tions for positions and recommendations concerning the same, and the correspondence connected therewith; the preparation and submission to the Secretary of all questions affecting the personnel of the department in its relations to the civil-service law and rules; the preparation of nominations sent to the Senate and of commissions and appointments of all officers and employees of the department; the preparation of official bonds; the compilation of statistics in regard to the personnel, including material for the Official Register, and the custody of oaths of office, records pertaining to official bonds, service records of officers and employees, correspondence and reports relating to the personnel, reports of bureau officers respecting the efficiency of employees, and records relating to leaves of absence.

DIVISION OF PUBLICATIONS.

The Chief of the Division of Publications is charged by the Secretary of Commerce with the conduct of all business the department transacts with the Government Printing Office; the general supervision of printing, including the editing and preparation of copy, illustrating and binding, the distribution of publications, and the maintenance of mailing lists. The advertising done by the department is in his charge. He also keeps a record of all expenditures for the publishing work of the department and conducts the correspondence it entails.

DIVISION OF SUPPLIES.

Under the direction of the chief clerk the Chief of the Division of Supplies has personal supervision of all the work incident to the purchase and distribution of supplies for the department proper and for the services of the department outside of Washington, and of the keeping of detailed accounts of all expenditures from the appropriation for contingent expenses of the department. He receives, verifies, and preserves the annual returns of property from the offices and bureaus of the department which are supplied from the contingent appropriation, and examines and reports on the property returns of all other bureaus and services.

BUREAU OF THE CENSUS.

The taking of the decennial census, which covers the subjects of population, agriculture, manufactures, mines and quarries (including oil and gas wells), and forestry and forest products, is the chief function of the bureau. During the years intervening between decennial censuses, statistics are collected at 10-year intervals in regard to dependent, defective, and delinquent classes; wealth, public indebtedness and expenditures, and taxation; religious bodies; and transportation by water. The census of agriculture not only forms a part of each decennial census, but is also to be taken in each mid-decennial year. The census of manufactures is likewise included in the decennial census, and in addition has been taken in each mid-decennial year; in the future, however, a biennial inquiry is to be made in regard to the products of manufacturing industries. The censuses of electric light and power plants, street and electric railways, and telephones and telegraphs are taken quinquennially. At biennial intervals the Official Register of the United States is compiled and published. Annual inquiries are made relating to births, deaths, finances of cities having over 30,000 inhabitants, "general" statistics of such cities, and finances of States. At quarterly intervals the bureau collects and publishes statistics as to stocks of leaf tobacco in the hands of manufacturers and dealers. At monthly intervals statistics are published relating to cotton supply, consumption, and distribution; to cotton seed and its products; and to hides, skins, and leather; and at approximately semimonthly intervals during the ginning season reports are issued showing the amounts of cotton ginned to specified dates. In addition to conducting the various inquiries specifically provided for by law, the Bureau of the Census from time to time makes such special and miscellaneous investigations as may be ordered by Congress, the President, or the Secretary of Commerce.

BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE.

The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce is charged by law with the duty of "developing the various manufacturing industries of the United States and markets for their products at home and abroad, by gathering and publishing useful information, or by any other available method." In carrying out this function of gathering information, advantage is taken of the relations of the bureau with many other branches of the Federal service.

Use is made especially of the Consular Service, through the Department of State, to obtain reports on the trade of foreign countries and opportunities for the sale

abroad of articles produced in the United States. This material is edited in the bureau and distributed to the commercial public by means of the daily Commerce Reports and supplements thereto, and also by means of special bulletins and pamphlets and confidential circulars or letters.

The bureau directs the commercial attaché service in studies of foreign markets for American goods. The attachés are resident representatives abroad, who devote all their time to the study of commercial problems, and the results of their investigations are published in Commerce Reports or in monograph form. There are attachés at London, Paris, The Hague, Copenhagen, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Peking, Tokyo, Rome, Madrid, Mexico City, and Santiago.

The bureau is also equipped with a corps of special agents-trained experts in particular lines who make detailed, specialized investigations that could not be made by nontechnical specialists, such as the commercial attachés and consuls. The reports of these agents are published in Commerce Reports or as monographs. A special staff at the bureau supervises this work.

