transmit his Abstract of Sales, Register of Declaratory Statements, Certificates of Purchase and Receiver's Receipts, List of Patents delivered, &c., &c., comprising his return, with a letter describing what accompanied it; and the Receiver should transmit his Monthly Register of Receipts, Accounts current for the month, Abstract of Revolutionary Bounty Land Scrip, and at the end of a quarter include his Quarterly Returns, with but one letter, referring therein to "each description of returns." In reference to the fifth paragraph of said Circular, which would appear to confirm the view taken by many land officers as to the requisition of a separate letter with every subject of their returns, I have to state that it was designed to refer entirely to the correspondence necessarily had with this Office, growing out of past entries or locations; and the design was to prevent, in such correspondence, the blending in one letter, a case having relation to a military location under Act of 1847, one under Act of 1850, another under Act of 1852; one founded on a pre-emption claim, another on a private entry, another in relation to a private claim, and another connected with a repayment of money on a cancelled entry, &c. The division of labor in the office, renders it necessary that each of these subjects, where they are unconnected with each other in any particular case, should be embraced in a distinct letter; otherwise, it leads to delay, inconvenience, and sometimes. to neglect, by a necessity of awaiting the action on one of the subjects in the letter before it is referred to the clerk having charge of the other, and then, either divest the files of one or the other of the clerks of the papers upon which he has acted, or render it requisite to make a copy of the letter with endorsements as to where the original may be found. I take this opportunity of again enjoining on you the necessity of observing the rules heretofore prescribed in reference to the folding and endorsement of the contents of communications addressed to this Office. Respectfully, your obedient servant, To Register and Receiver at JOHN WILSON, Commissioner. No. 376. Circular to Receivers of Public Moneys, Rescinding in part that of the 17th May, 1845, relative to compensation for depositing. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Sir-You are advised that by regulations of the Treasury Department issued the 16th and 26th instant, the travelling expenses hereafter to be allowed you will be ten cents per mile, for the distance between your office and the place of deposit, computing it by the nearest and most usual route of travel, whether it be by land or water, and no other allowance will be made for depositing, than the amount paid for transportation of specie and guard service. This rescinds so much of the circular from this Office of the 17th May, 1845, issued under that of the Treasury Department of the 1st May, 1831, as allowed twelve and a half cents for every mile travelled by land, and six cents by water, and an additional compensation of the one hundreth part of one per cent. for every ten miles upon the amount deposited. After the receipt of this by you, no allowance upon any deposit subsequently started from your office, will be made for risk, and that for mileage will be as directed by the Secretary. In other respects you will be governed by the Circular of the 17th May, 1845, above referred to. Receiver of Public Moneys at JOHN WILSON, Commissioner. No. 377. Copy of Circular to Receivers of Public Moneys. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Sir :-The present will supercede the directions heretofore given, as to the amount of public money in your hands, which you have been required to deposit to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States. Should your weekly receipts exceed $10,000, you will deposit to the credit of Treasurer, with the depositary indicated, the whole amount in your hands at the close of each week. Should your weekly receipts be less than $10,000, but more than $5000, you will deposit to the credit of the Treasurer the whole amount in your hands at the close of each period of two weeks. Should your monthly receipts be more than $2000, and less than $20,000, you will deposit to the credit of the Treasurer at the close of each month. Should your monthly receipts be less than $2000, you will deposit to the credit of the Treasurer at the close of each quarter. The compensation prescribed by the instructions of 17th May, 1845, for making deposits has been directed to be changed, so as to allow mileage when the journey is actually performed by the Receiver for the purpose of making the deposit, together with freight or transportation, and the cost of guard, when actually required. No allowance will be recognized hereafter for the labor of any Receiver in making deposits, nor on account of any risk therein. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, No. 378. Circular to Certain Collectors of Customs and Receivers of Public Money. TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES, August 31, 1854. For the sole purpose of assisting to get into the Treasury of the United States, without risk or cost of transportation, the gross revenue derived from customs and sales of public lands collected at offices which are not contiguous to an Assistant Treasurer or a designated depository, the Treasurer takes advantage of such opportunities as may occur, for drawing directly on a Collector or Receiver in favor either of himself, as a disbursing agent, or of other parties; and when the drafts are returned to him properly endorsed, so that, with them as vouchers, he can obtain credit for paying the warrants on which they were issued, he causes credit to be given by covering warrants to the Collector or Receiver so paying and re turning his drafts. By this operation the money is got into the Treasury as effectually as if it had been deposited in a depository. In order to effect the object explained above, certain Collectors and Receivers are required to render to this Office and to the Secretary of the Treasury, monthly statements of the money collected or received by them, to the credit of the United States on one side, and of the sums they may deposit or the drafts they may pay, or both, as debits on the other side. These statements must show the previous balance, when there is any, and the transactions of their respective months, with the balance at their close. They