United States. General Accounting Office

The Office of the First Comptroller was created in 1789 by the act establishing the Treasury Department. His responsibilities included final approval of all settled accounts, keeping records relating to receipts and disbursements of public funds, and keeping copies of contracts. In 1817 the Comptroller's functions relating to military accounts were turned over to the newly created office of the Second Comptroller, and in 1849 some of his functions relating to customs accounts were turned over to the Office of the Commissioner of Customs, established that year. In 1894 all functions of the Second Comptroller and the Commissioner of Customs were restored to the First Comptroller, who then became known as the Comptroller of the Treasury. He was succeeded in 1921 by the Comptroller General of the United States.

The Office of the Commissioner of Customs was established in 1849 to perform functions relating to settlement of customs, revenue-cutter, lighthouse, and marine hospital accounts. These functions were formerly performed by the First Comptroller and were returned to his jurisdiction in 1894.

Functions of the Sixth auditor, whose office was established in 1836, related chiefly to settlement of Post Office Department accounts. Although he was nominally an official of the Treasury Department, the Sixth Auditor reported directly to the Postmaster General.

The Office of the Second Comptroller was established in 1817 to perform functions relating to military matters, including final approval of all accounts and claims, approval of some accounts relating to Indian affairs, keeping pertinent accounting records and filing contracts entered into by military agencies. These functions were formerly performed by the First Comptroller and were returned to his jurisdiction in 1894.

In 1817 the Office of the Second Auditor succeeded that of the Accountant for the War Department. His functions included settlement of Army and some Indian accounts, of pay and bounty claims, and of claims for expenses of raising volunteer troops for service during the Spanish-American War. The settlement of Army accounts was shared with the Third Auditor until 1894 when all such accounts became the responsibility of the Second Auditor and his office was renamed the Auditor for the War Department.

The duties of the Fifth Auditor, whose office was established in 1817, included the settlement of State and Post Office Department accounts, some relating to Indian affairs, and those relating to lighthouses and internal revenue. In 1894 this office was renamed the Office of the Auditor for the State and Other Departments, with responsibility for settlement of accounts for the Departments of State and Justice and accounts not assigned to other auditors.

The Office of the First Auditor was created in 1789 to settle all accounts and claims and certify their balances to the First Comptroller for approval. Additional auditors were appointed in 1817 and assigned some duties of the First Auditor. In 1894 this Office was renamed the Office of the Auditor for the Treasury Department.

The Office of the Register was created when the Treasury Department was established, and his main functions were to maintain the central fiscal records for the Government, including ledgers and journals; keep records of all receipts and expenditures; record warrants for the receipt or payment of moneys at the Treasury; and certify the balances of adjusted accounts to the Secretary of the Treasury. The register was also responsible for maintaining records documenting U.S. merchant vessels, keeping statistics on foreign and domestic commerce, and recording the issue and redemption of bonds and other evidences of the public debt. His responsibilities in connection with the documentation of vessels were transferred to the Commissioner of Navigation in 1884, and after 1894 the Register retained only his duties related to the public debt.

The Office of the Fourth Auditor was created in 1817 to settle all Navy Department accounts and claims. No signficant change occurred in its functions through the years, and in 1894 it was renamed the Office of the Auditor for the Navy Department.

The duties of the Third Auditor, whose office was established in 1817, included settlement of subsistence accounts, Quartermaster Department account, and all Army accounts not assigned to the Second Auditor. He settled pension accounts, claims for horses and other property destroyed in war, Civil War-related claims of several loyal States, and Signal Service and Signal Corps accounts. In 1894 he was made responsible for settlement of all pension accounts and Interior Department accounts. All other functions formerly exercised by the Third Auditor, who became known as the Auditor for the Interior Department, were transferred to the Second Auditor.

The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) was established under the Budget and Accounting Act of June 10, 1921. It is headed by the Comptroller General of the United States, who is appointed for a 15 year term by the President. The GAO was assigned the duties of the auditors and Comptroller of the Treasury Department, together with those functions relating to personal ledger accounts of disbursing and collection officials that had been acquired by the Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants in 1894 from the Office of the Register of the Treasury. Records maintained in the offices of these officials and of their predecessors were transferred to the GAO and are described by office of origin.

The chief duties of the GAO are to perform an independent Governmentwide audit of receipts, expenditures, and use of public funds; settle fiscal accounts of officers accountable to the Federal Government; settle certain claims by or against the United States; make investigations relating to the receipt, disbursement and application of public funds; prescribe principles, standards, and related requirements for accounting by executive agencies; cooperate with the Bureau of the Budget and Treasury Department in the joint program to improve Federal accounting; render legal decisions on fiscal matters; and report the results of its activities to Congress.

On May 7, 1923 the Dakota Indians (known at the time as the Sioux Tribe of Indians) filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Claims claiming the government had failed to fulfill its obligations arising from various treaties, acts, and other legal agreements, particularly the treaties of September 17, 1851 (known as the Treaty of Laramie) and April 18,1861, the Agreement of September 26, 1876, and the Act of March 2, 1889. After years of fruitless efforts to compel the United States government to redress their grievances, The Sioux Jurisdictional Act, passed by Congress in June of 1920, had finally allowed the tribes to present their evidence in the Court of Claims. The petition, filed on behalf of the tribe by attorney Ralph Case, outlined twenty-four "contentions," including claims for cut hay and timber, unconstructed schools and houses, insufficient rations and clothing, and undelivered seeds and tools, as well as the misappropriation of tribal funds. The centerpiece of the petition was the demand for restitution for the seizure of Dakota lands, particularly the Black Hills area of South Dakota.

After the petition was filed, the government began putting together evidence for its defense. The General Accounting Office was asked to prepare a report in order to "render an accounting and discuss the various transactions under all treaties, agreements, acts of Congress, and Executive orders applicable to plaintiffs." Begun in January 1925, the report was not completed until 1932. It became the basis for the government's claim that it had been more than generous to the Dakota.

Thirty years after the petition was filed, the results of the legal battle were not encouraging. By then the Dakota had lost every claim but the one still pending: the Black Hills claim. In 1980, after a tortuous journey ending ultimately in the Supreme Court, the Dakota finally prevailed, winning the largest Indian claims judgment ever. The Dakota, however, never touched the money, having decided to settle for nothing less than the return of the Black Hills land itself.

Information was taken from the report and from the book Black Hills White Justice: The Sioux Nation Versus the United States, 1775 to the Present, by Edward Lazarus.