Government and Administration of the United States by Westel W. Willoughby and William F. Willoughby
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Westel W. Willoughby and William F. Willoughby >> Government and Administration of the United States
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_Geological Survey_.--This branch of the Interior Department was
established in 1879. Its work is the investigation and determination of
the geological structure of the various sections of the country, the
composition of soils, the reclamation of waste lands, etc. In this
bureau are made topographical surveys and irrigation surveys of arid
regions of the United States. The publications connected with this work,
number ten Annual Reports, thirteen Monographs, fifty-eight Bulletins
and five Statistical Papers. In these there is a discussion of the
geological structure of every state and territory, and information
concerning the occurrence and production of each great metallic and
mineral staple of the country. The bureau comprises one geographical,
twelve geological, six paleontological and four accessory divisions. A
division of mines and mining publishes an annual report on the mineral
resources and production of the United States.
_The Superintendent of the Census._--The Superintendent of the Census is
appointed each decade for the purpose of taking the regular decennial
census. The Eleventh Census has just been taken. The first was taken in
1790. Each census has shown a tendency to be more elaborate and to
embrace a greater number of subjects than any preceding. There were
employed in the taking of the Eleventh Census 42,000 enumerators, 2,000
clerks, from 800 to 900 special agents, 175 supervisors and 25 experts.
In addition to these eight bureaus, the department has charge of various
other branches of government. All of the territories come under the
Secretary's supervision, and look to him in case of any difficulty. The
Secretary also has charge of the Yellowstone National Park, the Hot
Springs Reservation in Arkansas, and of certain hospitals and
eleemosynary institutions in the District of Columbia. A Superintendent
of Public Documents looks after the receipt, distribution, and sale of
government publications.
The most important subjects of recent legislation concerning this
department have been the dependent pension act, the act providing for
the survey of Western lands suitable for irrigation, and the land
forfeiture act. By this act over 8,000,000 acres of lands were forfeited
by the railroads for failure to fulfill the conditions under which the
land was originally granted to them.
_#The Post Office Department.#_--The Post Office Department was
established in 1789, but the Postmaster-General did not become a cabinet
officer until 1829. The Postmaster-General has charge and management of
the department, and of the domestic and foreign mail service. He can
establish post offices and appoint postmasters of the fourth and fifth
classes, i.e. those whose salaries are less than $1,000. These number
over 50,000. The total number of postoffices is about 56,000. The
President appoints to those of the first three classes. Other officers
besides the Assistant Postmasters-General are, the Superintendents of
the Money Order Division, of Foreign Mails, and of the Railway Service,
and an Assistant Attorney-General for the department.
The United States is a member of the Universal Postal Union, of which
most, if not all, of the civilized countries are members. The central
office is known as the International Bureau of the Universal Postal
Union, and is conducted under the superintendence of the Swiss Postal
Administration, and its expenses are borne by all the nations composing
the Union. The revenues of the Post Office Department nearly equal the
expenditures, and would have exceeded them before this but for the fact
that as soon as the amount of receipts has warranted, improvements have
been made in the service, through the reduction of postage rates and
the extension of the free delivery system. It has never been the policy
of the government to make this department a source of revenue.
The patronage of the postoffice department is the most important of any
of the departments, and it is very largely for this reason that the
Postmaster-General is a member of the Cabinet. Crawford of South
Carolina secured in 1820 the passage of an act limiting the term of
office of postmasters to four years. The appointment of postmasters does
not come under the Civil Service Act. It is the principal aim of civil
service reformers, that postmasters should be appointed under its
provisions. The most important questions of public policy concerning
this department, are the reduction of postage rates on letters to one
cent; the advisability of the establishment of a postal telegraph
service; the extension of the free delivery system, and the relation of
the department to the civil service regulations.
