and should be noticed under this head. They are passports for American ships or vessels. When they are about to sail for a foreign port, the laws of the United States require each to procure one, under a penalty or fine of two hundred dollars upon the master if he departs from the United States for a foreign country (other than some port in America), without it. The passport is prepared by the Secretary of State and is approved by the President. This is given to the master by the collector of the port from which the vessel sails, and is one of the ship's papers, by which her nationality is known, and her protection shown to be that of the United States. CHAPTER IX. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY. 1. If the Executive Department that has charge of the public moneys is not highest in nominal rank, it certainly does not hold a less important and interesting place in the estimation of the country and of the world than the Department of State. Every part of the government is dependent on this for its efficiency. It is the heart of the country. The in-and-outflowing of the tide of money from the central point marks the pulses of the nation's prosperity. Especially has this been the case since the Civil War, and the immense developments and changes that followed it. The banking system, making the Treasury responsible for the issue of all the hundreds of millions of bank notes used in the business of the country, adds immensely to the importance of the United States Treasury. The management of this Department is committed to the Secretary of the Treasury. He is selected for that office by the President, and when his nomination is approved by the Senate his appointment takes place. He holds office during a presidential term, unless sooner removed. He is a member of the Cabinet and one of the President's advisers. 3. The financial policy adopted by the country depends very much on his views on that difficult question, and the interests and wealth of millions on the ability and integrity he possesses. He is therefore chosen on account of his real or supposed qualifications on questions of finance. He is aided in his duties by an Assistant Secretary, a Comptroller and Second Comptroller, five Auditors, a Treasurer and his assistant, a Register and his assistant, a Commissioner of Customs, a Comptroller of the Currency and his deputy, and a Solicitor of the Treasury. All these have their offices in connection with the Treasury Department at Washington. In several of the large cities are sub-treasuries, each presided over by an assistant Treasurer, where public funds are received and disbursed. The Treasurers of the Mints are also, many of them, Assistant Treasurers of this Department. All these are appointed by the President and Senate in the same manner as the Chief Secretary. 4. The sums of money actually handled, and the accounts of all moneys received and disbursed without passing into the vaults of the Treasury, amount to many hundreds of millions annually, and require the constant service of some hundreds of clerks. These all need to have clean hands and pure hearts, which is, unfortunately, more rare among men of all classes than could be wished. Yet the whole is reduced to so accurate a system that a loss at any point immediately produces a dis turbance in the whole machinery, and a short examination suf fices to reveal the point of difficulty and the person responsible for it. Accordingly, losses and defalcations are seldom experienced in or near the central point of the Department. If they occur, which is sometimes the case, it is usually some officer at a distance who is found to be at fault, whose sphere of operations lies far from the centre and only occasionally passes under scrutiny. Each has his separate sphere of duties which no one else interferes with, and assumes his own responsibility; and probably no other institution in the world loses less in proportion to the amount of money involved and the number of persons handling it. 5. Every account must be carefully examined and approved by the proper officer before it can be presented for settlement and the money paid out, and whatever moneys may flow in, none can flow out but according to some law of Congress definitely appropriating it. All officers having the handling of public funds are required to give security for the faithful discharge of their duties. This must, by the requirement of the law, be done before they can enter their respective places. SECRETARIES OF THE TREASURY. Alexander Hamilton, N. Y., Sept. 12, 1789. Oliver Wolcott, Ct., Feb. 4, 1795. Samuel Dexter, Mass., Dec. 31, 1800. Albert Gallatin, Pa., May 14, 1801. George W. Campbell, Tenn., Feb. 9, 1814. Richard Rush, Pa., Mar. 7, 1825. Louis McLane, Del., Aug. 8, 1831. William J. Duane, Pa., May 29, 1833. Thomas Corwin, O., June 20, 1850. Salmon P. Chase, O., Mar. 5, 1861. CHAPTER X. THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM OF THE U.S. 1. Revenue, or the income of the government, is derived from various sources. A taxA tax-or duty, as it is often calledlaid on goods imported into the country, is one of the most important. It is easy for a government to manage without producing a very sensible effect on the people, and has been a favorite mode of raising a revenue with nearly all governments since commerce became general. 2. The sale of public lands has, in this country, been a source of large revenue; though the desire to encourage emigration and develop the unsettled parts has led the government to sell them for a nominal sum. Still, these lands were so attractive and extensive as to sell rapidly and produce a considerable income. The Post Office Department has been a source of income, in great part supporting itself. Duties paid on the tonnage of vessels, the forfeiture of goods smuggled, or introduced into the country without paying the lawful tax or duty, and the forfeiture of vessels used in that unlawful trade, prizes taken in war, and fees required to be paid to various officials when their services are employed, are minor sources of revenue. 3. When all these are not sufficient, as in time of war, or when an immense war debt is to be paid, direct taxes are laid on the property and business of the country. This is called THE INTERNAL REVENUE, and is borne with more or less patience, according as the people regard the end to be gained important. The revenues of the States are mostly derived from this source. They are not allowed to raise their revenue from foreign commerce, since that would be a tax on goods liable to be paid by the people of another State. 4. The necessity of laying large direct taxes does not, in this country, often arise in case of the General Government; but during and after the gigantic Civil War between the North and South, when enormous expenses had to be met, and the credit of the government sustained, the direct taxes became very large indeed. In 1861 Congress passed the "Internal Revenue Law," by which twenty millions of dollars were to be annually raised from direct taxes on houses and lands in each of the States and Territories. By subsequent acts not only houses and lands were taxed, but almost every sort of property and business. Licenses were required for persons to carry on their profession, trade, or business; incomes were taxed; deeds, mortgages, notes, bonds, bank checks, and papers of almost every kind were invalid unless they had a revenue stamp upon them. Manufacturers had to pay a certain per-centage on whatever they made. Scarcely any calling, trade, profession, or business escaped it, directly or indirectly. 5. To carry out these provisions, the whole country was |