OTHER DEPARTMENTS After the departments headed by secretaries of State come a number of ministries and boards, the most important of which are here noticed in alphabetical order—their relative standing not being authoritatively defined—and the others collectively at the end of this article. It will be seen that the title of "ministry" is borne by those created since the war, some of which absorbed or were mere reincarnations of "boards" with the same functions. There is, it seems, a fashion in the naming of Government de partments—the English tradition in the i8th century, e.g., Board of Trade, and until the loth, e.g., the Insurance Commission created in 1911, being in favour of boards of commissioners, their theoretical constitution being often more or less a legal fiction. The Continental titles of "minister" and "ministry" do not occur in a single English department before the war : they sprang into use with the Ministry of Munitions in 1915, and—for some in explicable reason—wholly replaced the native usage after the war. A bill was introduced into parliament in March 1928 to remodel the Scottish departments (most of which existed previously in the form of boards of active members, with the secretary of State for Scotland as their president) under the name of ministries.
Among the statutes executed by the ministry may be mentioned those relating to the diseases of animals, the weighing of cattle, the redemption of tithe, the enclosure of commons, the provision of small holdings and the drainage and improvement of land.
In 1903 the powers and duties of the Board of Trade under various acts relating to fishing were transferred to the Board of Agriculture. The department carries out much agricultural re search, and publishes numerous pamphlets and other papers at popular prices for the assistance of farmers, small holders, poultry keepers, horticulturalists, etc. Similar departments exist in Scot land, in Northern and Southern Ireland and in most of the British dominions. Among European countries many have separate Ministries of Agriculture, but the Italian reforms of 1923-27 placed agricultural affairs in a general "Ministry of National Economy" which is responsible for co-ordinating agricultural and industrial policy.
The Board of Education.—The Board of Education succeeded a committee of the privy council, formed in 1839 to administer parliamentary grants in aid of education which had then recently been introduced. The board consists of a president, the lord president of the council, the first lord of the treasury, the chan cellor of the exchequer and the secretaries of State—the responsi bility resting with the president. Its jurisdiction extends to Wales, for which, however, there is a separate department in its office. As at present constituted, after education in England and Wales was put on its present footing by the Education Act, 1902, this office is one of the largest of Government departments. The board, through its headquarters staff and a large inspectorate, supervises the educational work carried on by local education authorities in counties and boroughs, and through parliamentary grants has considerable influence over the work of universities and other educational organizations which are not subject to direct govern mental control. In addition, the Board controls several (not all) of the national museums.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, there are separate education departments, as there are in Southern Ireland and the dominions overseas. Indeed, education is one of the national services which is almost everywhere increasingly costly and considered to require governmental organization. This is usually by a separate ministry, which may, however, be combined with "fine arts" as in France and Italy, or with "public worship" or some other subject as in some States of Germany. The commissariat for education in Russia, in addition to educational duties of the usual type, manages a large publishing business, producing not merely text-books but some 4o scientific journals.
The Ministry of Health.—The Ministry of Health was set up by statute in 1919, primarily to concentrate health services previ ously exercised by the Local Government Board, the National Health Insurance Commission, the privy council, the Home Office and the Board of Education. The insurance commission had been responsible for collecting contributions to a national scheme of health insurance established in 191i, and for providing the benefits for which the insured population had paid, with certain ancillary functions in the way (especially) of research. The Local Govern ment Board had much wider scope. Established by act of parlia ment in 1871, with the same purpose as the new ministry—that of concentrating services which previously had been divided— it was responsible for the central supervision of most services carried out by locally elected authorities, and for much besides. In matters of health, these services covered the suppression of nuisances, closing of unhealthy dwellings, prevention of infectious disease and of the sale of contaminated food, maintenance of sewers and (increasingly under the legislation of the loth century) the provision of clinics and public medical assistance, largely aided by parliamentary grants. The board took over the central administration of the poor law from the Poor Law board in 1871. It supervised highways, the registration of electors, town planning, the provision of houses for the working classes, motor cars and local finance (sanctioning loans and auditing through district auditors the accounts of most local authorities). It confirmed by laws on most subjects on which local authorities could make them. It decided between the Crown and the subject on claims for old age pensions, between local authorities in various disputes, and between them and individuals on numerous matters affecting proprietary rights. Of the subjects here enumerated, highways (in part) and motor cars have, by the Ministry of Transport Act, 1919, passed to the Ministry of Transport, and electoral registra tion has by order in council passed to the Home Office.
