out and dcfaced, as well
as the issue and preparation Of the
national bank circulation The COM
missioner of internal revenue. who at
tends to our internal revenue taxes
and matters pertaining to distil-
lar.tnc ,G,
sinners" of North Carolina swear
at when sudden raid from
some unexpected quarter is made
| upon their illicit distillcrics Of
whisky The dircctor.of the mint. at
tcnds to these little mint drops, our
| gold dollars, and estimates the value of
tho coin of foreign countries. Thv bu-
rcau of navigation tries to keep us
! from being blown up by reckless steam
| boat owners, who Tor filthy lucrc would
| send us to sea in ill-iitting vessels. The
! Ii !hthoazse boaId tries to keep us off the
| rocks and shoals when wc have gone to-
! sea in the vessels that tho inspector OF
! steam vessels says are safe, and the re-
! ports of this board and the lights they
| SET up along our coast are very interest
! ing SUBJECTS to- q great many hundred
miles OF coast, both on salt water and
| fresh water. L am told that there is q
| lighthouse away up in Like Michigan
| whGre the mem are shut in for six
months. The weather is such that they
cannot get away and the inspcctGr says:
''Wc invariably find wlfcn we go up
,hcrc in the spring that they have quar-
'elcd and will not speak. Ono lives on
Il
arc atloggcrheads. The long isolation
is too much for human nature. They
get frightfully tired of each other and
always quarrel sooner or later" The
coast and Geodctic survey give fine
maps and the ra;Irinc hospital service
has DR.. Billings at its head. There are
twenty-four divisions in the treasury,
each requiring its own. arrangements
for working its set Of clerks and head
of each division who knows whGt nc IS
about. 1t is a very perfect machinery
in spite Of it's complications, and the
perfection OF It's working IS shown in
the. old, true story, that the accounts
were found to- be three cents behind
and there was great stir and excite.
ment. The three cents were found at
last upon tho floor in one of the vaults
and peace settled once more upon the
boundaries of Uncle Sam within the
treasury.
The moral of this is that q man who
is secretary of the treasury has not only
position Of great responsibility, but
he has it.in a multiplied forml All the
twenty-four divisions require separate
sort Of knowledge, although they flow
into each other in a great final