The Cabinet and Executive Departments.
We have seen that the functions of government are divided into three
distinct classes, the legislative, the judicial, and the executive. The
Constitution provides as to the methods for the exercise of the first
two, but none for the third. The only reference in the constitution to
executive departments is in Art. II, Sec. 2, where the President is
given the power to require the opinion in writing of the principal
officer in each executive department upon any subject relating to the
duties of his office. The departments have in each case been created by
an act of Congress and from time to time as convenience has demanded.
The duties of the executive are to enforce and apply the laws of the
nation after they are made by the legislature and interpreted by the
courts. This is the real business of government, by which the laws are
put into effect, and the work of government is actually carried on. In
the United States Government this power is placed in the hands of a body
of men distinct from the legislative and judicial officers. At the head
is the President, and hence his title of "Chief Executive." It is
evident that he must divide up the vast amount of work to be done, and
delegate it to others. Congress directs how this shall be done. For this
purpose Congress has created nine executive departments (1)State,
(2)Treasury, (3)War, (4)Navy, (5)Interior, (6)Post Office, (7)Justice,
(8)Agriculture, (9)Labor.
These departments have been created as required by the growth of
government duties. Three departments, the State, Treasury and War, were
created by the first Congress, in 1789. By the same Congress was created
the office of Attorney-General of the United States, who, together with
the Secretaries of the three departments, constituted President
Washington's first cabinet. The Navy Department was added in 1798. Prior
to that date, naval affairs had been managed by the War Department. A
Post Office for the colonies was established by the Postal Act of Queen
Anne's reign. The Post Office Department under the present government
was established in 1789, but the Postmaster-General did not become a
Cabinet officer until 1829. The Interior Department was created in 1849
by grouping together in one department several branches of the
government service, which had formerly been distributed among the other
departments. As early as 1839 the Patent Office, under the Interior
Department, was intrusted with various duties concerning the
agricultural interests of the country, among the chief of which was the
distribution of seeds. In 1862 a separate Department of Agriculture was
established, and these duties transferred to it. In 1889 the head of the
Department became Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and a
Cabinet officer. A Bureau of Labor under the Interior Department was
created in 1884. In 1888 Congress constituted it a separate department,
but did not make its head a Secretary, and therefore not a Cabinet
officer.
The heads of the first eight of these departments together form a
council of eight, called the "Cabinet," whose duty it is, in addition to
the management of the departments, to advise the President on matters of
importance. For this purpose regular meetings are held, at which the
affairs of government are discussed, and lines of action decided upon.
The cabinet is neither the creation of the constitution, nor strictly of
law. The existence of a cabinet, however, was always taken for granted
in the discussion and formation of the constitution. It is a creation of
custom and has no powers other than of advice and counsel to the
President. The growth of executive and administrative business is not
fully indicated by the increase in the number of departments. The growth
within each department has been much greater. Separate bureaus and
divisions have been created, which in some cases are, for all practical
purposes, as independent and important as the departments themselves.
The organization of all the different departments is much the same. At
the head of each is an officer appointed by the President, the President
thus having control generally over the whole executive business of the
government. These officers are called Secretaries, except in the cases
of the Post Office Department, whose head is the Postmaster-General, and
of the Department of Justice, whose head is the Attorney-General. In a
number of the Departments there are also one, two, three or four
assistant secretaries, according as the business of the departments
requires. For convenience in the despatch of business, the departments
are divided into bureaus, the bureaus into divisions, and the divisions
into rooms, until, finally, the individual workers--the clerks--are
readied. Each bureau and division has at its head an officer called
Commissioner and Chief of Division, respectively. Each department and
bureau, and, in some cases, the division also, has a Chief Clerk who has
charge of the details of the administration, and immediate oversight
over the clerks.[1] All work in one finely organized system. The clerk
is responsible to his chief of division, the chief of division to his
commissioner, the commissioner to the Secretary and he, finally, to
Congress. Each man has his particular place in the system, and no one
works at random.[2]
[Footnote 1: There are a number of officials and clerks who properly
belong to no division or bureau, as, for instance, the librarian's
private secretary and other clerical assistance in the Secretary's
office, who are under his immediate supervision.]
[Footnote 2: This system is not always carried out perfectly in
practice. In some cases an officer is termed commissioner who is more
properly a chief of division, and _vice versa_. In other cases the title
of commissioner or chief of division is represented by a more technical
designation as Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Comptroller of
the Currency, etc.] The President and heads of departments appoint all
officers in the executive departments. It is manifestly impossible for
them to base their appointments upon personal knowledge. Hence has
arisen the custom of filling almost all offices not controlled by the
Civil Service Commission upon the recommendation of congressmen, each of
whom controls for the most part the patronage of his own district. Only
the Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Commissioners, and other chief
officials are really appointees of the President on his own
responsibility.
