accounts; registers of collectors' reports of expenses in collecting internal revenue, from 1863; and correspondence concerning special allowances for revenue officials, from 1863.

A series pertaining to the Alabama claims, 1876-77 and 1884-95 (24 vols.), consists in part (vols. 1-3) of reports of accounts received in the Department of State arising from judgments of the Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims under an act of June 23, 1874 (18 Stat. 245), and in part (vols. 4-24) of reports of accounts submitted and paid under acts of June 5, 1882, and June 3, 1884 (22 Stat. 98, 23 Stat. 33).

National Archives, unpublished Preliminary Inventory of the Rec

ords of the Fifth Auditor of the Treasury, comp. by Joyce B. Davis.

OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR OF THE TREASURY FOR THE
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT (SIXTH AUDITOR)

The Auditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department, or, as he came to be called, the Sixth Auditor, was authorized by sec. 8 of an act of July 2, 1836 (5 Stat. 81). During the Civil War he adjusted all accounts of the Post Office Department, and his decisions were final if not appealed to the First Comptroller within a year. He superintended the collection of debts due the Post Office Department and of penalties imposed on postmasters and mail contractors; he directed civil and criminal suits, legal proceedings, and other legal measures to enforce payment of amounts due the Post Office Department; he instructed attorneys, marshals, and clerks on these matters; and he received from the U. S. courts returns of the status and progress of such suits and legal proceedings. He had charge of all land and other property assigned to the United States in payment of debts due the Post Office Department, and he regularly received reports on changes of postmasters.

In the first year of the war the Sixth Auditor investigated the loyalty of mail contractors and others in the service of the Post Office Department; and he made "vigorous" efforts to collect amounts due from "late postmasters," including those of the seceded States. He declared that his "extensive and diversified labors" embraced "the functions of an auditor, comptroller, register, and solicitor." Notwithstanding "the widespread pecuniary embarrassment occasioned by the existing unhappy rebellion, his efforts to collect the scattered revenues of the Post Office Department were by 1862 "crowned with unusual success. "

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In the last year of the war the Sixth Auditor's Office included a Money Order Division, a Pay Division, and a Collecting Division, besides the Examiner's Division, the work of which had decreased after a radical change in the method of settling the quarterly accounts of postmasters, made under sec. 15 of an act of July 1, 1864 (13 Stat. 339).

Successive Sixth Auditors during the Civil War:

G. Adams, 1861

Elijah Sells, 1864 (also Third Auditor).
J. M. McGrew (acting), 1865.

Civil War annual reports of the Sixth Auditor, appended to those of

the Secretary of the Treasury on

The State of the Finances.

Record Group 217. --The only extant records of the Sixth Auditor for the Civil War period appear to be a series of registers of postmaster accounts, from Oct. 1862, in the Federal Records Center at Alexandria, Va.

OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR OF THE TREASURY

An act of May 29, 1830 (4 Stat. 414), provided for the appointment of a Solicitor of the Treasury to take charge of the legal activities of the Department. His primary function was to recover debts due the United States, a responsibility that had been vested successively in the Comptroller of the Treasury, the First Comptroller of the Treasury, and the Treasury Agent. During the Civil War the Solicitor superintended all civil suits for the recovery of debts due the United States except those arising in the Post Office Department; he instructed the U. S. attorneys, marshals, and clerks of court in all matters relating to these suits and their results; and he received returns covering each term of the U. S. courts, showing the progress and condition of the suits. The Solicitor was responsible also for the custody and disposal of property, including real estate, acquired in satisfaction of judgments or assigned to the United States in payment of debts (except property assigned for debts to the Post Office Department). Although control of property was transferred to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue by sec. 2 of an act of Mar. 2, 1867 (14 Stat. 471), the Solicitor during the war had power to sell and dispose of such property for the benefit of the Government.

As of 1861 the suits filed in the several judicial districts by the Solicitor were chiefly (1) those on Treasury transcripts of official settlements of the accounts of defaulting public officers, contractors, and others, as adjusted by Treasury accounting officers; (2) those for the recovery of fines, penalties, and forfeitures for violations of the revenue laws; and (3) those on warehouse transportation bonds for duties on goods imported. Other judicial suits coming under the supervision of the Office as the war progressed included prize cases, libels, and suits under wartime acts of 1861 and 1862 (12 Stat. 255, 319, 404, 589); suits for fines, penalties, and forfeitures under the new internal revenue laws; and miscellaneous suits in which the Government was interested.

