tending to travel abroad, protects American citizens in other lands, and transacts all other business arising between our government and other governments. The Secretary of State is regarded as first in rank among the members of the cabinet.

II. The Department of the Treasury under the Secretary of the Treasury manages the financial business of the country. It collects the internal revenue raised from whisky and tobacco (p. 276), and the custom duties levied on foreign goods (p. 275); it attends to the expenditure of money appropriated by Congress; it manages the public debt; it organizes and inspects national banks; it controls the mints and supervises the making of paper money. In addition to its purely financial duties this department controls the life-saving service maintained for the rescue of persons from shipwreck, supervises the construction of public buildings, and manages the marine hospitals maintained for disabled soldiers.

III. The Department of War under the Secretary of War has charge of the land forces. It purchases supplies for the soldiers, controls the transportation of troops, directs the improvements of rivers and harbors, superintends the signal service and controls the Military Academy at West Point (p. 357).

IV. The Department of Justice under the Attorneygeneral is the law department of the national government. When the President or a member of the cabinet desires legal advice it is furnished by this department. When the government of the United States is interested in a case in court, the Attorney-general defends or prosecutes the suit.

V. The Post-office Department under the Postmastergeneral, in addition to collecting, carrying and distributing the mail, establishes and discontinues post-offices, provides the public with stamps and postal cards, and conducts a money postal-order system by which money may be safely transmitted to all parts of the world (p. 341). There are

nearly two hundred thousand people employed in this department.

VI. The Department of the Navy under the Secretary of the Navy purchases naval supplies, provides for the construction and equipment of vessels, supervises the navy yards and docks, and controls the Naval Academy at Annapolis.1

VII. The Department of the Interior under the Secretary of the Interior has charge of national affairs that are of a purely domestic nature. It examines pension claims and grants pensions, controls Indian affairs, directs the sale of public lands, issues patents and copyrights, superintends such educational interests as are of a national concern (p. 357), and directs the work of the geological survey.

VIII. The Department of Agriculture under the Secretary of Agriculture diffuses among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with agriculture in the most general and comprehensive sense of that term, and procures, propagates and distributes among the people new and valuable seeds and plants.

IX. The Department of Commerce and Labor under the Secretary of Commerce and Labor "fosters, promotes and develops the foreign and domestic commerce, the mining, manufacturing, shipping and fishing industries, the labor interests and the transportation facilities of the United States." This department (created in 1903) has charge of the census, statistics, immigration, steamboat inspection, the coast and geodetic survey and lighthouses.

The Organization of a Department. Each of the nine departments has the control of a vast amount of executive business, and it is necessary to subdivide the work of a department and place an officer at the head of each subdivision. A subdivision of a department is usually called

For the duties of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy in times of actual war, see p. 252.

a bureau, and the head of a bureau is called a director or commissioner or superintendent. For example, in the recently organized department of Commerce and Labor there is a Bureau of Corporations, a Bureau of Labor, a Bureau of the Census, a Bureau of Statistics, a Bureau of Fisheries, A Bureau of Navigation, a Bureau of Immigration, and a Bureau of Standards. When the work of the secretary of a department becomes too heavy for one man he is provided with as many assistant secretaries as may be needful. For example, in the Department of State there are three assistant secretaries.

Executive Work Outside the Departments. A few items of executive business have not been assigned to any one of the nine great departments. The work of the Interstate Commerce Commission (p. 339) is performed by seven commissioners who act independently of any department. The Civil Service Commission, whose duty is to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States, consists of three commissioners who are responsible directly to the President. The Government Printing Office, the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution are also outside of departmental control. The chief officers in all these cases of extra-departmental activity are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, just as other principal officers are.

The National Civil Service. There are more than three hundred and seventy-five thousand persons employed in the executive civil service of the federal government, and every person on the list, from the secretary of a department down, receives his position directly or indirectly from the President. Congress creates positions, but it cannot name the persons who are to fill them. It may vest the appointment of inferior officers elsewhere than in the President (98), but it cannot place the appointing power beyond the President's reach. Through his secretaries the President's

power to appoint extends to all the ramifications of the civil service.

And the presidential power to remove is even greater than is his power to appoint. Most of his appointments to the higher offices must be agreed to by the Senate (96), but in the matter of removal the Senate need not be consulted. The President may remove any person employed in the federal executive service at any time for any reason or for no reason.

Of course the President cannot give special attention to every case of appointment and removal. In these matters, as in everything else, he must be guided by the heads of the departments. He must also consult with the senators and representatives of the several States, and he must take care to allot to each State a number of appointments proportioned to its population.

Questions connected with the appointment of the great army of government employees and with the tenure of their employment have received much attention in recent years. It is generally agreed that the incoming President should fill the higher offices with men of his own party, for these help to shape public policy and should, therefore, be members of the political party that is in power. But should inferior officers, clerks and employees performing routine duty also be removed when the administration changes? or should they be allowed to continue in their places so long as they do their work well and conduct themselves properly? For a long time in our history these positions were regarded as the spoils of political warfare, and when a party came newly into power, practically all the employees under the old administration were dismissed and adherents of the victorious party were put into their places. During the last twenty-five years, however, there has been developing a new policy in respect to civil service. In 1883 Congress provided for the competitive examination of a large class of employees in the civil service, and for appointment according to merit

rather than according to party affiliation. It also provided that removals shall not be made for political reasons. The rule of appointment according to ascertained merit has been extended until it now reaches almost every department of the national civil service and embraces about two thirds of all the employees. Appointees under the competitive system hold their positions during good behavior and efficient service. No employee, however, is placed beyond the President's power to remove.

NOTE. The salaries of the principal officers of the federal government are as follows:

1. Name the officers who form the President's cabinet. What is the function of the cabinet.

2. Give a brief account of the work of each of the nine great federal executive departments.

3. In what manner is an executive department organized?

4. Mention several examples of executive business which does not come under departmental control.

5. To what extent does the President possess the power of appointment? the power of removal?

6. What is the policy of the government in reference to the appointment and the retention of employees?

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

1. It is often proposed that the members of the cabinet be allowed to appear in Congress and urge upon that body the passage of measures