chapter xiv

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=The Department of the Interior.=--The interior department, established in 1849, is one of the largest and most important of the ten executive departments. Next to the post office department, the services which it performs reach more people than those performed by any other department. Its staff of employees at Washington ranks second in numbers only to that of the treasury department. It has charge of the public lands, Indian affairs, pensions, patents, the geological survey, and, to some extent, the government of the territories.

=The Public Lands.=--Perhaps the most important bureau in the interior department is the _General Land Office_, which has charge of the public lands, and the care and control of the forest reserves. Before the public lands are sold or otherwise disposed of they must be surveyed. For this purpose there are seventeen surveying districts, in each of which there is a surveyor general.

_Disposal of the Public Lands._--The public lands have been disposed of with a somewhat lavish hand. In the early days liberal grants were made to the soldiers of the Revolutionary War. Immense quantities have also been sold at low rates--much of it at $1.25 per acre--in order to encourage settlers to establish homes thereon. Considerable quantities have also been granted to the states for educational purposes and the construction of internal improvements. Beginning with Ohio in 1802, each new state admitted to the Union was given one section in each township for the support of elementary schools, and those admitted after 1850 were given two sections in each township. Under the Morrill act of 1862, 10,000,000 acres were given to the states for the establishment of colleges of agriculture and the mechanic arts. Some of the more recently admitted states were given from one to four townships each for the establishment of universities.[91]

[91] The six states admitted between 1889 and 1890 were given 23,000,000 acres.

Before the Civil War, large quantities were given to the states for the construction of canals and railroads. Large tracts of the public lands have also been granted to private corporations as subsidies for the building of transcontinental railways. Finally, by an act of 1902, the proceeds from the sale of all public lands in seventeen Western states are set aside for constructing irrigation works in those states.

By the _preëmption act_ of 1841, it was provided that 160 acres of land should be given to any family living thereon for a period of six months and paying $200 therefor. This act was repealed in 1891, but millions of acres were disposed of during the fifty years it was in force.

By the _homestead act_ of 1863, still in force, any head of a family may acquire 160 acres by living on it for three years (it was five years before 1912), cultivating a certain part of it, and paying a small fee.

_The Public Lands now Remaining_ aggregate about 665,000,000 acres, including those in Alaska. Of these lands a large part have been set aside for Indian reservations, national parks, military reservations, and national forests,[92] and is therefore not open to purchase or entry under the homestead act. Arid lands are sold in tracts not exceeding 640 acres at $1.25 per acre; mineral lands are sold at from $2.50 to $5 per acre; timber and stone lands at a minimum of $2.50 per acre; town site lands at a minimum of $10 per acre; and agricultural lands at $1.25 per acre.

[92] There are now 153 national forests, embracing 175,940,000 acres.

_Land Offices_ are established in all the states where there is any considerable amount of public land left. At each office there is a register and a receiver who examines applications for entries and issues certificates upon which patents or deeds are finally granted.

=Indian Affairs.=--Another important branch of the government service falling within the department of the interior is the management of Indian affairs. For a long time each tribe was treated to some extent as though it were an independent community, and was dealt with somewhat as foreign nations are dealt with. In 1871, however, it was enacted that henceforth no Indian tribe should be acknowledged or treated as an independent nation or power with which the United States may contract by treaty--an act which marks the beginning of the end of Indian tribal authority.

The policy of extending the jurisdiction of the government over the Indians was begun by an act of 1885 which gave the United States courts jurisdiction over seven leading crimes when committed by Indians on their reservations. Previous to that time, crimes committed by Indians against Indians within a reservation were left to be dealt with by the tribal authorities themselves.

_The Allotment Act._--By the Dawes act of 1887 the new Indian policy begun in 1871 was still further extended. This act provided for the allotment of Indian lands to individual members of the tribe, and declared that Indians who accepted such allotments or who should leave their tribe and adopt the habits of civilized life, should be considered as citizens of the United States and entitled to all the rights and privileges of citizens. Previous to this time the lands occupied by the Indians were owned by the tribe as a whole and not by the individuals who occupied them. Under this act, individual allotments aggregating more than 30,000,000 acres have been made to 180,000 Indians. There remain about 120,000 Indians, to whom allotments are still to be made. The result of this policy will ultimately be to extinguish the Indian tribes and incorporate them into the American body politic.

_Indian Agents._--The control of the national government over the Indian reservations is exercised largely through Indian agents appointed by the President. They are charged with the regulation of trade with the Indians, and have control of the distribution of rations. At each agency one or more schools are maintained, and in addition to the reservation schools there are schools for the higher education of Indians in various parts of the country, the most important being at Lawrence, Kansas, and Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The aggregate annual expenditures on account of the service are now about $15,000,000, more than half of which consists of payments due the Indians under treaty stipulations or of interest on trust funds held by the government for them. The total amount of these trust funds is about $50,000,000.[93]

[93] The Secretary of the Interior says the Osage Indians are probably the wealthiest people in the world, their average per capita wealth being over $9,500. Some families have an income of $12,000 a year.

=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.

[94] This bureau in the department of commerce must not be confused with the bureau of navigation in the navy department, already described.

_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]

[95] See also pp. 238-239. The increase in the number of immigrants by decades is shown by the following table:

-------------------------+-------------------------+----------------- DECADE | POPULATION AT BEGINNING | TOTAL NUMBER OF | OF DECADE | IMMIGRANTS | | -------------------------+-------------------------+----------------- 1821-1830................| 9,633,822 | 143,439 1831-1840................| 12,866,020 | 599,125 1841-1850................| 17,069,453 | 1,713,251 1851-1860................| 23,191,876 | 2,598,224 1861-1870................| 31,443,321 | 2,314,824 1871-1880................| 38,558,371 | 2,812,191 1881-1890................| 50,155,783 | 5,246,613 1891-1900................| 62,622,250 | 3,687,564 1901-1910................| 75,994,575 | 8,793,386 -------------------------+-------------------------+-----------------

In 1916 naturalization certificates were issued to 93,911 persons and declarations of intention to become citizens were made by 207,935.

_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?

[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT]

[Illustration: THE SUPREME COURT ROOM]

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