Government in the United States, National, State and Local

by James Wilford Garner

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.