Thirtieth Congress
thiFirst Session
Congress of the United States
Resolved By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
CONGRESS ASSEMBLED,

That in lieu of the reports now required to be made to Congress, by the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the Navy, respectively, it shall be the duty of each of said officers to make reports each year severally as follows; and the said reports shall exhibit the operations and proceedings of the respective Departments within the year on the various subjects herein enumerated:

1. A statement in a compendious form of all such changes and modifications in the commercial system of other nations, whether of treaties, duties on imports and exports or other regulations, as shall have come to the knowledge of the department. And the Secretary of State is hereby required to instruct the principal consuls or commercial agents of the United States in foreign countries, to obtain as far as practicable, the amount of goods, wares and merchandise, the growth or product of the Untied States, which are brought into the ports or countries in which they respectively reside and which are re-exported to other countries respectively and to report to him annually: and the Secretary

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of State shall cause an abstract of these reports to be prepared, retaining the names of the principal articles, and append the same to the statement above required.

2. A copy of any correspondence which may have taken place between an officer or agent of the United States and any foreign government, or its agent, touching any subject interesting to the whole people, and which, in the opinion of the President of the United States, it may be compatible with the public interest to communicate.

3. A statement of the number of appointments to offices connected with or under the direction of his department during the year, distinguishing the number in the several classes of officers appointed on account of deaths resignations, or removals.

4. A statement in detail of the expenditures of the appropriations for the contingent expenses of foreign intercourse and of all the missions abroad, and of the State Department, classifying the same so far as it can be done.

1. A statement of the receipts and expenditures of all public monies, distinguishing as to the former the amount received from customs, from lands, and from miscellaneous sources, and in each State or district, and from each officer therein, adding to the aggregate the balance in the treasury, at the commencement of the year: as to the expenditures, the said statement shall distinguish the amount of the appropriations, including former balances and re-^payments^

payments under each head, the amount thereof expended, and the sums, if any, which remain unexpended, and the balance in the treasury at the close of the year.

2. A statement of the names of all officers or agents, who may have balances of public moneys in their hands at the close of the year, the amount in each case, and of what appropriation, and the proportion thereof which will be applicable to the service of the current year.

3. A statement of the names of persons acting as depositories of the public moneys, the amount received and paid out by each, specifying the amount of transfers from one depository to another, also the amount received in specie and treasury notes respectively

4. A statement of the sums expended for transporting specie to the public depositories, or from one depository to another, or otherwise.

5. A statement of the names of all officers who have not settled their accounts within the year, or failed to render the same according to law and regulation.

6. A statement of all accounts which may have remained more than three years unsettled, or on which balances appear to have been due more than three years prior to the close of the fiscal year then last past, together with a statement of the causes which have prevented the settlement of the accounts or the recovery of the balances due to the United States.

7. A statement of the number of suits, civil and

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criminal, commenced by the United States in each State, Territory, or District of Columbia, the number tried, or otherwise disposed of, and the number pending, specifying in civil cases tried, or disposed of, the amount claimed and the amount recovered.

8. A statement of the names of applicants for the benefit of the act for the relief of certain insolvent debtors, the amount due, the names of those who have been released, with the terms of compromise.

9. A statement of the public debt, and of the payments on account thereof, distinguishing the principal from interest.

10. A ^(^separate^)^ statement of each of the trust funds held by the government, specifying the amount invested, and how, and all receipts and disbursments on account thereof.

11. Separate statements of the receipts and expenditures on account of the naval, privateer, and marine hospital funds.

12. A statement of the amount and description of coins struck at the mint and its branches, and the result of the assays made of certain foreign gold and silver coins. ^(^A statement showing the capital, circulation, discounts, specie, deposits and condition of the different State Banks and Banking Companies as may have been communicated to the Legislatures, Governors or other officers of the several states within the year and made public: and where

such statement cannot be obtained, such other authentic information as will best supply the deficiency.

