Government in the United States, National, State and Local

The Pension Bureau has charge of the administration of the pension laws. The payments on account of pensions now constitute the largest item of expenditure by the national government. Before the outbreak of the Civil War, pension expenditures rarely exceeded two million dollars a year, and the total outlay for this purpose during the entire period of our national history aggregated less than half the amount now appropriated for a single year. According to the report of the commissioner of pensions for 1919 there were 624,427 names on the pension rolls, and the amount expended for pensions that year was over $220,000,000. More than $5,000,000,000 has been expended for pensions since the Civil War, a larger amount than the national debt incurred on account of the war itself.

The Patent Office includes a large number of officers, examiners, and employees, who are under the direction of the commissioner of patents. Their work is described on p. 260.

Minor Divisions of the Interior Department.—The Bureau of Education was established in 1867. At its head is a commissioner whose duty it is to collect and publish statistics and other information concerning the methods, conditions, and progress of education in the United States. Each year he publishes an elaborate report summarizing the educational progress of the country, together with monographs by experts on special topics of educational interest. The commissioner is also charged with the administration of the funds appropriated for the support of the colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts and with the supervision of education in Alaska and the reindeer industry in that country.

The Geological Survey was established as a bureau in the department of the interior in 1879. It is under the control of a director who is charged with the classification of the public lands and the examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and mineral products of the public lands and the survey of the forest reserves. The bureau has undertaken the preparation of topographical and geological maps of the United States, a considerable portion of which has been completed, the collection of statistics of the mineral products, the investigation of mine accidents, the testing of mineral fuels and structural materials, and the investigation of surface and underground waters.

The Bureau of Mines, created in 1911, is charged with conducting investigations looking toward the prevention of mine accidents, the introduction of improvements in the general health and safety conditions, the conservation of mineral resources, etc. The bureau reported in 1913 that it had brought about a reduction in the number of fatalities due to explosions, from 30 to 13 per cent.

The Department of Agriculture.– A so-called "department" of agriculture was established in 1862, though its rank was only that of a bureau and its head bore the title of commissioner. From time to time, the scope and functions of the "department" were extended until 1889, when it was raised to the rank of a cabinet department with a secretary at its head. Like the other departments, it is organized into bureaus, offices, and divisions.

The Weather Bureau has charge of the preparation of weather forecasts and the display of storm, cold wave, frost, and flood warnings for the benefit of agriculture, commerce, and navigation.

The Bureau of Animal Industry conducts the inspection of animals, meats, and meat food products under the act of Congress of June 30, 1906, and has charge of the inspection of import and export animals, the inspection of vessels for the transportation of export animals, and the quarantine stations for imported live stock; supervises the interstate transportation of animals, and reports on the condition and means of improving the animal industries of the country.

The Bureau of Plant Industry studies plant life in its relations to agriculture. It investigates the diseases of plants and carries on field tests in the prevention of diseases. It studies the improvement of crops by breeding and selection, maintains demonstration farms, and carries on investigations with a view to introducing better methods of farm practice. It conducts agricultural explorations in foreign countries for the purpose of securing new plants and seeds for introduction into the United States. It studies fruits, their adaptability to various climates, and the methods of harvesting, handling, storing, and marketing them.

The Forest Service is charged with the administration of the National Forests. It also gives practical advice in the conservation and handling of national, state, and private forest lands, and in methods of utilizing forest products; investigates methods of forest planting, and gives practical advice to tree planters; studies commercially valuable trees to determine their best management and use; gathers statistics on forest products, in coöperation with the bureau of the census, and investigates the control and prevention of forest fires, and other forest problems.

The Bureau of Chemistry conducts investigations into the chemical composition of fertilizers, agricultural products, and food stuffs. In pursuance of the pure food law of 1906, it examines foods and drugs intended to be sent from one state to another, with a view to determining whether they are adulterated or misbranded. It also conducts investigations of food stuffs imported from abroad and denies entry to such as are found unwholesome, adulterated, or falsely labeled. It also inspects food products intended to be exported to foreign countries where standards of purity are required.

Other Bureaus, whose duties are indicated by their titles, are: the bureau of soils, the bureau of crop estimates, the bureau of entomology, the bureau of biological survey, the bureau of markets, and the bureau of public roads.