In connection with its trade promotion work the bureau maintains a Division of Foreign Tariffs, where information in regard to customs tariffs and regulations of foreign countries is compiled in compliance with specific requests, as well as for publication in Commerce Reports and separate monographs. In addition to information in regard to foreign customs tariffs, the bureau also furnishes information regarding patent and trade-mark laws of foreign countries, consular regulations, treatment of commercial travelers and their samples, pure food and drug laws, embargoes, contraband, and similar restrictive measures.

Statistical information in regard to United States imports and exports is received by the bureau in monthly and quarterly returns from the collectors of customs, showing the articles imported and exported and the countries from which articles are imported and to which articles are exported. These statistics are printed first in the Monthly Summary of Foreign Commerce and widely distributed. Very detailed import statistics are published quarterly. Annual statistics of our foreign trade are published in detail in Commerce and Navigation of the United States. The research division handles the trade statistics of foreign countries. Thus there is concentration of work on United States and foreign trade statistics in the one bureau. The Statistical Abstract of the United States presents in condensed form statements regarding the commerce, production, industries, population, finance, etc., of the United States and a statement of the commerce of the principal foreign countries.

The distribution work of the bureau has been greatly facilitated by the establishment of district offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Seattle. These offices expedite the distribution of commercial information and establish closer relations between Government and private agencies interested in the extension of foreign trade. Arrangements have also been made with commercial organizations in other cities to establish cooperative branch offices, which will serve the same purposes as the bureau's own district offices. Such cooperative offices have been established in Baltimore, Cleveland, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland (Oreg.), Dayton, and Pittsburgh.

BUREAU OF STANDARDS.

The functions of the Bureau of Standards are as follows: The custody of the standards; the comparison of the standards used in scientific investigations, engineering, manufacturing, commerce, and educational institutions with the standards adopted or recognized by the Government; the construction, when necessary, of standards, their multiples and subdivisions; the testing and calibration of standard measuring apparatus; the solution of problems which arise in connection with standards; the determination of physical constants and properties of materials, when such data are of great importance to scientific or manufacturing interests and are not to be obtained of sufficient accuracy elsewhere; and other investigations as authorized by Congress. The bureau is authorized to exercise its functions for the Government of the United States, for any State or municipal government within the United States, or for any scientific society, educational institution, firm, corporation, or individual within the United States engaged in manufacturing or other pursuits requiring the use of standards or standard measuring instruments. For all comparisons, calibrations, tests, or investigations, except those performed for the Government of the United States or State governments, a reasonable fee will be charged.

BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

The work of the Bureau of Fisheries comprises (1) the propagation of useful food fishes, including lobsters, oysters, and other shellfish, and their distribution to suitable waters; (2) the inquiry into the causes of decrease of food fishes in the lakes,

rivers, and coast waters of the United States, the study of the waters of the coast and interior in the interest of fish culture, and the investigation of the fishing grounds of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts, with the view of determining their food resources and the development of the commercial fisheries; (3) the study of the methods of the fisheries and of the preservation and utilization of fisheries products, and the collection and compilation of statistics of the fisheries; (4) the administration of the salmon fisheries of Alaska, the fur-seal herd on the Pribilof Islands, and the care of the native inhabitants of those islands; (5) administration of the law for the protection of sponges off the coast of Florida.

BUREAU OF LIGHTHOUSES.

The United States Lighthouse Service is charged with the establishment and maintenance of aids to navigation, and with all equipment and work incident thereto, on the sea and lake coasts of the United States, and on the rivers of the United States so far as specifically authorized by law, and on the coasts of all other territory under the jurisdiction of the United States, with the exception of the Philippine Islands and Panama.

The bureau publishes Light Lists and Buoy Lists, giving information regarding all aids to navigation maintained by the Lighthouse Service; it also publishes each week, jointly with the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Notices to Mariners, giving the changes in lights, buoys, etc.

COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY.

The Coast and Geodetic Survey is charged with the survey of the coasts of the United States and coasts under the jurisdiction thereof and the publication of charts covering said coasts. This includes base measure, triangulation, topography, and hydrography along said coasts; the survey of rivers to the head of tidewater or ship navigation; deep-sea soundings, temperature, and current observations along said coasts and throughout the Gulf and Japan streams; magnetic observations and researches, and the publication of maps showing the variations of terrestrial magnetism; gravity research; determination of heights; the determination of geographic positions by astronomic observations for latitude, longitude, and azimuth, and by triangulation, to furnish reference points for State surveys.

