ment. These are of a very important and engrossing character, affecting questions arising in the administration of the Treasury and requiring legal consideration.

1017. In the consideration of these questions, and of others to which attention may be directed in connection with the numerous pending suits, the office of the Solicitor of the Treasury has, in addition to the head of the office, the Assistant, and other gentlemen trained to the profession of the law, the aid of a well-selected law library, comprising six thousand volumes, embracing nearly all the standard text-books and the law reports of United States and of State courts, as well as the statutes of the several States.

1018. The Secret Service Division has also been placed under the general supervision of the Solicitor. It is actu ally a division of the office of the Secretary of the Treas A reference to its duties has been made, more approury. priately, perhaps, in connection with the other divisions of that office.

1019. It has been a custom of long standing to refer to the Solicitor many of the cases for remission of fines, penalties, and forfeitures under the customs laws. These cases are often very voluminous, as regards the testimony of witnesses and statement of fact of the district judge. Such a reference calls for a report advising the Secretary whether, upon the facts and evidence presented, it may be reasonably concluded that the person who has incurred the fine, penalty, or forfeiture, so incurred the same without willful negligence or intention of fraud; for, upon being satisfied upon these points, the Secretary is authorized by statute to remit such fine, penalty, or forfeiture. The references of cases of this character originate in the Navigation Division of the Secretary's office.

1020. It has been customary also for the Secretary to refer to the Solicitor of the Treasury, for expression of his

opinion, questions arising in the administration of the customs laws. Many of these involve the construction to be given to the tariff acts; and as these acts are among the most complex subjects of legislation, the examinations of the cases submitted require often the most laborious and exhaustive research in their treatment.

1021. It has been customary also to refer for the examination of the Solicitor all official bonds of Treasury officers, besides the various contracts, contractors' bonds, and other legal instruments. In this regard the office of the Solicitor is frequently called upon to draft legal instruments of varying character. These and the former, from their great number, occupy a large share of the time and attention of the office. The official bonds subject by law to the approval of the Solicitor are only those of Assistant Treasurers of the United States, collectors of internal revenue, disbursing clerks of the several departments, and of the Commissioner and Chief Clerk of the Department of Agriculture.

1022. An important and responsible duty, and often a delicate one, is imposed by law upon the Solicitor in the matter of proposals for a compromise of claims of the United States. The section of the Revised Statutes authorizing such compromise has been before cited, in referring to the specific statutory duties of that officer. In accordance with an opinion of the Attorney-General, judgments 'in internal-revenue suits are embraced under the general description of claims, and are subjects of compromise under this section. An offer of compromise is generally made in the form of a petition or application either to the United States attorney in charge of the claim, to the Solicitor of the Treasury, or to the Secretary of the Treasury. By law the concurrence of all these officers is required before a claim can be compromised. It must first have the favor

abie recommendation of the United States attorney, then the concurrence therein of the Solicitor, and finally the approval of the Secretary, who may then direct the Sol icitor to cause the proposed compromise to be carried into effect. It is required of the United States attorney, when he reports in favor of a compromise, that he state fully the facts and circumstances, the pecuniary situation of the debtor, the probabilities of recovery of judgment, or, if in judgment, of the collection of the same on execution; and, in a word, that he state the grounds upon which he deems a compromise advisable in a given case. For it has been held in the Solicitor's office as an inflexible rule of action in compromise cases, that the enactment authoriz ing a compromise was made in the interests of the United States, and is to be construed entirely with reference to expediency on the part of the Government in the present acceptance of a part of the claim, instead of risking the entire amount through uncertainty in obtaining judgment, or by reason of the known or probable insolvency of the parties indebted.

1023. The regulations which the Solicitor has issued by authority of law require district attorneys and clerks of courts to report, on blanks supplied them for the purpose, the commencement of suits immediately after process shall be issued, and the proceedings at each term of the court in all pending cases. Those regulations also require of district attorneys a statement on the first of October annually of all suits commenced, pending, and determined, and the proceedings therein within their respective districts during the fiscal year next preceding, classifying such suits according to their designation of Treasury transcript; fines, penalties, and forfeitures under customs and navigation laws; custom-house bond; collectors or those against customs officers for acts committed or for refund of moneys exacted; fines, &c., under postal laws; and miscellaneous.

1024. District attorneys are charged to press suits to judgment at the earliest day practicable and consistent with the public interests; to refrain from a continuance or suspension of proceedings, from giving consent to dismissal, or from the entry of a judgment for a less sum than is claimed by the United States, unless specifically instructed. They are charged also to place executions in the hands of marshals as soon after judgment as practicable, and to take prompt and efficient measures to enforce satisfaction. They are prohibited from receiving payment of any debt due the United States when not specially directed by law or by the Solicitor of the Treasury.

1025. They, as well as marshals and clerks of United States courts, are directed by special regulations addressed to each in a manner calculated to secure, from time to time, full and prompt reports concerning suits, so that the dockets of this office may at all times show the situation of any case in charge of the Solicitor of the Treasury. These regulations are designed also to secure from them the most efficient aid in the recovery of all indebtedness to the United States in suit or in judgment.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY.

1026. The Department of the Navy was not established until April 30, 1798. Previously the Secretary of War had charge of matters relating both to the land and naval forces.

The head of the department is the Secretary of the Navy. As in the other executive departments, there is a Chief Clerk to supervise the clerical business.

1027. It is provided also that the business shall be distributed among the following-named bureaus :

1. Yards and Docks.

2. Equipment and Recruiting.

3. Construction and Repairs.

4. Steam Engineering.

5. Navigation, including a Hydrographic Office. 6. Ordnance.

7. Provisions and Clothing.

8. Medicine and Surgery.

Each of these bureaus has a chief, whose appointment is to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from certain selected classes of officers named in the statutes, or from officers having the relative rank of captain in the staff corps of the navy on the active list.

1028. The Chiefs of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting, of the Bureau of Navigation, and of the Bureau of Ordnance must be appointed from the list of naval officers not below the grade of commander.