New-York tribune. [volume], January 21, 1912, Page 5, Image 19

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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Enormous Growth of Uncle Sam's Treasury Index to the Nation's Progress
Started with Three Rooms and
a Dozen Employes; Now Has
$8,000,000 Building
Housing 3,800 People.
(Copyrlpht. lilt, by Thavis A Colman.)
TO trace the grovt-th and extension of
the Treaspry Darrpartment of the
Vnited States is to tell in brief
but graphic terms the marvellous finan?
cial, commercial and industrial growth
and progress of the nation, for th>
Treasury Department Is Intimately con?
nected with the industries of the coun?
try. The department er, now constituted
was organized under an act of Congress
approved September 2, 1789. Under t..e
confederate t-ystem of government which
followed the conclusion of peace with Great
Britain we practically had no Treasury De?
partment?In fact, there was little neei?! for
?urh an institution, for th? ?""ontlnental Con
fress had ni power to levy and ?-oiw-t
taxes of any kind. For means to support
the small regular army necessary to hold
the Indians in check, to defray the expenses
of our few foreign embassies and ?of the
Congress Itself it had to depend upon the
Toluntary contribution of the states, and
thoF> contributions were irregular and fre?
quently grudgingly given. The result of
this was that when, in March. 1789. the
new Kovernment assumed control thene was
flnar.cial chaos and Coiyrress had an empty
treasury.
The act establishing the department pro
Tided that it should consist of a secretary,
an assistant to the secretary, a Controller. !
an auditor, a treasurer and a register. No
provision was made in the act for a clerical
force. Never were more onerous duties
placed on the head of a department of the
government than those placed on the first
f-ecrc-tary of the Treasury. He was com?
missioned to support the public credit and
evolve a revenue system, provide the meth?
ods of collecting that revenue and devise a
lyatem of keeping the accounts of the gov?
ernment. He was to be not merely an ad?
ministrative head, but to be a minister of
finance.
No man better fitted for the task could
have been found than the one selected by
President Washington. As has been said of
him: "He touched the dead corpse of the
publio credit s>nd it sprang upon Its feet;
he smote the rock of the nation's resources
and sbundant streams of revenue gushed
forth." He evolv??d a system of federal
revenue that has been followed, with only a
few minor changes, to this day. In his
system of Internal revenue was included a
tax on carriages. This created an intense
opposition, and was finally determined in
the courts, the contention of the opponents
being that It was in the nature of a direct
tax, hence forbidden by the Constitution.
The Supreme Court sustained the constitu?
tionality of the tax, and the fight was
transferred to the floor of Congress, where
several attempts were made to amend the
Constitution so as to define definitely what
constituted direct taxes. The contest was
ended by rer-?aling the law, or rather by
striking from the list the tax on carriages.
Now we have a tax on corporations, that
being about the only difference in our pres?
ent internal revenue system and that under
Hamilton after the carriage tax was elimi?
nated.
While the seat of the government was in
New York and Philadelphia the Treasury
Department occupied two or three rooms In
a rented building. It was not until mid?
summer of 1800. when the government was
removed to Washington, that the depart?
ment had a home of its own. It was a
very modest home, erected at a cost of
about $3,000, but the department at that
Um? was a very modest affair, consisting of
?Bly twelve persons. This new home was
? wooden building designed by George Hat
field, an English architect. It had two
stories and an attic, the two stories being
divided Into eight rooms, each room having
b Uirge fireplace, where in cold weather
burned fires of huge logs cut in the forest
btt by.
fimall as this building was, it was capa?
cious enough to bouse the entire depart
totnt and still have room enough to spare
In ease of a future Increase In the working
fw"?. At that time the force of the de?
partment consisted of a secretary, an as?
sistant to the secretary, who acted as chief
clerk; one < lerk in the secretary's office; a
treasurer, with one clerk and one hook?
up??; an auditor, with one clerk; a con?
troller, with one clerk, and a register, with
?me clerk.
Compare this modest wooden building and
?ta little force of twelve persons with the
???ammoth four story structure of granit?
*t to-day, which was erected at a cost of
?**?V?WC?0, and which Is large enough to
????we only a part of the great fore? en
t?*ed in the work of th? department The
?wk that was done by twelve persons in
?*? now require? the labor of more than
?*** persons. In addition, the Bureau of
?"?"?raving and Printing, a part of the
*r*?*aury, has 4,000 on its payroll, making a
??tal of nearly 8,000 In Washington alone.
