Sec.

465. Papers required in suits for delinquencies in Post-Office Depart

ment.

466. Auditors may administer oaths. 467. Oaths in settlements with Sixth Auditor.

§ 416. (R. S. § 276.) Auditors.

Sec.

468. Allowance of lost checks.
469. Claims for quartermaster's stores.
470. Claims for subsistence, etc.
471. Allowance and report of claims for
stores and supplies.

There shall be connected with the Department of the Treasury six auditors of accounts, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall be known as the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Auditors, respectively. Each Auditor is entitled to a salary of four thousand dollars a year.

Act Sept. 2, 1789, c. 12, § 1, 1 Stat. 65. Act March 3, 1817, c. 45, §§ 3, 15, 3 Stat. 366, 368. Act July 2, 1836, c. 270, § 8, 5 Stat. 81. Act July 2, 1836, c. 270, § 44, 5 Stat. 89. Act June 8, 1872, c. 335, § 21, 17 Stat. 287. Act March 2, 1799, c. 38, § 1, 1 Stat. 729. Act March 3, 1873, c. 226, § 3, 17 Stat. 508.

Six Deputy Auditors, one in the office of each Auditor, were authorized by the provisions of the sundry civil appropriation act of 1875, relating to the organization of the Treasury Department, Act March 3, 1875, c. 130, § 2, 18 Stat. 396. The Sixth Auditor was designated therein as the Auditor of the Treasury for the Post-Office Department. And authority was given to designate his Deputy, in the name of said Auditor, to sign letters and papers, by a provision of Act March 3, 1891, c. 541, § 1, 26 Stat. 920.

But these provisions were to some extent superseded or rendered inoperative by the subsequent changes in the organization of the Department and the offices therein, and in the system of accounting, by provisions of the Dockery Act of July 31, 1894, c. 174, §§ 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20, 22, 23, post, §§ 417, 420, 425-428, 433, 435-438.

The designations of the Auditors and Deputy Auditors were changed by section 3 of said Dockery Act, post, § 417.

Two Deputy Auditors in the office of the Auditor for the Post-Office Department were provided for by the legislative, executive and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1902, Act March 3, 1901, c. 830, § 1, 31 Stat. 977, and by subsequent similar appropriations until 1911.

But the position of Deputy Auditor was abolished, and the duties and powers thereof are to be exercised by other officers specified, by a provision of Act March 4, 1911, c. 237, § 1, post, § 418.

For the Auditor for the Post-Office Department, appropriations for recent years are $5,000. The provision for the fiscal year 1917 was by Act May 10, 1916, c. 117, § 1, 39 Stat.

All laws or parts of laws inconsistent with rates of salaries or compensation appropriated by the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation acts are repealed, and the rates of salaries or compensation of officers or employés appropriated for in said acts are to constitute the rate of salary or compensation of such officers or employés, respectively, until otherwise fixed by an annual rate of appropriation or other law, by Act July 16, 1914, c. 141, § 6. post, § 3228a.

The officers and employés of the United States whose salaries are appropriated for in the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1916, Act March 4, 1915, c. 141, 38 Stat. 1049, are established and continued from year to year to the extent that they are appropriated for by Congress, by § 6 of said act, post, § 3228b.

Unless otherwise specifically authorized by law, no money appropriated by any act shall be available for payment to any person receiving more than one salary, when the combined amount of said salaries exceeds $2,000 per annum, with certain enumerated exceptions, by Act May 10, 1916, c. 117, § 6, as amended by Act Aug. 29, 1916, c. 417, post, § 3230a.

Notes of

Acts establishing office. The accounting officers of the Treasury, created by the act establishing the Department, Act Sept. 2, 1789, c. 12, 1 Stat. 65, were an Auditor and a Comptroller. Act March 3, 1817, c. 45, 3 Stat. 366, created four additional auditors and one additional comptroller. U. S. v. Gilmore (1868) 7 Wall. 491, 493, 19 L. Ed.

Decisions

282: (1852) 5 Op. Atty. Gen. 630, 632; (1893) 20 Op. Atty. Gen. 677, 679. History of the office of Auditor since 1789 reviewed. (1893) 20 Op. Atty. Gen. 677.

Act July 2, 1836, c. 270, § 8, 5 Stat. 81, created "an Auditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department," who was directed to report both to the

Secretary of the Treasury and the Postmaster General. (1893) 20 Op. Atty. Gen. 677, 680.

Restrictions upon carrying on trade, etc.-The additional Auditors whose appointments were authorized by Act) March 3, 1817, c. 45, § 3, 3 Stat. 366,

were embraced in the prohibitions against carrying on trade, etc., which had been imposed by Act Sept. 2, 1789, c. 12, § 8, incorporated in R. S. § 243, ante, 377, on persons appointed, to any office instituted by said act of 1789. (1847) 4 Op. Atty. Gen. 555.

