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SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of the second' auditor to receive all accounts relative 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; that it shall be the duty of the third auditor to receive 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; and the second and third auditors aforesaid, shall examine the accounts respectively, and certify the balance, and transmit the accounts, with the vouchers and certificate, to the second comptroller, for his decision thereon: Provided, That the President of the United States may assign to the second and third auditors the settlement of the accounts which are now confided to the additional accountant of the war department.

SEC. 5. That it shall be the duty of the auditors, charged with the examination of the accounts of the war and navy departments, to keep all accounts of the receipts and expenditures of the public money in regard to those departments, and of all public debts due to the United States on moneys advanced relative to those departments; to receive from the second comptroller the accounts which shall have been finally adjusted, and to preserve such accounts, with their vouchers and certificates, and to record all warrants drawn by the secretaries of those departments, the examination of the accounts of which has been assigned to them by the preceding section. And it shall be the duty of the said auditors to make such reports on the business assigned to them, as the secretary of the war and navy departments may deem necessary, and require, for the services of those departments.

SEC. 6. That the said auditors shall annually, on the first Monday in November, report to the secretary of the treasury the application of the money appropriated for the military and naval departments for the preceding year, which shall be laid before Congress, by him, with the annual statement of the public expenditure.

SEC. 7. [The treasurer to disburse all moneys ordered for the use of the war and navy departments, &c.]

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1 By act of 3 March, 1857, "all accounts and vouchers of the disbursing officers of the quartermaster-general's department shall be audited and settled by the third auditor."

2 This section is repealed by the 7 May, 1822, chap. 90, sec. 4.

SEC. 8. That it shall be the duty of the first comptroller to examine all accounts settled by the first and fifth auditors, and certify the balances arising thereon to the register; to countersign' all warrants drawn by the secretary of the treasury, which shall be warranted by law; to report to the secretary the official forms to be issued in the different offices for collecting the public revenue, and the manner and form of keeping and stating the accounts of the several persons employed therein; he shall also superintend the preservation of the public accounts, subject to his revision, and provide for the regular payment of all moneys which may be collected.

SEC. 9. That it shall be the duty of the second comptroller to examine all accounts settled by the second, third, and fourth auditors, and certify the balances arising thereon, to the secretary of the department in which the expenditure has been incurred; to countersign all warrants drawn by the secretaries of the war and navy departments, which shall be warranted by law; to report to the said secretaries the official forms to be issued in the different offices for disbursing the public money in those departments, and the manner and form of keeping and stating the accounts of the persons employed therein; and it shall also be his duty to superintend the preservation of the public accounts subject to his revision.

SEC. 10. That it shall be the duty of the first comptroller to superintend the recovery of all debts to the United States; to direct suits and legal proceedings, and to take all such measures as may be authorized by the laws, to enforce prompt payment of all debts to the United States.

SEC. 11. That the provision contained in the second section of the act, passed the third March, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, entitled "An act to provide more effectually for the settlement of accounts between the United States and receivers of public money," which directs that in every case where suits have been, or shall be, instituted, a transcript from the books and proceedings of the treasury, certified by the register, shall be admitted as evidence, be extended, in regard to the accounts of the war and navy departments, to the auditors respectively charged with the examination of those accounts, 1 Same by 7 May, 1822, chap. 90, sec. 3. 2 Chap. 20, ante.

and that certificates, signed by them, shall be of the same effect as that directed to be signed by the register.

SEC. 12. That the auditors of the public accounts shall be empowered to administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses, in any case in which they may deem it necessary for the due examination of the accounts with which they shall be charged.

SEC. 13. That it shall be the duty of the secretary of the treasury to cause all accounts of the expenditure of public money to be settled within the year, except where the distance of the places where such expenditure occurs may be such as to make further time necessary; and, in respect to expenditures at such places, the secretary of the treasury, with the assent of the President, shall establish fixed periods at which a settlement shall be required. And it shall be the duty of the first comptroller to lay before Congress, annually, during the first week of their session, a list of such officers as shall have failed in that year to make the settlement required by law.

SEC. 14. That, in the annual statement of all accounts on which balances appear to have been due more than three years, which the comptroller is now required by law to make, he shall hereafter distinguish those accounts, the balances appearing on which shall, in his opinion, be owing to difficulties of form, which he may think it equitable shall be removed by an act of Congress; and where the debtors, by whom such balances shall have been due more than three years, shall be insolvent, and have been reported to Congress for three successive years as insolvent, the comptroller shall not be required in such case to continue to include such balances in the statement above mentioned.