A akeptical taxpayer may wonder If
*?**?'*' is work enough for this great for?a
J**t him go into the building during work
?*?* hours, walk along the wide corridors
*??*? look through the doors of th? rooms
??*? h? will see no Miera, for all are busy.
*? 1?X> there waa a custom bouse in
???ton. another In N?w York, a third In
JkHadelphiav a fourth In Baltimor? and a
?t?h at Charleston, employing altogether
?hout fifty persons. About as manr ?or?
were engaged. In collecting th? intarnal
??venu?. Thus only a llttl? mor? than one
J*4,r*<? Persons did the entlr? work of
I "Treasury Department- Now nearly
"??nty thousand are engaged In collecting
??irevenue of th? gov?rnm?nt.
The official force at the present time
?f>??"ts of g secretary, who ha? three
???Istants; a chief clerk, a private aecre
?**> ?nd two or three stenographers and
Jwwrltere, each assistant a?cretary b?
???* vrtrtiol with a private ??erstarr ?*??
a stenographer. Instead of one auditor
with one clerk, we now have six auditors,
each with a deputy, one having two dep?
uties. Each auditor and each deputy
auditor haa a private secretary and a ste?
nographer or two. Each auditor is also
supplied with a chief clerk and a large
force of ordinary clerks and messengers.
The treasurer haa an assistant and a dep?
uty assistant, a chief clerk and a small
army of clerks, bookkeepers and messen
gera He also has a private secretary and
a atenographer, as have his assistant and
deputy assistant.
Although the work of the Controller h?s
increased In proportion to that of the
other bureaus, hi? help has not Increased
so largely. He has an assistant and a
chief clerk, with a small force of ordinary
clerks. The Register ha? an assistant, a
private secretary, a stenographer and n
chief clerk. The assistant is also fitted
out with a private aecretary and a ste?
nographer.
Since 1S00 some new officials have been
added to the administrative force. We
have now a Commissioner of Internal
Keventve, with two deputies and a chief
clerk, each provided with a private secre?
tary and a stenographer. We also have a
Controller of the Currency, with two dep?
uties and a chief clerk, each having a pri?
vate secretary.
There has been s wonderful Increase in
salaries paid in the department since 1S00. i
but the increase in that direction lias not
been eo great as in the numbers on the ,
payroll, or in the amount of business
transacted. In 1800 the secretary received
$1.600; he now gets $12,000. Then the'
chief clerk, who waa the assistant to the i
secretary, received $900; now he gets
IMH and is relieved of hi? duties as an |
VAULT8 IN THE TREA8URY BUILD
ING IN WASHINGTON.
assistant to the Cabinet officer. Now?s
some of the measengers receive as much
pay sa the chief clerk got in 1800, and the
loweat paid messenger geta more than
was paid to the Controller, the Regiater
or the Auditor?$600 a year?and twice as
much as wu paid the first class clerk?.
There are a number of thing? now added
ECONOMY OF A 80RT.
Jobe E> Hedge?, at the St. Andrew's So
clety dinner in New York, was talking to
s neighbor about Scotch economy.
?The Scotch," ho ?aid, "are economical
and honest They live on principle?and
interest But the desire to economise is
not allowed by the Scotch to affect their
"It wasn't a Scotch economist who said
one day to ? t-len?:
"?It la wonderful how I make thlnga
laat Do you ?*? *?*? umbrella? Well, I
bought It eleven P******* J ?M ,* re?
covered In *M end 1907, got three new
-ST5 m it '" 1MI *nd ?changed it for
a new one at a restaurant Fast Novem
ber.' " L _
NOT TO BE DAZZLED.
V'%Toi? ZriM?t -ort." he .aid. ?She
went Ib?ad last y*", and on her return a
,rt"D,dMky?uh? many picturesque old
"^?VeTsneTnUr^wlth* faint to***,
'and alx of them Wgo?eOm ?^
PRESUJ? TREASURY BUILDING. ERE.CTE.P AT A COST 3 ?8.QQO OOP
TlftST UNITED STATES
TBE?SUHY RVILDINQ
BURNLD BY THE.
BBlTTSrt IN 1814
SE.CRt.TARY 01 THE, TRE.ASUR
?
UNITED STATES TREASURY BUILDING,' ERECTED IN 1836.
to the offlclal positions in Washington that
were unknown in the early days of the
government It Is true that General Wash?
ington whil? President had his coach snd
six horse? and drove in great state, but
they were his own private property,
brought from his estate at Mount Vernon.
