38&

TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. Sess.I. Ch.41. 1S40.

Sec. of Treas.authorized tomake transfersof the publicmoneys.

PostmasterGen. authorizedto make trans-fers of moneysbelonging toPost Office De-partment.

Treasurer rnaydraw on any de-positary.

Moneys in thehands of deposi-taries.

Depositaries tomake returns,&c.

Examinationsto be made ofthe books, &,c.

Special agentsmay be appoint-ed.

Additional ex-aminations tobe made—how.

in each week, and as much more frequently, in all cases, as they, in theirdiscretion, may think proper.

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for theSecretary of the Treasury to transfer the moneys in the hands of anydepositary hereby constituted, to the Treasury of the United States ; tothe Mint at Philadelphia; to the Branch Mint at New Orleans ; or tothe offices of either of the receivers-general of public moneys, by this actdirected to be appointed; to be there safely kept, according to the pro-visions of this act; and also to transfer moneys in the hands of any onedepositary constituted by this act to any other depositary constituted bythe same, at his discretion, and as the safety of the public moneys, andthe convenience of the public service shall seem to him to require;which authority to transfer the moneys belonging to the Post Office De-partment is also hereby conferred upon the Postmaster General, so faras its exercise by him may be consistent with the provisions of existinglaws; and every depositary constituted by this act shall keep his accountof the money paid to, or deposited with, him, belonging to the Post OfficeDepartment, separate and distinct from the account kept by him of otherpublic moneys so paid or deposited. And for the purpose of paymentson the public account, it shall be lawful for the Treasurer of the UnitedStates to draw upon any of the said depositaries, as he may think mostconducive to the public interests, or to the convenience of the publiccreditors, or both.

Sec. II. And be it further enacted, That the moneys in the hands,care, and custody, of any of the depositaries constituted by this act, shallbe considered and held as deposited to the credit of the Treasurer of theUnited States , and shall be, at all times, subject to his draft, whethermade for transfer or disbursement, in the same manner as though thesaid moneys were actually in the Treasury of the United States ; andeach depositary shall make returns to the Treasury and Post Office De-partment of all moneys received and paid by him, at such times, and insuch form, as shall be directed by the Secretary of the Treasury or thePostmaster General.

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Trea-sury shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause examinations to bemade of the books, accounts, and money on hand, of the several de-positaries constituted by this act; and for that purpose to appoint spe-cial agents, as occasion may require, with such compensation as he maythink reasonable, to be fixed and declared at the time of each appoint-ment. The agents selected to make these examinations shall be in-structed to examine as well the books, accounts, and returns of theofficer, as the money on hand, and the manner of its being kept, to theend that uniformity and accuracy in the accounts, as well as safety tothe public moneys may be secured thereby.

Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That in addition to the exami-nations provided for in the last preceding section, and as a further guardover the public moneys, it shall be the duty of each naval officer andsurveyor, as a check upon the receiver-general of public moneys, orcollector of the customs, of their respective districts; of each registerof a land office, as a check upon the receiver of his land office; andof the director and superintendent of each Mint and Branch Mint whenseparate offices, as a check upon the Treasurers, respectively, of the saidMints, or the persons acting as such, at the close of each quarter of theyear, and as much more frequently as they shall be directed by theSecretary of the Treasury to do so, to examine the books, accounts, re-turns, and money on hand, of the receivers-general of public money,collectors, receivers of land offices, treasurers, and persons acting assuch, and to make a full, accurate, and faithful return to the TreasuryDepartment of their condition.