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*??"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