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 THE 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 
 
 JULY 1, 1913 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 1013 
 
THE 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 
 
 JULY 1, 1913 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 1913 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Origin and organization of the Department 
 
 Origin 
 
 Organization 
 
 Duties assigned to Office of the Secretary 
 
 Secretary of Commerce 
 
 Assistant Secretary 
 
 Solicitor 
 
 Chief Clerk 
 
 Disbursing Clerk 
 
 Appointment Division 
 
 Division of Publications 
 
 Division of Supplies 
 
 Bureau of the Census 
 
 Decennial census of population 
 
 Decennial census of agriculture 
 
 Census of manufactures 
 
 Annual inquiries 
 
 United States Coast and Geodetic Survey 
 
 Field work 
 
 Office work 
 
 Bureau of Corporations 
 
 Bureau of Fisheries 
 
 Division of Administration 
 
 Division of Fish Culture 
 
 Division of Inquiry Respecting Food Fishes 
 
 Division of Statistics and Methods of the Fisheries 
 
 Division of Alaska I isheries 
 
 Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce 
 
 History 
 
 Bureau of Manufactures 
 
 Bureau of Statistics 
 
 Bureau of Foreign Commerce in the State Department. 
 
 Work of the Bureau 
 
 Consular re{)orts 
 
 Commercial agents 
 
 Foreign tariffs 
 
 Commercial statistics 
 
 Specific opportunities to extend trade 
 
 Domestic trade development 
 
 Bureau of Lighthouses 
 
 Bureau of Navigation 
 
 Bureau of Standards 
 
 Steamboat-Inspection Service 
 
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 THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 DEPT. 
 
 ORIGIN AND ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 ORIGIN. 
 
 The preamble to the Constitution lays down broadly two great 
 aims of government — (1) the defense of the life, liberty, and property 
 of the citizen, and (2) the promotion of his general welfare. 
 
 In the year following the adoption of the Constitution, three of the 
 executive branches of Government, with Secretaries, were estab- 
 lished: First, the Department of Foreign Affairs, by act approved 
 July 27, 1789 (name changed to Department of State by act ap- 
 proved September 15, of the same year) ; second, the War Depart- 
 ment, created by the act of August 7, 1789 (then embracing naval 
 affairs); and third, the Treasury Department, established by act of 
 September 2, 1789. Until the Department of Commerce (and Labor) 
 was organized, in 1903, the Treasury Department was the principal 
 agency of government through which a limited supervision of the com- 
 mercial and industrial life of the nation was administered, and the 
 designation sought to be given its chief officer in the constitutional 
 convention was that of "Secretary of Commerce and Finance." ^ 
 
 The record of events from the close of the Revolution to the con- 
 stitutional convention at Philadelphia in 1787 shows that the desire 
 to foster the commerce and trade of the States was the paramount 
 and controlling argument which made the Union possible. 
 
 The constitutional convention of the thirteen States was the direct 
 outcome of the Annapolis convention of five States, and this conven- 
 tion, in turn, was born of the Mount Vernon convention of delegates 
 from the States of Virgmia and Maryland, assembled to adjust and 
 promote commerce and trade between those two States. The com- 
 missioners from Virginia and Maryland met at Alexandria, in the 
 former State, in the spring of 1785, but General Washington extended 
 to them the hospitality of his home, which they accepted, and the 
 delegates — all prominent men of then- day, and friends of Washing- 
 ton — conducted their deliberations at Mount Vernon, aided, no 
 doubt, by the counsel of their host, whose interest m and knowledge 
 of the subject under discussion had long been manifest, and who, two 
 years later, presided at the constitutional convention at Philadelphia. 
 The sole subject of this mectmg at the home of Washington was the 
 
 I Documentary History of the Constitution. 
 
 3 
 
4 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 commerce and trade between the two States ; but in reality these men 
 were enacting the prologue to what was to be in fact an indissoluble 
 Union. 
 
 The Mount Vernon convention recommended that representatives 
 be appomted annually to confer on the commercial and trade rela- 
 tions of the States. In considering this report, Maryland passed a 
 resolution inviting Pennsylvania and Delaware to join in these annual 
 conventions; while in the A'u'ginia assembly, Madison penned a reso- 
 lution appointing commissioners to meet such as should be delegated 
 by the other States "to take into consideration the trade of the United 
 States," and "to consider how far a uniform system in theii- com- 
 mercial regulations may be necessary to their common interest and 
 permanent harmony." ^ 
 
 The immediate result of the conference on trade and commerce held 
 at Mount Vernon was that m the following year, 1786, commissioners 
 from five of the thirteen States assembled by appointment at Annap- 
 olis "to take mto considef'ation the trade and commerce of the 
 United States." In this convention, Hamilton drew up an address, 
 which Madison and Randolph signed with him, recommending a 
 general meeting of the States m a future convention, and an extension 
 of the powers of their delegates to other objects than those of com- 
 merce, as in the course of their reflections on the subject they had 
 been "mduccd to think that the power to regulate Trade is of such 
 comprehensive extent and will enter so far mto the General System 
 of the Foedcral Government, that to give it eflicacy, and to obviate 
 questions and doubts concernmg its precise nature and Ihnits, may 
 require a correspondent adjustment of other Parts of the Foedcral 
 System." 2 
 
