Community Civics and Rural Life Part 66

The DEPARTMENT OF WAR is directed by the Secretary of War, who, under the President, controls the military establishment and superintends the national defense. He also administers river and harbor improvements, the prevention of obstruction to navigation, and the building of bridges over navigable rivers when authorized by Congress. He also has direction of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, which supervises the government of Porto Rico and the Philippines.

The DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE has at its head the Attorney General, who is the chief law officer of the government, and represents it in all matters of a legal nature. He is the legal adviser of the President and of the several executive departments, and supervises all United States attorneys and marshals in the judicial districts into which the country is divided.

The POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT is administered by the Postmaster General.

The DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, under the Secretary of the Navy, has charge of the "construction, manning, equipment, and employment of vessels of war."

The DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR was created to relieve the Department of State of work relating to internal affairs, and now embraces a wide variety of duties. At its head is the Secretary of the Interior. Through many bureaus and divisions it administers the public lands, the national parks, the giving of patents for inventions, the pensioning of soldiers, Indian affairs, education, the reclamation service, the geological survey, the improvement of mining methods for the safety of miners, certain matters pertaining to the territories of the United States, and certain inst.i.tutions in the District of Columbia.

The DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE is directed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Its work is described in Chapter XII.

The DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, under the Secretary of Commerce, promotes the commercial interests of the country in many ways. It includes in its organization the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, the Bureau of Corporations, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Lighthouses, the Bureau of Navigation, the Bureau of Fisheries, and the Bureau of Standards.

The DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, under the Secretary of Labor, has for its purpose "fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, improving their working conditions, and advancing their opportunities for profitable employment." Among its important bureaus are those of Immigration and of Naturalization, and the Children's Bureau, which investigates and reports upon "all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all cla.s.ses of our people."

OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES

In addition to these great administrative departments with their numerous bureaus and subdivisions, there are various boards, commissions and establishments that are independent of the departments.

Some of the most important of these are the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Civil Service Commission (see below), the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the United States Tariff Commission, the Board of Mediation and Conciliation, the United States Bureau of Efficiency, the Federal Board of Vocational Education, the Panama Ca.n.a.l.

Of another kind are the Library of Congress which includes the Copyright Office; the Government Printing Office; the Smithsonian Inst.i.tution, including the National Museum and the National Zoological Park.

There are many others. During the recent war a great variety of new administrative commissions and boards were created for the emergency. Most of these have been, or are to be, discontinued, though some of them may survive. Such were the Council of National Defense, the Committee on Public Information, the Food Administration, the Fuel Administration, the United States s.h.i.+pping Board, the War Trade Board, the Director General of Railroads.

THE CIVIL SERVICE

The detailed work of this vast service organization is carried on by about 400,000 employees (not counting the army and the navy).

These const.i.tute the CIVIL SERVICE. The quality of service depends largely upon the efficiency of these employees. The task of filling all these places is a large one. In Andrew Jackson's administration (1829-1837) the "spoils system" was introduced, which means that government positions were treated by the victorious party as "the spoils of victory," to be given to members of the victorious party as rewards for party service without much regard to fitness for the work to be done. Whenever the administration pa.s.sed from one party to another, the army of civil service employees was displaced by another of new employees.

Not only did this result in inefficient service, but the time of the President and the heads of the departments was largely consumed in considering the claims of those seeking appointment.

Moreover, since appointments could be made only "with the advice and consent" of the Senate, senators were besieged by applicants for positions and their friends. The President, overwhelmed by the mult.i.tude of appointments to be made, came to rely almost wholly upon the advice of the senators, and even of members of the House of Representatives, for appointments in their states and districts. Thus, in effect, appointments were made by members of Congress rather than by the President who was really responsible.

No system could have been devised more wasteful of the time of the executive and legislative branches of the government, or more conducive to inefficiency.

REFORM OF THE CIVIL SERVICE

The spoils system became a great offense to the nation, but it was not until President Garfield was murdered by a disappointed office seeker that Congress, in 1883, pa.s.sed a law for the reform of the civil service. Candidates for many positions in the civil service were required to pa.s.s an examination designed to prove their fitness for the work to be done, and a CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION was created to administer the law and to conduct the examinations, which are held at stated intervals in different parts of the country. Those appointed under this system cannot be removed except for cause. Even at the present time, however, only about half of the civil service is subject to this MERIT SYSTEM. From the above description of the work of the several executive departments select topics for special investigation and report; such as:

The work of United States Consuls. Coining money; the United States Bureau of Engraving.