The Ministry of Health Act gave power, by order in council, to transfer functions from or to the minister, and a few small changes, additional to those mentioned, have been made, but substantially the functions of the ministry remain as now enumer ated (that is, as they were in 1919), with the addition of ex tensive new duties, affecting many matters besides health, under later legislation. To a great extent, therefore, the Ministry of Health in England has functions assigned in most European coun tries to the Ministry of the Interior. The minister's jurisdiction extends to Wales, where work in matters of "health" (not in cluding "housing") is done through the Welsh Board of Health, but the "local government" work of the ministry direct from London. In Scotland the Scottish Board of Health performs duties almost identical with those of the Ministry of Health in England. It is derived similarly from the Scottish Local Government Board and the Scottish Insurance Commission. In Northern Ireland, most of the duties of a Ministry of Health are performed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. So in the Free State, and in the dominions overseas, there is no separately organized Ministry of Health, but duties analogous to those of the English ministry are performed by other departments. Except in France, where "health" and "labour" are combined, the same is true of European countries.
The Ministry of Labour.—The Ministry of Labour was set up in 1916 and took over certain duties (mainly from the Board of Trade) in relation to problems of labour. It does not deal with all such problems; in particular the inspection of factories and workshops remains under the Home Office, and that of mines falls to the mines department of the Board of Trade.
The ministry is responsible for unemployment insurance and for the national system of employment exchanges. It is also the authority for dealing with industrial disputes and the medium by which those capable of settlement in a judicial manner are brought before the industrial court or special tribunals of enquiry.
Among European States, France, Germany and Russia have Ministries of Labour (the first named combining it with "health") and it will probably be found that the Italian "Ministry of Cor porations" when fully constituted performs a great many of the same functions.
The Ministry of Pensions.—The Ministry of Pensions was set up by act of parliament in Dec. 1916, to deal with pensions arising out of services during the war, but the department does not deal with the "service pensions" of the army, navy and air force, which are left with the departments responsible for the general administration of those services. That is, the business of the ministry is the assessment and payment of pensions to widows and dependents, and for disability—the latter involving main tenance of hospitals and a large staff of medical men.
The Board of Trade.—The "committee of the privy council for trade" or, as it is usually called, the Board of Trade, dates in its present form from 1786, when (after the constitution and dis solution of several earlier bodies) a permanent committee was formed by an order in council, which with one or two small ex ceptions still regulates the legal constitution of the board. Under it all the principal officers of State, including the first lords of the Treasury and Admiralty, the secretaries of State, and certain members of the privy council, among whom was the archbishop of Canterbury, obtained seats at the board ex officio. The growth of commerce, however, necessarily threw new duties upon the Board of Trade, and its technical constitution has now merely an historical importance, the president acting alone as the responsible minister. Described by Lord Haldane's committee on the ma chinery of Government in 1918, as "the department dealing with private enterprise as such," the Board of Trade has since lost some of its functions, to the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of La bour in particular. It retains, however, the control of patents, weights and measures, and of foreshores belonging to the Crown, the administration of the law relating to wrecks, to copyright, to companies and bankruptcy, to gas undertakings and to merchant shipping, and it publishes statistical and other information on corn mercial subjects, relating to Great Britain and other countries. A sub-department under a parliamentary secretary is charged with administration of the law relating to mines, and another organiza tion of general interest was attached to the Board of Trade in 1925, when a food council was established, without executive functions but intended to collect and publish information on food prices and supplies. The Board of Trade is one of the few ments which exercises jurisdiction in Scotland as well as England.
Departments of trade, or commerce, or bearing similar titles, exist in Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State, and in all the self-governing dominions, with functions similar to the central functions of the Board of Trade in Great Britain. In European countries the same is generally true, but in Italy the interests of industry and the supervision of mining, of insurance, of "in tellectual property," and the preparation of statistics on all sub jects, are among the duties of sub-departments of the Ministry of National Economy, which also embraces agriculture, fisheries and the exploitation of forests and national domains.
The Ministry of Transport.—The Ministry of Transport was formed by statute in 1919, to take over from other Government departments their duties concerning transport by road and rail throughout Great Britain.
In effecting the transfer of existing powers to the ministry, the problem already mentioned, of allocating governmental functions, arose and it was found expedient to leave some, e.g., the sanction ing of loans for road works proposed by local authorities, and the approval of by-laws for the width of streets and for vehicles on the roads, with the Ministry of Health, as the department gener ally responsible for local government.
In 1927 the Government announced an intention to abolish the Ministry of Transport as a separate entity, but this intention was abandoned, and the functions of the department continued as be fore. These fall under three main headings : railways, roads and road vehicles. The minister orders public enquiry into railway accidents and confirms by-laws of the railway companies. He sees to the enforcement of the regulative acts of parliament for rail ways, and himself makes orders, having statutory force, for trams and mechanically propelled road vehicles. He also administers the road fund, a fund kept separate from the country's main revenues, fed by the proceeds of taxation on motor cars, and devoted to the upkeep of the roads. The minister is also responsible to parlia ment for the work of the electricity commission, a sub-department charged with the duty (under the supervision of a central board created in 1927) of developing electrical supplies.
