There is a nominal affiliation between the Treasury Department and the office of the Comptroller of the Currency, but the Comptroller's office, differing from any other connected with the department, does not report on what goes on within the Comptroller's office, either to the Treasurer or to the President; nor does the Comptroller report either to the President or the Secretary, but he reports directly to the Congress of the United States, being required to give annually the conditions of the banks as they are on a certain day prior to the convening of Congress, together with such recommendations as would, in his opinion, improve the banking conditions of the country. The salary of the office, like that attaching to most high positions under the government, is very meager, being only $5,000 a year; and yet there are a good many people willing to accept the place.

The act creating the national-bank system and the office of Comptroller sets forth what shall be done to create a national bank. It gives the number of persons who may take a charter (not less than five), and fixes the minimum amount of capital for such banks, that being not less than $50,000 in cities of not over 6,000 inhabitants, and from $100,000 to $200,000 in cities of larger size. This act has been amended to permit the organization of banks with $25,000 capital, and in other respects.