Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-04-05
OBJECT TO TRANSFER
Treasury Officials Oppose In
clusion in New Department.
TOO M ANY BUREAUS
CUSTOMS SERVICE SHOULD BE
LEFT INTACT.
Assistant Secretary Spaulding and
Several Subordinates Testify Be-
fore House Committee.

A number of officials of the Treasury De-
partment appeared before the House com
nlittee on commerce today and argued
against having certain bureaus in that de-
paftment transferred to the proposed new
department of commerce.
Assistant Secretary Spaulding told the
committee that the proposed department of
commerce bill would be harmful to the .ex-
cellent workings of a number of bureaus in
the Treasury Department which it is de-
signed to lift out bodily from that depart
ment." As an instance, he said, it would
make the collectors of customs subordinate
to two departments.
Speaking of the navigation bureau, he
SAID ne understood it was the desire to
disconnect in this bill the revenue functions
OF the government with the commerce
1unct1ons-the navigation bureau, he MAIN
tanned, was revenue bureau. If placed in
the new department it would result in de-
lays to shipping, as it has largely to do
with collectors of customs, and a double set
of orders would have to be issued.
Several Bureaus Affected.
Quarantine would be affected Cases have
occurred where the quarantine officer has
held one view and the collector of the GUS
toms another, and the matter has to be
settled by the Secretary of the Treasury.
A "double-headed' administration would
not make this possible
The steamboat inspection service would
also have dual head, as would the depart
ment of statistics. On the latter subject
he said if the Treasury Department had to
collect its own statistics and would have
to continue notwithstanding what the new
department might do, this, he believed
would only result in a double set of statis-
tics.
But what I especially want to empha-
SIZE concluded General Spauding, lis that
the collector of customs should be entirely
and absolutely under the control of the
treasury Department. and that any divi-
sion OF its bureaus will work harm to the
service
navigation, was also heard. He said the
chief difficulty he believed in transferring
his bureau would be that of administration.
For instance, the customs would be collect
ed by the treasury and the tonnage tax by
his bureau under the new department This
would complicate matters. His bureau has
about twenty clerks, and the bill transfers
the whole bureau bodily to the new de-
partment.
Problems of Administration.
Mr.. Chamberlain made the point that
while his bureau was transferred, the au-
thority over many matters attended to by
his bureau was left by the bill in the Sec
retary of the Treasury. This was the case
with the other bureaus Of the treasury to
be transferred. The result would be that
the Secretary of the Treasury would have
to get new men to do this work. In his
opinion to transfer this jurisdiction would
be detriment rather than an advantage
to commerce.
The bureau of navigation, he said, dealt
primarily with the ship and the crew, while
the cargo came under the collector of GUS
TOMS This illustration, he said would
show at once that to divide the functions
under two executive heads would result
disastrously. To be successful the new de-
partment should take jurisdiction of all
functions relating to commerce From the
beginning, he said, the Treasury Depart
ment had been a department of commerce
In reality, as well as the treasury of the
United States.