Prior to the first administration of Jackson the positions of government
clerks in the departments were permanent. In 1828 Jackson inaugurated
the so-called spoils system, which means that to the victor belongs the
spoils. Only 74 removals had been made from 1789 to 1828. Jackson
removed during the first year of his administration 2,000 clerks. Since
then, until 1883, each party, on gaining control of the government, has
removed almost all the clerks in office who were of the opposite
political faith, replacing them with members of its own party. In 1883
was passed the Civil Service Act, by which it is provided that all
future appointments of subordinate clerks in the executive departments
are to be made only from those who have passed successfully an
examination set by the Civil Service Commission created by the act.
_#The State Department.#_--The Department of State was the first
department established. (Act of July 27, 1789.) There are three
Assistant Secretaries. Their salaries are, Secretary $8,000, First
Assistant $4,000, and the other two $3,500. The department is divided
into seven bureaus, (1) Diplomatic, (2) Consular, (3) Archives and
Indexes, (4) Accounts, (5) Statistics, (6) Rolls and Library, and (7)
Claims.
The Secretary of State is charged, under the direction of the President,
with the duties appertaining to correspondence with the public ministers
and consuls of the United States, and with the representatives of
foreign powers accredited to the United States; and to negotiations of
whatever character relating to the foreign affairs of the United
States. He is also the medium of correspondence between the President
and the chief executive of the several States of the United States; he
has the custody of the great seal of the United States, and countersigns
and affixes such seal to all executive proclamations, to various
commissions, and to warrants for pardon, and the extradition of
fugitives from justice. He is regarded as the first in rank among the
members of the Cabinet. He is also the custodian of the treaties made
with foreign states, and of the laws of the United States. He grants and
issues passports. Exequaturs to foreign consuls in the United States are
issued through his office. He publishes the laws and resolutions of
Congress, amendments to the Constitution, and proclamations declaring
the admission of new States into the Union. He is also charged with
certain annual reports to Congress relating to commercial information
received from diplomatic and consular officers of the United States.
The patronage of the Secretary at Washington is small, about sixty
clerks, but that which concerns the diplomatic and consular service is
important. To facilitate communications and negotiations with foreign
nations, and to protect the interests of American citizens in foreign
countries, the United States, in common with all civilized nations, has
an elaborate system of representatives residing at the capitals of all
the principal nations. This system is called the diplomatic service, and
is under the charge of a separate bureau of the State Department.
Communications and negotiations with foreign powers are generally
carried on through them or through ministers of other nations stationed
at Washington. These agents are called ministers and are of three grades
(1) envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, (2) ministers
resident, (3) _chargés d'affaires_. These grades correspond to the lower
grades of similar services in European countries. We have no grade
corresponding to that of ambassador. The United States has ministers in
about thirty-three countries. The chief legations are those of Great
Britain, France, Germany and Russia. The salary attached to each of
these legations is $17,500. The social demands upon ministers are great,
and, as a rule, the expenses of ministers have been more than their
salaries. Ministers of foreign powers receive a much larger compensation
than do ours.
To protect our commercial interests abroad, and our seamen and vessels
in foreign ports, the United States has agents resident in all foreign
sea-ports of any prominence. Their duties are numerous. They ship
seamen, certify invoices, take testimony, examine emigrants, etc. They
transmit to the State Department monthly reports concerning any matter
of commercial or social interest occurring at their stations. These
reports are published monthly by the department and have a wide
gratuitous circulation. This system is called the consular service; and
is also under the charge of a separate bureau. These agents, called
consuls, are of three ranks and titles; (1) consul-generals, (2)
consuls, (3) consular agents, of whom 180 are salaried, the rest being
paid by fees. The names of the other bureaus indicate the nature of the
duties performed by each.
The Department of State has been prominently before the people during
the last two years in consequence of the Pan-American Congress,[1]
composed of representatives from all American nations. This congress met
in 1889, under the auspices of the State Department at Washington, to
consider subjects of common interest, such as international arbitration,
railroad and steamship communication, uniform money and commercial
regulations. Various standing committees and commissions were provided
for; and it is believed that through their efforts better commercial and
social relations with the South American Republics will be established.
