Government and Administration of the United States Part 4

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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sistant Secretaries. Their salaries are, Secretary $8,000, First a.s.sistant $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 pa.s.sports. Exequaturs to foreign consuls in the United States are issued through his office. He publishes the laws and resolutions of Congress, amendments to the Const.i.tution, 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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 princ.i.p.al 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 Was.h.i.+ngton. These agents are called ministers and are of three grades (1) envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, (2) ministers resident, (3) _charges d'affaires_. These grades correspond to the lower grades of similar services in European countries. We have no grade corresponding to that of amba.s.sador. 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 s.h.i.+p 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 t.i.tles; (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 Was.h.i.+ngton, to consider subjects of common interest, such as international arbitration, railroad and steams.h.i.+p 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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 fis.h.i.+ng 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_ ent.i.tled "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 a.s.sistant 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 disburs.e.m.e.nts 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 pa.s.s 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 princ.i.p.al cities of the Union for the receipt and disburs.e.m.e.nt 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 a.s.say offices. In addition to his annual report he publishes yearly a report on the statistics of the production of precious metals.

The t.i.tles of the other officers indicate the general duties of each.

The whole department employs about 3,400 persons at Was.h.i.+ngton.

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 acc.u.mulation 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 a.s.sistant 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 t.i.tles 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 princ.i.p.al 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 a.s.sistant 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 Was.h.i.+ngton. 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 s.h.i.+ps 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 a.s.sistant 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 Was.h.i.+ngton. There are eighteen pension agencies in different parts of the country. In 1808 the United States a.s.sumed 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 t.i.tle 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 a.s.sistant Commissioner-in-chief, an Examiner of Interferences, three Examiners-in-chief, thirty-eight Princ.i.p.al Examiners, and a large force of a.s.sistant 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 t.i.tle 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 inst.i.tutions in the District of Columbia. A Superintendent of Public Doc.u.ments 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 cla.s.ses, 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 cla.s.ses. Other officers besides the a.s.sistant Postmasters-General are, the Superintendents of the Money Order Division, of Foreign Mails, and of the Railway Service, and an a.s.sistant 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 pa.s.sage 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 princ.i.p.al 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 subst.i.tute and princ.i.p.al a.s.sistant is the Solicitor-General. There are two a.s.sistant-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 a.s.sist 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 a.s.sistant 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 t.i.tles 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 pa.s.sed 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 princ.i.p.al crops, the wages of farm labor, etc. The Chemist a.n.a.lyzes 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 pa.s.sed 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 Was.h.i.+ngton, 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 doc.u.ments 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 Employes.

Had all the executive departments been created at one time by a const.i.tutional 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 Inst.i.tution, 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 s.h.i.+pper over others, and of one locality over others. Combinations have been formed to keep up railroad pa.s.senger and freight charges.