13. A statement of all contracts made under the direction of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments, or either of them, exhibiting in such statement the name of the contractor, the article or thing contracted for, the place where the article was to be delivered, or the thing performed, the sum to be paid for its performance or delivery, and the date and duration of the contract.

14. A statement of the commerce and navigation of the United States, as required by the provisions of the act approved tenth February, eighteen hundred and twenty, ^(^ specifying the quantity and value of each article as far as the same may be convenient and practicable, ^)^with such additional statistical facts, respecting the commerce and navigation of the United States, ^(^as it has been usual heretofore, or the secretary may deem suitable to carry out the design of said act. And the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to adopt such measures as he may deem practicable to obtain the amount and value of the coasting trade and the internal trade of the United States, and the information thus obtained shall be arranged in a compendious form and appended to the statement of the commerce and navigation above specified. ^)^

15. A statement of passengers arriving in the United States, designating particularly the age, the sex, and occupation of the passengers, respectively, the country to which

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they severally belong, and that of which it is their intention to become inhabitants, together with the number if any that have died on the voyage, and also the number of sick, if any on their arrival.

16. A detailed statement of the registered seamen of the United States.

17. A statement of all property belonging to the United States and under the direction of the Treasury Department, which had been sold during the year, and the reasons for the sale: the original cost of the property and the price for which it sold.

18. A statement of the number of appointments to offices connected with, or under the direction of, his department, during the year, distinguishing the number in the several classes of offices, appointed on account of death, resignation or removal.

19. A statement in detail of the expenditure of the appropriations for the contingent expenses of the treasury, and its several offices, classifying the same as far as it can be done.

20. A copy of all decisions made, and instructions issued, in his department, during the previous year, which may be of a public nature and general interest, numerically arranged, according to the branch of business to which they appertain, quoting the law under which the decisions were made, and the authority under which the instructions were issued.

1. A return of the army of the United States, showing the number of officers of each grade; of non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates, ^(^distinguishing the num- of foreigners,^)^ and where stationed, and any movement of the troops, during the year, and the reason therefor, accompanied with an account of all the casualties of the service, including desertions, discharges, deaths, recruits &c.

2. A return of the militia of the States, Territories, and District of Columbia, with the arms, accoutrements, ammunition, &c.

3. A statement of the expenses of the national armories, together with an account of the arms made and repaired, shewing the average cost of the several descriptions of arms at each of the armories; also including the number of arms procured by contract, and the cost of the same; at the same time showing what disposition was made of the arms manufactured or procured, and in case any of them were distributed among the States, the number received by each.

4. A statement of the price of the army ration, and of the leading articles composing it, at the principal military stations, and in different sections of the United States.

5. A statement of all the property belonging to the United States ^(^and under the direction of the War Department,^)^ which had been sold during the year, and the reasons for the sale; the original cost of the property and the price for which it sold.

6. A statement of the number of appointments to offices connected with, or under the direction of, the department during the year, distinguishing the number in the several classes of officers appointed on account of deaths, resignations, or removals.

7. A statement in detail of the expenditures of the appropriations for the contingent expenses of the department, and its several offices, classifying the same as far as it can be done.

1. A statement of the amount expended at each navy yard for superintendence, civil and naval, including in the latter, ordinary and hospital: for repairs and improvements; for materials and labor: and the average price paid for ^the^ different classes of mechanics and laborers: also the number of hours^)^ of labor per day; ^(^also the ^(^number and description of vessels built or repaired at each yard, with the cost of material and labor in each.

2. A statement of the value of the materials, stores, and supplies of every kind, on hand at the commencement of the year, and of the amount procured and expended during the same: distinguishing the purchases and deliveries of clothing, and of the stock on hand.

3. A statement of property belonging to the United States, ^(^and under the direction of the Navy Department, which had been sold during the year, and the reasons for the sale; the original cost of the property and the price for which it sold.

A statement of the price of the navy ration, and of the leading articles composing it, at the principal navy yards, and in different sections of the United States.

5. A statement of the number of petty officers and seamen employed in the naval service during the year, distinguishing the number of foreigners, and including a specification of all the casualties of the service.