The International Marine Conference, composed of representatives from
all marine powers, likewise met at Washington under the auspices of the
same department, and adopted a code of marine regulations for the
guidance of all nations.
[Footnote 1: The Proceedings of the Pan American Congress were published
by the Department of State, and also in the _Tribune Monthly_ for
September, 1890. Articles upon the subject _lay_ Mr. Romero, the Mexican
Minister, appeared in the _North American Review_, September and
October, 1890.]
In foreign relations the department has been chiefly
occupied of late in the attempted settlement of the right of the English
and Canadians to capture seals in Bering's Sea and Straits, and of the
rights of American and English fishermen[1] in the fishing grounds off
the coast of New Foundland; in the conclusion of a new extradition[2]
treaty with England, and of various treaties concerning trade with other
nations.
[Footnote 1: See _Tribune Monthly_ entitled "Our Continent, or America
for the Americans."]
[Footnote 2: An excellent monograph upon the subject of Extradition, by
Hon. J.B. Moore, has been published by the State Department.]
_#The Treasury Department.#_--This department was created by act of
September 2, 1789. There are two assistant secretaries. The department
is divided into a large number of divisions, with the following chief
officers: (1) The Comptrollers, (2) the Auditors, (3) Treasurer, (4)
Register, (5) Commissioner of Customs, (6) Commissioner of Internal
Revenue, (7) Comptroller of the Currency, (8) Chief of the Bureau of
Statistics, (9) Superintendent of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing,
(10) Director of the Mint, (11) Superintendent of the Life Saving
Service, (12) Supervising-Surgeon-General of the Marine Hospital
Service, (13) Supervising-Inspector-General of Steam Vessels. Other
officers are, the Supervising Architect, Commissioner of Navigation,
Solicitor of the Treasury, and Chairman of the Light House Board.
The mention of the various divisions indicates the importance and
variety of the duties coming under this department. The Secretary is
charged with the entire management of the national finances. He submits
annually to Congress estimates of the probable revenues and
disbursements of the Government, prepares plans for the improvement of
the revenue and for the support of the public credit, and superintends
the collection of the revenue. Two comptrollers pass upon all claims
against the government and accounts received from the auditors. Six
auditors examine and adjust accounts relating to the expenditures of the
various branches of the government.
The Treasurer of the United States receives and keeps its moneys,
disburses them on the Secretary's warrants, and manages the Independent
Treasury System. The Independent or Sub-Treasury System was adopted by
Congress in 1846. By this means the Treasury Department is independent
of the banking system of the country; but has established sub-treasuries
in the principal cities of the Union for the receipt and disbursement of
public moneys. There are sub-treasuries in New York, San Francisco,
Saint Louis, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans and
Cincinnati. For greater convenience moneys are also deposited at certain
designated banks. Secretary Windom, however, began rapidly removing such
deposits from the banks and announced his intention to cease the placing
of deposits with any bank.
The Register of the Treasury is the official book-keeper of the United
States. The Commissioners of Customs and of Internal Revenue have charge
respectively of the collection of customs duties and internal revenue
taxes. The Comptroller of the Currency has control of the national
banks. The Chief of the Bureau of Statistics collects and publishes the
statistics of our foreign commerce. In the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing are designed, engraved and printed all government bonds,
national bank notes, drafts, United States notes, etc., for which work
about 1200 persons are employed. The director of the Mint has general
supervision over all mints and assay offices. In addition to his annual
report he publishes yearly a report on the statistics of the production
of precious metals.
The titles of the other officers indicate the general duties of each.
The whole department employs about 3,400 persons at Washington.
Some of the more important public questions coming within the province
of the Treasury Department at the present time are (1) the Tariff, which
has been settled for some years by the high tariff act of this Congress;
(2) the silver question involving the gravest questions of finance,
likewise settled for a time by the silver act of this Congress; (3) the
purchase of bonds on the market as a device to reduce the surplus and
prevent the accumulation of money in the Treasury; (4) the national
banking system, whose basis is being removed by the rapid payment of the
public debt; (5) the merits of the Independent Treasury System by which
it is claimed that money is kept out of circulation and a stringency
caused in the money market; and (6) the advisability of transferring the
revenue marine service to the Navy Department.
