Statement showing the number and class of vessels built, and the tonnage thereof, in the several States and Territories of the United States from 1815 to 1876, inclusive. REPORT OF THE SOLICITOR OF THE TREASURY. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR OF THE TREASURY, Washington, D. C., November 20, 1876. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith seven tabular statements, exhibiting the amount, character, and results of the litigation under the direction of this office for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876, so far as the same are shown by the reports received from the United States attorneys for the several districts. These tables embrace, respectively: 1. Suits on custom-house bonds. 2. Suits on transcripts of accounts of defaulting public officers, excepting those of the Post-Office Department adjusted by the accounting-officers of the Treasury Department. 3. Post-office suits, embracing those against officers of the Post-Office Department, and cases of fines, penalties, and forfeitures for violation of the postal laws. 4. Suits for the recovery of fines, penalties, and forfeitures under the customs-revenue and navigation laws. 5. Suits against collectors of customs and other agents of the Government for refund of duties and acts done in the line of their official duty. 6. Suits in which the United States is interested, not embraced in the other classes. 7. A general summary or abstract of all the other tables. An examination of this summary will show that the whole number of suits commenced within the year was 316 were of class 1, for the recovery of.. 175 were of class 2, for the recovery of.. 149 were of class 3, for the recovery of.. 198 were of class 4, for the recovery of.. 501 were of class 5 1,000 were of class 6, for the recovery of.. Making a total sued for, as reported, of.... of which $1,543, 659 27 1,298, 616 06 653,071 14 243,337 49 3,262, 674 81 7,001,358 77 Of the whole number of suits brought, 651 were decided in favor of the United States, 25 were adversely decided, 294 were settled and dismissed; in 4, penalties were remitted by the Secretary of the Treasury, leaving 1,365 still pending. Of those pending at the commencement of the year, 358 were decided for the United States, 49 were decided adversely, 684 were settled and dismissed; and in 8, penalties were remitted by the Secretary of the Treasury. The entire number of suits decided or otherwise disposed of during the year was 2,073; the whole amount for which judgments were ob tained, exclusive of decrees in rem, was $1,760,821.93; and the entire amount collected from all sources was $868,198.41. THE SECRET-SERVICE DIVISION. I present herewith the report of James J. Brooks, Esq., Chief of the Secret Service Division, showing the operations of the force under his control for the year ending June 30, 1876. Instructions were received from the Secretary of the Treasury under date of August 28, 1876, revoking the instructions of that Department placing the special agents of the Treasury appointed under the provis ions of section 2649 of the Revised Statutes under the direction of the Solicitor of the Treasury, and requiring said special agents thereafterwards to act under the direction of the Supervising Special Agent, subject to the orders of the Secretary. I beg leave respectfully to advise that the oversight and direction of the Secret Service Division is a serv ice more inconsistent with the general duties and functions of this office than the direction of the special agents of which it has been relieved. Besides the fact that the special agents are appointed to make examination of the books, papers, and accounts of the collectors and other officers of the customs, and to be employed in the detection and prevention of frauds on the customs-revenue, a service intimately connected with the legal functions of the Solicitor of the Treasury, there is a special statute (section 376, Revised Statutes) which requires the Solicitor of the Treasury, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, to take cognizance of all frauds or attempted frauds upon the revenue, and to exercise a general supervision over the measures for their prevention and detection. The special agents are employed in discovering unpaid debts and claims for forfeitures and penalties arising under the customs-revenue service. Their investigations culminate in settlements submitted to the discretion of the Solicitor, or in suits and proceedings conducted under his supervision, and of which he is required to keep a complete record. But the Secret-Service Division are employed in detecting and bringing to punishment crimes with which, as such, the Solicitor has nothing to do, and in making preparation for prosecutions, in directing which the Solicitor has no discretion. He has no record of these prosecutions, and can only give instructions in reference to their management and disposition through the Attorney-General, to whose oversight the several district attorneys are subject, as to the general criminal proceedings instituted by them. To avoid unnecessary complication and circuity, and to make the Solicitor of the Treasury more exclusively than he now is the law-officer of the Treasury, in the service devolving upon him of collecting by legal proceedings the debts due to the Government, I would respectfully suggest that the Secret Service Division be placed under the direction of its chief, subject to the orders of the Attorney-General. LAW QUESTIONS BEFORE ACCOUNTING-OFFICERS OF THE TREASURY. Section 191 of the Revised Statutes provides: The balances which may from time to time be stated by the Auditor and certified to the heads of Departments by the Commissioner of Customs or the Comptrollers of the Treasury, upon the settlement of public accounts, shall not be subject to be changed or modified by the heads of Departments, but shall be conclusive upon the executive branch of the Government, and be subject to revision only by Congress or the proper courts. The head of the proper Department, before signing a warrant for any balance |