CHAPTER XXXIII.THE GREAT CASH-ROOM—THE WATCH-DOG OF THE TREASURY.
No Need for Dirty Money—The Flowers of July—Money Affairs—The Great Cash-Room—Its Marble Glories—A Glance Inside—The Beautiful Walls—A Good Deal of Very Bad Taste—Only Made of Plaster—The Clerks of the Cash-Room—New Money for Old—The National Treasury—“The Watch-Dog” of the Treasury—The Custodian of the Cash—A Broken-nosed Pitcher—Ink for the Autographs—His Ancient Chair—“The General”—“Crooked, Crotchety and Great-hearted”—“Principles” and Pantaloons—Below the Surface—An Unpaintable Face—An Object of Personal Curiosity—Dick and Dolly pay the General a Visit—How the Thing is Done—“Pretty Thoroughly Wrought Up”—A Couple without any Claims—Gratified in the Very Jolliest Fashion—Getting his Autograph—A Specimen for the Folks at Home—Realizing a Responsibility—Where the Treasurer Sleeps—Going the Round at Night—Making Assurance Sure—Awakened by a Strong Impression—Sleepless—In the “Small Hours”—Finding the Door Open—A Careless Clerk—The Care of Eight Hundred Millions—On the Alert—The Secretary’s Room—Three at the Table—Doings and Duties—The Labors of the Secretary and Comptrollers—The Auditors—The Solicitor’s Office—The Light-House Board—The Coast Survey—Internal Revenue Department.
Nobody need ever carry a smutty bit of money in Washington. Lay down the worst looking fraction you ever saw, upon the marble counter of the Cash-Room, and a virgin piece, without blemish, will be given you in its stead. Do you wish ten unsoiled “ones” for that ragged “ten” of yours? Take it to the Cash-Room, and the desire of your heart will be granted in a moment.
To do this you turn out of Pennsylvania avenue towardsthe north front of the Treasury. On either side, spread away broad beds of flowers. In April, their hyacinths sent great drifts of fragrance, blocks away; in May, it was one great garden of roses, and now it has burst into a passion of bloom, a very carnival of color—the burning scarlet of the geraniums mocking the dazzling azure of the sky. On either side run these lavish hues. Before you, cooling the marble court beneath your feet, the great fountain tosses its spray. Toward you stretches the long restful shadow of the northern portico, inviting you to enter in.
THE NEW MARBLE CASH ROOM, UNITED STATES TREASURY.—WASHINGTON.The most costly and magnificent room of its kind in the world.
THE NEW MARBLE CASH ROOM, UNITED STATES TREASURY.—WASHINGTON.The most costly and magnificent room of its kind in the world.
THE NEW MARBLE CASH ROOM, UNITED STATES TREASURY.—WASHINGTON.The most costly and magnificent room of its kind in the world.
If your visit means “money,” as it may, you pass directly through the portico to the Cash-Room, into which it opens. No other room in the world as magnificent is devoted to such a purpose. It is seventy-two feet long, thirty-two feet wide, and twenty-seven feet six inches high. Exclusive of the upper cornice, the walls are built entirely of marble. Seven varieties meet and merge into each other, to make the harmony of its blended hues. From the main floor it rises through two stories of the building. Thus it has upper and lower windows, between which a narrow bronze gallery runs, encircling the entire room. The base of the stylobate of the first story is black Vermont marble, the mouldings are Bardiglio Italian, the styles dove Vermont marble, the panels Sienna Italian, and the dies Tennessee. Above the stylobate, the styles are of Sienna marble. With these are contrasted the pale primrose tints of the Corinthian pilasters and a cornice of white-veined Italian marble. Opposite the windows, and in corresponding positions at the ends of the rooms, are panels of the dark-veined Bardiglio Italian marble, the exact size of the windows.The stylobate and the styles and pilasters of the second story show the same tints and variety of marbles which mark the first. But the panels are of Sarran Golum marble, from the Pyrenees. The latter is one of the rarest of marbles; at a distance, of a blood-red hue. Upon nearer inspection, it reveals undreamed-of beauties in veining and tint.
The pilasters of the second story are not like those of the first story, pure—but complex. They support a cornice, not of wrought marble, as all the remainder of the room would promise, but of plaster of Paris, fantastically wrought and profusely gilded. This cornice is another blot of that meretricious ornamentation which in so many noble spaces disfigures the Capitol.
Extending the length of the room is a costly counter, of various marbles, surmounted by a balustrade of mahogany and plate-glass. Within this are busy the clerks of the Cash-Room, and over this marble counter you, as one of its many proprietors, may receive, for the asking, ten “ones” for one “ten”—new money for old.
From this superb room of the people we pass to that of the Treasurer,—“the watch-dog of the Treasury,”—the man who holds and guards the untold millions of the nation. It is a plain room, very. No thought of luxury, it is easy to see, has touched an article of its furniture, from his well-worn chair to the broken-nosed pitcher which holds the General’s ink; that ink, thick as mud and black as Egyptian night, out of which he constructs these marvellous hieroglyphics, which, on our legal-tender notes, has become one of the most baffling studies of the nation.