must be made out and remitted by the first mail of the succeeding month; and any neglect or want of promptness in this particular will be noticed by the Department. Deposits must be charged in these statements under the dates of the certificates of deposit, which certificates should be sent with the regular accounts to the proper Auditors, but not with these statements. The accounts current and vouchers required to be sent to the accounting officers, though relating to the same subject, are, practically, different or distinct from the statements here referred to, and must not be confounded with them. Drafts must be properly endorsed, charged by number of draft and warrant, and enclosed to the Treasurer, with the returns in which they are charged, that they may be promptly passed to the credit of the payers. Should any errors occur in striking balances, they must be corrected by special entries, not by altering a balance previously reported. For the purpose of keeping separate the transactions under different bonds, they may be entered separately on the monthly statements and aggregated at foot. The balances under old bonds should be cleared off, as soon as practicable, by the charges; and, for this purpose, it may be necessary, as it is generally the most convenient mode, to deposit them specifically, though in many cases of small amounts, we may effect the object by drafts. The returns or statements must be fairly endorsed, with the name of the office, the month to which they refer, and the name of the officer; and they should be made on common-sized letter paper, folded in three folds. Formal letters, which merely announce the enclosure of returns, are unnecessary. Very respectfully, SAMUEL CASEY, No. 379. Circular. Treasurer United States. TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES, Sir:-For the sake of our convenience, and to ensure accuracy in making the entries on our books, which confirm credits for the payment of Treasurer's Drafts, I have to request that, hereafter, you will distinguish the drafts which you may charge and enclose in your returns to this Office, in accordance with the warrants upon which they were issued, after the following form: The The number in the left hand corner is the number of the draft. second, third, fourth, and fifth designations are printed on the drafts in red Very respectfully, ink. To SAMUEL CASEY, Treasurer of United States. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Gentlemen :-The attention of this Office having been called to the fact, that some of the district land officers, without authority, close their offices for the purpose of bringing up arrears of work, thus causing great inconvenience and expense to persons visiting the offices for the purpose of entering lands, it becomes necessary to establish some regulation on this subject. ♦ It is, therefore, hereby directed, that in future when the press of business at any one land office shall make such proceeding necessary, the hours for business will be limited from 8 A. M., to 12 M., at which last hour the offices will be closed for the day, and the afternoon devoted to bringing up the morning work; and whenever it shall be necessary to restrict the hours as above, the fact will be immediately reported to this Office, and the probable time such limited working hours continued, also communicated. So soon as the press of business is overcome, the office hours will be extended throughout the day; and in no case whatever, will the unauthorized closing of land offices be tolerated. You will acknowledge the receipt hereof. -, Register and Receiver. Very respectfully, THOS. A. HENDRICKS, Commissioner. No. 381. GENERAL LAND Office, Gentlemen :-As inquiry has been made in regard to the amount of commissions to which Registers and Receivers of Land Offices are entitled on the value of Land Warrants issued and located under the Act of the 3d March, 1855, I have to state, as the decision of the Department, that Re gisters and Receivers are entitled to no greater compensation for their services, in any one official year, than $500 as salary, and $2500 as commissions.* Any sum they may receive as fees for locating Land Warrants, over and above the amount sufficient to entitle them to the maximum commissions above mentioned for all services incident to their offices, they are required to deposit to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States. This restriction as to the maximum compensation applies to services under all other acts of Congress. You will make an entry of this decision accordingly on your records, and immediately acknowledge the receipt of it. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, No. 382. Register and Receiver. Circular. THOS. A. HENDRICKS, Commissioner. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Gentlemen :-The neglect of many of the district land officers to add up the columns in their respective returns made to this Office, is the cause of great delay in the transaction of its current business, and I have to enjoin upon you the necessity of promptly transmitting, at the end of each month and quarter, all returns which become due, with the columns properly added up in every case. in every case. Neglect of this duty in future cannot be permitted, and it is therefore, expected that this regulation will be strictly observed. Very respectfully, THOS. A. HENDRICKS, Register and Receiver. Commissioner. No. 383. Circular to Registers and Receivers in relation to Land Warrant locations, and Fees received for the same. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Gentlemen In the Circulars from this Office, dated April 2, and September 14, 1852, (No. 374,) Receivers of Public Moneys were directed to credit the United States in their accounts to be rendered to this Office as "Disbursing Agents," with amount of fees received by both Registers and Receivers for locating Military Bounty Land Warrants issued under the several acts of Congress, and to debit the amount of commissions to which they were entitled on the value of the lands located with warrants—restricting, as required by law, the maximum commissions of each to $2500. Further. In the circular of January 26, 1856, (No. 381,) Registers and Receivers were instructed that this restriction applied to warrants issued under the Act of 3d March, 1855, as well as all former acts. * The Act of 2d February, 1859, (No. 348,) restricts the aggregate amount allowed, to $2500.-See also No. 383. |