6. A statement of the number of appointments to offices connected with, or under the direction of the department during the year; distinguishing the number, in the several classes of officers, appointed on account of deaths, resignations, or removals.

7. A statement in detail of the expenditures of the appropriations for the contingent expenses of the naval service, either enumerated or non-enumerated, as also of the department, classifying the same as far as it can be done.

Be it Resolved, That in lieu of the present annual reports made by the Postmaster General to Congress, it shall be his duty to report the operations of the Department for the preceding fiscal year ending the thirtieth June, in each year, as follows, to wit:

1. A statement of all contract arrangements ordered with in the year, for the transportation of the mail, designating the service by the number of the route, the points of termination, the name of the contractor, the annual compensation, and the date of the commencement of the Service: and in each case, in which the lowest bidder

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is not accepted, the reasons therefor.

2. A statement of all additional service, and also of all curtailment of service ordered, designating the same by the numbers and termini of the routes, and the amount of increase or diminution in the pay: including, also, each instance of a route agent, local agent, or mail messenger, created or discontinued within the year, with the name and annual compensation of each.

3. A statement of all deductions ordered from the pay of contractors for failures in the performance of mail service, designating the same by the number of the route, and the number and amount of deductions made on each route.

4. The number of post offices established and discontinued, the number of postmasters appointed, distinguishing the number appointed on account of resignations, deaths, and removals; and, also, a statement of the contracts made for the printing of blanks, and for the furnishing of blank books and stationery, exhibiting the names of the contractors, the prices paid them, and the amount paid to each during the preceding year.

5. The revenues of the Department, distinguishing the amount arising from letter postage, newspaper and pamphlet postage, fines, and from other sources; also distinguishing the amount which accrued from letters, newspapers and pamphlets, sent out of and received into, the United States by the several lines of ocean steamers employed in the transportation of the mail.

6. The appropriations and expenditures of the department, under their appropriate heads, to wit: “Transportation of the mails”. “compensation to postmasters,” “ship steamboat & way letters,” “wrapping paper,” “office furniture,” “advertising”, “mail bags,” “blanks,” “mail locks, keys and stamps,” “mail depredations and special agents,” “clerks for offices,” and “miscellaneous,” designating the balance on hand at the commencement of each fiscal year, the balance remaining to the credit of the department, at the close of each year, and the balance of appropriations unexpended at the close of the year.

7. A statement of the amount of balances due from late postmasters, contractors, and others, at the commencement of the year: the amount accruing within the year: the amount collected or otherwise disposed of, and the balance remaining at the close of the year: the number of suits and prosecutions for default, the amount in suit during the year, the amount collected or otherwise disposed of, and the balance at the close of the year.

8. The estimates for the service of the Post Office Department for the succeeding fiscal year.

9. The number of stamps procured for preparing postage in the year, the number and amount issued, and the number and amount returned in the payment of postages during the year.

10. The number of dead letters containing articles of value received during the year, the amount of money received, the amount restored to the owners, and the amount on hand at the close of the year; also the aggregate number of dead letters: and the Post Master General is hereby required to instruct

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the several Deputy Postmasters to return to the General Post Office, [?] the weight of dead matter other than letters, which may remain in their offices respectively at the end of each quarter, and the Post Master General is hereby required to embody the aggregate weight of such matter in this statement.

11. Statements shewing in detail the manner in which the contingent fund of the Post Office Department, including the office of the auditor, has been expended, and giving the name of every person to whom any portion thereof has been paid: and if for anything furnished, the quantity and price; and if for any services rendered, the nature of such service, the time employed, & the cause that rendered such service necessary; and the amount of all former appropriations on hand at the close of the fiscal year, either in the treasury, or in the hands of any disbursing officer or agent.

