happened; the dates of such events; and the name of the purser or other disbursing officer on whose rolls their names are entered at the time. There is an alphabetical index attached to each of these volumes, by which all the information they contain can readily be referred to. 3. NAVY AND PRIVATEER PENSION REGISTER. This book contains the names of all persons entitled to receive pensions, either from the navy or privateer pension funds; the date of the commencement of each pension; the rank, condition, and sex of each pensioner; whether invalid, widow, or child; the locality of payment; the monthly amount; when and where last paid; and for what time. It also shows all transfers of pensioners (for payment) from one agency to another; and all changes in the monthly rates of pensions which have been directed by the Secretary of the Navy. 4. CERTIFICATE BOOK. In this book are recorded all those certificates of claims (generally small ones) examined in this office, and the statements of the finding thereof made, and certified by the Auditor, and, on being revised and admitted by the Second Comptroller, are also signed by him, and addressed to some disbursing agent of the navy, or of the marine corps, with directions appended to the certificates to pay their amount. These certificates afterwards form vouchers in the agents' accounts, and thus undergo a second scrutiny in the examination and settlement of their accounts. (This book was commenced in 1831, and has already extended to eleven volumes, with indexes attached to each.) III. The Books of Accounts, (technically so called-of which there are, one journal and four ledgers in current use in this office,) viz: 1. THE JOURNAL. This book comprises the entries made in the official statement of every account audited and settled in this office. It presents the detail, both of every personal and general debit and credit item embraced in the settled account, and the different appropriations to which such entries properly pertain. (There are fifteen volumes of the journal.) 2. THE LEDGER FOR GENERAL ACCOUNTS. In this ledger are kept, the account of general expenditure; the navy hospital fund account; the account of the navy and privateer pension funds; the account of requisitions in favor of the Treasurer; and a general appropriation statement. Entries are made in all the above accounts (excepting the last two) from the journal; for instance-all the expenditure entries (not personal debits nor credits) are entered into the general expenditure account-the credits to a disbursing agent producing debits on this account, and vice versa, the debits producing credits. To the credit of the navy hospital fund account, is posted from the journal the aggregates arising from the deduction of twenty cents a month from the pay of every officer, seaman, and marine, in the navy, and from the stopped rations of those who are under medical treatment and support; a quarterly statement of these amounts is made to the Secretary of the Navy, upon which corresponding transfer requisitions are issued by him, with which the fund is debited on this ledger account, and by which, it is credited on the appropriation books of the Register of the Treasury with the aggregate of these deductions. All the expenditures made by pension agents, as allowed on the settlement of their accounts, are debited to the navy or the privateer pension accounts, under the relative heads of appropriation, and they are similarly credited with all the receipts, by appropriation transfer or refundment. An annual report is made from these accounts and from the pension register, for Congress, of the receipts, expenditure, condition, &c., &c., of the funds. The account of requisitions in favor of the Treasurer exhibits, in a tabular form, the refundments (or repayments) into the Treasury, either by deposites, or by transfers made in the settlements of accounts; the date and number of each requisition is shown, and likewise the appropriation thereby benefited. The general appropriation statement, exhibits, ON ONE PAGE, the monthly state of each and every appropriation-having a column for each appropriation; and, monthly, there is added to the amounts standing to the credit of the respective appropriations, the relative sums shown on the account of requisitions in favor of the Treasurer, to have been credited to the appropriations during the past month-the addition of these two gives the TOTAL of credit under each appropriation for the month-and from this total is deducted the respective issues, for the same period, of requisitions on the Treasury; the differences are, of course, the monthly balances in favor of the several appropriations. 