of the Treasury in regard to the issue and redemption of the fractional currency.

MUTILATED AND COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY.

The amount of $4,066 was deducted from the face value of United States notes redeemed during the year, on account of mutilations; on fractional currency redeemed the deductions amounted to $50.62; on silver certificates to $339, and on gold certificates to $15.

There were detected in remittances of notes received for redemption 269 counterfeit United States notes and 233 national-bank notes. Tho denominations of these notes were as follows:

There was also detected counterfeit fractional currency of the nominal value of $186.70.

Counterfeit silver coins were detected in the several Treasury offices during the fiscal year as follows:

The amount received from this source into the Treasury was $26,593,885.64; the amount received by the Postmaster-General's report was $52,997,135.26; the amount received by the Treasury being

about one-half of the whole receipts. While the country was without good roads, telegraphs, and railroads, the present system, or lack of system, was possibly defensible. There is nothing at present to be said in its favor, and a system should be devised which would make all the revenne of the country, from whatever source, find its way into the Treasury, and be disbursed through the regular channels, and with proper supervision and accountability.

SPEAKER'S CERTIFICATES.

The appropriation for the payment of compensation and mileage of members of the House of Representatives for the last fiscal year amounted to $1,805,624.

The disbursement of this very large sum of money is now made by the Treasurer of the United States upon certificates signed by the Speaker of the House, to which are attached receipts of the members in whose names the certificates are drawn.

Under the present law and method of payment the Treasurer is held responsible by the accounting officers for the payment of vouchers the correctness of which he has no means of verifying, and which payments have been made by him upon express requirements of law providing that the Speaker's certificate shall be conclusive upon all officers of the Government.

It is again respectfully requested that Congress be asked to provide some other way of making such payments.

CLEARING-HOUSE TRANSACTIONS.

The usual tables, showing the transactions of the sub-treasury at New York with the clearing-house in that city, are here presented:

RECEIPTS FROM CUSTOMS AT NEW YORK.

In continuation of tables presented in the reports of the Treasurer for the past three years, the kinds of money received in payment of duties on imports at the port of New York are shown in the table below, covering the period from July 1, 1883, to November 30, 1886:

Total duties

Per Gold Cer- Per Silver Cer- Per Silver Per on imports,
Gold Coin. Ct. tificates.
Ct. tificates. Ct. Coin. Ct.
port of
New York.

$11, 791, 000 8. 8 $3,556, 000 2.7 $88, 750, 000 66. 4 $29, 482, 000 22. 0 $134, 000 0.18133, 713 000

36, 161, 000 28.9 1, 544, 000 1.2 42, 779, 000 34. 1 44, 660, 000 35. 6 158, 000 0.1 125, 302, 000

Fiscal

year

ending June

30, 1886..... 59, 549, 000 44. 9

941, 000 0.7 54, 343, 000 41.0 17, 404, 000 13.1 390, 500 0.3 132, 627, 500

five months. 135, 627, 000 29. 9

6,505,000 1.4 212, 654, 000 46. 9 98, 112, 000 21.6 886, 500 0.2 453, 784, 500

The amount of silver certificates in circulation on the dates stated was as follows:

Percentages of each kind of money received from customs

Silver certificates.

at New York.

In the Appendix, page 91, will be found a table showing by months the kinds of money received from April, 1878, in the custom-house at New York. There will also be found on page 62 a table of the Treas ury receipts and payments for the year, and the kinds of money in which such receipts and payments were made.

DEPOSITARY BANKS.

Public moneys amounting to $123,592,221.68 were during the year deposited with national banks designated as depositaries. The balances held at the close of the year to the credit of the Treasurer amounted to $14,036,632.18, and to the credit of disbursing officers, to $2,615,753.11. Bonds of the United States amounting to $19,659,900 were held by the Treasury to secure the safe-keeping and prompt payment of these funds.

One hundred and sixty national banks acted as depositaries during the year, receiving the moneys from collecting officers of the Government, thus saving the risk and expense of transportation to Treasury offices, and disbursing the same on drafts of the Treasurer. A more extended use of the banks as depositaries would result in a large saving to the Government, and very much lessen the chances of loss from peculation and frauds in the conduct of the operations of the Treasury, as the proper margin of security in United States bonds is a matter of constant supervision by the Treasurer. No loss has resulted in this class of deposits for the past eighteen years, although a number of failures have taken place among the depositary banks.

The following table presents the transactions with depositary banks for the twenty-two years in which they have been employed by the Treasury:

PACIFIC RAILROAD SINKING FUNDS.

At the close of the fiscal year United States bonds were held in this office for account of the Pacific Railroad sinking funds, established by the act of May 7, 1878 (20 Statutes, 56), as follows:

Four per cent. bonds to the amount of $1,095,000 were added to the account of the Union Pacific Railroad, and $510,000 called 3 per cent. bonds were withdrawn for redemption, and the proceeds thereof deposited in the Treasury to the credit of said fund.

Three per cent. bonds to the amount of $320,000 were added to the account of the Central Pacific Railroad, and $1,220,000 called 3 per cent. bonds were withdrawn for redemption, and the proceeds thereof deposited in the Treasury to the credit of said fund, making bonds and cash to the credit of the respective funds as follows:

The Treasurer of the United States, by the act of June 10, 1876 (19 Statutes, 58), is the custodian of the Indian trust fund, for the Secretary of the Interior, trustee. The amount of the fund at the close of the fiscal year was $1,800,016.833, as shown by the following table: