Harrison, The President naturally insists that his wishes shall be fol This Coun- lowed in regard to all subjects of importance, in order to try of Ours, 107. preserve the unity of action necessary to a successful administration of public affairs. In minor matters, if there is any difference of opinion, he is likely to yield to the preference of the secretary. "The habit is to give an afternoon to each Cabinet officer on a fixed day of the week. These meetings are mainly given up to the consideration of appointments, but, if any other matters are pending, and deemed by the secretary of sufficient importance, they are presented and discussed. The Cabinet officer is chiefly entitled to the credit if his department is well administered, for most things he transacts on his own responsibility. His labors are incessant and full of care."1 Foreign affairs and domestic duties. The departments were organized in the following order: The War Department, Aug. 7, 1789; The Department of the Treasury, Sept. 2, 1789; The Post Office Department, May 8, 1794; The Navy Department, April 30, 1798; The Interior Department, March 3, 1849; The Department of Justice, June 22, 1870;2 The Department of Agriculture, Feb. 9, 1889; The Department of Commerce and Labor, Feb. 14, 1903. THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS 3 335. The Duties of the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State occupies a position of especial honor as the chief secretary and as the member of the Cabinet who 1 Harrison, This Country of Ours, 107. 2 There has been an Attorney-general since 1789. 3 In order to understand and fully appreciate the important work done by the different executive departments, we should review all sections in other parts of the book where various administrative duties have been described. These have been considered in other connections in order to treat the whole of one subject in one place, so far as possible. The pupil should study the organization of the different departments and compare the coördination of business in the Treasury Department, for example, with the lack of coöperation in the Navy Department. For Administration, 77-91. Harrison, This Country of Ours, 181-201. comes first in the succession to the presidency. His prin- Fairlie, Nat. cipal duties relate to the negotiation of treaties (§ 228), which are left almost exclusively in his charge. His foreign policy is likely to become that of the President, and the success of the government in its dealings with other nations depends to a large degree upon his wisdom and skill. Newly appointed foreign representatives are met by the Secretary of State and presented by him to the President, all business with them being done through him (§ 230). But his time and that of his associates is devoted to many matters of routine. The entire consular system (§ 235) is under his su pervision. He is intrusted with SEAL OF THE UNITEd States the keeping of the laws of the NUM United States, sending certified copies of all, as they are enacted, to the governors of the States. He affixes the great seal to civil commissions of officers appointed by the President, issues proclamations when amendments to the Constitution are adopted, and often drafts the Thanksgiving proclamation and other proclamations made by the President. influence. 336. The Secretary of the Treasury1 has exercised an in- Political fluence second to that of no other Cabinet officer. His public duties are not only numerous but important, and so high has been the standing of the men who have held the position, that suggestions made by the secretaries have usually been followed by Congress. The financial policy of the United States was, in fact, proposed, and has been perfected by these lists of the bureaus and the duties performed by each, consult the Congressional Directory. 1 The erection of all public buildings not connected with the military or naval service is under the charge of the Supervising Architect, an official of the Treasury Department. Harrison, try of Ours 202 220. This Coun Discretion ary power. Important Harrison, This Country of Ours, 269-288. leaders rather than by congressmen. During Washington's administration, Secretary Hamilton's suggestion regarding the different sources of revenue and the methods to be used in collecting or disbursing money, were accepted with comparatively little change. While no later secretary has so completely molded Congress to his own views, many have been able to carry out their plans, as in the creation of a national banking system (§ 257). The discretion which a secretary is allowed to use in the management of the finances gives him a considerable degree of authority. He has charge of the collection and disbursement of more than a billion dollars a year, and is able to decide the amount of money that shall be coined from different metals unless the laws are specific. He may also influence Congress greatly at present through the suggestions made in his annual report for the improvement of the revenue system, the support of the public credit, or the adoption of more satisfactory methods. This influence is increased through the letter which he submits to Congress (§ 250), giving his estimate of the receipts and expenditures for the following year. 337. The Interior Department." The Interior Department duties of the is now, in the variety and importance of the business comSecretary. mitted to it, one of the greatest of the executive departments. Perhaps no one of the secretaries, unless it be the Secretary of the Treasury, is so pressed and cumbered with business as the Secretary of the Interior. His work is not single, as in most of the departments, but diverse and multifarious; and only a strong and versatile man can conduct it successfully. The Secretary must pass finally in the department upon questions of patent law, pension law, land law, mining law, the construction of Indian treaties, and many other questions calling for legal knowledge, if the judgment of the Secretary is to be of any value. There