3. THE LEDGER OF DISBURSING AGENTS. In this ledger are entered the accounts of regular disbursing agents who are under bonds: these accounts are posted from debits and credits shown in the two requisition books already described, and from the journal entries made from settled accounts. Each entry in this ledger indicates the appropriation affected-the date and number of the settlement-the number and page of the journal from which it is taken-and the name of the agent in the settlement of whose account the item occurs; a balance is struck, on the settlement of each account, exhibiting the amounts due to or from the disbursing officer, under the separate appropriations from which he has received and expended, or transferred to other agents, any public money. The entries of the accounts contained in this ledger (and in that next to be noticed) are posted immediately after their statements are entered into the journal, so that the condition of every personal account is exhibited, by inspection, to the latest possible date. 4. THE LEDGER OF OFFICERS (other than the foregoing.) This ledger contains the accounts of temporary disbursing officers or agents (such as recruiting officers, and acting pursers of small vessels, &c.,) and of other officers and persons whose accounts are not included in the ledger just described above. The entries into this ledger are derived from the same sources, and embrace similar details with those made into that devoted to the accounts of regular bonded agents as above described. This ledger, or the accounts embraced in it, affect comparatively few appropriations; but, for prompt and convenient reference, it was adopted in 1839, and the pertinent accounts transferred to it, from the other ledger just referred to. 5. THE DEFAULTERS' LEDGER. To this ledger, whenever balances remain to the debit of any accounts, contained in the two ledgers last described, for more than three years from the 30th of September any year, such balances are transferred, in an alphabetical arrangement. This ledger was adopted in 1832, for the double purpose of dispensing with the necessity and labor of carrying forward, on the current ledger, these old balances, and for convenience and despatch in making the annual report on the subject required for the First Comptroller. IV. Letter Books, including Register of Letters, Records of Letters, &c., viz: 1. Register of LETTERS. In this book all public letters received in this office are registered-showing the date of reception-the name of the writer-the subject and date of the letter-and its disposition in the office, when answered and filed. These letters are afterwards bound in volumes containing the letters of a month in each. 2. LETTER BOOK OF "GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE." In this book, as its title implies, all letters of general correspondence, other than what are contained in the following, are recorded. It was commenced at the establishment of the "Accountant's office" for the Navy Department, and is comprised in fifty-one volumes. 3. BOOK OF LETTERS TO DISBURSING OFFICERS. In this book all letters addressed to pursers, and navy agents, and recruiting officers, are recorded. This book was commenced on the 1st of January, 1835, and already comprises twelve volumes: previous to that time such letters were recorded in the foregoing "book of general correspondence." 4. EXECUTIVE LETTER BOOK. This book embraces copies of all letters, statements, and reports, made to the heads of Departments, and of their several bureaus. It was commenced on the 28th of April, 1820; previous to which time the papers and documents of this character were recorded in the letter book of "general correspondence." V. Report Books-(the Executive Letter Book above described, would perhaps more properly come under this class, on account of the Reports and Statements it embraceswith it, there is but one other book of this class,) viz: 1. REPORT BOOK OF ACCOUNTS. The various accounts and claims received and adjusted in this office are reported to the Second Comptroller for revision-which reports are made out on printed blank forms, and were, until recently, copied into a record book (say this) for that purpose kept. But, very lately, this has been discontinued; and in lieu of it, the reports themselves, after the return of the accounts from the Comptroller, are filed, with a view of having them bound into volumes as fast as a sufficient number may accrue for that purpose. VI. Reconciling Statement Books, viz: 1, 2, 3, 4. RECONCILING STATEMENT BOOKS. There are four; one devoted to recruiting officers' accounts, one to pursers' accounts, one to the accounts of navy agents, and a fourth to the accounts of the paymaster and quartermaster of the marine corps; in which accounts, the items constituting the difference between the balance declared on the official statement and report of an account, and that claimed on the account current of the disbursing officer, compose the "reconciling statement"-a copy of which is sent to the officer, and is also recorded in one of these books to which it pertains. Previous to the adoption of these books, in 1830, the "reconciling statements" were recorded in the letter book of general correspondence. Each of these volumes has its index. GRADE OR RANK, AND VARYING CIRCUMSTANCES OF SERVICE. ADDENDA. After referring to what is said in Addenda to the chapter on the Second Auditor's office, relating to the pay and emoluments of officers of the army, and incidentally to the pay and emoluments of officers of the navy, and also referring to the act of the 3d March, 1835, fixing the pay of officers of the navy, it will be unnecessary to say more here in explanation of the tables I, II, III, and IV, appended hereto, than to refer to what is said in the heading of each table, and in the columns of the tables themselves, in order to comprehend the whole subject to which they relate. TABLE I. [The following Table is extracted from the "Register of the Army and Navy of the United States, compiled, printed, and published, Washington, 1830, by Col. PETER FORCE."] Pay and Emolument of each grade of officers in the Navy of the United States." *These vary, according to stations of service, whether at sea, on shore, waiting orders, or on leave. nal table of Col. Force, to show the This column is here added to the origi pay under the act of 1835. TABLE II. The fixed rates of pay prescribed to officers of the Navy, according to rank and nature of service, by the act of 3d March, 1835. Rank and nature of service in part. CAPTAINS-Senior Captain,........ 