_#The War Department.#_--The War Department was established August 7,
1789. There is one assistant secretary. The chiefs of the bureaus into
which the department is divided, are officers of the United States Army,
and a part of the military establishment. Their titles and duties are as
follows. The Adjutant General of the Army, who has under him a large
force of clerks, has the duty of issuing orders, conducting the
correspondence of the department, and keeping the record. The
Inspector-General inspects and reports upon the condition of the army at
all points, and the accounts of the disbursing officers. The
Quartermaster-General has charge of the clothing, quarters, and
supplies, except food supplies, which form the province of the
Commissary-General. The Surgeon-General has charge of the medical
department, of the Army Medical Museum, and a special library. The Chief
of Engineers has charge of the construction of fortifications, etc. The
Judge-Advocate-General reviews the proceedings of courts-martial, and
advises the Secretary on points of law. There are also a
Paymaster-General, a Chief of Ordnance, and a Chief Signal Officer. The
Chief Signal Officer has charge of the system of communicating with
distant points by means of various systems of signals, the most
noteworthy of which is that of the heliograph, by which information is
conveyed by the use of sun-reflecting mirrors. Communication has been
established between points 125 miles distant by means of a heliograph
with a reflecting surface of but twenty square inches.
The War Department answers more nearly than any other to the Department
of Public Works found in other governments. All public improvements, the
construction of docks, bridges, and the improvement of rivers and
harbors, are under the supervision of army engineers. All arctic
explorations and the explorations of our western territory, have been
conducted by army officers under the direction of the Secretary of War.
The publication of war records is being made by a special board in the
War Department. Thirty-five volumes have been published. It is estimated
that there will be one hundred and nineteen volumes when the work is
completed. The Secretary of War also has charge of the Military Academy
at West Point, of certain national parks, and homes for disabled
soldiers.
The army is commanded by a lieutenant-general under whom are three
major-generals and six brigadier-generals. It consists of about 26,000
men distributed in the three divisions of the Missouri, the Atlantic,
and the Pacific, of which the first contains four departments, the
second, one, and the third, three. Congress appropriates and expends
through the War Department $400,000 yearly on the National Guard for its
armament and equipment. The aggregate of this reserve army regularly
organized and uniformed is 106,500 men. The Secretary also details army
officers to furnish military instruction at various colleges.
The principal questions to-day concerning the War Department are the
advisability of strengthening our coast defences, and the lessening of
the desertions in the army, which amount yearly to from ten to fifteen
per cent, of the total strength of the army.
_#The Navy Department.#_--The Navy Department was established April 30,
1798. There is one assistant secretary. The routine work of the
department is distributed among eight bureaus: (1) of Yards and Docks,
(2) of Equipment and Recruiting, (3) of Navigation, (4) of Ordinance,
(5) of Construction and Repair, (6) of Steam Engineering, (7) of
Provisions and Clothing, (8) of Medicine and Surgery. The chiefs of the
bureaus are officers of the United States Navy. There is a hydrographic
office attached to the bureau of navigation, which prepares maps, charts
and nautical books relating to navigation, and makes investigations
concerning marine meteorology. This Department has charge of the Naval
Observatory for which a new set of buildings is now being built at
Washington. The Department publishes yearly, for the guidance of seamen,
the nautical almanac, the preparation of which is intrusted to a
separate bureau. The department also compiles and publishes naval
records of the recent war, and has charge of the Naval Academy at
Annapolis, Maryland. The Officers of the Navy upon the active list
include one admiral, one vice-admiral, six rear-admirals, and ten
commodores. The naval force includes 10,000 officers and men, together
with 2,000 marines. The number of vessels of the United States Navy when
all the ships now authorized are completed, excluding those which by the
process of decay and the operation of law will by that date have been
condemned, will comprise 11 armored and 31 unarmored vessels. The five
stations maintained are the Asiatic, European, North Atlantic, South
Atlantic, and Pacific. The chief matter of present public interest
concerning this department is the creation of a new navy by the
construction of modern steel vessels. This new policy was begun in 1882.
_#The Interior Department.#_--The Interior Department was created in
1849, to take charge of various duties not properly belonging to any of
the existing departments. There are two assistant secretaries. The
chiefs of the bureaus into which this department is divided, and their
respective duties are as follows: _The Commissioner of the General Land
Office_ has charge of all the public land of the government, its care,
supervision, and sale or distribution. In another chapter we give
further details concerning the operations of this important bureau.
_The Commissioner of Pensions_ has charge of the granting of pensions to
old soldiers and sailors. He has a large force at Washington. There are
eighteen pension agencies in different parts of the country. In 1808 the
United States assumed all the state pension obligations. The act of 1818
gave pensions to all who had served nine months in the Revolutionary
War; other wars were afterwards included. The acts of the period
beginning 1862 have enormously increased the amount paid. The report of
the Commissioner for 1890 shows that at the close of the fiscal year of
1889 the number of pensioners was 537,944, and the annual expenditures
for pensions $105,528,180.38.
