prisoner in the hands of the enemy, or by any accident or casualty of war. (R. S., § 278.)

573. He is authorized to detail a clerk to sign in his stead all certificates and papers issued under any provision of law relating to bounties, and he is held by law responsible for the official acts of the clerk assigned to such duty. (R. S., § 279.)

574. He is required, within the limits of the business assigned him by law, to keep accounts of the receipts and expenditures of the public moneys in regard to the War Department, and of debts due to the United States or moneys advanced relative to that department; also to receive from the Second Comptroller the accounts finally adjusted, and to preserve them, with their vouchers and certificates. He is required annually, on the first Monday of November, to report to the Secretary of the Treasury the application of the money appropriated for the War Department; also to make such reports on the business assigned him as the Secretary of War may demand; also to record all requi sitions drawn by the Secretary of War relating to the expenditures of his department, the accounts of which are subject to adjustment by the Second Auditor. (R. S., § 283.)

The accounts coming within the province of this officer are hereinafter described in connection with the Bookkeeper's Division of his office.

575. The immediate subordinate officer to the Second Auditor is the Deputy Second Auditor, whose duties are assigned him by the head of the office. He acts in the place of the Auditor during sickness or absence, or when a vacancy occurs.

Five chiefs of division constitute the principal force of the office of the Second Auditor. Numerous clerks of the several classes are provided by law for the transaction of the details of the business thereof.

576. The divisions into which the office is organized are as follow:

1. Book-keeper's Division.

2. Paymaster's Division.

3. Indian Division.

4. Pay and Bounty Division.

5. Division for the Investigation of Fraud. 6. Property Division.

7. Division of Correspondence and Records. 8. Archives Division.

9. Miscellaneous Division.

I. BOOK-KEEPER'S DIVISION.

577. In this division all settlements of accounts made in the office are entered, embracing the following objects of disbursement: For pay of the army; recruiting, ordnance, medical; contingencies of the army and the Adju tant-General's Department; Soldiers' Home; charges and credits to officers for overpayments, refunds, &c.; arrears of pay; proceeds of Government property; freedmen's branch of the Adjutant-General's office; transfers to credit of disbursing officers on Third Auditor's books; Indian disbursements; miscellaneous; war claims and Indian claims. 578. This division issues certificates of non-indebtedness to officers of the army.

The accounts kept in this division are classified as Paymaster's, Indian, and Miscellaneous.

The first comprises the disbursing accounts of army paymasters.

The second class, the money accounts of superintendents of Indian affairs, Indian inspectors, Indian and special agents, and the Indian accounts of the disbursing clerk of the Department of the Interior; also the claims of Indian contractors and employees for goods supplied and services rendered at the various Indian agencies.

The third class, the disbursing accounts of officers of the Medical and Ordnance Departments; of recruiting officers; Assistant Adjutants-General disbursing the contingent fund of the War Department; officers paying bounties and arrears of pay to colored soldiers or their heirs; the disburs ing clerk of the War Department, making payments from the appropriations for contingencies of the army, for medals of honor, for publication of official records of the war of the rebellion of 1861, and for the medical and surgical history and statistics; and the accounts of engineer officers and quartermasters disbursing funds from the appropriation for contingencies of the army; also charges and credits to officers and enlisted men for overpayments, double payments, refunds, &c.

579. This division also registers, journalizes, and posts all requisitions relating to these particular subjects of accounts for advance of moneys to disbursing officers, and for amounts found due individuals on settlements; also all requisitions for warrants to cover moneys in the Treasury which have been deposited by officers whose accounts are the subject of examination in this office; also all transfer and counter requisitions.

580. This division also prepares transcripts of accounts for suit in court, according to the provisions of section 886 of the Revised Statutes, and registers bonds of disbursing officers whose accounts are subject to examination by the Second Auditor.

II. PAYMASTER'S DIVISION.

581. In this division all paymasters' accounts for pay of the army are audited, and reported to the Second Comptroller for revision. These accounts are received from the Paymaster-General's office, where they first undergo an administrative examination.

III. INDIAN DIVISION.

582. In this division are audited and transmitted to the Second Comptroller for final revision all accounts of superintendents of Indian affairs, Indian agents, and other disbursing officers of the Indian Bureau. These accounts first undergo an administrative examination in the office of Indian affairs of the Department of the Interior.

IV. PAY AND BOUNTY DIVISION.

583. In this division all claims are settled for soldiers' back pay, or arrears of pay, or bounty, and for additional bounty under the acts of July 28, 1866, and April 22, 1872; claims of colored soldiers for arrears of pay and bounty, and for bounty under act of March 3, 1873.

V. DIVISION FOR INVESTIGATION OF FRAUDS.

584. This division examines all cases of wrongful or fraudulent receipt of moneys on paymasters' checks and vouchers which are brought to the notice of the Auditor; all attempted or accomplished frauds in the settlement of claims in this office, involving perjury, forgery, or unlawful withholding of moneys collected from the Government.

Ab

Each case is here taken up and investigated, by reference to the papers and rolls in the office and in the War Department, as also by personal examination of parties interested, and from information obtained from other sources. stracts of facts are prepared, and cases are made up, when judicial action is required, for the attention of the Solicitor of the Treasury, to the end that offenders may be prose cuted, or that the moneys wrongfully obtained may be recovered.

VI. PROPERTY DIVISION.

585. This division settles accounts of officers of the army for clothing, camp and garrison equipage, and performs other duties of a miscellaneous character. It also examines the settlements on file in the office relating to officers' accountability for property, for the issue of certificates of non-indebtedness.

VII. INQUIRIES AND REPLIES.

586. This division answers, from an examination of the rolls and papers pertaining to the accounts on file, all inquiries made by the Adjutant, Paymaster, Quartermaster, and Commissary Generals of the Army, the Commissioner of Pensions, the Third and Fourth Auditors, and other officers respecting those accounts. It prepares certificates from the muster and pay rolls of the army to the AdjutantGeneral, the Third Auditor, and other officers, which are required frequently in the transaction of business in their respective offices, or in the interest of army officers, or of other persons.

VIII. CORRESPONDENCE AND RECORDS.

587. This division receives, notes, and refers the correspondence of the office; registers the claims received; receives, examines, registers, and mails or otherwise disposes of pay and bounty certificates. It also receives, records, and indexes the letters written by the office, and performs other miscellaneous duties respecting the correspondence of the office.

XI. ARCHIVES DIVISION.

588. The Archives Division receives and files all accounts which have been settled in the office, and attends to