The Department of Commerce embraces what remains of the department of commerce and labor created in 1903, and divided in 1913 by the creation of the department of labor. It is charged with the promotion of the commerce of the United States and its mining, manufacturing, shipping, fishing, and transportation interests.

The Bureau of the Census is charged with the duty of taking the decennial census of the United States, including the collection of such special statistics as Congress may authorize. The first census, that of 1790, was taken under the direction of the United States marshals in their respective districts; the statistics collected related only to population, and the schedule embraced only six questions. In 1880 the use of the marshals was done away with and a corps of census supervisors provided. Until 1902 the machinery for taking the census was organized anew for each census, but in the latter year provision was made for a permanent census bureau. The schedule of inquiries has increased from decade to decade until it now embraces a wide range of questions relating not only to population, but also to vital statistics, agriculture, manufactures, defective and criminal classes, cotton production, statistics of cities, state and local finances, transportation, mining, and various other matters, the results of which are published in a series of large volumes and in special bulletins. At the head of the bureau is a director, who is aided by an assistant director, a number of statisticians and experts, and a corps of local supervisors and enumerators. The census work was in the charge of the department of state until 1850, when it was transferred to the department of the interior.

The Bureau of Navigation 94 is charged with the general superintendence of the merchant marine of the United States and of the enforcement of the navigation laws. It has charge of the registration of American vessels engaged in the foreign trade, and of the enrollment and licensing of vessels in the coasting trade. It supervises the execution of the tonnage laws and the collection of tonnage duties; prepares an annual list of vessels registered under the American flag; and supervises the work of the United States shipping commissioners, who administer the laws for the protection of seamen.

The Steamboat Inspection Service is charged with the administration of the laws providing for the inspection of steam and sailing vessels registered under the American flag; with the examination and licensing of officers of such vessels, and with the protection of life and property on water. At the head of the service is an inspector general, who is aided by ten supervising inspectors, each of the latter having under his supervision a number of local inspectors stationed at the important commercial ports. All vessels must be inspected once a year as to their safety, construction, and facilities for protection against fire.

The Bureau of Fisheries has control of fish hatcheries in many parts of the country, for the propagation of useful food fishes; studies fish culture and the causes of the decrease of food fishes; collects statistics in regard to the fishery industry; and in general promotes the fishery interests. It supervises the salmon fisheries of Alaska and the fur seal industry on the Pribilof Islands of the Bering Sea.

The Bureau of Lighthouses is charged with the construction and maintenance of lighthouses, light vessels, beacons, fog signals, buoys, and other aids to navigation. The seaboard is divided up into lighthouse districts, in each of which is a naval officer who serves as inspector and has immediate charge of the supply, maintenance, and administration of the lighthouses in his district. At each lighthouse there is a keeper and one or more assistant keepers. The establishment now consists of more than 1,500 lighthouses and beacons, a fleet of light-ships, and more than 6,000 buoys. Since 1910 the service has been under the supervision of a commissioner.

The Bureau of Standards, established in 1901, is charged with the custody of the national standards, the testing of measuring apparatus, and the investigation of problems relating to standards of weighing and measuring.

The Coast and Geodetic Survey is charged with the survey of the coasts and of rivers to the head of tide water, and the publication of charts of the same; the investigation of questions relating to temperature, tides, currents, and the depths of navigable waters; the making of magnetic observations; the determination of geographic positions, and the like. The results are published in annual reports and special publications. It prepares tables, sailing directions, charts of the coasts, harbor charts, notices to mariners, and other publications for the use of mariners.

The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce is charged with fostering and developing the various manufacturing interests of the United States and extending the markets for manufactured articles abroad, by collecting and publishing all available and useful information concerning such markets and industries. It publishes statistics of commerce, finance, etc., consular and trade reports, and an annual volume known as the "Commercial Relations of the United States."

The Bureau of Corporations, created in 1903, was intended mainly to furnish an agency for the investigation of corporations suspected of violating the anti-"trust" laws of the United States. It was authorized to investigate the organization and methods of any corporation or joint-stock company engaged in foreign or interstate commerce (except common carriers subject to the interstate commerce act) and to report to the President such information as might be of value in enabling him to enforce the anti-"trust" laws. It was abolished in 1914 and its duties were devolved upon the newly created Federal Trade Commission, which has already been described (see p. 245).

The Department of Labor was created in 1913, and is charged with fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, especially the improvement of the conditions under which they work and the advancement of their opportunities for profitable employment.

