When Jackson first took office, he was shocked outstanding debt owed to the United States that had not been collected and proposed that all legal jurisdiction related to the collection be transferred to the Attorney General. Jackson saw this as a way to raise the status of the Attorney General and his salary so that it would be on equal footing with the other departments. Today, the Attorney General is regarded as one of the four most important cabinet officials, but in 1829 the Attorney General took a back seat to the Treasury and State Departments. Both Attorney General and the District Attorneys received a lower pay and status than other Secretaries and their subordinates.
In Andrew Jackson's first State of the Union address he shared his proposal with Congress. Jackson surmised that while some portion of the current debt is due to the desperate situations of individuals who were unable to pay, much of it was not collected due to the laziness or carelessness of the agents in charged with its collections. Jackson argued that very large amounts of revenue were being lost because of a lack of laws governing the collection of debt, and the lack of legal direction provided to the agents. Specifically, Jackson pointed out that it made no sense that the current responsibility of collections was given to the Agent of the Treasury who lacked legal knowledge and was encumbered with numerous other duties. Therefore, he proposed to transfer all the duties of the agent of the Treasury related to the supervision and management of legal proceedings be transferred to the Attorney General. Jackson saw this responsibility as a natural fit for the Attorney General's office by using the marshals and Attorney Generals to hasten the collection of debts and combine the supervision of all criminal offenses against the United States into one department. Here are the words of Andrew Jackson from his first State of the Union Address:
"On an examination of the records of the Treasury I have been forcibly struck with the large amount of public money which appears to be outstanding. Of the sum thus due from individuals to the Government a considerable portion is undoubtedly desperate, and in many instances has probably been rendered so by remissness in the agents charged with its collection. By proper exertions a great part, however, may yet be recovered; and what ever may be the portions respectively belonging to these two classes, it behooves the Government to ascertain the real state of the fact. This can be done only by the prompt adoption of judicious measures for the collection of such as may be made available. It is believed that a very large amount has been lost through the inadequacy of the means provided for the collection of debts due to the public, and that this inadequacy lies chiefly in the want of legal skill habitually and constantly employed in the direction of the agents engaged in the service. It must, I think, be admitted that the supervisory power over suits brought by the public, which is now vested in an *accounting* officer of the Treasury, not selected with a view to his legal knowledge, and encumbered as he is with numerous other duties, operates unfavorably to the public interest.
It is important that this branch of the public service should be subjected to the supervision of such professional skill as will give it efficiency. The expense attendant upon such a modification of the executive department would be justified by the soundest principles of economy. I would recommend, therefore, that the duties now assigned to the agent of the Treasury, so far as they relate to the superintendence and management of legal proceedings on the part of the United States, be transferred to the Attorney General, and that this officer be placed on the same footing in all respects as the heads of the other Departments, receiving like compensation and having such subordinate officers provided for his Department as may be requisite for the discharge of these additional duties. The professional skill of the Attorney General, employed in directing the conduct of marshals and district attorneys, would hasten the collection of debts now in suit and hereafter save much to the Government. It might be further extended to the superintendence of all criminal proceedings for offenses against the United States. In making this transfer great care should be taken, however, that the power necessary to the Treasury Department be not impaired, 1 of its greatest securities consisting in control over all accounts until they are audited or reported for suit."Congress did recognize the problem, but rather than transfer the duties to the Attorney General they established the role of Solicitor to Treasury. On May 29th,1830 'An Act to provide for the appointment of a solicitor of the treasury' was approved. The new role was to serve as legal adviser to the Treasury Department and was given the responsibility to examine all official bonds and related legal documents as well as supervising all legal proceedings involving the collection of debts due the United Sates. Prior to 1830, these duties and responsibilities were assigned to the Agent of Treasury.
As part of the act, the Attorney General was given the duty to at the request of the solicitor advise and direct in the conducting of suits, proceedings and prosecutions. In return, the Attorney General was given an increase of $500 per year. This brought the Attorney General's salary to $3500, equal to that of the Solicitor of the Treasury, but still less than the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary of State whose salaries could be up to $6000 per year. The office of the Solicitor of the Treasury remained until it was abolished on May 10, 1934 and replaced with the Office of the General Counsel. Andrew Jackson urged Congress to take these actions regarding the office of the Attorney General in his State of the Union Address of that year
"The attention of Congress was called on a former occasion to the necessity of such a modification in the office of Attorney General of the United States as would render it more adequate to the wants of the public service. This resulted in the establishment of the office of Solicitor of the Treasury, and the earliest measures were taken to give effect to the provisions of the law which authorized the appointment of that officer and defined his duties. But it is not believed that this provision, however useful in itself, is calculated to supersede the necessity of extending the duties and powers of the Attorney General's Office. On the contrary, I am convinced that the public interest would be greatly promoted by giving to that officer the general superintendence of the various law agents of the Government, and of all law proceedings, whether civil or criminal, in which the United States may be interested, allowing him at the same time such compensation as would enable him to devote his undivided attention to the public business. I think such a provision is alike due to the public and to the officer.
Occasions of reference from the different Executive Departments to the Attorney General are of frequent occurrence, and the prompt decision of the questions so referred tends much to facilitate the dispatch of business in those Departments. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury hereto appended shows also a branch of the public service not specifically intrusted to any officer which might be advantageously committed to the Attorney General. But independently of those considerations this office is now one of daily duty. It was originally organized and its compensation fixed with a view to occasional service, leaving to the incumbent time for the exercise of his profession in private practice. The state of things which warranted such an organization no longer exists. The frequent claims upon the services of this officer would render his absence from the seat of Government in professional attendance upon the courts injurious to the public service, and the interests of the Government could not fail to be promoted by charging him with the general superintendence of all its legal concerns.
Under a strong conviction of the justness of these suggestions, I recommend it to Congress to make the necessary provisions for giving effect to them, and to place the Attorney General in regard to compensation on the same footing with the heads of the several Executive Departments. To this officer might also be intrusted a cognizance of the cases of insolvency in public debtors, especially if the views which I submitted on this subject last year should meet the approbation of Congress -- to which I again solicit your attention."
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). Andrew Jackson: First Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29471 [Accessed 30 Sep. 2018].
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2018). Andrew Jackson: SecondAnnual Message. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/second-annual-message-3 [Accessed 26 Mar. 2018].
Acts of the 21st Congress. (2018). [online] pp.pg. 414 to 416. Available at: https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/21st-congress/c21.pdf [Accessed 30 Sep. 2018].
National Archives. (2018). Records of the Solicitor of the Treasury. [online] Available at: https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/206.html [Accessed 30 Sep. 2018].
Sackley, Arthur. “Salaries of Major Federal Officials, 1789-1965.” Monthly Labor Review, vol. 87, no. 10, 1964, pp. 1143–1149. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41835528.
omit, Albert. “Andrew Jackson as Administrative Reformer.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 3, 1954, pp. 204–223. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/42621191.
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