 In the constitutional convention, August 20, 1787, Mr. Gouverneur 
 Morris, seconded by Mr. Pmckney, submitted a proposal that there 
 should be a council of state to ' ' assist the President hi coiiductmg the 
 public affairs," the third member of this council to be a "Secretar}^ of 
 Commerce and Fmance," whose duties were, m part, to "recommend 
 such things as may in his judgment promote the commercial mterests 
 of the United States." This ])lan also provided for a Secretary of 
 Domestic Affairs to have supervision of agriculture, manufactures, 
 roads, and navigation.^ The Constitution, as a(h)pted, makes no 
 provision for a cabinet or council of state, but President Washington 
 unmediately mvited the Secretaries of the three departments first 
 mentioned, and the Attorney General, appomted under the act of 
 September 24, 1789, to become members of his official family. The 
 Department of Justice was established by the act approved June 22, 
 1870. 
 
 1 Pennsylvania Magazine of llislory and Biography. 
 » Documentary History of the Constitution. 
 
ORIGIN AND ORGANIZATION. 5 
 
 During the period between the close of the Federal convention and 
 the ratification of the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, writing on 
 the subject of commerce, said: 
 
 The importance of the Union, iu a commercial light, is one of those points about 
 which there is least room to entertain a difference of opinion, and which has, in fact, 
 commanded the most general assent of men who have any acquaintance with the 
 subject. This applies as well to our intercourse with foreign countries as with each 
 other. ^ 
 
 In 1788, the same year in which the above was written by Hamilton, 
 Commodore John Paul Jones, in a letter to the Marquise de Lafayette 
 concerning the Constitution, stated : 
 
 Had I the power I would create at least seven ministries in the primary organization 
 of government under the Constitution. In addition to the four already agreed upon, 
 I would ordain a Ministry of Marine, a Ministry of Home Affairs, and a General Poet 
 Office; and, as commerce must be our great reliance, it would not be amiss to create 
 also as the eighth a Ministry of Commerce.^ 
 
 The remarkable foresight of the great commodore enabled him to 
 name the Cabinet very much as it is to-day, practically in the order 
 in which it grew, agriculture being included by liim in the Interior 
 (Home) Department, where it actually was for a time. The labor 
 interests, however, which have grown rapidly in importance in recent 
 decades, are now also provided for in a separate department. 
 
 Wlien the Constitution had been ratified by eleven States, and the 
 Congress, under its authority to "regulate commerce witli foreign 
 nations and among the several States," proceeded solemnly to treat 
 the commerce and manufactures of the two remaining States in the 
 same manner as those of any foreign country, it was from a sense of 
 their commercial interests that they hastened to emboli themselves 
 with their sister Commonwealths, although one of these two States 
 had not even participated in the convention. 
 
 Thus, not only were the commercial and industrial interests of the 
 States an important and controlling influence in bringing them into 
 the Federal convention, but a realization of the commercial advan- 
 tages of the Union induced the States to ratify the C^onstitution. 
 
 In his first annual address to Congress, President Wasliington said : 
 
 The advancement of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures by all proper means 
 will not, I trust, need recommendation. 
 
 The first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, gave 
 special consideration to the commerce and industries of the country, 
 and his special reports on these subjects, in which he recommended 
 that a board be estabUshed for promoting arts, agriculture, manu- 
 factures, and commerce, demonstrate that he considered tliis function 
 of the Treasury Department one of primary importance. 
 
 1 Federalist. » Original manuscript in archives of Congressional I^ibrary. 
 
6 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 Hastened by impending war with Franco, the act of April 30, 1798, 
 was passed, estabhshing the Navy Department, and its Secretary 
 became the fifth member of the Cabinet. In 1829 the Postmaster 
 General entered the Cabinet for the first time, on the invitation of 
 President Jackson, though this office had been in existence since the 
 act of September 22, 1789. The General Post Office was constituted 
 the Post Oifice Department by the act approved June 8, 1872. 
 
 The discussions in the early Congresses looking toward the estab- 
 lishment of another executive department centered around what was 
 termed a "Home Department," and the then important work of gov- 
 ernment in connection with land and Indian affairs f oraied the nucleus 
 from which was established, under the act of ]\Iarch 3, 1849, the 
 Department of the Interior, whose Secretary became the seventh 
 Cabinet member. As the business interests of the country entered 
 largely into the provisions of the various measures anticipating the 
 Interior Department, it may be well to notice some of these reports. 
 
 In a bill to establish a Home Department, introduced by Repre- 
 sentative Vining, of Delaware, in the First Congress, July 23, 1789, 
 the duties of the proposed department were, in part, "to report to the 
 President plans for the protection and improvement of manufactures, 
 agriculture, and commerce." The outcome of this movement was tlio 
 change in name of Department of Foreign Affairs to Department of 
 State, above noted, and the giving of duties to the State Department 
 not comportable with the original name. 
 