Among European countries, Russia has a Ministry of Trans port whose jurisdiction covers the whole U.S.S.R. In Germany a Ministry of Transport works the State railways and supervises others, as does the Ministry of Public Works in France, though many of the supervisory duties in regard to private enterprise ap pertain to the Ministry of the Interior. In Italy, the State rail ways are worked by an autonomous department of the Ministry of Communications, which ministry also controls posts and tele graphs and the mercantile marine, while supervision over privately owned railways, trams and automobile services is exercised by the Ministry of Public Works. The latter is also responsible, like the English Ministry of Transport, for the development of electric power, and, like that ministry and the French Ministry of Public Works, for the development of roads.
Office of Works.—The Office of His Majesty's Works and Public Buildings is another department of the British Govern ment which is under the control of a board : this consists of the first commissioner and (nominally) all the secretaries of State and the president of the Board of Trade. As with other boards already mentioned, the practical responsibility rests with the first commis sioner. The board's primary duty is the maintenance of the royal palaces and governmental buildings : this includes palaces (like Hampton Court) and parks (like Hyde Park) which are open to the public. Another duty of popular interest is the control of ancient monuments, the commissioners having power to purchase or to accept the guardianship of monuments. They can also, upon its being represented to them that a monument is in danger of destruction or removal, make a preservation order, the effect of which is to prohibit demolition or removal.
Other European countries necessarily maintain departments charged with the supervision of the buildings of Government, but it is not usual for the same department to be charged with respon sibility for the preservation of ancient monuments. Thus in France and Italy this power is entrusted to the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Art.
Among other departments of the British Government which need not be treated at length are the Charity Commission, which supervises the administration of charitable funds; the Civil Serv ice Commission, which manages the examinations, and otherwise arranges, for recruitment to the Government services (including many branches of the armed forces) ; the Commissioners of Crown Lands, formerly the Commissioners of His Majesty's Woods, Forests and Land Revenues, who manage those hereditary estates of the Crown which have been surrendered in return for a fixed parliamentary revenue; the Development Commission, which dis penses parliamentary grants for various public improvements; the Exchequer and Audit Department, whose head, the comptroller and auditor-general, is responsible for the audit of all moneys under parliamentary control; the Forestry Commission, which is charged with the management of existing state-owned forest lands and reafforestation ; the Friendly Societies Registry; the Royal Mint ; the Department of Overseas Trade, formed jointly by the Foreign Office and the Board of Trade to foster foreign com merce; the Public Works Loan Board, which advances money for work of public utility; the Department of the Paymaster-General, who acts as a banker, by drafts on whom most governmental pay ments are made; the office of the privy council, which provides staff also for the cabinet and the committee of imperial defence; the Public Record Office, of which the titular head is the Master of the Rolls, and in which all governmental papers (except those destroyed under his authority) are destined to be stored for the information of posterity; the Department of Scientific and In dustrial Research, which maintains laboratories and issues reports on a variety of scientific topics, especially those with a practical bearing; and His Majesty's Stationery Office, which not only sup plies the paper and similar stores needed in Government offices but carries on a considerable publishing business.
For information upon details, and the changes constantly occurring in many countries, see the following annual publications: In English, Whitaker's Almanack, Statesman's Year Book, Europa Year Book; in French, Annuaire General de la France et de l'etranger. For single countries, see (in English) Annual Reports of separate departments issued through H. M. Stationery Office, and the official Year Books of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the Russian Soviet Union ; (in Italian) Almanacco Italian(); (in German) Hand buch fur das Deutsche Reich. (A. N. C. S.) The executive department of the United States began to func tion (1789) with only three Government departments (State, Treasury and War) and two offices (attorney general and post master general), but as the nation expanded and new functions were undertaken, new departments, bureaux, commissions and other agencies were created by Congress to carry on the adminis trative work. As a result of this expansion, there existed in 1929 ten co-ordinate executive departments, each with numerous bureaux and divisions, and about a score of agencies and com missions which have been erected outside the great departments. At first, excepting the Navy Department which was' created in 1798, the new agencies were established within the existing departments without any special regard to the functions they were to perform. As bureaux and agencies of a similar nature accumulated they were grouped into one organization and collec tively transferred into a department and its administrative head became a member of the president's cabinet. (See CABINET : United States.) In this manner the Department of the Interior was created in 1849, the Department of Agriculture in 1862, the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903 ; however, the latter department was divided in 1913 into two separate depart ments, that of Commerce and that of Labour, each with a sepa rate head. As is pointed out in the article CABINET, the heads of the Federal departments are appointed by the president (with the consent of the Senate) and serve at his pleasure rather than that of a majority of the legislative body; they do not hold seats in Congress, nor are they given the privilege of speaking from the floor. It must be observed, however, that the various departments and agencies are created by Congress and that it may impose or take away duties, or may prescribe such minute details as to amount to a practical direction of the officials. The ten U.S. Gov ernment departments, their chief divisions and functions, are indicated below. The Department of State.