The results obtained are published in annual reports and in special publications; charts upon various scales, including sailing charts, general charts of the coast, and harbor charts; tide tables issued annually in advance; Coast Pilots, with sailing directions covering the navigable waters; Notices to Mariners (published jointly by Coast and Geodetic Survey and Bureau of Lighthouses), issued weekly and containing current information necessary for safe navigation; catalogues of charts and publications; and such other special publications as may be required to carry out the organic law governing the survey.

BUREAU OF NAVIGATION.

The Bureau of Navigation is charged with general superintendence of the commercial marine and merchant seamen of the United States, except so far as supervision is lodged with other officers of the Government. It is specially charged with the decision of all questions relating to the issue of registers, enrollments, and licenses of vessels and the filing of those documents, with the supervision of laws relating to the admeasurement, letters, and numbers of vessels, and with the final decision of questions concerning the collection and refund of tonnage taxes. It is empowered to change the names of vessels, and prepares annually a list of vessels of the United States. The commissioner also investigates the operation of the laws relative to navigation, and annually reports to the Secretary of Commerce such particulars 3 may in his judgment admit of improvement or require amendment.

In addition to the above statutory duties the bureau is charged, under direction of the Secretary of Commerce, with the enforcement, through collectors and surveyors of customs and radio inspectors, of the navigation and steamboat-inspection laws, and the laws governing radio communication, and the consideration of action to be taken on fines, penalties, and forfeitures incurred under those laws; administrative examination of accounts of collectors, surveyors of customs, and shipping commissioners covering fines, penalties, and forfeitures; services to vessels; navigation fees; amounts collected on account of decease of passengers, tonnage-tax collections, refunds; shipment and discharge of seamen, etc.

STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE.

The Steamboat-Inspection Service is charged with the duty of inspecting vessels, the licensing of the officers of vessels, and the administration of the laws relating to such vessels and their officers for the protection of life and property.

The blue prints or drawings of water tube and coil boilers used in vessels of the American merchant marine are passed upon by the board of supervising inspectors, while designs of marine boilers of other types are passed upon by the local inspectors having original jurisdiction. All material subject to tensile strain used in the construction of marine boilers is required to be tested by an inspector of the SteamboatInspection Service, so that not only is the material but the design of a boiler under the closest scrutiny. The inspectors of hulls look after the examination of the hulls of vessels and of life-saving equipment, such as life-preservers, lifeboats, life rafts, davits, etc., and once at least in each year vessels of the American merchant marine are required by law to be inspected by the Steamboat-Inspection Service, and excursion steamers are reinspected not less than three times during the year in addition to the regular annual inspection. The local inspectors are the officers who examine applicants for licenses for the deck department and engineer department of merchant ships. These examinations are conducted frequently, and at such times as to be most convenient to the applicants for licenses, and, as the result of this close supervision over the licensing of officers, a very high standard is maintained. The Steamboat-Inspection Service also is required by law to certificate the able seamen who form the crew of merchant vessels, and the inspectors of the service, together with other Government officers especially detailed for that purpose, also certificate the lifeboat men. Not the least important of the work of the local inspectors is the investigation of violations of the steamboat-inspection laws. In such instances the boards of local inspectors have quasi judicial authority, and these boards have conferred upon them the authority and the right to suspend or revoke the licenses of officers who have been found guilty of violating these laws, negligence, inattention to duty, etc.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

THE SECRETARY OF LABOR.

The Secretary of Labor is charged with the duty of fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, improving their working conditions, and advancing their opportunities for profitable employment. He has power under the law to act as mediator and to appoint commissioners of conciliation in labor disputes whenever in his judgment the interests of industrial peace may require it to be done. He has authority to direct the collecting and collating of full and complete statistics of the conditions of labor and the products and distribution of the products of the same and to call upon other departments of the Government for statistical data and results obtained by them and to collate, arrange, and publish such statistical information so obtained in such manner as to him may seem wise. His duties also comprise the gathering and publication of information regarding labor interests and labor controversies in this and other countries; the supervision of the immigration of aliens, and the enforcement of the laws relating thereto, and to the exclusion of Chinese; the direction of the administration of the naturalization laws; the direction of the work of investigating all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life and to cause to be published such results of these investigations as he may deem wise and appropriate.

