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therefore, these duties were successively added to the Revenue-Cutter Service, until to-day its functions relate to maritime matters in almost all of the departments of the Government. A close analysis of these duties will disclose the fact that while none of them individually requires constant attention, all of them are of such a coordinate nature as to permit them to be accomplished satisfactorily by one organization.

As has been pointed out, this fact constitutes a legitimate and logical field of activity, and permits centralization, specialization, and coordination-the elementary principles of economy and efficiency. Under these conditions and upon these principles the Revenue-Cutter Service has developed-it has profited by its 122 years of experience until to-day it exists as a compact organization representing a concentration of governmental maritime functions, administered economically and efficiently.

To disband this organization and distribute its duties and equipment among the several departments, as proposed by the Commission on Economy and Efficiency, would inevitably result in the establishment of several services, each under a separate organization and administration, with all the confusion and expenses incident to the formation of any organization as it passes through the transitory stage necessary for the perfection of the system. Each of these services would require as many vessels as the Revenue-Cutter Service now periodically uses for that particular class of duty, if the same results are to be obtained. As none of these services could use the vessels or do the work of another service (otherwise the object sought in the proposed distribution would be lost), this would necessitate a far greater number of vessels in the several services than is now needed by the Revenue-Cutter Service for the accomplishment of all these duties. All this would result in confusion and lack of coordination, which means inefficiency and duplication of equipment and administration, entailing under the most conservative estimate an additional annual expense of at least $1,125,000.

Respectfully,

The SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

E. P. BERTHOLF,
Captain Commandant.

APPENDIX No. 4

ACCOUNTING OFFICES OF THE TREASURY, WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SIX

AUDITORS' OFFICES INTO ONE OFFICE

37542°-H. Doc. 670, 62-2-26

399

Recommendations.....

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

EXHIBITS.

1C. Table showing number of employees and salaries under appropriation for

2C. History of accounting system of Government, 1789 to 1894.

1912, and proposed for 1913..

Comment of the Dockery Commission...

Law reorganizing the accounting offices of the Treasury.

400

Page.

401

409

410

412

415

ACCOUNTING OFFICES OF THE TREASURY, WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SIX AUDITORS' OFFICES INTO ONE OFFICE.

The PRESIDENT:

NOVEMBER 17, 1911.

The commission has given consideration to the organization and methods of work of the so-called accounting offices of the Treasury. The accounting officers include the Comptroller of the Treasury and the six Auditors of the Treasury. They are the auditing officers in the executive branch of the Government, who receive all claims against and accounts with the United States for examination and final settlement.

Through many changes the accounting system, as far as it relates to the final audit of accounts in the Treasury, passed from the organization provided in 1789 of one auditor and one comptroller to an organization in 1817 of five auditors and two comptrollers; to six auditors and two comptrollers in 1836 and six auditors and three comptrollers in 1849 (considering the commissioner of customs as a comptroller); and finally, in 1894, to six auditors and one comptroller.

In the opinion of the commission the organization would be much improved by a return to the original plan of one auditor and one comptroller. This change would result in some immediate saving of expense, estimated at about $60,000 per annum (see Exhibit No. 1 °C), and in a large increase in the efficiency of the service. After the first year the annual saving over the present cost should be more than $100,000. At the present time there are seven naval officers who audit customs accounts at the principal ports. By making these officers assistant auditors of the Treasury an additional saving of $75,000 per annum can be made.

The advantages of having one auditor in place of six, and of making the naval officers assistant auditors, are set forth in this report. The commission recommends:

(1) That the offices of the six Auditors of the Treasury be abolished and the office of "Auditor of the Treasury" be created, to which there shall be transferred the authority, powers, and duties now conferred upon the six auditors.

(2) That the seven naval officers, now auditing customs accounts at the principal ports, be made assistant auditors of the Treasury.

The present organization of the accounting offices of the Treasury was provided for in the act of July 31, 1894 (28 Stat., 205). That law was passed upon the recommendation of a joint commission of Congress commonly known as the Dockery Commission. An historical review of the various laws organizing and reorganizing the accounting system of the Treasury, as well as the reasons that led

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