Besides their agriculture, our forefathers always pushed shipping and trade. They were keen on the Indian fur trade, and produced salt meats, grain “naval stores,” (pitch, tar and turpentine), potashes and pearl ashes, timber, and other things, and sold them to European countries. In return they imported calicoes and “oznabrigs” (which were a kind of linen) “paduasoy” (which was Italian silk), hardware, guns, tools, china, and the rich cloths, velvets and satins which Colonial gentlemen delighted to wear. When the United States came into being as a Government, it paid very little attention to commerce, leaving the merchants free to develop their trade with all parts of the world.
It is only in recent years that Uncle Sam has realized how he can help the merchant, the shipper and the vessel owner. Not until 1903 was there an office at Washington charged with the duty to “promote foreign and domestic commerce.” Not till 1913 was there a distinct Department of Commerce, within which were grouped some of the most important services rendered by the nation to its people. For example, commerce includes such varied services as lighthouses, steamboat inspection, fisheries, navigation, and the coast survey. In addition the Department of Commerce comes very near to the complicated organization of the business of the country, through its Bureau of Corporations, Bureau of Standards of Weights and Measures, and Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, as well as the Census Bureau, which collects a variety of statistics.
WOMEN AT WORK IN A COMMUNITY CANNING KITCHEN
Under the direction of the Department of Agriculture
During the war, Uncle Sam stretched out his long arm still farther into the trade and business of the country, and appointed a Director of Railroads to take control of most of the railroad lines in the land. It was that Board which made possible the conveyance of the enormous quantities of stores and munitions which supplied our armies in France. Going still farther, Uncle Sam took up the ship carpenter’s axe, the caulker’s mallet, and the riveter’s electric machine. All the ship yards in the country were brought under the control and direction of the Government.
INSPECTORS OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY
Inspection work in a large packing house
The Post Office has been Uncle Sam’s peculiar interest ever since the Federal Government was founded; and he pushes that business ever farther and farther. The letter, the newspaper, the book and the package, are sent flying from one of the long arms of Uncle Sam to another, till the business has come to total over three hundred million dollars a year. The registry service, special delivery system, and especially the parcel post, bring new conveniences, and new proofs of our Uncle’s desire to be useful. In the course of the war the whole system of telegraphs also was taken over. Many lines of business, especially the newspaper and periodical publishers, the mail-order houses, and the advertisers are dependent upon this field of Government operation.