The disability pension law passed June 27,1890, will greatly lengthen
the pension list and increase the annual expenditures. The present
Commissioner says in his last report that "it is believed that there are
probably over one hundred thousand claims in this office which can be
properly allowed under the provisions of these regulations. The act of
June 27, 1890, is the first disability pension law in the history of the
world which grants to soldiers and sailors pensions for disabilities
which are not proven to have been incurred in the service and in line of
duty." Speaker Reed of the House characterized it as "the most generous
piece of pension legislation ever passed by any nation on earth."
_The Commissioner of Patents_ has charge of the granting of patents. Up
to 1793 the granting of letters-patent was given to a board consisting
of the Secretary of State, Secretary of War and the Attorney General,
the records and models being kept in the Department of State. In 1793
the granting of patents was given exclusively to the Secretary of State.
In 1821 the clerk of the State Department who examined applications for
patents received the title of Superintendent of the Patent Office, and
on July 4, 1836, the Patent Office was created as a separate bureau and
a Commissioner of Patents created.
About 24,000 patents are issued annually. There is an Assistant
Commissioner-in-chief, an Examiner of Interferences, three
Examiners-in-chief, thirty-eight Principal Examiners, and a large force
of assistant examiners for different branches. Patents run for seventeen
years. The annual receipts of the bureau from fees more than equal the
expenditures, and the office now has a surplus of several millions to
its credit in the Treasury.
_The Commissioner of Indian Affairs_ has charge of all matters
concerning the Indians, their education, government and support. There
are 239 Indian schools supported by appropriations made by Congress, 147
of which are controlled directly by the Indian Bureau. The average
attendance of pupils at these schools is between eleven and twelve
thousand. The number of Indians in our country (not counting those of
Alaska) is about 250,000. They occupy or have control of about
116,630,106 acres.
_The Bureau of Education_ was originally established as an independent
Department by act of Congress, approved by the President March 2, 1867.
By an act of Congress which took effect July 1, 1869, this Department
was changed to an Office or Bureau in the Interior Department. The
duties of this Bureau are to collect and diffuse information regarding
schools, methods of instruction and school discipline, etc., and
otherwise to promote the cause of education. The results of the
investigations here carried on, though with a small clerical force, are
of the utmost value to all educators, and such is the extent to which
the merit of the work and publications of this office are recognized by
the leading educators of the country, that, in their opinion, the Bureau
should be re-established as a department, and its chief be made a member
of the President's cabinet. The publications of the Bureau consist of
(1) _Annual Reports_, which set forth statistics and general information
concerning the educational systems of the States, Territories, larger
cities, universities, and colleges; professional, special, and
scientific schools, academies, preparatory schools and kindergartens,
with a summary of the progress of education in foreign countries; (2)
_Special Reports_, on subjects pertinent to the times; (3) _Occasional
Bulletins_, on matters of current educational interest; (4) _Circulars
of Information_, on important questions of educational work or history,
which are issued in yearly series. Under this last title there is now in
course of publication a very valuable series of monographs upon the
History of Higher Education in the various States. These monographs are
being prepared by competent scholars under the editorial supervision of
Dr. H.B. Adams of the Johns Hopkins University. Numerous Annual Reports
have been issued, and one is now in press, for the year 1889-90. The
working force of the Bureau is divided into three divisions: (1)
Records; (2) Statistics; (3) Library and Museum. The library of this
Office contains one of the most valuable pedagogical collections in the
country.
_The Commissioner of Railroads_ has charge of the government's interests
in certain railroads to which the United States has granted loans of
credit or subsidies in lands or bonds. By the acts of July 1, 1862, and
July 1, 1864, Congress, in order to encourage the building of a
trans-continental railroad, granted to several Pacific railroad
companies subsidies in land adjacent to the roads, and issued certain
amounts of bonds on which was guaranteed interest at the rate of six per
cent. The amount of lands given and bonds issued were in proportion to
the number of miles of road constructed. The lands were a gift. The
bonds were to be repaid by the companies with all interest which might
have been advanced by the government. From 1850 to 1872 the various
railroads received a total of 155,504,994 acres of lands, and
$147,110,069 proceeds of bonds and interest paid by the United States.
The roads have repaid of this amount $36,723,477, leaving at the present
time due from the roads to the United States the sum of $110,386,592.