 President Madison's message of December 3, 1816, recommended 
 the establishment of "an additional department in the executive 
 branch ol the Government"; and the Senate committee to which this 
 recommendation was referred reported a bill to establish a Home 
 Department to have charge of such subjects as the President might 
 direct. In 1825 the subject was again revived, and Representative 
 Newton offered a resolution that a department to be denominated " the 
 Home Department should be established for the purpose of superin- 
 tending whatever may relate to the interests of agriculture and manu- 
 factures, the promotion of the progress of science and the arts, the 
 intercourse and trade between the several States by roads and canals." 
 This resolution was not agreed to. 
 
 In his message of December 6, 1825, President John Quincy Adams 
 recommended a reorganization of the executive departments, and the 
 committee of the House of Representatives to which this matter was 
 referred, by its chairman, Daniel Webster, reported a bill to establish 
 a new department. The report stated that "at the organization of 
 the Government it appears to have been the original design, in regard 
 to the executive departments, that there should bo a distinct and 
 separate department for such internal or domestic affairs as appertain 
 to the General Government." 
 
ORIGIN AND Organization. 7 
 
 On December 15, 1836, the resolution of Mr. Benton, of Missouri, 
 that 'Hhe annual statement of the commerce and navigation of the 
 United States be hereafter printed under the direction of the Secretary 
 of the Treasury, and be communicated in printed form as soon as pos- 
 sible after the commencing of each stated session of Congress," was 
 adopted by the Senate. 
 
 Notwithstanding the discussions leading up to the establishment of 
 the Department of the Interior, very few of the commercial and 
 industrial agencies of Government were put under the control of that 
 department, most of them remaining under the jurisdiction of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 The movement for the creation of an additional executive depart- 
 ment, following the establishment of the Interior Department, took 
 many and varied phases. The names proposed in the different bills 
 to establish a new department indicate their provisions. These names 
 included the following titles, grouped together in various ways: Agri- 
 culture, Commerce, Labor, Industries, Manufactures, Patents, Min- 
 ing, Navigation, Transportation, and Mechanics. 
 
 The first industries of the country to be accorded an executive 
 department b}- the Congress were those of agriculture, when the De- 
 partment of Agriculture, established by act of May 15, 1862, was con- 
 stituted an executive department, with a Secretary of Agriculture 
 (eighth member of the Cabinet), by the act of February 9, 1889. The 
 commercial and manufacturing interests of the country, as far as 
 governmental supervision and cooperation were concerned, were left 
 to offices distributed among the several departments. The business 
 of government increased in volume as the country grew in age, and 
 during the last half of the nineteenth century the work of the fisciil 
 branch of the Treasury so absorbed the attention of the head of that 
 department that his supervision of commercial matters had lost the 
 importance it had enjoyed under the first Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 Commercial conventions at Detroit in 1865, and at Boston in 1868, 
 and the National Board of Trade in 1874, memorialized the Congress 
 for the establishment of a Department of Commerce, in order that the 
 rapidly increasing volume of capital invested in commerce and manu- 
 factures might be the subject of governmental aid and supervision. 
 Many similar petitions were later presented to the Congress, and the 
 subject was referred to in several poUtical platforms and annual mes- 
 sages of the President. These petitions, and the representatives of 
 commercial organizations before the committees of Congress, stated 
 that the United States was a distinctly commercial and industrial 
 nation; that the Twelfth Census showed the aggregate value of the 
 products of the manufacturing establishments of the United States, 
 during the census year ended June 1, 1900, to exceed thirteen billion 
 dollars, which is probably neai-ly four times the aggregate value of 
 
8 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 all the products of agriculture during the same 3'ear; that the same «j|| 
 
 arguments advanced for the creation of the Department of Agricul- "| 
 
 ture were applicable to one for the commercial and industrial life of 
 the country; that the manufacturing interests in the United States 
 exceeded in volume and importance the industrial interests of any 
 nation in the world, and yd there was no Government office specialty 
 charged with any duties relating directly to them, and that in this 
 respect the United States was almost alone among the nations of the 
 world; that agriculture, labor, transportation, mining, fisheries, and 
 forestry all had distinct recognition in one form or another, but not 
 so with the manufacturing interests. 
 
 The country's need for a Department of Commerce, which had 
 become national in scope in 1874, was forced to give way temporarily 
 in order that all the energy of the commerce committees of Congress 
 might be centered upon the eradication of the transportation evil of 
 rebates. This resulted in the establishment of the Interstate Com- 
 merce Commission in 1887. 
 
 The movement for the establishment of the Department gathered 
 headway, however, and in the Fifty-seventh Congress legislation pro- 
 viding for its organization was enacted. The legislative history of 
 the act creating the Department appears in the Congressional Record 
 for that Congress, and, while interesting, is too extended for more 
 than the briefest outline here. 
 
 On December 4, 1901, Senator Nelson introduced in the Senate a 
 bill (S. 569) "To establish the Department of Commerce," which was 
 read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce ; on January 
 9, 1902, the bill was reported with certain amendments (S. Rept. 
 No. 82, 57th Cong., 1st sess.). The discussion on the bill began in 
 the Senate on January 13, was continued on January 16, 20, 22, 23, 
 27, and 28, and the bill passed the Senate with a number of amend- 
 ments, including one changing the name to "Department of Commerce 
 and Labor," on the last-named date. 
 