The Bureaus of Immigration and Naturalization, formerly consolidated in the department of commerce and labor, were divided in 1913 and transferred to the new department of labor. They are charged respectively with the administration of the immigration laws and the administration of the naturalization laws of the United States.95

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, formerly known as the bureau of labor, was transferred from the former department of commerce and labor in 1913. It is charged with collecting and diffusing among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with labor in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word, and especially upon its relations to capital, the hours of labor, the earnings of laboring men and women, and the means of promoting their material, social, intellectual, and moral prosperity.

It is especially charged with investigating the causes of and facts relating to all controversies and disputes between employers and employees. It publishes from time to time the results of elaborate investigations on various subjects relating to labor and industry, and also issues a bimonthly bulletin on special topics within the same field.

The Children's Bureau, established in 1912, is charged with the investigation of problems relating to the welfare of children, such as the conditions of the employment of children, the causes of infant mortality, etc.

In 1920 the Women's Bureau was established to promote the welfare of wage-earning women.

References.– Andrews, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 327-352. Beard, American Government and Politics, ch. xi. Bryce, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. viii. Fairlie, National Administration of the U. S., ch. iv. Harrison, This Country of Ours, chs. xi-xviii.

Documentary and Illustrative Material.– 1. The Congressional Directory. 2. Annual reports of the heads of department and other officials, such as the commissioner of pensions, the commissioner of the general land office, the commissioner general of immigration, the civil service commission, the interstate commerce commission, etc.

Research Questions

1. What is the origin of the term "cabinet"? On what days are cabinet meetings now held?

2. What are the principal differences between the American cabinet and the British cabinet?

3. Do you think the members of the cabinet should be members of Congress? If not, ought they to be allowed seats in Congress without the right to vote?

4. Do you think the President ought ever to disregard the advice of his cabinet?

5. Give the names of five distinguished secretaries of state since 1789.

6. Washington's first cabinet was composed of an equal number of members from both political parties. Would it be wise to follow that practice?

7. Why is the secretary of the treasury required to make his annual reports to Congress while the other heads of departments make theirs to the President?

8. Would it be wise to elect the heads of departments of the federal government by popular vote as those of the state governments usually are?

9. Do you think the secretary of war ought to be an army officer as is the usual practice in Europe?

10. Why is the postmaster-generalship usually given to an active party manager?

11. Why is an importer ineligible under the law to appointment as secretary of the treasury?

12. Why is the department of state really misnamed? Would the title "department of foreign affairs" indicate more precisely the duties of the department?

13. What is your opinion of the movement to establish a department of public health?

14. Do you think the bureau of education should be raised to the rank of a department?

CHAPTER XVIII

THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY

Establishment of the federal Judiciary.– The Articles of Confederation, as we have seen, made no provision for a national judiciary. Hamilton declared this to be the crowning defect of the old government, for laws, he very properly added, are a dead letter without courts to expound their true meaning and define their operations. During the period of the Confederation, the national government was dependent for the most part, as has been said, on the states for the enforcement of its will. Thus if some one counterfeited the national currency, robbed the mails, or assaulted a foreign ambassador, there was no national court to take jurisdiction of the case and punish the offender. The only way by which he could be brought to justice and the authority of the national government upheld was through the kindly assistance of some state court, and this assistance was not always cheerfully lent nor was it always effective when tendered. Congress to be sure acted as a court for the settlement of disputes between the states themselves, but a legislative assembly is never well fitted for exercising judicial functions. In the absence of a national judiciary it proved impossible to enforce solemn treaty stipulations to which the United States was a party, a fact which led Great Britain to refuse to carry out certain of her treaty engagements with the United States.

The Judicial Power of the United States.– The framers of the Constitution decided that the jurisdiction of the national courts should be restricted to questions of national interest and to those involving the peace and tranquillity of the Union, such as disputes between the states themselves and between citizens of different states, and that the jurisdiction of all other controversies should be left to the determination of the courts of the several states. The jurisdiction of the federal courts, therefore, was made to include all cases whether of law or equity arising under the national Constitution, the laws of the United States, and all treaties made under their authority; all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; all controversies to which the United States is a party; all controversies between two or more states; and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states or citizens or subjects thereof.96

The wisdom and propriety of giving the federal courts jurisdiction over all such cases are obvious, since they involve either national, interstate, or international questions. Manifestly, the state courts could not properly be left to determine finally controversies involving the meaning or the application of provisions of the federal Constitution, laws, or treaties, since in that case they would not be what they are declared to be, namely, the supreme law of the land. Conflicting decisions would be rendered by the courts of different states, and in case of inconsistency between state constitutions and laws on the one hand and the federal Constitution, laws, and treaties on the other, the state courts would be under the temptation to uphold the validity of the former.