If Alexander Hamilton, the greatest of
our Secretarte* of the Treasury, or any of
big gao?ttsots for many years had any
business to transact that needed a con?
veyance they were content with a one
hors? chaise, their own property. Now
Cabinet officers, and in ?ome case? their
aaalatant?. have luxurious carriages or
high-priced automobile?, paid for by the
government.
There waa a time when the notion pre?
vailed throughout the oountry that the
work of the administrative departments of
the government must of necessity be per?
formed in Washington. That belief was
shared by those placed In charge. The late
Secretary of the Treasury McCulloch
boaated that during all the years he was
connected with the Treasury, first as Con?
troller of the Currency and later as Secre?
tary, he had been absent from his office
only twenty-seven day?, and hi? absence
for that period was occasioned by sick
ness. Now a different Idea and practl
prevail. The frequent absence of Cabin
officers from Washington caused a Coi
gresslonal wit, when he heard a fello
member quote that familiar line, "Whi
Is so rare as a day in June?" to interpo
quickly: "To see a Cabinet officer in Waal
ington." This fever of absenteeism hi
seized upon the assistant secretaries ar
upon many of the heads of bureaus.
The growth in the revenue receipts an
disbursements by the Treasury Depar
ment is actually dazzling. It was not unt
late in th? spring of 1790 that all the mt
chlnery for collecting a revenue was 1
full running order. Hence, the year 1791 I
the first full statistical year from which t
make comparison. At that time the ordl
nary receipts came from customs duties
Internal taxes, tonnage duties, and a ***Ml
amount from court fees. The sales of pub
lie lands had not begun. The populatloi
of the country was about five and a hal
mllllona In 1791 the ordinary receipt!
amounted to only 81,409.951, or a Httft
more than the averagu daily receipts o
1*11 Kven this small sum of less thai
four and a half millions was In excess oi
the ordinary expenses of the government
! by 81,312,498. Those were truly economical
daya Contrast, for a moment, a govern
! ment with an expenditure of only a little
more than 83,000,000 a year with one whose
| annual expenditures for ordinary purposes
reaches nearly a billion of dollars!
The total ordinary receipts of the gov?
ernment for the forty-two years from 1791
j to 1S32, Inclusive, did not equal those of
the single fiscal year ended June 30, 1911.
i During those forty-two years we con
' ducfd the great war with the Indians In
the Northwest, the war with the Barbary
pirates, a naval war with France, a four
years' war with Great Britain and the ex
SILVER COIN ($1,000 IN A BAG)
STORED IN VAULTS OF TREAS?
URY BUILDING.
?pensive war with the Semin?les. The term
??ordinary receipts" and "ordinary exp.-n
dltures" do not Include those of the Post
office Department or money obtained by
loans.
It was not until the first year of the ad?
ministration of President Jefferson that
the total annual ordinary receipts of the
government equalled what it now costs to
HIS GREATEST NEED.
William J. Burns, tho well known detec
ti\e, was talking to a Chicago reporter
about bluff.
"Bluff don't go with a detective," he
said. "To see through bluff Is what we de
tt i tlves are for. Once in New York"??
"Mr. Burn? smiled.
"Once, In New York," he resumed, " a
detective was talking to a theatrical agent
win? ilesired to put up a great bluff of
prosperity. The man's shoes needed half
soling, Ids collar wa? cracked' nnd the fur
on his overcoat cuff? wa? moth eaten, but
ho had a big stone in hi? pink tie and all
his talk was of the press of business in his
office.
" 'I'm simply overrun with orders,' he
?aid, 'simply overrun. At this moment I
need urgently a pair of song and dance
men for Milwaukee, a pair of musical
mokes for Pittsburgh and a pair of comedy
?later? for Philadelphia.'
" *You need a pair of pants for Broad?
way, too,' sstd the detective, as he point?
ed a derisive finger at the fringed ends
of the agent'? black and whit? check trout
I era.
The Total Revenue in 1791 I
Was Approximately Equal
to the Average Daily
Receipts in 1911.
run the District of Columbia. That Is, tha
army, the nevy. the Judiciary, the legisla?
Uve and all the miscellaneous expenses of
the government In 1802 were less than la
now annually expended In conducting the
civil affair? of the District of Columbia
alone.