 The act was received in the House and referred to the Committee 
 on Interstate and Foreign Commerce on January 30, 1902. On Janu- 
 ary 6, 1903, the committee submitted a report (H. Rept. No. 2970, 
 57th Cong., 2d sess.) recommending that the bill of the Senate (S. 569) 
 be amended by strildng out all after the enacting clause and substi- 
 tuting in lieu thereof an entirely new bill. The House biU, however, 
 embraced most of the features contained in the Senate bill, the main 
 contention being as to what bureaus should be embraced in the new 
 Department. 
 
 On January 15, 1903, the bill was taken up under a special con- 
 tinuing order to be considered untU finally disposed of in Committee 
 of the Whole House on the state of the Union. On January 17 the 
 debate was concluded in the House and the bill was passed. 
 
ORIGIN AND OEGANIZATION. 9 
 
 The l)ill was in due course sent to a committee of conference. (For 
 Senate proceedings see Congressional Record of January 19 and 29, 
 and February 10 and 11, 1903, and for House proceedings see Record 
 of January 29 and February 9 and 10, 190-3.) The conference report 
 was agreed to in the House on February 10 and in the Senate on 
 February 11, and the bill was signed by the President on February 
 14, 1903. 
 
 Thus the Secretary of Commerce and Labor became the ninth 
 member of the President's Cabmet. 
 
 The labor interests first received recognition in the establishment 
 of the Bureau of Labor under the act of Congress approved June 27, 
 1S84; tliis Bureau was constituted the Department of Labor, and the 
 Commissioner of Labor was continued in charge, by the act of Con- 
 gress approved June 13, 1888. By the act of February 14, 1903, the 
 Department of Labor was on July 1, 1903, transferrred to the 
 Department of Commerce and Labor, and made a bureau thereof. 
 By the act of March 4, 1913, the name of the Bureau was changed to 
 "Bureau of Labor Statistics," and by the same act it was transferred 
 to and made a part of the new Department of Labor, the head of 
 which became the tenth member of the President's Cabinet. The act 
 of March 4, 1913, transferred also from the Department of Commeice 
 and Labor to the Department of Labor the Commissioner General of 
 Immigration, the commissioners of immigration, the Bureau of Immi- 
 gration and Naturalization, the Division of Information, the Division 
 of Naturalization, the Immigration Service at Large, and the Chil- 
 dren's Bureau. Also the Division of Naturalization was created an 
 independent bureau, and the title of the head thereof was changed 
 from Chief, Division of Naturalization, to "Commissioner of Naturali- 
 zation." The act of March 4, 1913, also changed the designation of 
 the Department of Commerce and Labor to "Department of Com- 
 merce," and the title of the Secretary was changed to "Secretary of 
 Commerce." 
 
 It may appear strange that one hundred and fourteen years elapsed 
 before a Department of Commerce became a reality, when its need 
 was felt and its value recognized at the very beginnmg. The answer 
 is ready. Conservative action on the important subject of increasing 
 the number of executive departments has been the rule of the Con- 
 gress. The name "Department of Foreign Affairs" was changed to 
 "Department of State" m order that the field of that do{)artment 
 might be enlarged and the creation of a home de|)artment avoichMl; 
 the naval aft"airs were onsoliilated with those of the Army to make 
 unnecessary a separate Department of the Navy. In this grouping 
 in one department of matters that would logically form two, it was 
 but natural that commerce and finance should at lu'st abide together. 
 
 8038°— 13 2 
 
10 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 The tendency of the national leg^islatiirc to follow and not lead in 
 enlarging the executive side of government compelled the Depart- 
 ment of Commerce to wait, as each of the older departments in its 
 turn had waited, until the demand for the legislation became para- 
 mount and unanimous, and until the field of its activity was aheady 
 so large and the appeal so urgent that none but an aliirmative answer 
 
 could be given. 
 
 ORGANIZATION. 
 
 The initial step in the organization of tlie Department v/as the 
 appomtmcnt, by the President, of George B. Cortclyou as tlie first 
 Secretary on February 16, 1903; the nomination was confirmed by 
 the Senate on the same day, and the Secretary, after taking the oath 
 of office on the 18th, established temporary headquartei-s at the 
 White House. 
 
 The temporary headquarters were later moved to the building 
 known as the Builders' Exchange, at 719-721 Thirteenth Street NW., 
 where, in a large room divided by partitions, the work of organization 
 was begun on March 16, 1903, though a Commissioner of Corpora- 
 tions, Chief Clerk, and Disbursing Clerk liad been appointed prior to 
 that date. A few weeks later the Willard Building, which was then 
 under construction at 513-515 Fourteenth Street NW., was rented 
 by the Department, and the Secretary, witli as much of his force as 
 was organized, moved in as soon as the building was completed. 
 This building lias ever since been the headquarters of tlic Depart- 
 ment, though sucli of its bureaus as it has been impracticable to 
 accommodate there have been located about the city wherever 
 suitable quarters could be found. The Department has, however, 
 entered into a lease for a buildmg which was designed esi)ecially for 
 its needs and is now being erected at Nineteenth Street and Penn- 
 sylvania Avenue NW., where it will ])robably be located until its 
 proposed new l)uilding is erected by the Government on the site which 
 has already been acquired south of Pennsylvania Avenue between 
 Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets NW. 
 
