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Subject Area: Political Theory

OUTLINES FOR SPECIFIC APPROPRIATIONS. - Albert Gallatin, The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 1 [1879]

Edition used:

The Writings of Albert Gallatin, ed. Henry Adams (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1879). 3 vols.

Part of: The Writings of Albert Gallatin, 3 vols.

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OUTLINES FOR SPECIFIC APPROPRIATIONS.

November, 1801.

1. Specific appropriations for each object of a distinct nature, and one to embrace for each Department all contingencies, including therein every discretionary expenditure.

2. Each appropriation to refer to a calendar year, and the surplus remaining unexpended after having satisfied the demands on the appropriation for that year to be carried to the surplus fund; that is to say, to cease.

3. Warrants to issue on the requisition of the proper Department in favor of the person receiving the same, instead of issuing in the names of either the heads of Department or of the Treasurer of the United States.

4. The accountants to be abolished.

5. The head of each Department to judge, previous to a settlement of accounts, of the propriety of making advances, and to make requisitions accordingly.

6. The head of each Department to judge on a settlement of accounts of the propriety of making allowances of a discretionary nature in every case where discretion is not limited by law or uniform usage; in these last cases the Comptroller to judge.

Illustration.—War Department.

Appropriations for the army for the year 1801 were, including fortifications and fabrication of arms,$1,857,242.04.

November 28, 1801.

Th. J. to Mr. Gallatin.

Your own opinion and that of the Attorney-General are sufficient authorities to me to approve of prosecuting in the case of the schooner Sally. And I will candidly add that my judgment also concurs. The handcuffs and bolts are palpable testimonials of the intention of the voyage, and the concealment of them and their omission in the statement of the cargo, strengthens the proof. The traffic, too, is so odious that no indulgences can be claimed.

GALLATIN TO JOSEPH H. NICHOLSON, M.C.

A MEMORANDUM.

January 19, 1802.

Dear Sir,—

The objects of inquiry for your committee are:

1st. How are moneys drawn out of the Treasury?

2d. How are they expended?

3d. How are they accounted for?

In relation to each object:

1st. What are the checks provided by law?

2d. How have these been adhered to?

3d. Are they sufficient to enforce economy and accountability?

4th. What improvements can be adopted?

You may write me a letter asking generally information on those subjects, or if you prefer a less methodical arrangement and to put more pointed queries, I have written some on the next page, which, I believe, embrace all those objects.

Yours.

Under what checks, founded either on law or usage, are moneys paid out of the Treasury?

To whom are those moneys paid?

Under whose control, and what checks, are moneys drawn out of the Treasury expended by the agents or Departments to whom the same may have been advanced?

What construction has been put on the appropriation laws by the Treasury Department, and by the several agents or Departments to whom moneys are advanced?

Have moneys been always paid by the Treasury and applied by the agents or Departments in conformity to the laws authorizing expenses and making appropriations for the same?

To whom and in what manner are the receivers of public moneys accountable?

In what situation are now the accounts of persons who have received moneys from the Treasury? and where any remain unsettled, what are the causes?

What is particularly the situation of accounts for moneys advanced to the Secretary of State, or to the War and Navy Departments?

Are the checks under which public moneys are expended sufficient to enforce a due application to the objects for which they are advanced?

Can any mode be devised by which more efficient checks, in relation to the public expenditure, shall be adopted, and the accountability of those who receive moneys from the Treasury be better enforced, without embarrassing the public service?1

[1 ]The replies made by Mr. Gallatin to these queries will be found in the American State Papers, vol. vii. (Finance, vol. i.) pp. 755-757.