—The Department of State was created by two acts of the first Congress, July 27 and Sept. 1789. By the former act the department was designated as the Department of Foreign Affairs, but that designation was changed by the second act, Congress having decided not to carry out the project for a corresponding Department of Home Affairs. The functions of the latter office were imposed upon the department already created and the name changed to be more descriptive. Many of the functions now performed by other offices of the Government were first embraced within the Department of State, and there still remain vestiges of the earlier time. Among these latter functions are the custody of the great seal and the original laws, and the duty of carrying on the correspondence with the State Governments with reference to amendments to the Constitution and the election each four years of electors for president and vice president. But the Department of State is primarily the "foreign office" of the nation and under the super vision of the president, it exclusively directs the foreign relations of the United States. The secretary of State is the ranking member of the president's cabinet. Under him, in the department, there is the under-secretary of State, the counsellor, three assistant secretaries, the legal adviser, one special assistant, two advisers on political relations, the adviser on international economic af fairs, the chiefs of various divisions, some of which are political and some administrative in function, and a total staff of about 900 officers and employees. The Department of State, which is the smallest of the executive departments of the United States Government, costs the taxpayer less than any other depart ment and less even than many of the independent agencies of the Government. The secretary of State is appointed directly by the president, by and with the consent of the Senate, as are also the under-secretary, the counsellor, the assistant secretaries and the . legal adviser. The lower positions in the department are, for the most part, filled on the basis of examinations given by the Civil Service Commission.
Under the secretary of State is the Foreign Service of • the United States. The United States maintains abroad (1939) 20 embassies and 36 legations, 25 of which perform consular as well as diplomatic duties. There are 2S3 American consular offices and consular agencies located in important foreign commercial centres. The total foreign service staff includes 4,086 persons, among whom are 828 foreign service officers and 1,909 clerks. Ambassa - dors and ministers are appointed by the president, by and with the advice of the Senate, as well as all commissioned Foreign Service officers of lower rank ; the latter are appointed after examination and are promoted on the basis of efficiency.
The duties of the Department of State as a foreign office are for the most part those which the president, in his capacity as director of the foreign relations of the nation, may direct. The function of the Department of State is to transact the foreign business of the United States. Its methods are those of nego tiation and discussion with a view to securing by peaceful means the preservation of American rights under the treaties and under international law. Most of the functions are not defined by muni cipal law but by international law and the established usages of nations. The president has the power to negotiate a treaty but such a treaty becomes effective only with the advice and consent bf the Senate. The practice is almost universal for the president first to negotiate and sign a treaty and then submit it to the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification. How ever, it frequently occurs that the secretary of State confers with proper committees of the Senate before a treaty is made. In ternational agreements of less importance than treaties and the reciprocal trade agreements, which are negotiated under the au thority of an act of Congress passed in 1934 and extended in 1937, are concluded without the advice and consent of the Senate.
The Department of State has important functions as the agent or representative of other executive departments in the discharge of functions which are both domestic and foreign in character. Thus the department, through its Foreign Service, has a share in the execution of the immigration, narcotic and quarantine laws, and it gathers much of the financial, agricultural and com mercial information upon which the departments of the Treasury, Agriculture and Commerce depend. Where representatives of other departments transact official business abroad they function under the supervision of, or in close co-operation with, the diplo matic and consular representatives of the United States.
(G. S. ME.) The Treasury Department was established by the act of Congress of Sept. 2, 1789. The secretary, who is a member of the President's cabinet, is also member of the Board of Trustees, Postal Savings System ; member, of the Board of Trustees, Smith sonian Institution ; member, National Archives Council ; Chairman, Board of Trustees, Endowment Fund, American Red Cross; mem ber, National Park Trust Fund Board; Chairman, Library of Con gress Trust Fund Board; member, Board of Trustees of the Nation al Gallery of Art ; Managing Trustee, Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund ; member, Foreign Service Buildings Commission; and, member, National Munitions Control Board. He is assisted by an undersecretary and by three assistant secretaries. He is charged with the management of the national finances ; superintends the collection of the revenue and is responsible for public debt operations; grants warrants for money drawn from the Treasury in pursuance of appropriations made by law, and for the payment of moneys into the Treasury; studies plans for the improvement of the revenue laws and for the support of the public credit; and submits a report annually to Congress on the condition of the public finances.