_#The Department of Justice.#_--The office of the Attorney-General of
the United States was established in 1789; the Department of Justice not
until 1870. The Attorney-General gives advice upon legal points to the
President and also, when requested to do so, to the heads of
departments. He directs the cases of the United States and sometimes
appears in them, especially in the Supreme Court. He supervises the
United States Marshals and District Attorneys. His substitute and
principal assistant is the Solicitor-General. There are two
Assistant-Attorneys-General, the business of the one being connected
with the Supreme Court, and of the other with the Court of Claims. There
are also, as mentioned before, certain legal officers attached to the
other departments. Additional counsel is frequently employed to assist
in the argument of important cases. To the Attorney-General belongs the
duty of recommending persons to the office of judges, etc., in the
United States Circuit and District Courts.
_#The Department of Agriculture.#_--The Department of Agriculture was
organized as a separate department in the year 1862. In 1889 its head
became a cabinet officer. There is one Assistant Secretary. The duties
of the Secretary are to promote in every way the agricultural interests
of the country. For this purpose the department is separated into
thirteen bureaus, under the following officers (1) the Entomologist, (2)
Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry, (3) Chemist, (4) Botanist, (5)
Chief of the Section of Vegetable Pathology, (6) Statistician, (7)
Ornithologist, (8) Director of the Office of Experiment Stations, (9)
Microscopist, (10) Pomologist, (11) Chief of the Forestry Division, (12)
Chief of the Seed Division, and (13) Weather Bureau. The enumeration of
these titles indicates the general nature of the work of the department.
Here are investigated the habits of injurious insects and birds and the
best means for their destruction; the causes of and remedies for
vegetable and fruit diseases. The Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry
inspects herds of cattle and causes to be slaughtered those suffering
from a contagious disease. Under a law passed in 1890, he also inspects
all cattle and meat intended for export to foreign countries. He
investigates causes of and remedies for cattle diseases, the best method
of breeding, etc. The Statistician publishes monthly and annual reports
concerning statistics of the condition, prospects and harvests of the
principal crops, the wages of farm labor, etc. The Chemist analyzes
fertilizers, soils, etc. By the act of March 2, 1887, $15,000 per annum
was appropriated by Congress to each of the States and Territories which
have established an agricultural college or an agricultural college
department, for the establishment of experiment stations. The Department
of Agriculture has general oversight over these stations.
The Department carries on experiments regarding the feasibility of
profitable silk reeling in this country, for which purpose there is a
separate division; it also makes experiments in the manufacture of sugar
from sorghum and from beets grown in this country. The best qualities of
seeds are tested and distributed gratuitously among the farmers. Efforts
are made to introduce and foster the cultivation of new kinds of
agricultural products, and in various ways to advance agricultural
interests.
Congress, by an act passed during its last session, 1890, created a
weather bureau under the Agricultural Department and transferred to it
the business of weather prognostication which had been tinder the Chief
Signal officer in the War Department. The service remains unchanged. It
has stations at the military stations in the interior of the continent,
at life-saving stations, and at other points in the States and
Territories. Meteorological observations are taken at each station, and
the information forwarded to the central office at Washington, where
weather predictions for the succeeding day or days are made. The
predictions are given gratuitously to the public through a system of
flag signals, by the distribution of weather maps, and by publication in
the daily papers. The percentage of successful forecasts of the weather
during 1890 was 84.4.
The Department publishes the result of the scientific investigations
carried on by its officers in "Annual Reports" of the Secretary and
Chiefs of Divisions; in a series of "Circulars" on special subjects, in
regular "Bulletins;" and in a series of studies on "Insect Life." These
documents are distributed gratuitously.
_#The Department of Labor.#_--The Department of Labor was created in
1884, as a bureau under the Interior Department. In 1888, it became a
separate department. It is a purely statistical bureau. It collects and
publishes statistics on the cost of production, on wages, labor
statistics, etc. Its six published reports are on (1) Industrial
Depressions, (2) Convict Labor, (3) Strikes and Lockouts, (4) Working
Women in Large Cities, (5) Marriage and Divorce, and (6) Railroad
Employes.