Beside supervising suits in which the United States was a party or had an interest, the Solicitor was given two other important duties during the war. (1) An act of Mar. 3, 1863 (12 Stat. 737), provided that under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury he should take cognizance of "frauds upon the revenue" and should supervise measures to prevent and detect them. By the same act the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to appoint three revenue agents to aid in the prevention, detection, and punishment of such frauds. Two agents so authorized were appointed in 1863 and were put under the Solicitor's direction, one to reside in New York City and to work in that and other domestic ports, and the other to be employed in Europe. The latter began his duties in Paris in August 1863. (2) Beginning in 1863, the Solicitor's office was made responsible also for detecting and bringing to trial counterfeiters of Treasury notes and other U. S. securities and coin (see Secret Service Division, below).

In 1863 the Solicitor, when asked by the Navy Department to investigate alleged frauds in the sale of the prize steamer Anne at New York, instituted a general inquiry into "irregularities in the custody and disposition

of prize property, and the proceeds thereof" in New York City. His elaborate report to the Secretary of the Navy, with evidence and exhibits, Aug. 5, 1863, was printed (595 p.) as H. Ex. Doc. 74, 38 Cong., 1 sess., Serial 1194.

Transfer of the Solicitor's Office to the Department of Justice in 1870 brought it under the Attorney General's supervision.

Edward Jordan, appointed Mar. 28, 1861, served as Solicitor of the Treasury during the war.

Civil War annual reports of the Solicitor of the Treasury, appended to those of the Secretary of the

Treasury on The State of the Fi

nances.

Record Group 206. --Except for most of the records concerning land acquired by the United States in payment of debt (see Record Group 121, below) and for records concerning counterfeiting (see Secret Service Division, below), the Civil War records of the Solicitor's Office are concentrated in this record group. Unbound letters received during the war (ca. 10 ft.) are in several series extending beyond 1865 and generally covered by registers. Letters from U. S. attorneys, clerks of court, and marshals (with gaps for the Federal Districts in the Confederacy) pertain generally to the status of suits. Letters from the Secretary of the Treasury concern such matters as the postponement of suits, the defense of suits against collectors of customs, the prosecution of suits under the revenue laws, the sale of condemned goods, site titles (for instance, of lighthouses), the release of seized steamers, the collection of evidence, the remission of forfeitures, claims for refund of customs duties, and the need for the Solicitor's opinions on many subjects. There are letters from the U. S. Treasurer and the Assistant Treasurers, letters from the First Comptroller of the Treasury concerning transcripts of accounts adjusted, the transmittal of papers about miscellaneous suits, and similar matters; letters from the Second Comptroller transmitting supplementary statements of accounts and other papers relating to suits and accounts; letters from the Comptroller of the Currency, dating from 1863, concerning such matters as taxes imposed on national banks, action to be taken against banks, violations of the National Bank Act, and receivership of banks; and letters from the Commissioner of Customs concerning bond surveyors, suits against collectors of customs, reports on customs bonds delivered, and similar matters. Other letters originated with the six Auditors of the Treasury Department; the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, from 1862, concerning deposits of fines collected, delays in suits, opinions of cases, official bonds, etc.; revenue agents, from 1862, concerning "frauds upon the revenue"; the Light-House Board, from 1862; the Director of the Mint; the Register of the Treasury; the Supervising Architect of the Treasury; the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the Commissioner of Patents, the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and other Interior Department officials; the Navy Department; the Post Office Department; and the Secret Service Division, from 1863, relating to the suppression of counterfeiting and including a report by W. P. Wood of his operations against counterfeiting before his appointment to head the Division in July 1865. A file of miscellaneous letters received, 1821-95, is arranged alphabetically by writer's name and thereunder chronologically. Among the reports received are those of clerks of Federal courts on

proceedings in cases involving the United States and on judgments and decrees entered in district courts, 1857-80 (15 vols.); similar reports of U. S. attorneys; and fiscal reports of U. S. attorneys of the Southern District of New York, 1865-70 (3 vols.), on prize and confiscation cases, customhouse bond suits, internal revenue cases, suits against collectors of customs, seizure cases, and suits against the United States.

Rough drafts of letters sent are in a single series, 1820-81. For the Civil War period these relate to specific cases and are addressed chiefly to U. S. attorneys, clerks of court, and marshals, but some letters are addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury, other Government officials, and private individuals. There are also fair copies of letters sent on "debts and suits," July 1860-Dec. 1865 (7 vols.). The Solicitor's reports on customs suits date from 1864.

Covering the war period are separate registers of confiscation suits; suits brought on customhouse bonds; suits brought for fines, penalties, and forfeitures; suits under the internal revenue law; suits against agents and officers of the Government; prize suits; suits on Treasury transcript; and miscellaneous other suits. There are also dockets of accounts transmitted for suit.