Be it Resolved, That it shall be the duty of the heads of the several departments, to cause the reports, herein before directed, to be prepared as early as practicable after the close of each fiscal year, and communicated to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, who, in conjunction with the Secretary of the State, shall arrange the same for publication, so that the number of copies prescribed by the rules of the two Houses, may be ready for delivery, at the commencement of each regular session. And the Clerk of the House, and the Secretary of the Senate shall cause twelve thousand extra copies of the Statement of the commerce and navigation of the United States to be printed, two thousand copies for the use of the Senate, and ten thousand copies for the use of the House of Representatives.

.Be it resolved, That hereafter the returns which the collectors are required to make, of the registered seamen of the United States, and of passengers arriving in the United States from foreign countries, shall be made as now prescribed by law to the Secretary of the Treasury, and not to the Secretary of State.

. . Be it resolved, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Navy to cause the detailed estimates for the naval service, which have heretofore formed a part of the documents accompanying the President’s message, to be prepared and communicated to the Treasury, that the same may be incorporated into, and printed with, the general estimates.

..Be it resolved, That it shall be the duty of the several heads of bureaus or offices, in the several departments, to prepare and furnish to the respective secretaries, tables and statements, duly certified, containing the information required to be embodied in these reports.

. . Be it resolved, That the tenth section of the act, entitled, “An act to provide for obtaining accurate statements of the foreign commerce of the United States,” approved the tenth February, eighteen hundred and twenty, shall be, and the same is hereby, so far modified, that the portion of the exports consisting of foreign goods re-exported, shall be rated at the values which they

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may have borne at the time of importation, adding the charge of transportation.

. . . Be it resolved, That once in every two years, a register, containing full and correct lists of all the officers and agents in the legislative, civil, military and naval service of the United States, excepting those to be included in another register, herein after directed to be published, made up to the thirtieth day of June in each year, in which a new Congress is to assemble, be compiled and printed under direction of the Secretary of State; said register to contain a correct list of all printers of the laws of the United States, during the two years aforesaid, and of all printers in any way employed during that period, by Congress or by any department or officer of the government, with the compensation allowed to each; designating the department or officer causing the printing to be executed. And to enable the Secretary of State to form such register, he, for his own department, and the heads of the other departments, respectively, shall cause lists as aforesaid, of officers and agents in their respective departments, or under the direction of each, to be made and lodged in the Department of State, before the thirtieth of September. And the said list shall exhibit the amount of compensation, including pay and allowances of every kind, received by each officer and agent, the State or country in which he was born, and from which appointed, and where employed.

. Be it resolved, That five hundred copies of the said register be printed, and that on the first Monday in January in each year, after a new Congress shall assemble, shall be delivered to the President, Vice President, the heads of departments, members of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, the Attorney General, the Assistants Postmaster General, the heads of bureaus in the Executive Department, respectively, of one copy each of such register. To the Secretary of the Senate, and Clerk of the House of Representatives, each ten copies, for the use of the respective Houses; that ten copies shall be deposited in the library of the United States at the seat of government, to be used as other books in that library: and twelve copies in the Department of State, for the use of that department.

. Be it resolved, That the residue of the copies shall be distributed as follows, to wit: to the judges of the United States courts, the ministers, chargé d’affaires, and commissioners of the United States to foreign nations, and the foreign legations in the United States, respectively, one copy each. The remaining copies, if any, to be distributed by the Secretary of State, in such manner as may, in his judgment, be most conducive to the public interest.

. . Be it resolved, That it shall be the duty of the Postmaster General, once in every two years, to cause to be compiled and printed a register of all officers, agents and contractors

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employed in the service of the Post Office Department, including the Sixth Auditor’s office, or under its direction: the said register to be prepared, printed, and distributed in the manner prescribed in regard to the register provided for in the preceding sections.

. Be it resolved, That when, by ^the^ increase of the number of officers, &c., above designated, as entitled to receive such registers, five hundred copies may prove insufficient to complete the distribution as aforesaid, the Secretary of State and Post Master General shall cause such ^an^ additional number to be printed as may suffice for that object.

Be it resolved, That the resolutions of the twenty-seventh April, eighteen hundred and sixteen, and the fourteenth July, eighteen hundred and thirty-two, respecting the biennial register be, and they are hereby, repealed.