That the Secretary of the Treasury may, when in his judgment the interests of the Government require it, suspend payment and direct the re-examination of any account.

Upon a certificate by the Comptroller of the Treasury of any differences ascertained by him upon revision the Auditor who shall have audited the account shall state an account of such differences, and certify it to the Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants, except that balances found and accounts stated as aforesaid by the Auditor for the Post-Office Department for postal revenues and expenditures therefrom shall be certified to the Postmaster-General.

Any person accepting payment under a settlement by an Auditor shall be thereby precluded from obtaining a revision of such settlement as to any items upon which payment is accepted; but nothing in this Act shall prevent an Auditor from suspending items in an account in order to obtain further evidence or explanations necessary to their settlement. When suspended items are finally settled a revision may be had as in the case of the original settlement. Action upon any account or business shall not be delayed awaiting applications for revision: Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall make regulations fixing the time which shall expire before a warrant is issued in payment of an account certified as provided in sections seven and eight of this Act.

The Auditors shall, under the direction of the Comptroller of the Treasury, preserve, with their vouchers and certificates, all accounts which have been finally adjusted.

All decisions by Auditors making an original construction or modifying an existing construction of statutes shall be forthwith reported to the Comptroller of the Treasury, and. items in any account affected by such decisions shall be suspended and payment thereof withheld until the Comptroller of the Treasury shall approve, disapprove, or modify such decisions and certify his actions to the Auditor. All decisions made by the Comptroller of the Treasury under this Act shall be forthwith transmitted to the Auditor or Auditors whose duties are affected thereby.

Disbursing officers, or the head of any Executive Department, or other establishment not under any of the Executive Departments, may apply for and the Comptroller of the Treasury shall render his decision upon any question involving a payment to be made by them or under them, which decision, when rendered, shall govern the Auditor and the Comptroller of the Treasury in passing upon the account containing said disbursement.

Act July 31, 1894, c. 174, s. 8, 28 Stat. 207.

Time and manner of rendering accounts; advances of money withheld on delinquency; annual report of delinquencies.

SEC. 12. All monthly accounts shall be mailed or otherwise sent to the proper officer at Washington within ten days after the end of the month to which they relate, and quarterly and other accounts within twenty days after the period to which they relate, and shall be transmitted to and received by the Auditors within twenty days of their actual receipt at the proper office in Washington in the case of monthly, and sixty days in the case of quarterly and other accounts. Should there be any delinquency in this regard at the time of the

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receipt by the Auditor of a requisition for an advance of money, he shall disapprove the requisition, which he may also do for other reasons arising out of the condition of the officer's accounts for whom the advance is requested; but the Secretary of the Treasury may overrule the Auditor's decision as to the sufficiency of these latter reasons: Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe suitable rules and regulations, and may make orders in particular cases, relaxing the requirement of mailing or otherwise sending accounts, as aforesaid, within ten or twenty days, or waiving delinquency, in such cases only in which there is, or is likely to be, a manifest physical difficulty in complying with the same, it being the purpose of this provision to require the prompt rendition of accounts without regard to the mere convenience of the officers, and to forbid the advance of money to those delinquent in rendering them: Provided further, That should there be a delay by the administrative Departments beyond the aforesaid twenty or sixty days in transmitting accounts, an order of the President, or, in the event of the absence from the seat of Government or sickness of the President, an order of the Secretary of the Treasury, in the particular case, shall be necessary to authorize the advance of money requested: *

* *

The Secretary of the Treasury shall, on the first Monday of January in each year, make report to Congress of such officers and administrative departments and offices of the Government as were, respectively, at any time during the last preceding fiscal year delinquent in rendering or transmitting accounts to the proper offices in Washington and the cause therefor, and in each case indicating whether the delinquency was waived, together with such officers * as were found upon final settlement of their accounts to have been indebted to the Government, with the amount of such indebtedness in each case, and who, at the date of making report, had failed to pay the same into the Treasury of the United States.