The receipts of the Government come chiefly from internal revenue collections and customs duties. The Bureau of Internal Revenue of the Treasury Department, under the supervision of the commissioner of internal revenue, administers and enforces the internal revenue laws and collects all internal revenue taxes. For administrative purposes, the duties of the bureau are as signed to five divisions or units in Washington, D.C. There are four divisions of the Internal Revenue field service, namely: Col lection Service, consisting of 64 collection districts under super vision of collectors of internal revenue; the Field Audit Service consisting of 38 divisions under the supervision of internal revenue agents ; the supervisory field service of Alcohol Tax unit ; and the field division of the Technical Staff. The principal func tion of the Customs Service is the collection of import duties ; incident to this is the prevention of smuggling.
Except where otherwise provided by law, all receipts of the U.S. Government are covered into the Treasury by warrant of the secretary, and expenditures therefrom are made only upon authorization of Congress. The major part of the Government's expenditures are made by disbursing officers' checks from funds placed to their credit with the treasurer of the U.S. upon war rants of the secretary of the Treasury, countersigned by the con troller general of the U.S. To some extent payments are made to public creditors upon Treasury warrants. The U.S. treasurer is charged with the receipt and disbursement of all public moneys that may be deposited in the U.S. Treasury and in all other depositaries authorized by the secretary of the Treasury. He has also many other fiscal duties.
The commissioner of accounts and deposits has administrative supervision over the Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants, which is by law the official book-keeping organization of the Govern ment, in regard to the receipt, appropriation and expenditure of public moneys covering all departments and establishments of the Government; he also supervises the Division of Disbursement, which pays the current bills of the Government (except Army and Navy) ; the Division of Deposits, which is charged with the ad ministration of matters pertaining to the designation of Govern ment depositaries and the deposit of Government funds in such depositaries. In addition he has control of the investment accounts of the Government and is responsible for the proper custody of investments and securities held by the treasurer and the Federal Reserve banks for which the secretary is responsible, other than those related to public debt operation.
The Public Debt Service is under the general supervision of the commissioner of the public debt, who is in charge of transactions in the public debt and the paper currency issues of the Treasury. As agent, the Public Debt Service conducts transactions in interest bearing issues of governmental corporations and credit agencies, and of the Philippine and Puerto Rican Governments.
One of the important functions of the Treasury is to sup ply money which is the circulating medium of this country. It maintains mints at Philadelphia, San Francisco and Denver for the coinage of money and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Washington for the production of notes, bonds, securities and postage stamps. The controller of the currency is charged under the law with the organization and supervision of all solvent na tional banks and the administration, through a receiver, of those which have become insolvent.
The Coast Guard is responsible for enforcement in navigable waters and on the high seas of laws and regulations relating to customs, navigation, neutrality, immigration, and quarantine. It assists vessels and aeroplanes in distress, protects game, seal, and otter fisheries in Alaska, and maintains the international ice patrol in the North Atlantic. The Coast Guard also maintains lighthouses, light-ships, beacons, and other aids to navigation, and removes wrecks and other floating dangers to navigation.
The Secret Service Division is charged with suppression of counterfeiting, the protection of the President and his family and the president elect, the investigation of violations of the Farm Loan Act and such other matters relating to the Treasury Depart ment as are directed by the secretary. The Bureau of Narcotics enforces Federal narcotic laws; co-operates with the Department of State in discharge of the international obligations of the United States concerning the traffic in narcotic drugs ; co-operates with the States in suppression of abuse of narcotic drugs ; and with the Public Health Service of the Federal Security Agency in determin ing quantities of narcotics allowed to be imported for legitimate use. Certain Federal liquor laws are administered and restrictive regulations relating to importing, distilling, and resale of liquors are enforced by the Federal Alcohol Administration. The Pro curement Division acts as the central Government purchasing agent except for regular purchases of supplies and equipment by the War and Navy departments. Legal activities of the Treasury are in charge of the general counsel. Research activities are cen tred in the divisions of Research and Statistics, Monetary Re search, and Tax Research, all in the office of the secretary. Primary statistical data are compiled by statistical units in the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Nar cotics, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Administrative duties are carried out by the Chief Clerk, the Division of Appointments, the Division of Printing, the Secre tary's Correspondence Division, and the Superintendent of Treas ury buildings. (X.) The War Department.—The War Department dates from 1789, although there was a similar department during the period of the Confederation and Washington reappointed its head, Gen. Henry Knox, secretary of the new department established under the Constitution. The department has important non-military as well as military functions.