Copies of the wartime opinions of the Solicitor are in a volume for June 1861-Dec. 1864 and in the first of a 3-volume series combining opinions of the Attorney General, the Solicitor of the Treasury, and district attorneys.

Record Group 121. -- The records of the Solicitor of the Treasury for the Civil War period that are now part of the records of the Public Buildings Service chiefly concern land acquired by the United States in payment of debt. Volume 3 of a 4-volume series of warranty deeds to land conveyed by the United States covers 1847-1903 and consists of copies of the original deeds; volume 4 of the same series consists of copies of deeds (postwar) to property sold under an act of Mar. 3, 1863 (12 Stat. 740), empowering the Solicitor, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to sell land acquired by judicial process in payment of debts; there is an incomplete deed-holder index and a place-name index to these volumes. There are also fair copies of warranty deeds to land acquired by the United States, 1843-78 (1 vol.), duplicating in part a series of record copies of deeds and accompanying papers relating to land so acquired; a volume listing lands belonging to the Government, with information on their disposition, 1822-79; and letters received by the Solicitor from attorneys and special agents, 1855-66 (8 in.).

National Archives, Preliminary Inventory [No. 110] of the Public Buildings Service, comp. by W.

Lane Van Neste and Virgil E. Baugh (Washington, 1958).

Secret Service Division

The Secret Service Division, although not created until July 1865, originated under an appropriation act of June 23, 1860 (12 Stat. 102), which granted $10,000 (to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury) for detecting and bringing to trial counterfeiters of coin. An act of July 11, 1862 (12 Stat. 533), included counterfeiters of Treasury notes, bonds, or other U. S. securities. An Acting Agent for the U. S.

Treasury in Detecting Frauds of Government Securities supervised the operations of agents under this appropriation, but in Dec. 1863 Secretary Chase put all measures to prevent and punish counterfeiting under the supervision of the Solicitor of the Treasury and directed detectives and others employed against counterfeiting to report to the Solicitor and receive their instructions from him. Counterfeiting greatly increased, however, after the passage of the National Bank Act of 1863 and the issuance of notes and bonds by chartered banks. Congress therefore by an act of July 2, 1864 (13 Stat. 351), appropriated $100,000 for expenses in detecting counterfeiters and bringing them to trial. After Secretary McCulloch on July 5, 1865, designated William P. Wood, then Superintendent of the Old Capitol Prison, as "chief of the detective force to act under the directions of the Solicitor of the Treasury, in detecting and bringing to punishment persons engaged in counterfeiting," the Secret Service Division was established within the Office of the Solicitor. The twofold "mode of operation adopted, as explained by the Solicitor in a circular of 1865 to U. S. district attorneys, marshals, and clerks of court, was 'first, by the offer of rewards for services or information tending to the suppression of counterfeiting; and, second, by direct efforts to collect information, and make seizures and arrests.

When the Office of the Solicitor was transferred to the Department of Justice in 1870 the Secret Service remained in the Treasury Department.

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Record Group 87. --The correspondence of the early years of the Secret Service is apparently not extant, but there are registers of letters received, sent, and referred. So-called "registers of reports," Dec. 1864-Feb. 1871 (13 vols. on microfilm), are actually transcripts or abstracts of agents' monthly reports describing arrests made by them, their other activities, and property confiscated--all relating to the detection of counterfeiting. Copies of a few letters to and from the Solicitor are in the volumes of abstracts. The early part of a series, 1863-1906 (40 vols.), of "Description and Information of Criminals" pertains to the Civil War period; for this there is an incomplete index, 1863-99 (3 vols.), and a related register of counterfeiters, 1863-73 (1 vol.). There are also a few fiscal records dating from 1865 and a volume (labeled "Receipt Book") listing "members of old force retained" and "new operatives employed" in 1869.

National Archives, Preliminary Inventory No. 16] of the Records of the United States Secret Service,

comp. by Lyle J. Holverstott
(Washington, 1949).

OFFICE OF INTERNAL REVENUE

The Office of Internal Revenue was created by an act of July 1, 1862 (12 Stat. 432), which charged the Commissioner, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, "with preparing all the instructions, regulations, directions, forms, blanks, stamps, and licenses, and distributing the same, or any part thereof, and all other matters pertaining to the assessment and collection of the duties, stamp duties, licenses, and taxes which may be necessary to carry this act into effect." The sweeping revenue act taxed incomes, estates, public utilities, occupations, liquors, tobacco, and other commodities, as well as banks, insurance companies, and advertisements. It imposed stamp taxes on certain commercial papers, medicines, perfumes, cosmetics, and playing cards. An act of June 30,