CHAPTER XIII. THE FOURTH AUDITOR. 612. This office was originally established, as hereinbefore remarked, by the act of March 3, 1817. 613. The general duties of the Fourth Auditor, as defined by statute, are to receive and examine all accounts accruing in the Navy Department or relative thereto, and all accounts relating to navy pensions; and after the examination of such accounts to certify the balances, and to transmit the accounts, with the vouchers and his certificates, to the Second Comptroller for that officer's decision thereon. (R. S., § 277.) 614. He is required to keep accounts of the receipts and expenditures of the public moneys relative to the Navy Department, and of all debts due to the United States on moneys advanced in relation to that department; also to receive from the Second Comptroller the accounts which shall have been finally adjusted, and to preserve such accounts, with their vouchers and certificates; also to record all requisitions drawn by the Secretary of the Navy; also to report annually, on the first Monday in November, to the Secretary of the Treasury the application of the money appropriated for the Department of the Navy; also to make such report on the business assigned him as the Secretary of the Treasury may deem necessary. (R. S., § 283.) 615. In case of the loss or capture of a vessel belonging to the United States navy, the Fourth Auditor, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, is authorized, in the settlement of the accounts of a paymaster of such vessel, to credit him with such portion of the amount of the provisions, clothing, small stores, and money with which he stands charged, as the said Auditor shall be satisfied was inevitably lost by such capture or loss. (R. S., § 284.) 616. Every disbursement of public moneys or disposal of public stores made by a disbursing officer pursuant to an order of any commanding officer of the navy, may be al lowed by the Fourth Auditor in the settlement of the accounts of the officer, upon satisfactory evidence of the issuance of such order and of the payment of money or disposal of stores in conformity with it; for the propriety of which the commanding officer aforesaid is by law held accountable. (R. S., § 285.) 617. The Fourth Auditor, together with the Second Comptroller, as the proper accounting officers, in settling the accounts of seamen and others, not officers, borne on the books of any vessel of the navy which shall have been wrecked, or which shall have been unheard from so long that her wreck may be presumed, or which shall have been destroyed or lost with the rolls and papers necessary to a regular and exact settlement of such accounts, is authorized to fix a day when such wreck, destruction, or loss shall be deemed to have occurred. (R. S., § 286.) Also in case of the loss of any vessel in the employ of the United States, by casualty or in action with the enemy, together with her papers necessary to the exact ascertainment of the several accounts of the same, to assume the last quarterly return of the paymaster as the basis for the computation of the subsequent credits to those on board, to the date of such loss, if there be no official evidence to the contrary; or when such quarterly return has not been made, to adjust such accounts on principles of equity and justice. (R. S., § 287.) Also, in case of such loss, he may allow and pay to each person, not an officer, employed on the vessel so sunk or destroyed, and whose personal effects have been lost, a sum not exceeding sixty dollars, as compensation for such loss; or in case of the death of such person, to the widow, child or children, father, mother, or brothers and sisters jointly, in that order of preference. (R. S., §§ 288, 289.) 618. The Fourth Auditor is also, in conjunction with the Second Comptroller, authorized, with the approval of the Secretary of the Navy, to allow any officer of the navy or marine corps a sum not exceeding his sea pay for one month, as compensation for the loss of his personal effects, on any vessel in the employ of the United States which, since the 19th of April, 1861, has been sunk or destroyed without fault or negligence on the part of such officer. But a schedule and certificate must in all cases be required from the officer making the claim. (R. S., § 290.) 619. When a suit is brought involving accounts of the Navy Department, a transcript from the books and proceedings of the Treasury Department, certified by the Fourth Auditor and authenticated under the seal of the Treasury, is entitled to be admitted in evidence; and thereupon the court trying the case is authorized to grant judgment and award execution accordingly. And all copies of bonds, contracts, or other papers relating to or connected with the settlement of any such account between the United States and an individual, when certified by said Auditor to be true copies of the originals on file, and so authenticated under seal, may be annexed to such transcript, and are given by law equal validity and credit as the original papers, if produced and authenticated in court. (R. S., § 886.) 620. The Fourth Auditor is assisted by a deputy, whose duties are assigned him as in the case of other deputy bureau officers in the Treasury Department, as before explained. 621. By law, the office of the Fourth Auditor is allowed three chiefs of divisions. The office is, however, organized into six divisions, three of them being under the supervision • of the like number of chiefs authorized by the statutes. These divisions are as follow: 1. Paymaster's Division. 4. Navy Pension Division. I. PAYMASTER'S DIVISION. 622. This division examines, settles, and adjusts accounts of paymasters of the navy. These accounts are for pay of the navy and marine corps. They are made quarterly, and transmitted directly, with all papers and vouchers, by the several paymasters, to the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury for settlement. These embrace a muster and pay roll of the naval station, navy-yard, or naval vessel under payment by the particular paymaster. After adjustment the accounts are sent to the office of the Second Comptroller for revision, and after final decis ion by that officer they are returned and placed on file in the office of the Fourth Auditor. II. NAVY AGENT'S DIVISION. 623. This division settles all accounts of navy agents disbursing moneys for the purchase of supplies for navyyards, naval stations, and for the service of the navy; also all accounts of navy agents for payment of allotments. These allotments are the provision for the payment of a fixed sum per month, not over one-half pay, which an officer who is at sea on a naval vessel makes for the benefit or support of his wife or family. By executing a form somewhat in the nature of a power of attorney, the member of his family or person mentioned therein is allowed to draw from a paymaster or navy agent at the place named a certain portion of the monthly pay of the officer. These allotments are received and registered in the office of the Fourth Auditor, in this division. The officer's pay, therefore, appears in two separate accounts for the same period of time, viz., in that of the paymaster at home who pays the allotment, and that of the paymaster on the vessel at sea or in a foreign port, wherever he may be paid the balance of his monthly compensation. The latter is adjusted in the Paymaster's Division of this office, while the allotment account is settled in the Navy Agent's Division. A careful comparison of the different accounts is required, and a continual reference from one to the other also, so that any overpayment may be detected. III. PRIZE AND RECORD DIVISION. 624. This division settles all claims for prize-money arising out of the peculiar system of awards made by law. to the officers and men of United States naval vessels which have made capture of a war vessel of the enemy, or of any other vessel or property adjudicated as lawful prize. The statutes declare what shall be in such cases the distributive shares of the officers and men of the capturing vessel, or other vessel or vessels within signalling distance. These distributive shares are adjusted in this division. All matters of this class of business in this division arose out of the rebellion of 1861, and of course are now of small extent and constantly diminishing. In addition to this, the division is charged with the duties of preparing tabular statements and reports called for by Congress and the Secretary of the Treasury; of keeping |