Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-14
W. F. MACLENNAN IS DEAD
WAS ONE OF THE ABLEST OF
TREASURY OFFICIALS.
Had Charge Of the Elaborate Book
keeping System-Services
Noted by Congress.

William F. MacLennan, chief of the
bookkeeping and warrants division Of the
Treasury Department. died at o'clock
this morning at his apartments in the
Toronto, following an operation for can
Ger of the mouth
In his death the Treasury Department
loses one of the most noted OF its offi-
Gals. the man who for years supervised
the great system OF bookkeeping by which
account is kept of every dollar received
and expended by the government. He
had held the position many years and
was held in the highest confidence by
every Secretary of the Treasury under
whom he served.
Charles D. Norton. acting secretary OF
the Treasury. paid him high compii-
ment today i'm the following statement:
Mr.. MacLennan was great bureau
chief. whose valuable services had been
recognized by overy one connected with
the fiscal bureaus of the Treasury for the
past thirty years He was taken i'll
shortly after Secretary MacNeagh came
to Washington. but not before the Secre-
tary had come to have the highest conf
dence in and regard for him. His faci-
ity for figures was remarkable. He was
the main reliance OF successive admins
trationS in the matter of making up the
annual estimates for the Treasury and
other departments.
when the Dockery commission In 1Ss'
reorganized the Treasury Department,
Mr.. MacLennan's services made him
marked man. His services were repeat
eddy sought for important positions In
private business. but he preferred to re-
main on small salary at the head of
his division, because he cared for his
work. He was one of the many men or
marked ability who occupy comparatively
obscure government positions. and whose
real value is too little appreciated by the
public at large"
Named by Congress.
Mr.. MacLennan was one of the few
employees of the government whose name
was carried In each appropriation bill with
the amount of his salary. His valuable
services to the government were thus
recognized in Congress as well as in the
Treasury Department
His work I'm aiding the Dockery COM
mission in recognizing certain bureaus
OF the government in 1SaS resulted in the
abolition of the offices of commissioner of
customs and second controller of the cur
rency, the work of these offices being
distributed elsewhere.
In May. 1903, Mr.. MacLennan was sent
to Honolulu to settle and arrange for pay
ing off the public debt of Hawaii. He
went there again in 1909 to liquidate
claims for fire losses sustained In combat
ing the bubonic plague in 1879 and 1900.
the United States having undertaken The
payment of such claims to the amount Of
81 0o0.OU.
Native of Connecticut.
Mr.. McLennan was born in Connecti-
cut in 1887 and was a veteran of the civil
war. He entered the Treasury Depart
ment shortly after the war and rose la
be chief of the bookkeeping and warrants
division. He was man of reserved
Ina bits and few words. He leaves a widow
and two daughters, Mrs Marcia Hancock.
wife of Lieut. Hancock of the Coast Ar
tillery. and Miss Margaret MACEDONIAN.
The funeral services will take place Mon
day afternoon at . o'clock in the apart
ments of the family at the Toronto and
the interment will take place in Rock
Creek cemetery