The life-saving service of the United States.

The United States Army in war and peace.

The United States Army as an organization to save life, especially in its work of sanitation in territories occupied.

Representatives of the United States Department of Justice in your community, and examples of their work.

Building a battles.h.i.+p. Training for the navy.

Exploits of the navy in war. The work of the navy in time of peace.

The work of the patent office; of the bureau of Indian affairs; of the geological survey; of the bureau of mines.

Taking the United States census.

The work of the bureau of fisheries.

Marvels of the bureau of standards.

The immigration bureau.

Work of the children's bureau.

How an immigrant is naturalized.

The Government Printing Office.

The Congressional Library.

The spoils system in Andrew Jackson's administration.

How would you go about it to take an examination for the civil service?

Is there any reason why a mail carrier or a clerk in a government office should be a Republican or a Democrat?

What employees of the United States civil service are there in your community?

RESPONSIVE AND RESPONSIBLE LEADERs.h.i.+P

Efficient government requires strong, clearly recognized leaders.h.i.+p. Democratic government requires that its leaders.h.i.+p shall be responsive to the needs of the people and under their control. The problem of how to secure strong leaders.h.i.+p and controlled leaders.h.i.+p at one and the same time is a difficult one.

So far as the executive branch of government alone is concerned, the framers of the Const.i.tution secured strength by concentrating full responsibility in the President. But did they expect him to be their leader in the government as a whole; that is, in formulating the policies of government that should serve as the basis for legislation? We are in the habit of thinking of him as our national leader, but was he made so in fact?

LEADERs.h.i.+P OF THE PRESIDENT

In fact, the framers of the Const.i.tution were apparently more concerned about maintaining control over the President than about clearly making him the nation's leader. About the only indication the Const.i.tution contains that he was to be such a leader is the statement that he "shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient" (Art. II, sec.3). He does submit recommendations to Congress at the opening of each of its terms and often at other times. If the President and the majority in Congress are of the same political party, Congress is pretty likely to follow the President's lead; or, if the President has a commanding personality and is clearly popular with the people, he may force measures through even an unwilling Congress. But if differences arise between the President and Congress, especially when one or both houses of Congress are of the opposite party from the President, his recommendations may be entirely ignored. By our system of "checks and balances" the President is "controlled," but he ceases to be a leader when he does not have the "following" of Congress, or of the majority of the people.

President Wilson began his second administration with a majority in both houses of Congress of his political party, and apparently in popular favor. He was clearly accepted as leader and practically all of his proposed measures were favorably acted upon by Congress. In the middle of this administration a congressional election occurred which resulted in a majority in both houses of the opposing party. This result might be considered as a popular vote against the leaders.h.i.+p of the President, and his opponents did consider it so. It cannot be absolutely certain that this was intended, for the people were not voting directly on this question. Whether this was true or not, Congress refused to follow his leaders.h.i.+p in many important questions, including the treaty of peace with Germany.

CONTROL OF LEADERs.h.i.+P IN ENGLAND

It will be helpful to compare this situation with the method by which England has worked out the problem of leaders.h.i.+p and control of leaders.h.i.+p.

The real executive head in the English government is the prime minister. The king appoints the prime minister, but he always chooses for the position THE RECOGNIZED LEADER OF THE POLITICAL PARTY THAT IS IN THE MAJORITY in the House of Commons (which corresponds to our House of Representatives).

The prime minister having been appointed, he then selects the other members of his cabinet, who are to be the heads of the executive departments, and WHO ARE ALSO MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.

The prime minister and the other members of the cabinet have seats in the House of Commons, contrary to the practice in our country.

THEY ALSO TAKE THE LEAD IN LEGISLATION, for most of the important bills considered in the House of Commons are planned and introduced by the cabinet. So the executive and legislative branches of the English government are not separated as in our country. The same group of men manage the service organization and lead in planning the legislation that makes the service possible.