In general, the secretary of War concerns himself with the major aspects of the defence problems and administrative func tions of the department. Under him in the department is an as sistant secretary of War who is charged with supervision of the procurement of all military supplies in peacetime and the assur ance of adequate provision for the mobilization of material and industrial organizations essential to wartime needs. The assistant secretary also represents the War Department in transactions with other departments of the Government relating to the pro curement of supplies when they concern joint programs.
The chief of staff is the senior military adviser to the secretary of War. Subordinate to him, and assisting him, are the deputy chief of staff and five assistant chiefs of staff, who head the divi sions of what is known as the War Department general staff, which acts in an advisory and planning capacity. The routine activities of the War Department are cleared through the office of the adjutant general. The combatant branches or the line of the army comprise the infantry, cavalry, field artillery, coast artillery, air corps, corps of engineers and signal corps. Other branches are the judge advocate general's department, inspector general's department, quartermaster corps, finance department, the ordnance department, chemical warfare service, chaplains and the medical department, the latter including the medical corps, the dental corps, the veterinary corps, the medical adminis trative corps and the army nurse corps.
Agencies for the transmission and co-ordination of War De partment business include the war council and the general coun cil. The former meets from time to time at the call of the secre tary of War, to consider policies relating to the military and mu nitions problems of the department.
The territorial administration of the army is conducted through nine corps areas—into which the United States, including Alaska, are divided—and the Hawaiian department, Philippine depart ment, Panama canal department and the Puerto Rican department. Under the commanding general of each corps area is a chief of staff with general and administrative staffs.
The military activities of the War Department include re sponsibility for the clothing, feeding, equipping, transportation and instruction of troops in the Regular Army, who garrison over 25o military posts in all parts of the United States, Puerto Rico, Panama Canal Zone, Hawaii, Alaska, and Philippine Islands. Among the varied military installations administered by the War Department are : proving grounds and arsenals ; ordnance, quartermaster and engineer depots; hospitals and medical cen tres ; remount stations ; motor repair centres ; flying fields ; ferry and transport systems; railroads; and service schools. The de partment is also charged with many non-military functions. The most important civil task is the river and harbour work of the corps of engineers. This may be regarded as "maintenance of way" work for practically all the water-borne commerce of the United States. For the improvement of rivers and harbours the Federal Government has expended, through the War Depart ment, over $2,500,000,000, including both first cost and mainte nance. To the War Department is also delegated the supervision of projects for the control of floods on river systems. This re sponsibility has assumed increasing importance during the past decade and $700,000,000 have been expended by the department for the prosecution of flood control projects. Other non-military War Department activities relate to such varied projects as national parks, national cemeteries, homes for disabled soldiers, roads, trails and bridges in Alaska; and cable, radio and telegraph systems. The War Department has also been charged, since 1933, with administrative functions pertaining to the Civilian Conser vation Corps, including the physical examination and enrolment of new members, the furnishing of food, clothing and other sup plies, the construction and maintenance of camps, and provision for the medical care of enrollees. The Civilian Conservation Corps provides employment and vocational training for youthful citi zens of the U.S. and, to a limited extent, to war veterans and In dians through performance of useful public work in connection with the conservation and development of the natural resources of the United States. Military training is not conducted for members of the corps. By June 3o, 1938, 2,210,730 Civilian Con servation Corps members had been administered to by War De partment agents. The secretary of War is the representative of the president directly charged with the general supervision of the government of the Panama Canal Zone and the administration of the Panama canal. He is also chairman of the National Forest Reservation Commission. (X.) The Department of Justice.—The Department of Justice is that executive department of the U.S. Government which is charged with the conduct of its legal business. The head of the department is the attorney general, appointed by the president, and confirmed by the Senate. As a member of the cabinet he ranks fourth in the line of succession to the Presidency in the event of a vacancy in the offices of president and vice president.
The office of the attorney general was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. Its growth, both in its functions and personnel, during the first 8o years of the existence of the Federal Govern ment, was such that in 187o Congress enacted the law entitled "An Act to establish the Department of Justice." This law pro vided that the attorney general should be the head of the Depart ment of Justice, created the office of solicitor general, provided for assistant attorneys general ; placed under the supervision of the attorney general the law officers of the other departments, and the supervision and control of U.S. district attorneys and all other counsel employed on behalf of the United States and vested him with supervisory powers over the accounts of district attorneys, marshals, clerks and other officers of the Federal courts.