§ 417. (Act July 31, 1894, c. 174, § 3.) Designations of Auditors, Deputy Auditors, and other subordinates.

The Auditors of the Treasury shall hereafter be designated as follows: The First Auditor as Auditor for the Treasury Department; the Second Auditor as Auditor for the War Department; the Third Auditor as Auditor for the Interior Department; the Fourth Auditor as Auditor for the Navy Department; the Fifth Auditor as Auditor for the State and other Departments; the Sixth Auditor as Auditor for the Post-Office Department. The designations of the deputy auditors and other subordinates shall correspond with those of the Auditors. And each deputy auditor, in addition to the duties now required to be performed by him, shall sign, in the name of the Auditor, such letters and papers as the Auditor may direct. (28 Stat. 205.)

This section was part of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1895, cited above.

Sections 3 to 23 of said act, known as the Dockery Act, contained a series of provisions relating to the organization of the Department and the system of accounting therein, which changed the designations of offices and added to and modified their duties and powers, abolished certain offices and transferred their duties and powers to others, and altered the methods of rendering and settling accounts. These provisions were an important part of the enactments suggested by the Joint Commission of Congress to inquire into and examine the status of the laws organizing the Executive Departments, authorized by Act March 3, 1893, c. 211, 27 Stat. 681. Such of these sections as affect particular officers of the Department are set forth under the chapters and sections of this Title which relate to those officers. Provisions of sections 4, 5, 6, and 9, which relate to the office of the Comptroller, are under the preceding chapter, ante, §§ 400-402, 406, 410, 411. Section 7 and subsequent sections which relate to the settlement of accounts by the Auditors, the rendering of accounts for that purpose, the revision of accounts so settled, and further proceedings thereon, are set forth in this chapter, post, § 417. Provisions of section 10, establishing the Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants, are under chapter 1, ante, § 356. Section 15, requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to make annual reports to Congress of the receipts and expenditures of all public moneys, is under chapter 2, ante, § 388. Section 16, amending R. S. § 307, is incorporated in that section as set forth post, § 481. Section 17, relating to the certification of transcripts from the records, etc., of the Department, as provided by R. S. § 886, is set forth in connection with that section, post, § 1498. Section 18 amended R. S. § 3743 to read as set forth post, § 6894. Section 19, amending R. S. § 2639, is incorporated in that section as set forth post, § 5380. Section 21, relating to accounts pending for settlement at the time of the change in the system of accounting, being temporary only, is omitted. Section 24 provided that sections 3 to 23 should be in force on and after October 1, 1894, and section 25 repealed all inconsistent laws.

So far as this act related to the Auditors and Deputy Auditors, it operated merely as changing their designations and as adding to and modifying their duties and powers, and not as creating new offices; the act so providing by section 9, ante, § 403.

The position of Deputy Auditor, mentioned in this section, was abolished, and the duties and powers thereof are to be exercised by other officers specified, by a provision of Act March 4, 1911, c. 237, § 1, post, § 418.

§ 418. (Act March 4, 1911, c. 237, § 1.) Position of deputy auditor abolished, and duties and powers transferred.

The position of deputy auditor authorized in the offices of the six auditors of the Treasury for the several executive departments and other Government establishments are hereby abolished to take effect on and after July first, nineteen hundred and eleven, and on and after said date the duties and powers theretofore exercised by law by said deputy auditors shall be exercised by the chief clerk and chief of

division in each of said auditor's offices except in the office of the Auditor for the Post Office Department, where such duties and powers shall be exercised by the assistant and chief clerk. (36 Stat. 1190.) This was a provision of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1912, cited above.

§ 419. (R. S. § 277.)

Duties of the Auditors.

The duties of the Auditors shall be as follows:

First. The First Auditor shall receive and examine all accounts accruing in the Treasury Department, all accounts relating to the receipts from customs, including accounts of collectors and other officers of the customs, all accounts accruing on account of salaries in the Patent-Office, all accounts of the judges, marshals, clerks, and other officers, of all the courts of the United States, all accounts of the officer in charge of the public buildings and grounds in the District of Columbia, all accounts of the expenditures of the Department of Agriculture, all accounts relating to prisoners convicted in any court of the United States; and, after examination of such accounts relating to the receipts from customs, including the accounts of collectors and other officers of the customs, he shall certify the balances and transmit the same, with the vouchers and certificates, to the Commissioner of Customs for his decision thereon, and he shall certify the balances of all other accounts, and transmit the same, in like manner, to the First Comptroller for his decision thereon.

Second. The Second Auditor shall receive and examine all accounts relating to the pay and clothing of the Army, the subsistence of officers, bounties, and premiums, military and hospital stores, and the contingent expenses of the War Department, all accounts relating to Indian affairs, and to agents of lead and other mines of the United States; and, after examination of such accounts, he shall certify the balances, and transmit such accounts, with the vouchers and certificate, to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon.