*

*

Act July 31, 1894, c. 174, s. 12, 28 Stat. 209, as amended by act March 2, 1895, c. 177, s. 4, 28 Stat. 807, and act May 28, 1896, c. 252, s. 4, 29 Stat. 179.

Regulations by heads of departments for administrative examination of accounts.

SEC. 22. * * * It shall also be the duty of the heads of the several Executive Departments and of the proper officers of other Government establishments, not within the jurisdiction of any Executive Department, to make appropriate rules and regulations to secure a proper administrative examination of all accounts sent to them, as required by section twelve of this Act, before their transmission to the Auditors, and for the execution of other requirements of this Act in so far as the same relate to the several Departments or establishments.

Act July 31, 1894, c. 174, s. 22, 28 Stat. 210.

ACT AUGUST 23, 1912, c. 350. (37 Stat. 360.)

Administrative examination of accounts; vouchers and pay-rolls to be prepared and examined by heads of divisions and bureaus of departments instead of disbursing clerks.

Hereafter the administrative examination of all public accounts, preliminary to their audit by the accounting officers of the Treasury,

shall be made as contemplated by the so-called Dockery Act, approved July thirty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and all vouchers and pay rolls shall be prepared and examined by and through the administrative heads of divisions and bureaus in the executive departments and not by the disbursing clerks of said departments, except those vouchers heretofore prepared outside of Washington may continue to be so prepared and the disbursing officers shall make only such examination of vouchers as may be necessary to ascertain whether they represent legal claims against the United States.

Act August 23, 1912, c. 350, s. 1, 37 Stat. 375.

These are provisions of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1913, cited above.

The provisions of act July 31, 1894, c. 174, mentioned in this paragraph, are set forth above.

ACT FEBRUARY 19, 1897, c. 265. (29 Stat. 538.)

Inspection of books, papers, etc., of disbursing officers.

All books, papers, and other matters relating to the office or accounts of disbursing officers of the Executive Departments, and commissions, boards, and establishments of the Government in the District of Columbia shall at all times be subject to inspection and examination by the Comptroller of the Treasury and the Auditor of the Treasury authorized to settle such accounts, or by the duly authorized agents of either of said officials.

Act February 19, 1897, c. 265, s. 1, 29 Stat. 550.

This is a provision of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1898, cited above.

REV. ST. SEC. 3623.

Distinct accounts required of application of public moneys according to appropriations.

SEC. 3623. All officers, agents, or other persons, receiving public moneys, shall render distinct accounts of the application thereof, according to the appropriation under which the same may have been advanced to them.

REV. ST. SEC. 3624.

Suits to recover money from officers, regulated.

SEC. 3624. Whenever any person accountable for public money, neglects or refuses to pay into the Treasury the sum or balance reported to be due to the United States, upon the adjustment of his account, the First Comptroller of the Treasury shall institute suit for the recovery of the same, adding to the sum stated to be due on such account, the commissions of the delinquent, which shall be forfeited in every instance where suit is commenced and judgment obtained thereon, and an interest of six per centum per annum, from the time of receiving the money until it shall be repaid into the Treasury.

The First Comptroller of the Treasury is designated Comptroller of the Treasury by act July 31, 1894, c. 174, s. 4, 28 Stat. 205.

REV. ST. SEC. 3625.

Distress warrant against delinquent officer.

SEC. 3625. Whenever any collector of the revenue, receiver of public money, or other officer who has received the public money before

it is paid into the Treasury of the United States, fails to render his account, or pay over the same in the manner or within the time required by law, it shall be the duty of the proper Auditor to cause to be stated the account of such officer, exhibiting truly the amount due to the United States, and to certify the same to the Solicitor of the Treasury, who shall issue a warrant of distress against the delinquent officer and his sureties, directed to the marshal of the district in which such officer and his sureties reside. Where the officer and his sureties reside in different districts, or where they, or either of them, reside in a district other than that in which the estate of either may be, which it is intended to take and sell, then such warrant shall be directed to the marshals of such districts, respectively.