As the head of the Department of Justice the attorney general is the chief law officer of the Government, representing it in all legal cases to which it may be a party, and appears in person in the U.S. Supreme Court in cases of exceptional gravity and im portance; is the legal adviser of the president, to whom, and the heads of the executive departments, he is required by statute to give his advice and opinion on any questions of law arising in the conduct of administrative affairs. The major activities of the department include the investigation and prosecutions of violations of the Federal laws; the approval of titles to lands or other property acquired by purchase or condemnation ; the acting as counsel for the Government in all civil litigation ; the management of the penal and reformatory institutions of the Federal Government. The department is the chief law office of the Federal Government, under the general supervision of the at torney general and the immediate supervision of his assistants, exercising direction and control over the 92 district attorneys and marshals in the various U.S. judicial districts. The solicitor general is responsible for the conduct of all Government cases be fore the U.S. Supreme Court ; the assistant to the attorney gen eral has special charge of administrative matters, such as appoint ments, personnel, accounts, budget, and general administrative supervision of the department and its field force. Six assistant attorneys general are charged with the conduct of the work of the respective divisions of the department, as indicated: (1) Anti trust Division, in charge of all matters under the antitrust laws and other acts relating to commerce, as well as acts relating to agriculture; (2) Tax Division, in charge of the general conduct of cases involving taxation; (3) Claims Division, in charge of the defence of claims against the U.S. in the court of claims and in the district courts, and patent litigation, as well as civil suits against Government officers and civil cases in which the Govern ment is plaintiff, and alien property matters. In addition, the office of the assistant solicitor general has charge of drafting • opinions of the attorney general and similar matters; (4) Lands Division, in charge of cases involving the public lands and Indian litigation; (5) Criminal Division, in charge of criminal cases generally, and matters involving criminal practice and procedure. (6) Customs Division (New York city), in charge of protecting the interests of the Government in customs matters. The organi zation of the Department of Justice includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation in charge of the director of the bureau, directing the investigation of alleged offences against U.S.: interstate transportation of kidnapped persons and stolen automobiles, bank robbery, espionage, sending extortion letters. The bureau also carries on civil investigations for the department. The depart ment also comprises the Bureau of Prisons which is in charge of all Federal penal and correctional institutions and also supervises the administration of Federal probation and parole laws.
(F. Mu.) The Post Office Department.—The Post Office Department is the outgrowth of the office of postmaster general created in 1789 and attached to the Treasury Department as a bureau in 1791. To all intents and purposes the post office organization has been an independent department since 1825, when the term "post office department" was first used in the title of an act of Congress, and even more clearly from 1829, when President Jackson made the postmaster general a member of the cabinet. The Department was fully recognized by statute in The postal system, described as the "biggest single business in the world," handles nearly 27,000,000,00o pieces of mail yearly of which 15,000,000,000 are letters. Nearly 370,00o employees are required to handle this mail. Approximately 56,000 of them are city letter car riers, 33,00o rural carriers, nearly 76,00o clerks and 20,000 railway mail clerks. There are 44,400 post offices with a postmaster presiding over each. Every type of transportation suitable to local conditions is utilized. This includes railroads, steamships, motor vehicles, aero planes, motor boats, wagons, horses, pneumatic tubes, belt conveyors, motor cycles, bicycles and the dog sled of Alaska. (See PosT AND POSTAL SERVICES: American Postal Service.) The postal service is administered by a postmaster general and four assistant postmasters general. The executive head appoints all officers and employees of the department, except the four assistant post masters general, the purchasing agent and the comptroller, who are presidential appointees. With the exception of postmasters of the first, second and third classes, who are likewise presidential appointees, he appoints all postmasters and all other officers and employees of the service at large. Subject to the approval of the president, he makes postal treaties with foreign Governments. He awards and executes contracts and directs the management of the foreign mail service. The first assistant postmaster general administers the organization and management of post offices of the first, second, third and fourth classes; the division of postmasters' appointments, the division of post office service, the division of air mail service, and the division of dead letters and dead parcel post. The second assistant postmaster general has charge of transportation facilities: railway mail service, railway adjustments, international postal service, and the rural mail service. The third assistant has charge of financial operations: collec tion of postal revenues, money orders, stamps, registered mails and postal savings, and controls the classification of mails. The fourth assistant postmaster general has charge of the divisions of engineer ing and research, traffic, post office quarters, motor vehicle service, topography, and building operations and supplies. (J. A. FY.) The Navy affairs were administered by the War Department until 1798, when a threatened war with France caused Congress to create a separate and independent Navy Depart ment. The president is, by the Constitution, the commander-in-chief of the navy. Through the secretary of the Navy he participates in naval activities, the secretary being in direct charge of every matter relating to the navy.
The Navy Department is subdivided into offices and bureaux, each charged with specific duties. The heads of these subdivisions are the technical advisers of the secretary of the Navy and through them the secretary controls all naval work. In the Navy Department in Wash ington, besides the offices of the secretary, the assistant secretary, the assistant secretary for aeronautics and the chief of Naval operations, there are eight chiefs of bureaux, viz., the chiefs of the bureaux of Navigation, Ordnance, Engineering, Aeronautics, Construction and Repair, Yards and Docks, Supplies and Accounts and Medicine and Surgery ; and in addition the major general commandant of the marine corps and the judge advocate general of the Navy.