Had all the executive departments been created at one time by a
constitutional convention, we should be justified in expecting a greater
symmetry and uniformity in the naming and grouping of chief officials.
An inspection of the various executive officers shows that not a few are
under departments other than would be expected; and the naming of
officials is often misleading as to their importance. Within recent
years there has appeared a strong tendency to depart yet more from a
systematic grouping of executive duties under departments. Executive
functions have been given to bodies entirely independent of the
departments. To complete our survey of the federal executive we must
consider the following: (1) the Interstate Commerce Commission, (2) the
Fish Commission, (3) the Civil Service Commission, (4) the Government
Printing Office, (5) the National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, the
Bureau of Ethnology, (6) the Congressional Library.
_#The Interstate Commerce Commission.#_--With the growth of our railroad
system have come various abuses. Roads have discriminated in favor of
one shipper over others, and of one locality over others. Combinations
have been formed to keep up railroad passenger and freight charges.
Their influence has been used in political offices through the issuing
of free passenger tickets, etc. Various other minor abuses have centered
around these corporations. The States have been powerless to provide a
remedy for the roads have been mostly engaged in interstate commerce
with which the States are forbidden by the constitution to interfere. To
provide a remedy for the principal of these abuses Congress passed the
act of February 4, 1887, regulating the practice of railroads and
creating the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce the provisions.
The Commission is composed of five commissioners appointed by the
President. The Commission sits as a court and adjudicates complaints
arising between railroads or between citizens and railroads, involving
principles covered by the act. It has rapidly attained its present
position as one of the most important courts in the United States. A
statistician, attached to the Commission, publishes annual statistics of
railroads, covering the extent, the amount, and value of their stock and
bonds, expenses of management, receipts, &c. The act, of course,
applies only to those railroads lying in more than one State.
_#The Fish Commission.#_--The Fish Commission was created by act of
Congress in 1870. Its chief is the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries.
There is also an Assistant Commissioner. This Commission stands in the
same relation to the fishery interests of the country as does the
Department of Agriculture to agricultural interests. Both are scientific
and practical departments. The former investigates the food, habits and
enemies of fishes; experiments concerning the best methods of their
capture, the best kind of baits, apparatus, etc. It collects statistics
of fish and fisheries of the whole country. Probably its most important
service is the propagation and distribution of food fishes. Under its
direction are hatched and liberated millions of the young of the best
food fishes in the various inland waters of the United States. Rivers
suitable for black bass, shad, carp, or other food fishes, but not
having them in their waters, are supplied. For these purposes the
Commission owns and manages various fish hatcheries, fish distributing
vessels and cars, propagating ponds, etc.
The yearly appropriation for carrying on this work amounts to nearly a
quarter of a million of dollars.
_#The Civil Service Commission.#_--To correct the wasteful and
demoralizing spoils system, in vogue ever since the first administration
of Jackson, Congress passed, January 16, 1883, "an act to regulate and
improve the Civil Service of the United States." Under the provisions of
this act, the President appoints three commissioners, only two of whom
may be of the same political party, to administer the act. It is one of
the duties of this Commission to provide examinations for testing the
fitness of applicants for public service. Appointments in those branches
of the government coming under this act can only be made from persons
who have passed the civil service examination successfully. Adherence to
one or the other political parties has little weight in the selection
of employes. Under the regulation of this act are: the nine executive
departments at Washington, the Civil Service Commission itself, the
customs districts, eleven in number, in each of which there are fifty or
more employes, all postoffices in which there are fifty or more
employes, and the Railway Mail Service; including altogether about
28,500 clerks.
