rnment on account
of the purchase of the Territory of Alaska. It is also to be noted
that within this period were embraced all the expenses incident to the
disbandment of the Union army, and also a very large addition to the
pension-list. Notwithstanding all these enormous expenditures the
business interests of the country continued prosperous, and the fact
that so large a reduction had been made in internal taxes gave promise
that within a comparatively short period the Government would be able
to remove all levies that were in any degree oppressive or even
vexatious to private interests.

By reason of his official and personal connection with the President,
Mr. McCulloch had failed to secure cordial support from Congress, and
had moreover given offense by his obvious sympathy with the free-traders,
who were already beginning to assault the protective tariff
which the necessities of war had led the country to adopt. The
Secretary had also gone far beyond the popular wish and the best
business judgment of the country in regard to the rapid contraction of
the currency. But while his politics and his policies were not
acceptable to Congress or to the people, he is entitled to high
credit for his direct, honest, intelligent administration of the
Treasury Department. In the peculiar embarrassments to the
administration of the Government, caused by the course of President
Johnson, it was a matter of sincere congratulation that a Secretary
of the Treasury, so competent and trustworthy as Mr. McCulloch had
approved himself, was firmly in place before the serious political
disturbances began--a congratulation in which his most ardent
Republican opponents were ready to join, knowing how fatal it might
prove if President Johnson had the opportunity to nominate his
successor.

Throughout the more difficult period of his administration of the
department, Mr. McCulloch was aided by two most intelligent and
efficient officers. Mr. William E. Chandler, though only twenty-nine
years of age, was appointed First Assistant Secretary in March, 1865,
and exhibited great aptitude, discrimination, and ability in his
position. He developed an admirable talent for details, a quick
insight into the most difficult problems that came before the
Department, and at all times an honorable devotion to public duty. The
Bureau of Internal Revenue, the most important of the Treasury
Department, was under the direction of another citizen of New