The Eleventh Amendment.– As originally adopted, the Constitution permitted suits to be brought in the federal courts against a state by citizens of another state or by citizens of foreign countries, and when a suit brought against the state of Georgia in 1793 by a citizen of South Carolina named Chisholm for the recovery of a debt was actually entertained by the Supreme Court, widespread popular indignation followed the decision. The authorities of Georgia felt that it was derogatory to the dignity of a sovereign state that it should be made the defendant in a suit brought by a private individual, and a demand was made that the Constitution be amended so as to prevent such "suits" in the future. As a result of this demand, the Eleventh Amendment was adopted in 1798 which declared that the judicial power of the United States should not be construed to extend to suits brought against a state by citizens of another state or of a foreign country. Nevertheless while a state cannot be made a defendant in a federal court at the instance of a private individual of another state, the federal courts may entertain jurisdiction of suits between a state and a citizen of another state provided the state is the plaintiff.

How Cases "Arise."– A case "arises" under the Constitution, laws, or treaties whenever a suit is filed involving a right or privilege thereunder. Until a case "arises," that is, until it comes before the courts in due form, they will take no notice of it. When President Washington in 1793 sought the opinion of the Supreme Court on certain points involving our obligations to France under the treaty of alliance of 1778 it declined to answer his question, holding that it could give opinions only in cases properly brought before it.

The Regular Federal Courts.– The Constitution declares that the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Supreme Court, therefore, is the only federal tribunal which owes its existence to the Constitution, the others being created by statute. Even as to the Supreme Court Congress has considerable power of control, since it determines the number of judges of which it shall be composed, and the amount of their compensation. But it cannot remove any judge except upon impeachment, or reduce his compensation after he has once been appointed.

The Supreme Court is at present composed of one Chief Justice and eight associate justices. It holds its sessions in the city of Washington from October to May of each year. Practically all the cases which it hears are those appealed from the lower courts. When a case has been argued, the court holds a consultation at which the points involved are considered and a decision is reached. The Chief Justice then requests one of his associates to prepare the opinion of the court, or he may prepare it himself, after which it is scrutinized by the court at a second conference and approved. Any member of the court who disagrees with the majority may file a dissenting opinion, a right frequently taken advantage of. The concurrence of at least five of the nine judges is necessary to the validity of a decision, and as a matter of fact, many important decisions have been rendered in recent years by a bare majority of the court. The opinions rendered are published as the United States Reports, of which there are now more than 200 volumes. They constitute the great authoritative source of the constitutional law of the United States, are studied by lawyers and judges, and are relied upon by the courts as precedents for the decisions of future cases involving similar points of law.97 There is a reporter who arranges and publishes the opinions, a clerk who keeps the records, and a marshal who attends the court, preserves decorum, and enforces its orders.

The Circuit Courts of Appeals.– Next below the Supreme Court are the circuit courts of appeals, nine in all – one for each of the judicial circuits into which the country is divided.98 These courts were created by act of Congress in 1891 to relieve the Supreme Court from an accumulation of business that rendered the prompt decisions of cases impossible, the docket of the court having become so overcrowded that it was about three years behind with its business. The act creating the circuit courts of appeals, however, did not provide an additional class of judges to hold these courts, but enacted that each of them should be held by three judges assigned for the purpose from among the judges of the circuit. The judges of each circuit include one justice of the Supreme Court assigned to the circuit, two or more circuit judges appointed for the circuit, and a considerable number of district judges, each appointed for a district in the circuit. Most circuit courts of appeals are held by three circuit judges; but occasionally by two circuit judges together with a district judge or the Supreme Court justice. The circuit courts of appeals have only appellate jurisdiction, that is, they hear and determine only cases appealed from the lower courts, and their decisions are final in most cases. This relieves the Supreme Court of all but the most important cases, and enables it to give more attention to the cases before it and to dispatch its business more promptly.