is an assistant attorney-general assigned to the department, and the Secretary may call upon the Attorney-general for his opinion Gauss, Am. Gov't, 153-158. apon important matters, but there is hardly an hour in the day that does not present some legal question, and very often the Secretary must sit as an appellate judge, hear arguments, and render decisions." Number and Harrison, This Country of Ours, 270-288. As all matters pertaining to education are left with the States, the Commissioner of Education confines his labors to the gathering of statis- duties of tical information, the making of reports, and suggestions. His principal bureaus. aim is to bring about uniformity of the highest degree in the schools of the land. The Commissioner of Pensions supervises the administration of the pension laws (§ 242), and examines and passes upon all applications made by claimants for pensions. All interests of the gov ernment relating to transcontinental railways are in charge of the Commissioner of Railways. The Director of the Geological Survey investigates and reports upon the character and natural resources of soils within the United States. The administration of the land laws, including surveys of the public domain, and the distribution of farms to settlers under the Homestead Act (§§ 275-276) is left with the Commissioner of the General Land Office. The Reclamation service selects areas to be reclaimed, and constructs dams to hold the water used for irrigation projects (§ 277). The very great task of examining all applications for patents (§ 293) is performed under the direction of the Commissioner of Patents, and all Indian affairs (§ 292) are supervised by the Indian Commissioner. Fairlie, Nat. Administration, 188-219. Duties of the Secretary and his assistants. Harrison, This Country of Ours, 338. The Secretary of War,1 although not often a military officer, is the real commander of the army, supervising its organization, equipment, and movements. In this work he acts for the President, who is commander-in-chief, and he is aided by several officers, who, collectively, with the commanding general of the army, form the General Staff (§ 238). To the Quartermaster General is assigned the purchase of most army supplies, except the food, which is under the charge of the Commissary General, and the arms, artillery, and munitions of war, which are left to the Chief of Ordnance. Other chiefs of bureaus are the Adjutant General, who promulgates all military orders; the Judgeadvocate General, who is the legal adviser of the Secretary; the Inspector General; the Surveyor General; the Paymaster General; the Chief of Engineers, and the Chief Signal Officer. The principal 661-673. 1 The Secretary has control of all contracts for arsenals, forts, breakwaters and other harbor defenses and improvements. All buildings and places belonging to the national government are exempt from state and local taxation, but are under state police protection. See Hart, Actual Government, §§ 152, 163. 221-230. Carter, W. H., in Scribner's, 33 (1903), Work of the Depart ment. Mahan, A. T., in Scribner's, 33 (1903), 567-577. Marvin, W. L., in Rev. of Revs., 36 (1907), 714-722. Duties of Attorneygeneral and assistants. Fairlie, Nat. Administration, 165-175. Hoyt, H. M., in Harper's Weekly, 49 (1905), 312-314. Various bureaus. cares of the department are the army and the coast defense. The West Point Military Academy is also in its charge. (§§ 238-241.) In the performance of actual duties, whether in time of peace or of war, the Secretary usually acts upon his own responsibility except in the most important matters.1 339. The Secretary of the Navy bears much the same relation to the President as does the Secretary of War, being in fact as well as in theory the head of his department. He is assisted by a General Board, which corresponds in part to the General Staff, although less perfectly organized at the present time (1908). Perhaps the most important of the bureaus is that of Construction and Repair, which is wholly responsible for the plans of any vessel and the stability of all vessels built under its directions. The number and size of the guns a warship shall carry and the thickness of the armor for the turrets and exposed parts of the hulls are determined by the Bureau of Ordnance in coöperation with that of Construction and Repair. Each of the other bureaus has a very important and valuable work, though of less general interest. The department has charge of a naval observatory at Washington and of the Annapolis Academy (§ 240). 340. The Department of Justice was not organized as a separate department until 1870, athough the Attorney-general has always been a Cabinet officer. The direct duties of the Attorney-general and his subordinates are to advise the President and the executive officials regarding legal questions that arise, supervise the actions of the district attorneys and marshals (§ 346), and conduct suits to which the United States is a party when tried in the higher courts. Special assistants have taken charge of the large number of prosecutions made by the government against monopolistic corporations. Two solicitors advise the officials of the Treasury in connection with the questions involved in the collection of the customs and internal revenue, another is consulted by the Department of State upon difficult points of international law. Two of the assistant attorney-generals devote all their time to legal questions connected with the Post Office and Interior Departments, the others and the Solicitor General being concerned with more general duties. 341. The Department of Commerce is composed of a large number of bureaus formerly connected with other departments, especially the Treasury. Among other duties, the heads of these bureaus have 1 When large areas within the United States or belonging to it are under military government, as was the case immediately after the Civil War and the Spanish-American War, the Secretary becomes an administrative official of very great influence. |