_#The Government Printing Office.#_--In order that there may be
intelligent legislation and administration, an extensive system of
reports is required. The publications of the federal government are of
course very numerous. Each department, bureau, and division makes an
annual report. The proceedings of Congress are reported verbatim and
published. This printing and binding are done by the government through
the government printing office, established for that purpose. The Bureau
of Printing and Engraving, which is under the Treasury Department, does
no part of this. Its duties are limited to those of engraving and
printing banknotes, etc. The chief of the Government Printing Office is
styled the Government Printer, and is appointed by the President.
_#The National Museum, Smithsonian Institution and Bureau of
Ethnology.#_--In 1829 James Smithson, bequeathed by his will the whole
of his property, something over half a million dollars, "to the United
States of America to found at Washington, under the name of the
Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion
of knowledge among men." This fund held by the United States now amounts
to $702,000 yielding six per cent, per annum. In 1846 Congress
determined to devote this gift of Smithson to the founding and support
of a museum. The National Museum was established in 1846, and is
supported by annual appropriations by Congress.
In 1879 Congress created a special bureau under the Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution, to be called the Bureau of Ethnology, to make
researches in North American anthropology. This work is supported by
annual appropriations. The National Museum, Smithsonian Institution and
Bureau of Ethnology, though distinct institutions[1] are under
substantially the same management. Their reports are of great scientific
value.
_#The Librarian of Congress.#_--The Librarian of Congress is an
independent officer and reports directly to Congress. He has complete
control of the Congressional Library, now situated in the Capitol
building. The books now collected in this library have been purchased
from time to time by Congress. There is a law requiring that two copies
of every book, pamphlet, newspaper, photograph, etc., copyrighted in the
United States, shall be sent to the Congressional Library. It thus
receives large and valuable additions yearly. The Library now numbers
over half a million volumes. A new building for the library is in
process of construction, and it will have cost when completed between
seven and eight million dollars.
[Footnote 1: A valuable and suggestive paper on The Origin of the
National Scientific and Educational Institutions of the United States,
by Dr. G. Brown Goode, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, was published by the American Historical Association. Vol.
IV, Part 2. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1890.]
CHAPTER XI.
The Federal Judiciary.
In forming the Constitution the framers of our government were
controlled by the principle that the powers which belong to all
governments can be most safely and satisfactorily exercised by dividing
them according to their nature among three separate branches, the
executive, the legislative, and the judicial. Under the Articles of
Confederation this maxim of government had been disregarded. The old
Continental Congress had been given under that plan, not only
legislative powers, but also those executive and judicial powers which
the States had yielded to the central government.
The lack of a Federal judiciary was, as Justice Story says, "one of the
vital defects of the old confederation." Hamilton, the expounder of the
Constitution, said: "Laws are a dead letter without courts to enforce
and apply them."
The reasons why a national system of courts was necessary were in order
that there might be some power:--
1. To give to laws an interpretation that would be uniform throughout
the land. If there were thirteen independent courts, each giving Federal
decisions on the same causes arising under the same national laws, what
but confusion and contradiction could arise?
2. To settle disputes between the States and citizens of different
States.
3. To construe and interpret the Constitution itself, and decide all
disputes arising under it act of either Congress or of a State
legislature contrary to the Constitution can therefore be valid. Hence,
the necessity of some power which should have authority to determine the
constitutionality of an act when brought into question, and--
5. There should be the power of determining the constitutionality of any
act of a State legislature, and thus enforce upon State legislatures the
restrictions laid upon them, such as, for example, the inability to lay
impost duties, to pass laws violating the obligation of contracts, etc.,
or to regulate objects given exclusively to Congress. The manifest
necessity of such a power may be best stated by using Hamilton's own
words (Federalist, 30):
"What would avail restrictions on the authority of the State
legislatures without some constitutional mode of enforcing the
observance of them? The States, by the plan of the Constitution, are
prohibited from doing a variety of things, some of which are
incompatible with the interests of the Union; others with the principles
of good government. The imposition of duties on imported articles, and
the emission of paper money are specimens of this kind. No man of sense
will believe that such prohibition would be scrupulously regarded,
without some effectual power in the government to restrain or correct
infractions of them. This power must be either a direct negative on the
State laws, or an authority in the Federal courts to annul such as might
be in manifest contravention of the articles of Union." * * * "These
courts are to be the bulwarks of a limited constitution against
legislative encroachments."