“The General!” That’s his name, from the roof tothe cellar of the vast Treasury; crooked, crotchety, great-hearted; nobody swears so loud, or is so generous, or just, as “the General.” Every afflicted soul, from the women, poor and old, who stand by the printing-presses under the scorching roof, to Mary Walker, whose devotion to “her principles,” in the form of a pair of hideous little pantaloons, causes her justly to shed tubs of tears,—all are sure of a hearing, and of redress, if possible, from “the General.” His face is as astonishing as his signature. It is a Lincolnian face in this, that its best expression can never be transferred to a picture. In life it is rugged, ugly at first glance, genial at the second. The eyes twinkle with humor and kindness; the wide mouth shuts tight with wilfulness and determination; the whole expression and presence of the man indicate energy, honesty, and power.
General Spinner is an object of personal curiosity to all sight-seers who visit Washington. Dick and Dolly having puzzled their eyes for an hour, studying some fresh legal tender note, to discover by what process of evolution and convolution the remarkable signature which it bears is fashioned, when they came to the Capital, proceeded to the Treasury to see, not only the man who makes it, but how he makes it. Bluff, and even snappish at first approach, after a little wilful snarling, our General subsides into the most amiable of mastiffs. He is an exception to the official class, in his hate of exclusiveness and his never-failing accessibility. Indeed, he would have far less to irritate him, if he made himself more unapproachable and remote. As it is, all sorts of tormenting people, finding it perfectly easy to “get at him,” do not neglect the privilege, and altogether keephim pretty thoroughly “wrought up” with their never-ending and perpetually conflicting woes. Dicky and Dolly, fresh from their farm, who ask for no “place” in any “division” whatever, who have no alert grievance grumbling for redress, who wish for nothing but, “Please, sir,willyou just show ushowyou make it—that queer name?” are sure to be gratified in the very jolliest fashion. The General stabs the old pen with three points down into the pudding-like ink which sticks to the bottom of the broken-nosed pitcher, and proceeds to pile it up in ridiculous little heaps at cross angles on a bit of paper. The result of his “piling,” which Dick and Dolly watch with breathless interest, is his signature, which our happy friends bear off in triumph to show to the “folks at home.” “Yes, sir, the autograph of the Treasurer of the United States! and we saw him make it, we did! A queer lookin’ man, but good as pie, I can tell you; has a feelin’ for folks, as if he wasn’t no better than them, if he does take care of all the money of the United States Treasury, which, I tell you, is a heap!”
The taking care of this money is a mighty responsibility, which General Spinner realizes to the utmost. From his small room in the Treasury, a door opens into a still smaller one. In this little room, beneath the mighty roof of the Treasury, the keeper of its millions sleeps. Before he essays to do this, twice every night the guardian of the people’s treasure goes himself to the money vault, and, with his own hand upon their handles, assures himself beyond doubt that the nation’s money safes are inviolably locked.
In order that he may do this every night before he attempts to sleep, and that he may never be beyond call incase of accident or wrong doing, the Treasurer of the United States absolutely lives, by day and by night, in the Treasury. It is told of him that, “Once, before he began sleeping in the Treasury, he was awakened in the night by a strong impression that something was wrong at the Department. He lay for a long time, tossing uneasily upon his bed, and trying to close his eyes and convince himself that it was a mere freak of an over-taxed brain; but it would not be driven away. At last, about two o’clock in the morning, in order to assure himself that his impression was at fault, he arose, hastily dressed, and set out for the Treasury. On his way he met a watchman from the Department, hastening to arouse him, with the information that the door of one of the vaults had just been found standing wide open. A careless clerk, whose duty it was to close and lock the door, had failed to perform his duty that night, and the watchman, on going his rounds, had discovered the neglect.”
Since that night the Treasurer has slept in the Treasury, and been night-inspector of its doors and locks himself.
It is not difficult to appreciate his personal anxiety and consciousness of vast responsibility, when we remember that he is the hourly keeper of at least eight hundred million dollars which belong to the nation. There are very few officers of the Government who are called to bring to bear upon their daily duties the ceaseless vigilance, the sacrifice of personal ease and comfort in the service of the State, which characterizes the honest, tireless, invincible “watch-dog of the Treasury.”
The room of the Secretary of the Treasury, in the Treasury building, has its outlook on the eastern sideand grounds of the Executive Mansion. A wonderful fountain throws its million jets into the air at the foot of the great portico below, and another tosses its spray amid the green knolls opposite the President’s windows. These grounds, swelling everywhere into gentle hills, covered with mossy turf, filled with winding walks, and brightened withparterresof flowers in summer months, are enchanting in their beauty.