 On the mornmg of June 17, 1903, under the auspices of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, the Nation's flag was raised for the first time 
 over the new Department, and its headquarters was formall}* i)laced 
 in commission. The enthe personnel of tlie Department assend)led 
 at the flagstaff on the roof with a committee of the Grand Army of 
 the Republic to mtness the ceremony. Brief achlresses were made 
 by Judge I. G. Kimball, department commanilcr. Grand Army of the 
 Republic, and Secretary Cortelyou. 
 
 The law creating the Department transferred to it on July 1, 1903, 
 certain departments and l)ureaus wliich liad theretofore been inde^ 
 pendent offices or under the older executive departments, and tliis 
 important date in the life of the new Department was marked by 
 
ORIGIN AND ORGANIZATION. 11 
 
 the assembling in the office of the Secretary of its general officers 
 and a number of distinguished guests. The speakers on this occa- 
 sion were Rev. Franldin Noble; E,ev. D. J. Stafford; Secretary Moody, 
 of the Navy Department; S. N. D. North, Du-ector of the Census; 
 and H. B. F. Macfarland, Commissioner of the District of Columbia. 
 Secretary Cortelj^ou made an address in which he recounted the 
 work of preliminary organization, and spoke of the great opportu- 
 nities before the Department in aiding and guiding the commerce 
 and industries of the country and of the principles upon which the 
 Department would administer the laws defining its powers. In 
 closing, he said : 
 
 No other department has a wider field, if the just expectations of the framers of the 
 legislation are realized. None will have closer relations with the people or greater 
 opportunities for effective work. While we can not dedicate a new and imposing 
 structure to the uses of the Department, we can at least, and I am sure we all do, 
 dedicate ourselves to the work which Chief Executives have recommended and Con- 
 gress in its wisdom has set apart to be done. In this spirit I have thought it altogether 
 fitting and proper that we should have these brief exercises, and that in them we 
 should emphasize the fact that if we are to have the highest success as a nation in our 
 commercial and industrial relations, whether among ourselves or with other peoples, 
 we must keep ever to the front and dominant always those sturdy elements of charac- 
 ter and the dependence upon Divine guidance which were so signally shown by the 
 founders of the Republic, and to which we can not too often revert in these busy and 
 prosperous times which make memorable for us the opening years of the new century. 
 
 The Department of Commerce, as at present constituted, in addi- 
 tion to the offices and divisions in the unmediate Office of the Secre- 
 tary, consists of the Bureau of the Census, the Coast and Geodetic 
 Survey, the Bureau of Corporations, the Bureau of Fisheries (to 
 which the administration of laws and regulations governing Alaskan 
 fur-seal and salmon fisheries and fur-bearmg animals has been 
 assigned), the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce (which has 
 among its duties the direction of the work of commercial agents at 
 home and abroad), the Bureau of Lighthouses and the Lighthouse 
 Service, the Bureau of Navigation (under which are the Shippuig and 
 Radio Services), the Bureau of Standards, and the Steamboat- 
 Inspection Service. 
 
 Most of these bureaus and services were transferred to the Depart- 
 ment on July 1, 1903, by the act of February 14, 1903, known as the 
 organic act. The Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Bureaus of Light- 
 houses (formerly the Lighthouse Board), Navigation, and Standards, 
 and the Steamboat-Inspection Service Avere previously under the 
 Treasury Department and the Bureau of the Census was in the 
 Interior Department, while prior to July 1, 1903, the Bureau of 
 Fisheries was an independent office (not assigned to any depart- 
 ment). The Alaskan fur-seal fisheries also wore formerly in the 
 Treasury Department. 
 
12 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 The Bureau of Corporations was created by the Department's 
 orfjanic act. 
 
 The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce is a consohdation 
 (effected b}^ the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation 
 act of August 23, 1912) of the former Bureaus of Manufactures and 
 Statistics, the first of which was created by the act of Februaiy 
 14, 1903, and the second was transferred to the Department by 
 the same act, being a consolidation of the Bureau of Statistics of the 
 Treasuiy Department and the Bureau of Foreign Commerce of the 
 State Department. 
 
 A short history and description of the work of each of these several 
 bureaus* appears under its respective heading. 
 
 DUTIES ASSIGNED TO OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY. 
 
 The duties of the Office of the Secretary of Commerce are largely 
 of a supervisory nature, but embrace also some matters not properly 
 coming dircctlj^ under one of the several bureaus of the Depart- 
 ment. The organization consists of the offices of the Secretary, 
 Assistant Secretary, Solicitor, and Chief Clerk, the Disbursing Office, 
 the Appointment Division, and the Divisions of PubUcations and 
 SuppUes. Each of these units has assigned to it certain well-defined 
 duties, as indicated under the headings which follow. 
 
 SECRETARY OF COMMERCE. 
 