SEC. 15. That the salary of the comptroller, appointed by virtue of this act, shall be three thousand dollars per annum, and that of the auditors, each, three thousand dollars per annum.

SEC. 16. That all letters and packages, to and from the comptroller and auditors herein before mentioned, be conveyed free of postage, under the same regulations that are provided by law for other officers of government. [Approved, March 3, 1817.]

1 See Jan. 31, 1823, sec. 2.

2 For franking privilege, see note to chap. 137, 6 July, 1812, ante.

CHAPTER 96.-Approved, March 3, 1817.—Vol. 3, p. 390.

An Act supplementary to an Act entitled "An Act further to amend the several Acts for the establishment and regulation of the treasury, war, and navy departments."

That nothing contained in the act of the third March, one thousand eight hundred and nine, entitled "An act1 further to amend the several acts for the establishment and regulation of the treasury, war, and navy departments," shall be construed to authorize the President of the United States to direct any sum appropriated to fortifications, arsenals, armories, custom-houses, docks, navy-yards, or buildings of any sort, or to munitions of war, or to the pay of the army or navy, to be applied to any other object of public expenditure."

CHAPTER 107.-Approved, March 3, 1817.-Vol. 3, p. 394.

An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act making further provision for military services during the late war, and for other purposes."

That the widows and children of soldiers of the militia, the volunteers, the rangers, and the sea-fencibles, who served during the late war, and for whom half pay for five years was provided, by an act passed on the 16th day of April, 1816, entitled "An act making further provision for military services during the late war, and for other purposes," shall be placed on an equality as to their annual allowance, that is to say: Such widows, and, in case of no widow, such children, as may be embraced in the before-recited act, shall be entitled to receive (as the half pay to which they are entitled) at the rate of $48 per annum, and no more; and the widows and children aforesaid, of the officers of the different corps aforesaid, shall be entitled to the half pay of the officers of the infantry.

SEC. 2. That the provisions contained in an act entitled "An act fixing the military peace establishment of the United States," passed on the 3d of March, 1815, granting to the commissioned officers of the regular army, who were deranged by said act, three months' pay in addition to the pay and emoluments to which they were entitled by law at the time of their discharge, shall equally extend to wagon-masters, forage-masters, barrackmasters, and other warrant officers of the staff of the regular army, who were deranged by the before-recited act, except those provisionally retained by the President of the United States.

1 Chap. 28, ante.

2 By the provisions of the act of 3 March, 1809, the President is authorized, in the recess of Congress, on the application of the secretary of a department, to direct that a portion of the moneys appropriated for a particular branch of expenditure in that department be applied to another branch of expenditure in the same department. These provisions are further modified by 1 May, 1820.

3 For original act see 16 April, 1816, chap. 55.

and that certificates, signed by them, shall be of the same effect as that directed to be signed by the register.

SEC. 12. That the auditors of the public accounts shall be empowered to administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses, in any case in which they may deem it necessary for the due examination of the accounts with which they shall be charged.

SEC. 13. That it shall be the duty of the secretary of the treasury to cause all accounts of the expenditure of public money to be settled within the year, except where the distance of the places where such expenditure occurs may be such as to make further time necessary; and, in respect to expenditures at such places, the secretary of the treasury, with the assent of the President, shall establish fixed periods at which a settlement shall be required. And it shall be the duty of the first comptroller to lay before Congress, annually, during the first week of their session, a list of such officers as shall have failed in that year to make the settlement required by law.

SEC. 14. That, in the annual statement of all accounts on which balances appear to have been due more than three years, which the comptroller is now required by law to make, he shall hereafter distinguish those accounts, the balances appearing on which shall, in his opinion, be owing to difficulties of form, which he may think it equitable shall be removed by an act of Congress; and where the debtors, by whom such balances shall have been due more than three years, shall be insolvent, and have been reported to Congress for three successive years as insolvent, the comptroller shall not be required in such case to continue to include such balances in the statement above mentioned.

SEC. 15. That the salary of the comptroller, appointed by virtue of this act, shall be three thousand dollars per annum, and that of the auditors, each, three thousand dollars per annum.

SEC. 16. That all letters and packages, to and from the comptroller and auditors herein before mentioned, be conveyed free of postage, under the same regulations that are provided by law for other officers of government. [Approved, March 3, 1817.]

1 See Jan. 31, 1823, sec. 2.

. For franking privilege, see note to chap. 137, 6 July, 1812, ante.

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