Government and Administration of the United States

by Westel Woodbury Willoughby; William F. Willoughby

The heads of the first eight of these departments together form a council of eight, called the "Cabinet," whose duty it is, in addition to the management of the departments, to advise the President on matters of importance. For this purpose regular meetings are held, at which the affairs of government are discussed, and lines of action decided upon. The cabinet is neither the creation of the constitution, nor strictly of law. The existence of a cabinet, however, was always taken for granted in the discussion and formation of the constitution. It is a creation of custom and has no powers other than of advice and counsel to the President. The growth of executive and administrative business is not fully indicated by the increase in the number of departments. The growth within each department has been much greater. Separate bureaus and divisions have been created, which in some cases are, for all practical purposes, as independent and important as the departments themselves.

The organization of all the different departments is much the same. At the head of each is an officer appointed by the President, the President thus having control generally over the whole executive business of the government. These officers are called Secretaries, except in the cases of the Post Office Department, whose head is the Postmaster-General, and of the Department of Justice, whose head is the Attorney-General. In a number of the Departments there are also one, two, three or four assistant secretaries, according as the business of the departments requires. For convenience in the despatch of business, the departments are divided into bureaus, the bureaus into divisions, and the divisions into rooms, until, finally, the individual workers—the clerks—are readied. Each bureau and division has at its head an officer called Commissioner and Chief of Division, respectively. Each department and bureau, and, in some cases, the division also, has a Chief Clerk who has charge of the details of the administration, and immediate oversight over the clerks.[1] All work in one finely organized system. The clerk is responsible to his chief of division, the chief of division to his commissioner, the commissioner to the Secretary and he, finally, to Congress. Each man has his particular place in the system, and no one works at random.[2]

[Footnote 1: There are a number of officials and clerks who properly belong to no division or bureau, as, for instance, the librarian's private secretary and other clerical assistance in the Secretary's office, who are under his immediate supervision.]

[Footnote 2: This system is not always carried out perfectly in practice. In some cases an officer is termed commissioner who is more properly a chief of division, and vice versa. In other cases the title of commissioner or chief of division is represented by a more technical designation as Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Comptroller of the Currency, etc.] The President and heads of departments appoint all officers in the executive departments. It is manifestly impossible for them to base their appointments upon personal knowledge. Hence has arisen the custom of filling almost all offices not controlled by the Civil Service Commission upon the recommendation of congressmen, each of whom controls for the most part the patronage of his own district. Only the Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Commissioners, and other chief officials are really appointees of the President on his own responsibility.

Prior to the first administration of Jackson the positions of government clerks in the departments were permanent. In 1828 Jackson inaugurated the so-called spoils system, which means that to the victor belongs the spoils. Only 74 removals had been made from 1789 to 1828. Jackson removed during the first year of his administration 2,000 clerks. Since then, until 1883, each party, on gaining control of the government, has removed almost all the clerks in office who were of the opposite political faith, replacing them with members of its own party. In 1883 was passed the Civil Service Act, by which it is provided that all future appointments of subordinate clerks in the executive departments are to be made only from those who have passed successfully an examination set by the Civil Service Commission created by the act.

#The State Department.#—The Department of State was the first department established. (Act of July 27, 1789.) There are three Assistant Secretaries. Their salaries are, Secretary $8,000, First Assistant $4,000, and the other two $3,500. The department is divided into seven bureaus, (1) Diplomatic, (2) Consular, (3) Archives and Indexes, (4) Accounts, (5) Statistics, (6) Rolls and Library, and (7) Claims.

The Secretary of State is charged, under the direction of the President, with the duties appertaining to correspondence with the public ministers and consuls of the United States, and with the representatives of foreign powers accredited to the United States; and to negotiations of whatever character relating to the foreign affairs of the United States. He is also the medium of correspondence between the President and the chief executive of the several States of the United States; he has the custody of the great seal of the United States, and countersigns and affixes such seal to all executive proclamations, to various commissions, and to warrants for pardon, and the extradition of fugitives from justice. He is regarded as the first in rank among the members of the Cabinet. He is also the custodian of the treaties made with foreign states, and of the laws of the United States. He grants and issues passports. Exequaturs to foreign consuls in the United States are issued through his office. He publishes the laws and resolutions of Congress, amendments to the Constitution, and proclamations declaring the admission of new States into the Union. He is also charged with certain annual reports to Congress relating to commercial information received from diplomatic and consular officers of the United States.

The patronage of the Secretary at Washington is small, about sixty clerks, but that which concerns the diplomatic and consular service is important. To facilitate communications and negotiations with foreign nations, and to protect the interests of American citizens in foreign countries, the United States, in common with all civilized nations, has an elaborate system of representatives residing at the capitals of all the principal nations. This system is called the diplomatic service, and is under the charge of a separate bureau of the State Department. Communications and negotiations with foreign powers are generally carried on through them or through ministers of other nations stationed at Washington. These agents are called ministers and are of three grades (1) envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, (2) ministers resident, (3) chargés d'affaires. These grades correspond to the lower grades of similar services in European countries. We have no grade corresponding to that of ambassador. The United States has ministers in about thirty-three countries. The chief legations are those of Great Britain, France, Germany and Russia. The salary attached to each of these legations is $17,500. The social demands upon ministers are great, and, as a rule, the expenses of ministers have been more than their salaries. Ministers of foreign powers receive a much larger compensation than do ours.

To protect our commercial interests abroad, and our seamen and vessels in foreign ports, the United States has agents resident in all foreign sea-ports of any prominence. Their duties are numerous. They ship seamen, certify invoices, take testimony, examine emigrants, etc. They transmit to the State Department monthly reports concerning any matter of commercial or social interest occurring at their stations. These reports are published monthly by the department and have a wide gratuitous circulation. This system is called the consular service; and is also under the charge of a separate bureau. These agents, called consuls, are of three ranks and titles; (1) consul-generals, (2) consuls, (3) consular agents, of whom 180 are salaried, the rest being paid by fees. The names of the other bureaus indicate the nature of the duties performed by each.

The Department of State has been prominently before the people during the last two years in consequence of the Pan-American Congress,[1] composed of representatives from all American nations. This congress met in 1889, under the auspices of the State Department at Washington, to consider subjects of common interest, such as international arbitration, railroad and steamship communication, uniform money and commercial regulations. Various standing committees and commissions were provided for; and it is believed that through their efforts better commercial and social relations with the South American Republics will be established. The International Marine Conference, composed of representatives from all marine powers, likewise met at Washington under the auspices of the same department, and adopted a code of marine regulations for the guidance of all nations.