This they will be unable to pay upon the maturity of the bonds, and a
bill has been before Congress for several sessions looking towards a
better adjustment of this debt. The Commissioner of Railroads was
originally styled the "Auditor of Railroad Accounts." The office was
created June 19, 1878.
_Geological Survey_.--This branch of the Interior Department was
established in 1879. Its work is the investigation and determination of
the geological structure of the various sections of the country, the
composition of soils, the reclamation of waste lands, etc. In this
bureau are made topographical surveys and irrigation surveys of arid
regions of the United States. The publications connected with this work,
number ten Annual Reports, thirteen Monographs, fifty-eight Bulletins
and five Statistical Papers. In these there is a discussion of the
geological structure of every state and territory, and information
concerning the occurrence and production of each great metallic and
mineral staple of the country. The bureau comprises one geographical,
twelve geological, six paleontological and four accessory divisions. A
division of mines and mining publishes an annual report on the mineral
resources and production of the United States.
_The Superintendent of the Census._--The Superintendent of the Census is
appointed each decade for the purpose of taking the regular decennial
census. The Eleventh Census has just been taken. The first was taken in
1790. Each census has shown a tendency to be more elaborate and to
embrace a greater number of subjects than any preceding. There were
employed in the taking of the Eleventh Census 42,000 enumerators, 2,000
clerks, from 800 to 900 special agents, 175 supervisors and 25 experts.
In addition to these eight bureaus, the department has charge of various
other branches of government. All of the territories come under the
Secretary's supervision, and look to him in case of any difficulty. The
Secretary also has charge of the Yellowstone National Park, the Hot
Springs Reservation in Arkansas, and of certain hospitals and
eleemosynary institutions in the District of Columbia. A Superintendent
of Public Documents looks after the receipt, distribution, and sale of
government publications.
The most important subjects of recent legislation concerning this
department have been the dependent pension act, the act providing for
the survey of Western lands suitable for irrigation, and the land
forfeiture act. By this act over 8,000,000 acres of lands were forfeited
by the railroads for failure to fulfill the conditions under which the
land was originally granted to them.
_#The Post Office Department.#_--The Post Office Department was
established in 1789, but the Postmaster-General did not become a cabinet
officer until 1829. The Postmaster-General has charge and management of
the department, and of the domestic and foreign mail service. He can
establish post offices and appoint postmasters of the fourth and fifth
classes, i.e. those whose salaries are less than $1,000. These number
over 50,000. The total number of postoffices is about 56,000. The
President appoints to those of the first three classes. Other officers
besides the Assistant Postmasters-General are, the Superintendents of
the Money Order Division, of Foreign Mails, and of the Railway Service,
and an Assistant Attorney-General for the department.
The United States is a member of the Universal Postal Union, of which
most, if not all, of the civilized countries are members. The central
office is known as the International Bureau of the Universal Postal
Union, and is conducted under the superintendence of the Swiss Postal
Administration, and its expenses are borne by all the nations composing
the Union. The revenues of the Post Office Department nearly equal the
expenditures, and would have exceeded them before this but for the fact
that as soon as the amount of receipts has warranted, improvements have
been made in the service, through the reduction of postage rates and
the extension of the free delivery system. It has never been the policy
of the government to make this department a source of revenue.
The patronage of the postoffice department is the most important of any
of the departments, and it is very largely for this reason that the
Postmaster-General is a member of the Cabinet. Crawford of South
Carolina secured in 1820 the passage of an act limiting the term of
office of postmasters to four years. The appointment of postmasters does
not come under the Civil Service Act. It is the principal aim of civil
service reformers, that postmasters should be appointed under its
provisions. The most important questions of public policy concerning
this department, are the reduction of postage rates on letters to one
cent; the advisability of the establishment of a postal telegraph
service; the extension of the free delivery system, and the relation of
the department to the civil service regulations.
_#The Department of Justice.#_--The office of the Attorney-General of
the United States was established in 1789; the Department of Justice not
until 1870. The Attorney-General gives advice upon legal points to the
President and also, when requested to do so, to the heads of
departments. He directs the cases of the United States and sometimes
appears in them, especially in the Supreme Court. He supervises the
United States Marshals and District Attorneys. His substitute and
principal assistant is the Solicitor-General. There are two
Assistant-Attorneys-General, the business of the one being connected
with the Supreme Court, and of the other with the Court of Claims. There
are also, as mentioned before, certain legal officers attached to the
other departments. Additional counsel is frequently employed to assist
in the argument of important cases. To the Attorney-General belongs the
duty of recommending persons to the office of judges, etc., in the
United States Circuit and District Courts.