These reasons were so strong that there was little or no objection in
the constitutional convention to the creation of a national judiciary,
but difficulty arose in determining its precise nature and powers. As we
have learned, the difficulty to be overcome in drafting our new scheme
of government was to satisfy State jealousies and interests, and
preserve State rights of government, and yet to obtain a strong central
government; and to harmonize State rights with Federal strength.
In forming the national judiciary, the objects to be obtained, difficult
of achievement, were, to use the words of Judge Curtis (Federal Courts
of United States): "To construct a judicial power within the Federal
Government, and to clothe it with attributes which would enable it to
secure the supremacy of the general constitution and all of its
provisions; to give to it exact authority that would maintain the
dividing line between the powers of the Nation and the States, and to
give to it no more: and to add to these a faculty of dispensing justice
to foreigners, to citizens of different States and among the sovereign
States themselves, with a more even hand and with a more assured
certainty of the great ends of justice than any State power could
furnish--these were objects not readily or easily to be obtained, and
yet they were obtained with wonderful success."
The establishment of the federal judiciary is given in a few words in
the Constitution: "The judicial powers 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."
In pursuance of this clause, Congress passed in 1789, what is known as
the "Judiciary Act," the first section of which reads: "The Supreme
Court of the United States shall consist of one chief justice and five
associate justices." This act also established the inferior federal
courts, the circuit and district courts, and also defined and fixed
their fields of jurisdiction, i.e., the class of cases which these
courts could have power to try.
The Supreme Court stands at the head of our national judiciary. Its
field of jurisdiction is the construction and exposition of the
Constitution of the United States. Hon. S.F. Miller, senior justice of
this court, speaking of the high character of the duties performed by
this court, said: "This court, whether we take the character of the
suitors that are brought before it, or the importance of the subjects
of litigation over which it has final jurisdiction, may be considered
the highest the world has ever seen. It has power to bring States before
it, States which some of our politicians have been in the habit of
considering sovereign, not only when they come voluntarily, but by
Federal process they are subjected, in certain cases, to the judgment of
the court. Whatever these States may have been at the time of the
formation of the Constitution, they now number their inhabitants by the
millions, and in wealth and civilization are equal to many of the
independent sovereignties of Europe."
There have been considerable changes in the structure and duties of the
Supreme Court since its formation. At present there are nine justices,
instead of six. There is now one annual term of the court held,
beginning on the 2d Monday of October and continuing until about May 1.
Of the nine justices six constitute a quorum.
The Supreme Court first met in February, 1790. Since its organization it
has had eight chief justices, in the following order.
John Jay, 1789-1795.
Oliver Ellsworth, 1795-1801.
John Marshall, 1801-1835.
R.B. Taney, 1836-1864.
S.P. Chase, 1864-1873.
M.R. Waite, 1873-1888.
M. Fuller, 1888.
In 1795 John Rutledge was appointed to succeed Jay, received his
commission, and held one term of the court, but was not confirmed by the
Senate.
During the early years of the existence of the Supreme Court few cases
arose requiring its jurisdiction. During the first term there was no
business to be transacted. In 1801 there were only ten cases on the
docket, and for some years the average annual number of cases was
twenty-four; but in later years the number rapidly increased. From 1850
the average number of cases decided was seventy-one, while from 1875 to
1880 the average was three hundred and ninety-one per annum, and now
there are more than a thousand cases awaiting a hearing, and the court
is so far behindhand in its work that it takes from three to four years
for a case to come up for trial after having been entered upon the
docket. At present there are about four hundred cases granted a hearing
yearly.
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