 The organic act of February 14, 1903, creating the Department, as 
 modified by the act of March 4, 1913, creating the Department of 
 Labor, provides for a Secretary of Commerce, whose term of office 
 shall be the same as that of other Cabinet officers. The i)rovisions 
 of Title IV of the Revised Statutes "uith amendments thereto are 
 made appHcable to tliis Department. The organic act also proAddes 
 for an Assistant Secretary, a Chivi Clerk, and a Disbui-sing Clerk. 
 
 Under its organic act it is the duty of the Department to foster, 
 promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce, the mining, 
 manufacturing, sliij)i)ing, and fishery industries, and the transporta- 
 tion facihtics of the United States, and the Secretary of Commerce is 
 charged with the responsibility of carrying out the purpose of the 
 Department as tluis broadly outhned. Specifically, however, the 
 powers and duties of the Secretary may be briefly sunmiarized as 
 follows : 
 
 Tlie investigation of management of corporations (except railroads) 
 engaged in interstate commerce. 
 
 The administration of the Lighthouse Service, including the estab- 
 lishment and maintenance of aids to navigation. 
 
 The taking of the census. 
 
 The making of coast and geodetic surveys. 
 
OFFICE OF THE SECRETAEY. 13 
 
 The collection and publication of statistics on foreign and domestic 
 commerce, and the investigation of markets for American products. 
 
 The inspection of steamboats and the enforcement of laws pertain- 
 ing thereto for the protection of hfe and property. 
 
 The propagation and distribution of useful food fishes and the 
 superA^sing of Alaskan fur-seal and salmon fisheries. 
 
 Jurisdiction over merchant vessels, including their registry, meas- 
 urement, licensing, entry, clearance, etc., and the enforcement of the 
 act requiring wireless equipment on vessels. 
 
 The standardization of weights and measures. 
 
 The formulation of regulations (in conjunction with the Secretaries 
 of the Treasury and Agriculture) for the enforcement of the food and 
 drugs act and the insecticide act. 
 
 It is the further duty of the Secretary of Commerce to make such 
 special investigations and furnish such information to the President 
 or Congress as may be required by them on the foregoing subject 
 matters and to make annual reports to Congress upon the work of 
 liis Department. 
 
 By the act of March 2, 1907, the Secretarj'" of Commerce is created 
 a trustee of the Foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Peace. 
 
 ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 
 
 The Assistant Secretary performs such duties as are prescribed by 
 the Secretary, and in his absence acts as head of the Department. 
 
 SOLICITOR. 
 
 The office of the Sohcitor of the Department of Commerce was 
 authorized by the legislative act of March 18, 1904. The Sohcitor, 
 who is an officer of the Department of Justice, is the cliief law officer 
 of the Department. His duties are to act as legal adviser to the 
 Secretary of Commerce and the chiefs of the various bureaus, and 
 to render opinions on questions of law arising in the course of 
 business in the Department. He prepares and examines all con- 
 tracts and bonds entered into or required by the Dej)artment, and 
 has charge of the pieparation of all legal papers to wliich the Depart- 
 ment is a party. He also renders such legal service in connection 
 with matters arising in the administrative work as may be required 
 of him by the Secretary or the Attorney General. 
 
 The Assistant Sohcitor, who acts as Solicitor in the absence of the 
 latter, is charged with the general superintendence of the clerical 
 force of the office. He also has general charge of the preparation 
 and examination of all legal papers of the Department, and performs 
 other legal service in connection with the work of the office. 
 
14 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 CHIEF CLERK. 
 
 The Chief Clerk enforces the general regulations of the Department 
 and exercises general supervision over its employees. He superin- 
 tends all the Department's buildings in the District of Columbia; 
 supervises all expenditures from the appropriations for contingent 
 expenses and rent; receives, distributes, and transmits the mail; and 
 has general charge of the telegraph and telephones, and of all property 
 and equipment. He also discharges all business of a miscellaneous 
 character which does not come specifically within the scope of one of 
 the regular bureaus. 
 
 DISBURSING CLERK. 
 
 The Disbursing Clerk, whose office was created by the act establish- 
 ing the Department, has general supervision of the financial transac- 
 tions of the Department. In his office are kept the appropriation 
 ledgers covering all appropriations made for the support of the 
 Department, and all transactions, whether by the Treasury Depart- 
 ment or any bureau or office of the Department, affecting those appro- 
 priations are recorded therein. 
 
 It is his duty to prepare for submission to the Secretar}?- of the 
 Treasury, to be forwarded to Congress in accordance with law, all 
 estimates covering appropriations desired for the various activities 
 of the Department. 
 
 He disburses all appropriations made for the support of the Depart- 
 ment with the exception of those for the support of the Coast and 
 Geodetic Survey and most of the appropriations for the Lighthouse 
 Service at large, wliich are disbursed by special disbursing agents 
 appointed for that purpose. 
 
 lie prepares for the signature of the Secretary all requisitions for 
 advances of funds from appropriations under the control of the 
 Department, and makes the proper entries in the appropriation rec- 
 ords of the Department kept in his office. 
 
 All claims against the Department received for payment by the 
 Disbursing Clerk are given an examination to determine whether 
 they are legal claims against the Government and are paid either by 
 check or by cash, according to the nature of the account. 
 