Rev. St. sec. 3625, as amended by act July 31, 1894, c. 174, s. 4, 28 Stat. 206.

REV. ST. SEC. 3626.

Contents of distress warrant.

SEC. 3626. The warrant of distress shall specify the amount with which such delinquent is chargeable, and the sums, if any, which have been paid.

REV. ST. SEC. 3627.

Execution against delinquent officer.

SEC. 3627. The marshal authorized to execute any warrant of distress shall, by himself or by his deputy, proceed to levy and collect the sum remaining due, by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of such delinquent officer; having given ten days' previous notice of such intended sale, by affixing an advertisement of the articles to be sold at two or more public places in the town and county where the goods or chattels were taken, or in the town or county where_the owner of such goods or chattels may reside. If the goods and chattels be not sufficient to satisfy the warrant, the same may be levied upon the person of such officer, who may be committed to prison, there to remain until discharged by due course of law.

REV. ST. SEC. 3628.

Execution against surety.

SEC. 3628. If the delinquent officer absconds, or if goods and chattels belonging to him cannot be found sufficient to satisfy the warrant, the marshal or his deputy shall proceed, notwithstanding the commitment of the delinquent officer, to levy and collect the sum which remains due by such delinquent, by the distress and sale of the goods and chattels of his sureties; having given ten days' previous notice of such intended sale, by affixing an advertisement of the articles to be sold at two or more public places in the town or county where the goods or chattels were taken, or in the town or county where the owner resides.

REV. ST. SEC. 3629.

Levy to be a lien.

SEC. 3629. The amount due by any delinquent officer is declared to be a lien upon the lands, tenements, and hereditaments of such officer and his sureties, from the date of a levy in pursuance of the warrant

of distress issued against him or them, and a record thereof made in the office of the clerk of the district court of the proper district, until the same is discharged according to law.

REV. ST. SEC. 3630.

Sale of lands regulated.

SEC. 3630. For want of goods and chattels of a delinquent officer, or his sureties, sufficient to satisfy any warrant of distress issued pursuant to the foregoing provisions, the lands, tenements, and hereditaments of such officer and his sureties, or so much thereof as may be necessary for that purpose, after being advertised for at least three weeks in not less than three public places in the county or district where such real estate is situate, before the time of sale, shall be sold by the marshal of such district or his deputy.

REV. ST. SEC. 3631.

Conveyance of lands.

SEC. 3631. For all lands, tenements, or hereditaments sold in pursuance of the preceding section, the conveyance of the marshal or his deputy, executed in due form of law, shall give a valid title against all persons claiming under such delinquent officer or his sureties.

REV. ST. SEC. 3632.

Disposal of surplus.

SEC. 3632. All moneys which may remain of the proceeds of sales, after satisfying the warrant of distress, and paying the reasonable costs and charges of the sale, shall be returned to such delinquent officer or surety, as the case may be.

REV. ST. SEC. 3633.

Failure of disbursing officer to account or pay over; penalty.

SEC. 3633. Whenever any officer employed in the civil, military, or naval service of the Government, to disburse the public money appropriated for those branches of the public service, respectively, fails to render his accounts, or to pay over, in the manner and in the times required by law, or by the regulations of the Department to which he is accountable, any sum of money remaining in his hands, it shall be the duty of the proper Auditor, as the case may be, who shall be charged with the revision of the accounts of such officer, to cause to be stated and certified the account of such delinquent officer to the Solicitor of the Treasury, who is hereby authorized and required immediately to proceed against such delinquent officer, in the manner directed in the six preceding sections.

Rev. St. sec. 3633, as amended by act July 31, 1894, c. 174, s. 4, 28 Stat. 206.

REV. ST. SEC. 3634.

Extent of application of provision for distress warrants.

SEC. 3634. All the provisions relating to the issuing of a warrant of distress against a delinquent officer shall extend to every officer of the Government charged with the disbursement of the public money, and to their sureties, in the same manner and to the same extent as if they were herein described and enumerated.