It requires as much now to run the Treas?
ury Department In Washington as was re?
quired to pay all the ordinary expense? of
the government In 1791. In 1911 the aalary
list of the messengers alone is more than
three time? greater than the entire ?alary
list of the department in 1800. The depart?
ment now expends annually for pens, Ink,
pencil? and writing paper more than was
| exp??nded in 1800 to run the whole depart
I ment, including the salari?e. The Ice bill
in 1910 was greater than the ?alarles paid
in 1800. The silver water pitcher? in the
main building of the department co?t more
than all the furniture used in 1800.
In the early days of the department large
vaults In which to store money were not
necessary. To-day the department build?
ing In Washington contains cloaed vaults
with a capacity of $215.000.000 In coin.
The cashroom of the department is one of
the costliest in the world. It Is of choice
Italian and Amerl??an marbles, and here
the dally transactions run Into the million?.
A warrant once handed In and cashed with?
out a moment's delay came over from the
Pension Bureau, and the figure? upon It
called for $1.000.000.
Tho Immense revenue? of the government
come mainly from two source??-duties on
Imports and Internal taxes; thus they come
, from the commercial and Industrial busl
i ness of the country. Our present Internal
1 revenue system was the result of the war
between the states. There havo been some
fluctuations In the taxes levied on certain
'articles, but the Increase In the revenue
J derived from these sources Is almost wholly
j due to the Increase In total product. The
same Is comparatively true of the revenue
from customs duties. The extent to which
our trade with foreign countries has grown
has been the wonder of the business world.
Thus, the receipts of the Treasury furnish a
fair index to the commercial and Industrial
progress of the country.
Huge Kelp Groves
Lately Discovered
Continued from fourth page.
easlonal reports of cattle having eaten the
kelp of California.
Papers have been made from Pacific kelp,
some of unusual beauty and desirability
as writing papers. The kelp has no fibre,
however, and this must be supplied from
nom*! other source. Some of the desert
plants, ?s the common yucca of 8outhern
California, have been used in this way
experimentally and with apparently very
goo.! results. It is not probable, howerer,
that kelp paper? will attain such great
commercial importance as to aff?*ct mat<j
rlallV the use of kelp as a source of potash
and Iodine.
The seaweed Industry was formerly an
Important one in Scotland and Ireland. The
weeds were used as a source of alkali for
the manufaeture of ?oap. The production
of etawt ed ash from w hlch this alkali wa?
obtained was the basis of the livelihood of
about sixty thousand people of the poorer
clas?. The industry declined considerably
becauae of competition with the production
of alkali manufactured from common ?alt
?nd seems to have been finally ruined in 1832
by the removal of the trnport duty on ba?
rilla. Barilla I? the Impure potash obtained
from the ash of several species of flowering
plants. Several seaweeds are reported to
te still used In Ireland as food. Some eco?
nomic uses are also made of seaweed In
Hawaii. The Japanese find many uses for
more than fifty species of their seaweed.
Among the commodities made from them
are food, plaster, glue. Isinglass. Iodine and
starch. They alio use them for manure for
their rice fields.
Two species are especially Important ar?
ticles of food among the Japanese, and
considerable quintittes of them are export?
ed to China for Yood. In 18M Japan ex?
ported kelp to the value of 607,009 yen,
about $C0O,f?OO, most of It going to China.
The Japanese collect theae planta by wln?l
ing them up on pole? and then cutting them
loose at the base. They are spread upon
the sand on the beach to dry and then
packed into bundles or bales for shipment.
One kind Is used In making confectionery
and another kind Is used In making tea
and soup and la also cooked In other way?.
Laminaria?a variety of kelp?ta a popular
article of food among the Japanese, it I*
prepared by wrapping portion? of fish in
suitable sites of dried laminarla that have
been boiled In fresh water and then boiling
both together in dilute aoup or milk. An?
other variety of laminarla ta used by the
Japanese for festoon? at New Year'a time.
The Indiana of the Tactile Coast of North
America have found several uses for the
bladder kelp. The Alaska Indians have
used It for food, and It is said that ths
Indiana in the San Juan Island? formerly
prepared salt for uae in food from the sea?
weed. The u?e of seaweed in agriculture
a? a fertiliser Is about as old as the science
Itself. Of the earliest accounts of the agri?
culture of England and Scotland, and of
tho adjacent Islands, the consideration of
seaweed as a fertiliser constitutes an Im?
portant part. In theae countrlea the privi?
lege of gathering seaweed on the shores
wa? a subject of barter, and landa carrying
thla privilege brought a higher price tha?
those without.