During the temporary absence of the secretary and the assistant secretaries, the chief of naval operations acts as secretary of the Navy. The chief of naval operations is the senior officer of the navy while so serving and has the temporary rank of Admiral. Under the direc tion of the secretary of the Navy he is charged with the operations of the fleet and of aircraft and with the preparation and readiness of plans for its use in war.
The Bureau of Navigation is charged with the personnel of the navy. The Bureau of Ordnance has cognizance over the upkeep and operation of the gun factory, ordnance plants, torpedo stations, prov ing grounds, ammunition and mine depots and magazines on shore. The Bureau of Engineering has charge of designing, building, fitting out and repairing machinery used for the propulsion of naval ships. The duties of the Bureau of Aeronautics comprise all that relates to the design and procurement of aircraft and the maintenance of active aviation units and air stations. The Bureau of Construction and Repair is charged with designing, building, fitting and repairing the vessels of the navy, except the machinery. The Bureau of Yards and Docks is charged with the design and construction of public works and all buildings under the navy and marine corps. The duties of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts comprise all that relates to the purchase, reception, storage, care, custody, transfer, shipment, issue of and accountability for all supplies and property of the navy. The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery has charge of the upkeep and opera tion of all naval hospitals and the health of personnel.
The major general commandant of the marine corps is responsible to the secretary of the Navy for the general efficiency and discipline of the corps. He has charge of the operation of marine units and makes all assignments to vessels and shore stations. The judge advo cate general of the Navy has cognizance of all matters of law arising in the Navy Department. (CH. En.) The Department of the Department of the In terior is the Federal agency chiefly responsible for the care of the nation's natural resources. It was established March 3, 1849, as the "Home Department" for the purpose of administering internal affairs and handling problems arising within the nation. It was given juris diction over the General Land Office, the Patent Office, Indian Affairs, and the Pension Office. From this beginning, it developed into one of the major arms of the Federal Government, many of its bureaus and programs subsequently being expanded themselves into Federal departments. The activities of the department extend further geo graphically than any other Federal agency, with the exception of the nation's armed forces. Its jurisdiction reaches from the Arctic circle to Puerto Rico ; from Canton island in the South Pacific to the Maine coast ; from the welfare of natives on the Aleutian islands to helium plants in Texas ; from the improvement of the Middle Atlantic States fishery to the administration of national areas in Hawaii.
Because of its administration of the public lands, the department early became identified with the exploitation of the public domain. Today, its activities have completed a transition from exploitation of resources to their conservation. During recent years Federal conserva tion activities have concentrated more and more within the depart ment.
The department functions through 12 main bureaus and eight smaller units. The General Land Office (est. 1812) has control of the public lands and their mineral resources in the United States and the Territory of Alaska. It is responsible for the survey and adminis tration of the public lands under sound conservation principles. It has jurisdiction over the granting of easements or rights of way over public lands, and adjusting land grants. Its tract books contain the base title record or status of every 40-acre tract in 76% of the United States.
The Office of Indian Affairs (est. 1832) handles all relations be tween the Federal Government and the Indians ; directs the adminis tration of Indian tribal resources ; reclaims and conserves their lands ; supervises their "trust" property ; and promotes the health and phys ical welfare of Indians. It provides for their education ; encourages their native arts and crafts ; and guides their activities toward the attainment of economic self-sufficiency, self-government, and the preservation of Indian cultural values.
The work of the Bureau of Fisheries (est. 1871) comprises the propagation, salvaging, and distribution of food fishes to suitable waters ; the inquiry into causes of fluctuations in abundance of food fishes in coastal and inland waters ; the study of the methods of the fisheries and utilization of fishery products ; the collection and compilation of statistics of the fisheries; the administration of the fisheries of Alaska, the black bass and whaling treaty acts ; the act authorizing fishery co-operatives, and the conduct of a market news service. The bureau advises and co-operates with the States in fishery problems.
The Geological Survey (est. 1879) makes topographic and geolog ical maps of the United States and Alaska ; studies the surface and underground water resources ; prepares and distributes reports on mineral deposits ; and, through a conservation branch, classifies public lands and supervises engineering phases of mineral leasing.
The Bureau of Biological Survey (est. 1885) studies all forms of vertebrate wild life except fishes. The bureau's activities include sur veys of the major biological regions of North America ; studies of wild life food habits ; observations on the distribution and migration of birds ; propagation experiments with fur and game species ; wild lif e disease investigations ; acquisition and maintenance of national wild life refuges ; wild life management, including restoration and control, and administration of wild life conservation laws. See BIOLOGICAL