Our Government: Local, State, and National: Idaho Edition Part 16

[Footnote 50: Among scores of similar subjects, our consuls reported, within recent years, on the following: American goods in Syria; American commerce with Asia Minor and Eastern Europe; German opinion of American locomotives; American coal in Germany; European and American compet.i.tion.]

Consuls care for dest.i.tute American sailors and protect the interests of our citizens in foreign countries. In some of the non-Christian nations, such as China and Turkey, they also have jurisdiction over all criminal cases in which any American citizen may be a party. The importance of such services to our country is self-evident. The appointment of these officials was formerly secured under party pressure. According to the rule adopted in 1906, all vacancies in the consular service are hereafter to be filled by promotion for ability and efficiency in the service or by appointment of those who have pa.s.sed the civil service examination.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.

The Secretary of the Treasury.--The Department of the Treasury is the most extensive and complex of the executive departments. In general, the Secretary of the Treasury has charge of the finances of the nation.

He is required to prepare plans for the creation and improvement of the revenues and the public credit and to superintend the collection of the revenue. He gives orders for all moneys drawn from the Treasury in accordance with appropriations made by Congress, and submits an annual report to Congress which contains an estimate of the probable receipts and expenditures of the government.

The Auditors.--It is very important that the accounts of the government should be carefully scrutinized, and one of the six auditors connected with the Treasury Department must pa.s.s upon the accounts of every public officer who pays out money. Thus, the Auditor for the Treasury Department examines all accounts of salaries and incidental expenses of the office of the Secretary of the Treasury and all other offices under his immediate direction, such as the Treasurer and Directors of the Mints.

The Treasurer.--All the money of the United States is under the care of the Treasurer. He receives and pays it out upon the warrant of the Secretary of the Treasury or a designated a.s.sistant, redeems the notes of the National banks, and manages the Independent Treasury System. This system renders the Treasury Department practically independent of the banks of the country. It includes the Treasury at Washington and sub-treasuries, each in charge of an a.s.sistant treasurer at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, and San Francisco. While the greater part of the money belonging to the government is found in these places, about two hundred National banks have also been designated as public depositories.

The Chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.--The Bureau[51] of Engraving and Printing is one of the largest in the department and employs about 1600 people. It has been said that the products of this bureau, in the course of a single year, represent a sum equal in value to all the money in circulation in the United States; for here the engraving of the plates and the printing of all the United States circulating notes, bonds, revenue stamps, and postage stamps are done.

[Footnote 51: The work of each department is usually distributed among the bureaus. Bureaus are again divided into divisions. At the head of each bureau is a commissioner, and of each division a chief.]

Other Officers of the Treasury Department.--Among the other leading officials of the Treasury Department are: Comptroller of the Currency, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, General Superintendent of the Life-saving Service, Solicitor of the Treasury, Supervising Surgeon-General, and Supervising Architect.

The Life-Saving Service.--This is one of the most important offices in the Treasury Department. More than 2000 men are employed in the 273 stations, located generally at danger points on the oceans and the Great Lakes. Out of the 6000 lives imperiled in the year 1910 in the disasters on water, only 53 were lost. Of the 1463 vessels of all kinds in distress, 1407 were rendered a.s.sistance by life-savers. It has been estimated that over 230,000 lives have been saved through this service since it was founded in 1848.

The Solicitor of the Treasury.--The Solicitor of the Treasury is the law officer of the department, and has charge of all prosecutions by the government arising out of the counterfeiting of the government securities, or of the infringement of customs revenue, and of all suits for the collection of moneys due the United States, except those due under the internal revenue laws.

The Supervising Surgeon-General.--The Supervising Surgeon-General superintends the twenty-two marine hospitals where our sick sailors are cared for; conducts the quarantine service of the United States, and directs the laboratories for the investigation of the causes of contagious diseases.

THE WAR DEPARTMENT.

The Secretary of War.--The Secretary of War, under the direction of the President, has charge of the military affairs of the government. He supervises all estimates of appropriations for the expenses of the department.[52] He has under his supervision also the military academy at West Point, all National cemeteries, and river and harbor improvement. The chiefs of the eleven bureaus are regular army officers.

[Footnote 52: The annual appropriation by Congress for the army alone in 1912 amounted to $90,483,403.]

The Adjutant-General.--The Adjutant-General issues orders for the muster of troops and for their movement, conducts the correspondence of the department, and keeps the records.

The Inspector-General.--The Inspector-General examines and reports on all places where United States troops are stationed; on public works carried on by army officers; and on the military academy and prisons.

The Quartermaster-General.--Under direction of the Quartermaster-General the army is transported, clothed, and equipped.

The Chief of Ordnance.--Arms are supplied by the Chief of Ordnance. The arms used are manufactured chiefly in the United States a.r.s.enals. The a.r.s.enals at Springfield, Ma.s.s., and Rock Island, Ill., manufacture rifles and carbines; and that at West Troy, N.Y., cannon and mortars.