 The collections by the Department covering amounts for property 
 sold and various other miscellaneous receipts are handled through 
 and accounted for in the office of the Disbursing Clerk. 
 
 APPOINTMENT DIVISION. 
 
 The Appointment Division was organized in February, 1904. 
 Previous to that time the appointment work had been conducted 
 by the Disbursing Office. The office of Chief of Division was 
 created by the act maldng appropriations for the legislative, execu- 
 
OFFICE OF THE SECEETARY. 15 
 
 tive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal year 
 ended June 30, 1907, and the position has since been included in the 
 annual appropriation acts. 
 
 The duties of the Appointment Division involve the supervision 
 of matters relating to appointments, transfers, promotions, reduc- 
 tions, removals, and all other changes in the personnel, including 
 applications for positions and recommendations concerning the 
 same, and the correspondence connected thercAvith; the prepara- 
 tion 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 Ofhciiil 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 preliminary work looking to the organization of the Division 
 of Publications was begun in April, 1903, by the detail of a clerk 
 from the then Bureau of Statistics, one of the bureaus transferred to 
 the new Department by the act of February 14, 1903, though the Divi- 
 sion was not formally organized until July 1, 1903. The purpose in 
 creating a division of pubhcations was to have in one central 
 office complete control over the Department's pubUcation work 
 and over all expenditures for the same, in order to secure uni- 
 formity and effect economy. The Division is charged with the 
 conduct of the business which the Department transacts with the 
 Government Printing Office, and with general supervision over 
 all printing for the Department, including editing and preparing 
 copy, illustrating and binding, and keeping records of expenditures. 
 It has in charge the distribution of pubhcations and the mainte- 
 nance of the mailmg lists. Blank books, blank forms, and printed 
 stationery of all kinds used by the several services of the Depart- 
 ment are kept in stock and supplied by it on requisition. It also 
 has charge of the advertising done by the Department. 
 
 DIVISION OF SUPPLIES. 
 
 The Division of Supplies is charged, under the immediate direction 
 of the Chief Clerk, with the ])urchase and distribution of all supplies 
 for the use of the Department in Washington, except certain supplies 
 for the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Bureau of Standards. It 
 
16 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 also purchases and distributes such supphes for the field services as 
 are purchased from contractors under the general suppl}- schedule. 
 All accounts under the appropriations for contingent expenses and 
 rent are maintained in this Division. 
 
 The Chief of the Division of Supplies, by virtue of an order of the 
 Secretary, is Auditor of Property Returns. All property records are 
 maintained in his office, as are also the records of all sales of property 
 belonging to the Department within the District of Columbia. The 
 Division prepares annually a compilation of the estimated require- 
 ments of the bureaus for the guidance of the General Supply Com- 
 mittee in making contracts for supplies. The annual contracts made 
 by the Department for the hauling of ashes and rubbish, the launder- 
 ing of towels, the shoeing of horses, and the sale of waste paper are 
 handled in the Division. 
 
 I 
 
BUREAU OF THE CENSUS. 
 
 Before the adoption of the Constitution, which ])rovided for a decen- 
 nial enumeration on which to base representation and direct taxation,, 
 estimates of the colonial population had been purely conj ectural . The 
 first enumeration after the establishment of our present form of gov- 
 ernment was under the act of March 1, 1790, which provided that it 
 should be taken by United States marshals, who were to make returns 
 to the President. The agency of United States marshals was used 
 until the census of 1880. Beginning with the second enumeration 
 (1800), the Secretary of State had general super^sion, until the 
 establishment of the Department of the Interior (1849), when the 
 Census Office was placed under that Department, where it remauied 
 until July 1, 1903, when, under the act approved February 14, 1903, 
 it was transferred to the Department of Commerce. By order of the 
 Secretaiy of July 1, 1903, the name "Bureau of the Census" was 
 adopted. 
 
 In January, 1800, two learned societies memorialized Congress to 
 enlarge the scope of census inquiry, and in the third enumeration 
 (1810) Congress provided for the collection by the marshals of cer- 
 tain industrial statistics upon schedules prepared by the Secretaiy of 
 the Treasury. In this enumeration "an actual inquiry at eveiy 
 dwellmg house" was prescribed. 
 
 The fourth enumeration (1820) included a limited number of indus- 
 trial and occupation statistics. The fifth enumeration (1830) related 
 to population only, and for the first time uniform pruited schedules 
 were used. The Sixth Census (1840) extended its inquiries to occupa- 
 tions of the people and included industrial and commercial statistics. 
 The census of 1840 marks the beginning of an effort to make the 
 decennial enumeration the instrument for ascertaining something 
 beyond the mere number of persons of each sex and the various ages 
 of the population. Prior to that nothing had been done systemat- 
 ically to show the growth and development of the coinitiy's indus- 
 tries and resources. 
 
 The Interior Department took uj) the supervision of the census 
 in 1849, the first one to be taken under its direction being the Sev- 
 enth (1850). This census was taken on six schedules — (1) free in- 
 habitants, (2) slave inhabitants, (3) mortality, (4) i)roductions of agri- 
 culture, (5) products of industiy, and (6) social statistics. This 
 radical amplification of statistics marks an ej)Och in the history of 
 census taking in the United States. 
 
