Salaries and compensation of special agents. Salaries and compensation of custodians and janitors of all public buildings under the control of the Treasury Department. Salaries and compensation of all inspectors of steamboats. Also, the disbursement, upon the order of the Secretary of the Treasury, of such moneys as may be placed in his hands from the following appropriations, together with the keeping and rendering of the necessary accounts connected therewith: Expenses of collecting the revenue from customs. Life-saving service, contingent expenses. Vaults, safes, and locks for public buildings. Contingent expenses of Independent Treasury. Contingent expenses of Treasury Department (eleven appropriations). Various appropriations for the erection and repairs of public buildings under the control of the Treasury Department throughout the country. Also, all other moneys from other appropriations that may be from time to time placed in his charge by the Secretary. XIII. DISBURSING CLERK. 445. The payment of the salaries and compensation of the officers and employees in the following-named offices is assigned to the other disbursing clerk, viz.: Offices of the First and Second Comptrollers. Offices of the First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Auditors. Office of the Treasurer. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Office of the Commissioner of Customs. Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Office of the Director of the Mint. Bureau of Statistics. Also, the disbursement, upon the order of the Secretary of the Treasury, of such moneys as may be placed in his hands from the following appropriations, together with the keeping and rendering of the necessary accounts connected therewith: Refunding the national debt. Services and expenses of Southern Claims Commission. Propagation of and inquiry respecting food-fishes. Repairs and preservation of public buildings. Fuel, lights, and water for same. Heating and hoisting apparatus for same. Assessing and collecting internal revenue. Punishment for violation of internal-revenue laws. Salaries and expenses of supervisors and subordinate officers of internal revenue. Stamps, paper, and dies. Salaries of Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Labor and expenses of engraving and printing. Incidental expenses of national currency, office of the Treasurer of United States. Also, all other moneys from other appropriations that may be from time to time placed in his charge by the Secretary. XIV. THE LIGHT-HOUSE BOARD. 446. The Light-house Board, which by law is attached to the office of the Secretary of the Treasury, is composed, according to the statutes, of two officers of the navy of high rank, two officers of the corps of engineers of the army, and two civilians of high scientific attainments, together with an officer of the navy and an officer of engi neers of the army as secretaries, all of whom are appointed by the President of the United States. The Secretary of the Treasury is made president of the board ex officio. (R. S., § 4653, 4654.) 447. The board is required to elect by ballot one of its number as chairman, whose duty it is to preside at meetings in the absence of the president, and to perform such acts as the rules of the board may prescribe. (R. S., § 4655.) 448. The board is required to meet on the first Mondays in March, June, September, and December, but it may be convened oftener by the Secretary of the Treasury; and it may adopt such regulations for the government of its meetings as it may judge expedient. (R. S., §§ 4656, 4657.) 449. Under the superintendence of the Secretary of the Treasury, the board is required to discharge all administrative duties relating to the construction, illumination, inspection, and superintendence of light-houses, light-vessels, beacons, buoys, sea-marks, and their appendages, embracing the security of foundations of works already existing, the purchasing of illuminating and other apparatus, supplies and materials of all kinds for building, and for rebuilding, when necessary, and the keeping in good repair the light-houses, light-vessels, beacons, and buoys of the United States. It is required also to take charge and cus tody of all the archives, books, documents, drawings, models, returns, apparatus, and other things appertaining to the light-house establishment. (R. S., § 4658.) 450. It is required to furnish, upon the requisition of the Secretary of the Treasury, all the estimates of expense which the several branches of the light-house service may require, and such other information as may be needed to be laid before Congress at the commencement of each session. (R. S., § 4659.) 451. The board is authorized, when an appropriation has been made for a new light-house the site of which does not belong to the United States, to purchase the nec essary land from such appropriation; and no structure is to be erected on any site until cession of jurisdiction over the land has been made to the United States. (R. S., §§ 4660, 4661.) 452. The board is required to cause to be prepared by its engineer secretary, or by such officer of engineers of the army as may be detailed for the purpose, all plans, drawings, specifications, and estimates of costs of all illuminating and other apparatus, and also for the construction and repairs of towers, buildings, &c., connected with the light-house establishment; and no bid or contract can prop. erly be accepted or entered into, except upon the decision of the board, at a regular or special meeting, and through its properly authorized officers. (R. S., § 4665.) 453. All materials for construction and repairs of lighthouses, &c., are required to be procured by public contracts, under regulations to be prescribed by the board. (R. S., § 4666.) 454. The board is required to arrange the Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific, and lake coasts of the United States into light-house districts, not exceeding twelve in number; and an officer of the army or navy is required to be assigned partment and for the distribution of business therein. (R. S., § 161.) XI. DIVISION OF CAPTURED AND ABANDONED PROPERTY. This division grew originally out of the administration by the Secretary of the Treasury of the acts of Congress restricting and regulating commercial intercourse with parts of the country the inhabitants of which were, or were declared to be, in a state of insurrection. Under these laws, trade regulations had to be established to meet the exigencies existing at the time of their enactment, arising out of the then existing rebellion of the year 1861 and subse quent years; captured and abandoned property had to be taken care of and accounted for; permits to trade were required to be issued within the terms of the laws; the purchase and disposition of the products of insurrectionary sections of the country had to be provided for under special laws applicable; and the vast business, intricate and delicate to the greatest degree, had to be taken care of under the general supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury. This involved the appointment and supervision of general and special agents, having special territorial jurisdiction, whose duties required the issue of permits; the regulation, under instructions from head-quarters, of trade; the seizure or receipt of property captured by the army or found abandoned; the safe-keeping and transportation of the same; its sale or other disposition; the rendition of proper accounts of the same or of its proceeds, and the decision of questions arising out of ownership, or controversies between claimants. In the administration of this business there has been a vast accumulation of papers, correspondence, and records, all of which are now in charge of the present Division of Captured and Abandoned Property, in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury. It is |