_#The Department of Agriculture.#_--The Department of Agriculture was
organized as a separate department in the year 1862. In 1889 its head
became a cabinet officer. There is one Assistant Secretary. The duties
of the Secretary are to promote in every way the agricultural interests
of the country. For this purpose the department is separated into
thirteen bureaus, under the following officers (1) the Entomologist, (2)
Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry, (3) Chemist, (4) Botanist, (5)
Chief of the Section of Vegetable Pathology, (6) Statistician, (7)
Ornithologist, (8) Director of the Office of Experiment Stations, (9)
Microscopist, (10) Pomologist, (11) Chief of the Forestry Division, (12)
Chief of the Seed Division, and (13) Weather Bureau. The enumeration of
these titles indicates the general nature of the work of the department.
Here are investigated the habits of injurious insects and birds and the
best means for their destruction; the causes of and remedies for
vegetable and fruit diseases. The Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry
inspects herds of cattle and causes to be slaughtered those suffering
from a contagious disease. Under a law passed in 1890, he also inspects
all cattle and meat intended for export to foreign countries. He
investigates causes of and remedies for cattle diseases, the best method
of breeding, etc. The Statistician publishes monthly and annual reports
concerning statistics of the condition, prospects and harvests of the
principal crops, the wages of farm labor, etc. The Chemist analyzes
fertilizers, soils, etc. By the act of March 2, 1887, $15,000 per annum
was appropriated by Congress to each of the States and Territories which
have established an agricultural college or an agricultural college
department, for the establishment of experiment stations. The Department
of Agriculture has general oversight over these stations.
The Department carries on experiments regarding the feasibility of
profitable silk reeling in this country, for which purpose there is a
separate division; it also makes experiments in the manufacture of sugar
from sorghum and from beets grown in this country. The best qualities of
seeds are tested and distributed gratuitously among the farmers. Efforts
are made to introduce and foster the cultivation of new kinds of
agricultural products, and in various ways to advance agricultural
interests.
Congress, by an act passed during its last session, 1890, created a
weather bureau under the Agricultural Department and transferred to it
the business of weather prognostication which had been tinder the Chief
Signal officer in the War Department. The service remains unchanged. It
has stations at the military stations in the interior of the continent,
at life-saving stations, and at other points in the States and
Territories. Meteorological observations are taken at each station, and
the information forwarded to the central office at Washington, where
weather predictions for the succeeding day or days are made. The
predictions are given gratuitously to the public through a system of
flag signals, by the distribution of weather maps, and by publication in
the daily papers. The percentage of successful forecasts of the weather
during 1890 was 84.4.
The Department publishes the result of the scientific investigations
carried on by its officers in "Annual Reports" of the Secretary and
Chiefs of Divisions; in a series of "Circulars" on special subjects, in
regular "Bulletins;" and in a series of studies on "Insect Life." These
documents are distributed gratuitously.
_#The Department of Labor.#_--The Department of Labor was created in
1884, as a bureau under the Interior Department. In 1888, it became a
separate department. It is a purely statistical bureau. It collects and
publishes statistics on the cost of production, on wages, labor
statistics, etc. Its six published reports are on (1) Industrial
Depressions, (2) Convict Labor, (3) Strikes and Lockouts, (4) Working
Women in Large Cities, (5) Marriage and Divorce, and (6) Railroad
Employés.
Had all the executive departments been created at one time by a
constitutional convention, we should be justified in expecting a greater
symmetry and uniformity in the naming and grouping of chief officials.
An inspection of the various executive officers shows that not a few are
under departments other than would be expected; and the naming of
officials is often misleading as to their importance. Within recent
years there has appeared a strong tendency to depart yet more from a
systematic grouping of executive duties under departments. Executive
functions have been given to bodies entirely independent of the
departments. To complete our survey of the federal executive we must
consider the following: (1) the Interstate Commerce Commission, (2) the
Fish Commission, (3) the Civil Service Commission, (4) the Government
Printing Office, (5) the National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, the
Bureau of Ethnology, (6) the Congressional Library.
_#The Interstate Commerce Commission.#_--With the growth of our railroad
system have come various abuses. Roads have discriminated in favor of
one shipper over others, and of one locality over others. Combinations
have been formed to keep up railroad passenger and freight charges.
Their influence has been used in political offices through the issuing
of free passenger tickets, etc. Various other minor abuses have centered
around these corporations. The States have been powerless to provide a
remedy for the roads have been mostly engaged in interstate commerce
with which the States are forbidden by the constitution to interfere. To
provide a remedy for the principal of these abuses Congress passed the
act of February 4, 1887, regulating the practice of railroads and
creating the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce the provisions.