Third. The Third Auditor shall receive and examine all accounts relative to the subsistence of the Army, the Quartermaster's Department, and generally all accounts of the War Department other than those provided for; all accounts relating to pensions for the Army, and all accounts for compensation for the loss of horses and equipments of officers and enlisted men in the military service of the United States, and for the loss of horses and equipments, or of steamboats, and all other means of transportation, in the service of the United States by contract or impressment; and, after the examination of such accounts, he shall certify the balances and shall transmit such accounts, with all the vouchers and papers and the certificate, to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon. Fourth. The President may assign to either the Second or the Third Auditor the settlement of the accounts in the War Department existing at the conclusion of the war of eighteen hundred and twelve.

Fifth. The Fourth Auditor shall receive and examine all accounts accruing in the Navy Department or relative thereto, and all accounts relating to Navy pensions; and, after examination of such accounts, he shall certify the balances, and shall transmit such accounts, with the vouchers and certificate, to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon.

Sixth. The Fifth Auditor shall receive and examine all accounts accruing in or relative to the Department of State, all accounts of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, all accounts relating to the contingent expenses of the Patent-Office, and all accounts relating to the census.

Seventh. The Sixth Auditor shall receive all accounts arising in

the Post-Office Department, or relative thereto, with the vouchers necessary to a correct adjustment thereof, and shall audit and settle the same and certify the balances thereon to the Postmaster-General. He shall keep and preserve all accounts and vouchers after settlement. He shall close the account of the Department quarterly, and transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury quarterly statements of its receipts and expenditures. He shall report to the Postmaster-General, when required to do so, the manner and form of keeping and stating the accounts of the Department, and the official forms of papers to be used in connection with its receipts and expenditures. He shall report to the Postmaster-General all delinquencies of postmasters in rendering their accounts and returns, or in paying over money-order funds and other receipts at their offices. He shall register, charge, and countersign all warrants upon the Treasury for receipts or payments issued by the Postmaster-General, when warranted by law. He shall perform such other duties in relation to the financial concerns of the Department as may be assigned to him by the Secretary of the Treasury, and make to the Secretary or to the Postmaster-General such reports respecting the same as either of them may require.

Act March 3, 1817, c. 45, § 4, 3 Stat. 366. Act March 3, 1849, c. 108, 9 Stat. 395. Act July 20, 1868, c. 176, § 1, 15 Stat. 106. Act March 3, 1849, c. 129, § 3, 9 Stat. 415. Act July 28, 1866, c. 297, § 8, 14 Stat. 327. Act June 30, 1864, c. 173, § 2, 13 Stat. 223. Act June 8, 1872, c. 335, § 22, 17 Stat. 287. The system of accounting in the Department prescribed by the Revised Statutes was greatly changed by several statutes relating thereto, particularly as to the mode of rendering accounts to the officers of the Department, the distribution of accounts among the Auditors and their duties in regard thereto as prescribed by this section, and the further proceedings after settlement of accounts by the Auditors. The provisions of this section were, to a great extent, superseded or modified by the subsequent enactments set forth below; particularly by Act March 29, 1894, c. 49, post, §§ 439-442, and various sections of the Dockery Act of July 31, 1894, c. 174, post, §§ 420, 425-428, 433, 435-438.

A direction to the Commissioner of Agriculture to account and report to the proper accounting officers of the Treasury, in the same manner and at the same times as the heads of executive departments, contained in Act June 16, 1880, c. 252, § 2, 21 Stat. 296, and repeated in Act March 3, 1881, c. 129, § 2, 21 Stat. 385, may be regarded as superseded by the change of the Department of Agriculture to an executive department, by Act Feb. 9, 1889, c. 122, post, $$ 789-792, and the provision for examination of accounts of the Secretary and of the Department by the Auditor for the State and other Departments, in the Dockery Act of July 31, 1894, c. 174, § 7, post, § 420.

A provision as to the construction of subdivision second of the above section, as to claims for arrears of pay and bounty, made by Act July 16, 1892, c. 196, § 1, is set forth post, § 450.

Provisions for compensation for loss of horses and equipments and of steamboats and other means of transportation, accounts for which are provided for by subdivision 3 of this section, were made by R. S. §§ 3482-3488, post, §§ 6390-6401.

Decisions

16. Powers and duties of Comptrollers as to accounts transmitted by Auditors under this section.

17. Effect of decision of Comptroller upon other accounting officers.

18. Scope of duties of Auditors under this section.

19. Effect of settlement of account upon rights of parties.

20. Opening and re-examination by accounting officers of accounts and claims settled by them.

21. Conclusiveness of balances certified by accounting officers on executive branch government.

22. Statement of account not an award of arbitrators.

23. Recovery back of money paid on settlement of account.