The law creating the Department of Labor provides that all duties performed and all power and authority possessed or exercised by the head of any executive department at the time of the passage of the said law, in and over any bureau, office, officer, board, branch, or division of the public service by said act transferred to the Department of Labor, or any business arising therefrom or pertaining thereto, or in relation to the duties performed by and authority conferred by law upon such bureau, officer, office, board, branch, or division of the public service, whether of an appellate or advisory character or otherwise, are vested in and exercised by the head of the said Department of Labor. The Secretary of Labor is also given authority and directed to investigate and report to Congress a plan of coordination of the activities, duties, and powers of the office of the Secretary of Labor with the activities, duties, and powers of the present bureaus, commissions, and departments, so far as they relate to labor and its conditions, in order to harmonize and unify such activities, duties, and powers, with a view to additional legislation to further define the duties and powers of the Department of Labor, and to make such special investigations and reports to the President or Congress as may be required by them or which he may deem necessary, and to report annually to Congress upon the work of the Department of Labor.

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ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF LABOR.

The Assistant Secretary performs such duties as shall be prescribed by the Secre tary or may be required by law. He becomes the Acting Secretary of Labor in the absence of the Secretary.

CHIEF CLERK.

The chief clerk is charged with the general supervision of the clerks and employees of the department; the enforcement of the general regulations of the department; the superintendency of all buildings occupied by the department in the District of Columbia; the general supervision of all expenditures from the appropriations for contingent expenses and rents; the receipt, distribution, and transmission of the mail; and the discharge of all business of the Secretary's office not otherwise assigned.

DISBURSING CLERK.

The disbursing clerk is charged by the Secretary of Labor with the duty of preparing all requisitions for the advance of public funds from appropriations for the Department of Labor to disbursing clerks and special disbursing agents charged with the disbursement of public funds; the keeping of appropriation ledgers relating to the advance and expenditure of all items of appropriations. He has charge of the issuing, recording, and accounting for Government requests for transportation issued to officers of the department for official travel; the audit and payment of all vouchers and accounts submitted from the various offices, bureaus, and services of the department; the general accounting of the department; and the accounting for all naturalization receipts received under the provisions of the act of June 29, 1906.

APPOINTMENT CLERK.

The appointment clerk has charge of all clerical work incident to appointments which are made under the jurisdiction of the department. He is also the custodian of oaths of office, bonds of officers, personnel files, and efficiency reports.

DIVISION OF PUBLICATIONS AND SUPPLIES.

The Chief of the Division of Publications and Supplies is charged by the Secretary of Labor with the conduct of all business the department transacts with the Government Printing Office; the general supervision of printing, including the editing and preparation of copy, illustrating and binding, the distribution of publications, and the maintenance of mailing lists. All blank books and blank forms and the printed stationery of all kinds used by the bureaus and offices of the department in Washington and the various outside services of the department are in his custody and are supplied by him. The advertising done by the department is in his charge. He also keeps a record of all expenditures for the publishing work of the department and conducts the correspondence it entails. Under the direction of the chief clerk he has personal supervision of all the work incident to the purchase and distribution of supplies for the department proper and for the services of the department outside of Washington and of the keeping of detailed accounts of all expenditures from the appropriation for contingent expenses of the department. He receives, verifies, and preserves the semiannual returns of property from the offices and bureaus of the department which are supplied from the contingent appropriation, and examines and reports on the semiannual property returns of all other bureaus and services.

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is charged with the duty of acquiring 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 to investigate the causes of and facts relating to controversies and disputes between employers and employees as they may occur, and which may happen to interfere with the welfare of the people of the several States.

It is also authorized, by act of March 2, 1895, to publish a bulletin on the condition of labor in this and other countries, condensations of State and foreign labor reports, facts as to conditions of employment, and such other facts as may be deemed of value to the industrial interests of the United States. This bulletin is issued in a number of