Thus, you see, the Secretary’s windows quite turn their backs on the noisy avenue. Their outlook is most serene. So is the aspect and atmosphere of the room. It is a nun of a room, folded in soft grays, with here and there a touch of blue and gold. The velvet carpet is gray; the furniture, oiled black walnut, upholstered with blue cloth, each chair and sofa bearing “U. S.” in a medallion on its back, while the carved window-cornices each hold in their centres the gilded scales of justice above the key of the Treasury. A full-length mirror is placed between these windows. On one side of the room is a book-case, in which the works of Webster, Calhoun, Washington, and Jefferson, are conspicuous. The walls are frescoed in neutral tints, and the only pictures on them are chromo portraits of Lincoln and Grant.
In the centre of this room, at a cloth-covered table, sits the Secretary of the Treasury and his assistants, besides, usually, a third dejected mortal, on the “anxious seat” of expectancy for an office.
The Secretary’s office is charged with the general supervision of the fiscal transactions of the Government, and of the execution of the laws concerning the commerce and navigation of the United States. He superintends the survey of the coast, the light-house establishment,the marine hospitals of the United States, and the construction of certain public buildings for custom-houses and other purposes.
The First Comptroller’s office prescribes the mode of keeping and rendering accounts for the civil and diplomatic service, as well as the public lands, and revises and certifies the balances arising thereon.
The Second Comptroller’s office prescribes the mode of keeping and rendering the accounts of the army, navy, and Indian departments of the public service, and revises and certifies the balances arising thereon.
The office of Commissioner of Customs prescribes the mode of keeping and rendering the accounts of the customs revenue and disbursements, and for the building and repairing custom-houses, etc., and revises and certifies the balances arising thereon.
The First Auditor’s office receives and adjusts the accounts of the customs revenue and disbursements, appropriations and expenditures on account of the civil list and under private acts of Congress, and reports the balances to the Commissioner of the Customs and the First Comptroller, respectively, for their decision thereon.
The Second Auditor’s office receives and adjusts all accounts relating to the pay, clothing and recruiting of the army, as well as armories, arsenals, and ordnance, and all accounts relating to the Indian Bureau, and reports the balances to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon.
The Third Auditor’s office adjusts all accounts for subsistence of the army, fortifications, military academy, military roads, and the quarter-master’s department, as well as for pensions, claims arising from military services previousto 1816, and for horses and other property lost in the military service, under various acts of Congress, and reports the balances to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon.
The Fourth Auditor’s office adjusts all accounts for the service of the Navy Department, and reports the balances to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon.
The Fifth Auditor’s office adjusts all accounts for diplomatic and similar services, performed under the direction of the State Department, and reports the balances to the First Comptroller for his decision thereon.
The Sixth Auditor’s office adjusts all accounts arising from the service of the Post-office Department. His decisions are final, unless an appeal be taken within twelve months to the First Comptroller. He superintends the collection of all debts due the Post-office Department, and all penalties and forfeitures imposed on postmasters and mail contractors for failing to do their duty; he directs suits and legal proceedings, civil and criminal, and takes all such measures as may be authorized by law to enforce the prompt payment of moneys due to the department, instructing United States attorneys, marshals, and clerks, on all matters relating thereto, and receives returns from each term of the United States courts of the condition and progress of such suits and legal proceedings; has charge of all lands and other property assigned to the United States in payment of debts due the Post-office Department, and has power to sell and dispose of the same for the benefit of the United States.
The Treasurer’s office receives and keeps the moneys of the United States in his own office, and that of the depositories created by the Act of August 6th, 1846, andpays out the same upon warrants drawn by the Secretary of the Treasury, countersigned by the First Comptroller, and upon warrants drawn by the Postmaster-General and countersigned by the Sixth Auditor, and recorded by the Register. He also holds public moneys advanced by warrant to disbursing officers, and pays out the same upon their checks.
The Registrar’s office keeps the accounts of public receipts and expenditures, receives the returns and makes out the official statement of commerce and navigation of the United States, and receives from the First Comptroller and Commissioner of Customs all accounts and vouchers decided by them, and is charged by law with their safe keeping.
The Solicitor’s office superintends all civil suits commenced by the United States (except those arising in the post-office department), and instructs the United States attorneys, marshals and clerks in all matters relating to them and their results. He receives returns from each term of the United States courts, showing the progress and condition of such suits; has charge of all lands and other property assigned to the United States in payment of debts (except those assigned in payment of debts due the post-office department), and has power to sell and dispose of the same for the benefit of the United States.
The Light-House Board, of which the Secretary of the Treasury isex-officiopresident, but in the deliberations of which he has the assistance of naval, military and scientific coadjutors.
United States Coast Survey. The Superintendent, with numerous assistants, employed in the office and upon the survey of the coast, are under the control of this department.A statement of their duties will be found in a future chapter.
The new rooms of the Internal Revenue Department are very beautiful. They run the entire length of the new wing of the Treasury, looking out on the magnificent marble court, with its central fountain below, the north entrance, the Presidential grounds and Pennsylvania avenue. They are covered with miles of Brussels carpeting, in green and gold. Their walls are set with elegant mirrors, hung with maps and pictures. There are globes, cases filled with books, cushioned furniture—all the accompaniments of elegant apartments, and one opening into the other, forming a perfectsuite.