This document will be submitted to
you in a few days. The general results (independent of the Post-Office,
which is kept separately and will be stated by itself), so far as they
bear upon this subject, are that the losses which have been and are
likely to be sustained by any class of agents have been the greatest by
banks, including, as required in the resolution, their depreciated paper
received for public dues; that the next largest have been by disbursing
officers, and the least by collectors and receivers. If the losses on
duty bonds are included, they alone will be threefold those by both
collectors and receivers. Our whole experience, therefore, furnishes the
strongest evidence that the desired legislation of Congress is alone
wanting to insure in those operations the highest degree of security
and facility. Such also appears to have been the experience of other
nations. From the results of inquiries made by the Secretary of the
Treasury in regard to the practice among them I am enabled to state
that in twenty-two out of twenty-seven foreign governments from which
undoubted information has been obtained the public moneys are kept in
charge of public officers.
Pages:
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659