3,500 00 2,500 00 2, 100 00 1,800 00 LIEUTENANTS-commanding,...................... SURGEONS-first five years after date of commission,.................................................... 66 1,800 00 1,500 00 1, 333 33 1,250 00 1,000 00 1,500 00 1,600 00 1,500 00 1,866 66 1,750 00 2, 133 33 2,000 00 2,400 00 2,250 00 850 00 ... 2,000 00 1,500 00 of navy yards and recei'g ships at Boston, N. Y. Norf'k, & Pensacola 1,200 00 1,100 00 1,000 00 450 00 450 00 300 00 1,200 00 1,200 00 480 00 480 00 800 00 GUNNERS, Carpenters, and SaIL MAKERS, same as Boatswains,.. 66 The above comparative rank of officers of the navy and the army, is derived from "the navy commissioners' regulations, adopted in 1818," and from "Scott's General Regulations of the Army, No. 24," as adopted in 1825, between which there is no essential difference; but the army regulation being a little more minute, is subjoined, as follows: "ARTICLE 6. Relative rank and precedence of land and sea officers. "24. The military officers of the land and sea service of the United States, shall rank together, as follows: 1st. A lieutenant of the navy, with captains of the army. 2d. A master commandant, with majors. 3d. A captain of the navy, from the date of his commission, with lieutenant colonels. 4th. Five years thereafter, with colonels. 5th. Ten years thereafter, with brigadier generals. 6th. Fifteen years after date of commission, with major generals. But should there be created in the navy the rank of rear admiral, then such rank shall be considered equal to that of major general." Army and Navy officers coming frequently together, whether officially or otherwise, must have felt, for a long time previous to the adoption of the above regulation, considerable embarrassment as to the courtesies of rank reciprocally due; and until official regulation settled this matter, the convention of usage or courtesy was their only rule of official or social interchanges. But such embarrassment must have been still inconceivably greater between officers in the same service, having continual intercourse with each other, whose relative rank is not fixed by the designation of their office, and not supplied by official "regulation" or "order." The official courtesies due to surgeons and pursers in the navy, and aboard the same vessels, stood in this predicament until the two following "general orders" established their "relative rank." It is the more remarkable, that these regulations should have been postponed so long, seeing that the same form of commission (of which a copy is subjoined) is used for all navy officers, (of every grade bearing commissions,) including surgeons, pursers, and chaplains, with the navy officers proper. Anterior to the promulgation of these orders, there was nothing to prevent surgeons and pursers being thrust on-board-ship as intruders or exotics, destitute of the essential esprit du corps, for the want of a proper degree of naval education. As a necessary consequence, however, these "orders" must impose a salutary restraint hereafter on these appointments being conferred on persons totally destitute of naval education, so indispensable indeed to the personal comfort of those thus officially made to assort together. Without a "general order" to fix the relative rank of the chaplain, his sacred robes, unaided by official behest, always insures him the highest rank. "GENERAL ORDER. Surgeons of the fleet, and surgeons of more than twelve years, will rank with commanders. Surgeons of less than twelve years, with lieutenants. Commanding and executive officers, of whatever grade, when on duty, will take precedence of all medical officers. This order confers no authority to exercise military command, and no additional right to quarters. NAVY DEPARTMENT, August 31, 1846." "GENERAL ORDER. Pursers of more than twelve years will rank with commanders. • Pursers will rank with surgeons according to date of commission. (Signed) GEORGE BANCROFT. Commanding and executive officers, of whatever grade, when on duty, will take precedence of all pursers. (Signed) J. Y. MASON. I have KNOW YE, That reposing especial trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity, and abilities of nominated, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint him a -, in the service of the United States. He is, therefore, carefully and diligently to discharge the duties of by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. And I do strictly charge and require all officers, seamen, and marines, under his command, to be obedient to his orders as And he is to observe and follow such orders and directions, from time to time, as he shall receive from me, or the future President of the United States of America, or his superior officer set over him, according to the rules and discipline of the navy. This commission to continue in force during the pleasure of the President of the United States for the time being. Given under my hand, at Washington, this in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and in the year of the Independence of the United States. By command of the President of the United States of America: day of Registered, Secretary of the Navy. |