The United States Military Academy.--The United States Military Academy at West Point was founded in 1802. The corps of cadets is made up of one cadet from each of the Congressional districts, one from each of the Territories and the District of Columbia, and one hundred from the United States at large. Prior to the year 1900 there were only ten cadets at large. The act of that year also provided that thirty cadets were to be named by the President directly and the remainder apportioned among the States.

They all receive their appointments from the President, but it has become the custom for the representatives and delegates to select (usually after a compet.i.tive examination) those from the Congressional districts and the Territories. The cadet must be between seventeen and twenty-two years of age. Each receives $540 a year during the four years of his course. Upon graduation, the cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants in the united States army. In case there are more graduates than vacancies, those in excess are honorably discharged with the payment of one year's salary.

THE NAVY DEPARTMENT.

The Secretary of the Navy--The duties of the Secretary of the Navy pertain to the construction, manning, arming, quipping, and employment of war-vessels.[53]

[Footnote 53: The appropriation for this department in 1913 was $140,000,000.]

The United States Naval Academy.--The naval academy at Annapolis was established in 1846. One cadet is allowed in the naval academy for each member or delegate of the House of Representatives, one for the District of Columbia, and ten at large. Candidates for admission, at the time of their examination, must be between the ages of fifteen and twenty years. The nomination of a candidate to fill a vacancy is made upon recommendation of a representative or delegate if made before July 1; but if no recommendation be made by that time, the Secretary of the Navy fills the vacancy by appointing an actual resident of the district in which the vacancy exists. The President selects the candidates at large and the cadet for the District of Columbia. At the conclusion of the six years' course, two of which are spent at sea, the graduates are a.s.signed in order of merit to the vacancies that may have occurred in the lower grades of the line of the navy and of the marine corps. Cadets who are not a.s.signed to service after graduation are honorably discharged and are given $500, the amount they have received each year of their course at the academy.

THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.

The Attorney-General.--The Attorney-General is the legal adviser of the President and of the heads of the departments. He supervises the work of all the United States district attorneys and marshals, and is a.s.sisted by the Solicitor-General. Unless otherwise directed, all cases before the Supreme Court and the Court of Claims in which the United States is a party are argued by the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General.

THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT.

The Postmaster-General.--The Postmaster-General is at the head of this department. He appoints all of the officers of the department with the exception of the four a.s.sistant postmasters-general and postmasters of the first cla.s.s, whose appointments are made by the President with the consent of the Senate. The Postmaster-General may, with the consent of the President, let contracts and make postal treaties with foreign governments.

The Postal Union.--Since 1891 the United States has been a member of the Universal Postal Union. By this union over fifty distinct powers became parties to an agreement by which uniform rates of postage were agreed upon and every facility for carrying mails in each country was extended to all the others.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

The Secretary of the Interior.--The Interior Department, under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, is one of the most complex and important of the departments. There are two a.s.sistant secretaries in the department, while at the head of the other offices are six commissioners and two directors.

The Commissioner of the General Land Office.--The Commissioner of the General Land Office has charge of all the public lands of the government, and supervises the surveys, sales, and issuing of t.i.tles to this property.

The Commissioner of Education.--The Commissioner of Education is the chief of the Bureau of Education. This bureau has charge of the collection of facts and statistics relating to the educational systems and to progress along educational lines in the several States and Territories, and also in foreign countries. The reports issued by the bureau are of great value to those interested in education. The commissioner has advisory power only, except in Alaska. Here he directs the management of the schools.

The Commissioner of Pensions.--The Commissioner of Pensions supervises the examination and adjustment of all claims arising under the laws of Congress granting bounty land or pensions on account of services in the army or navy during the time of war.

That our government has not been ungrateful may be gathered from the report of the commissioner for 1913. There were in that year 921,000 pensioners, to whom were paid approximately $180,000,000, or an amount equal to about one-fifth of the total revenues of the country.

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs.--Prior to 1871 the Indian tribes were treated as independent nations by the United States, but by a law of that year the general government was made the guardian of their interests. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs exercises a protecting care over these "wards" by directing the work of the Indian agents and of the superintendents of Indian schools.

There are some 300,000 Indians on the 150 reservations which are in the various States and Territories.[54] The lands of these reservations are held in common; that is, the ownership is tribal rather than individual. It is the policy of the government, however, to bring about the allotment of lands "in severally," and thus to encourage the Indians to adopt an agricultural life. The Indians are only partially self-supporting. Some tribes derive an income from funds which are the proceeds derived from the sales and cessions of their lands. The National government holds this money in trust for them, and, by direct appropriation, supplies the money, food, and clothing necessary to complete their support. The appropriation for the Indians in 1912 was $9,854,000. Over one-fourth of this sum was spent for their education in Indian schools, numbering about 300, which are under the direct control of the department.

[Footnote 54: Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1910. Within twelve years 89,000 Indians were granted full rights as citizens.]

The Director of the Geological Survey.--The Director of the Geological Survey collects much valuable information through the examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and mineral products of the United States. He has charge, also, of the survey of the forest reserves.

THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

The Secretary of Agriculture.--The duties of the Secretary of Agriculture are, "To acquire and diffuse among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with agriculture in the most comprehensive sense of that word." The activities of the department are along many lines, as indicated by the names of the bureaus and divisions.