t
money; whether by heads of department or by any other agents; and
by rendering every person who receives public moneys from the
Treasury as immediately, promptly, and effectually accountable to
the accounting officer (the comptroller) as practicable. The great
characteristic, the flagrant vice, of the late administration has
been total disregard of laws, and application of public moneys by
the Department to objects for which they were not appropriate."

Outlines for a system of specific appropriations were inclosed.

That the mission of Jefferson's administration was the reduction of the
debt, Gallatin set forth in his next letter of November 16, 1801. "I am
firmly of opinion that if the present administration and Congress do not
take the most effective measures for that object, the debt will be
entailed on us and the ensuing generations, together with all the
systems which support it, and which it supports." On the other hand he
says, "If this administration shall not reduce taxes, they never will be
permanently reduced." To reduce both the debt and the taxes was as much
a political as a financial problem. To solve it required the reduction
to a minimum of the departments of War and Marine. But Mr. Jefferson was
not a practical statesman. His individuality was too strong for much
surrender of opinion. He stated the case very mildly when he wrote in
his retirement that he sometimes differed in opinion from some of his
friends, from those whose views were as "pure and as sound as his own."
It was not his habit to consult his entire cabinet except on general
measures. The heads of each department set their views before him
separately. Under this system Mr. Gallatin was never able to realize
that harmonious interdependence of departments and subordination of ways
to means which were his ideal of cabinet administration.

The successful application of Mr. Gallatin's plan would have
subordinated all the executive departments to the Treasury. The theory
was perfect, but it took no account of the greed of office, the
jealousies of friends, the opposition of enemies, and the unknown factor
of foreign relations. A speck on the horizon would cloud the peaceful
prospect, a hostile threat derange the intricate machinery by which the
delicate financial balance was maintained. Mr. Gallatin was fast
realizing the magnitude of his undertaking, in which he was greatly
embarrassed by the difficulty o