The Commission is composed of five commissioners appointed by the
President. The Commission sits as a court and adjudicates complaints
arising between railroads or between citizens and railroads, involving
principles covered by the act. It has rapidly attained its present
position as one of the most important courts in the United States. A
statistician, attached to the Commission, publishes annual statistics of
railroads, covering the extent, the amount, and value of their stock and
bonds, expenses of management, receipts, &c. The act, of course,
applies only to those railroads lying in more than one State.
_#The Fish Commission.#_--The Fish Commission was created by act of
Congress in 1870. Its chief is the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries.
There is also an Assistant Commissioner. This Commission stands in the
same relation to the fishery interests of the country as does the
Department of Agriculture to agricultural interests. Both are scientific
and practical departments. The former investigates the food, habits and
enemies of fishes; experiments concerning the best methods of their
capture, the best kind of baits, apparatus, etc. It collects statistics
of fish and fisheries of the whole country. Probably its most important
service is the propagation and distribution of food fishes. Under its
direction are hatched and liberated millions of the young of the best
food fishes in the various inland waters of the United States. Rivers
suitable for black bass, shad, carp, or other food fishes, but not
having them in their waters, are supplied. For these purposes the
Commission owns and manages various fish hatcheries, fish distributing
vessels and cars, propagating ponds, etc.
The yearly appropriation for carrying on this work amounts to nearly a
quarter of a million of dollars.
_#The Civil Service Commission.#_--To correct the wasteful and
demoralizing spoils system, in vogue ever since the first administration
of Jackson, Congress passed, January 16, 1883, "an act to regulate and
improve the Civil Service of the United States." Under the provisions of
this act, the President appoints three commissioners, only two of whom
may be of the same political party, to administer the act. It is one of
the duties of this Commission to provide examinations for testing the
fitness of applicants for public service. Appointments in those branches
of the government coming under this act can only be made from persons
who have passed the civil service examination successfully. Adherence to
one or the other political parties has little weight in the selection
of employés. Under the regulation of this act are: the nine executive
departments at Washington, the Civil Service Commission itself, the
customs districts, eleven in number, in each of which there are fifty or
more employés, all postoffices in which there are fifty or more
employés, and the Railway Mail Service; including altogether about
28,500 clerks.
_#The Government Printing Office.#_--In order that there may be
intelligent legislation and administration, an extensive system of
reports is required. The publications of the federal government are of
course very numerous. Each department, bureau, and division makes an
annual report. The proceedings of Congress are reported verbatim and
published. This printing and binding are done by the government through
the government printing office, established for that purpose. The Bureau
of Printing and Engraving, which is under the Treasury Department, does
no part of this. Its duties are limited to those of engraving and
printing banknotes, etc. The chief of the Government Printing Office is
styled the Government Printer, and is appointed by the President.
_#The National Museum, Smithsonian Institution and Bureau of
Ethnology.#_--In 1829 James Smithson, bequeathed by his will the whole
of his property, something over half a million dollars, "to the United
States of America to found at Washington, under the name of the
Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion
of knowledge among men." This fund held by the United States now amounts
to $702,000 yielding six per cent, per annum. In 1846 Congress
determined to devote this gift of Smithson to the founding and support
of a museum. The National Museum was established in 1846, and is
supported by annual appropriations by Congress.
In 1879 Congress created a special bureau under the Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution, to be called the Bureau of Ethnology, to make
researches in North American anthropology. This work is supported by
annual appropriations. The National Museum, Smithsonian Institution and
Bureau of Ethnology, though distinct institutions[1] are under
substantially the same management. Their reports are of great scientific
value.
_#The Librarian of Congress.#_--The Librarian of Congress is an
independent officer and reports directly to Congress. He has complete
control of the Congressional Library, now situated in the Capitol
building. The books now collected in this library have been purchased
from time to time by Congress. There is a law requiring that two copies
of every book, pamphlet, newspaper, photograph, etc., copyrighted in the
United States, shall be sent to the Congressional Library. It thus
receives large and valuable additions yearly. The Library now numbers
over half a million volumes. A new building for the library is in
process of construction, and it will have cost when completed between
seven and eight million dollars.
[Footnote 1: A valuable and suggestive paper on The Origin of the
National Scientific and Educational Institutions of the United States,
by Dr. G. Brown Goode, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, was published by the American Historical Association. Vol.
IV, Part 2. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1890.]