 In 1857 Congress provided for a census of Mumesota f)rior to its 
 admission as a State. 
 
 8638°— 13 3 17 
 
18 DEPARTMENT OF COMIV.EBCE. 
 
 The act of May 23, 1850, under which the Seventh Census was taken, 
 was the law under which the Eighth (1860) and Ninth (1870) Cen- 
 suses were taken. The work of the Eighth Census was completed 
 under the Commissioner of the General Land Ofhce. Tallying 
 machines were first used in the Ninth Census. 
 
 In 1869 and 1870 a special committee of Congress investigated in 
 detail census needs, and the report of its chairman. General Garfield, 
 formed the groundwork of the Tenth Census. 
 
 An unsuccessful effort to establish a quinquennial census was 
 made in 1875. 
 
 The Superintendent of Census was fn-st ajjpointed by the President, 
 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, in the Tenth Cen- 
 sus (1880), this official having theretofore been a superintending 
 clerk, appointed by the Secretaiy of the Interior, under the law of 
 1850. In this census (1880) the services of United States marshals 
 were dis])ensed with, and supervisors of census were appointed by 
 the President and confirmed by the Senate, while the supervisoi-s, in 
 turn, nominated enumerators in then- respective districts. Provision 
 was made in the census act of 1880 for an interdecennial census, in 
 1885, by any State or Territory, the Federal Government to bear a 
 portion of the expense. Three States and two Territories availed 
 themselves of this o})i)ortunity. 
 
 The census of 1880, in the variety of its investigation and m com- 
 pleteness of detail, marks the beginning of the third era in census 
 taking in this country. The enumerations prior to the law of 1850 
 had in effect amounted to nothing more than a count of the population, 
 though some advance along the line of industrial statistics had been 
 made. The three censuses taken under the law of 1850, although 
 decided improvements over the earlier enumerations, were deficient in 
 many respects. The census of 1880, by its' change in the methods of 
 supervising and collecting data, and the employment of experts in 
 making special investigations, enabled the Nation to know more 
 accurately the facts concerning its population, wealth, industries, and 
 varied resources. 
 
 The census of 1890 was taken along the same comprehensive Imes 
 as the preceding census. It was not mtended originally to follow the 
 ])lan of the Tenth Census, but the law of March 1, 1889, under which 
 the Eleventh Census was taken, supplemented by later legislation 
 requiring information as to "farms, homes, and mortgages," resulted 
 ])ractically in as many diffeient subjects of inquiry, and as many 
 volumes constituted the final report. The work of the census was 
 assigned to twenty-five divisions, each devoted to some special branch 
 or feature. An electrical system of tabulation was used for the first 
 time in compiling the statistics relating to population and mortality, 
 and to crime, pauperism, and benevolence. The work was completed 
 
BUREAU OF THE CENSUS. 19 
 
 by the Commissioner of Labor (now Commissioner of Labor Statis- 
 tics) by direction of Congress. 
 
 The census of 1900 was taken under the act of March 3, 1899, by 
 which tlie Director of the Census was given entire control of the work, 
 including the appointment of the statisticians, clerks, and other 
 employees of the Census Office. The decennial work was limited to 
 inquiries relating to population, mortality, agriculture, and manufac- 
 tures, but provision was made for the collection of statistics relating 
 to various special subjects after the completion of the decennial work. 
 This division of the work constituted a radical departure from the 
 course pursued at the two preceding censuses, at which the effort was 
 made to carry on, practically simultaneously, the work relating to 
 twenty or more distinct subjects of investigation. The general reports 
 of the Twelfth Census, comprised in ten quarto volumes, were pub- 
 lished, m conformity with the requirements of the census act, on or 
 before July 1, 1902, or within two years from the date set for the 
 legal termination of the enumeration work." The system of electrical 
 tabulation was again employed in the work of the Twelfth Census, 
 after a competitive test, and was utilized to advantage m the tabula- 
 tion of the statistics of population, mortality, and agriculture. 
 
 The necessity for the establishment of a permanent statistical 
 bureau to which the work of the decennial census might also be 
 intrusted was recognized, indirectly at least, as early as 1845, and 
 beginnmg with 1860 recommendations for the establishment of a 
 national bureau of statistics were embodied in the annual reports of 
 the Secretary of the Interior up to and including the year 1865. 
 
 Similar suggestions were made after that date for the establishment 
 of a central bureau of statistics at Washington, but no direct action 
 toward providing for a permanent census office, as such, was taken by 
 Congress untU February 16, 1891, when the Senate directed the Sec- 
 retary of the Interior to consider and report on the expediency of the 
 establishment of a permanent census bureau. No final action in the 
 matter was taken by Congress, however, and nothing more was done 
 until March 19, 1896, when the Commissioner of Labor was directed 
 to report to the Congress for its consideration, as soon as practicable, 
 a plan for a permanent census service. The Commissioner of Labor, 
 under date of December 7, 1896, reported, as thus directed, a tentative 
 organic administrative act by which an independent census office was 
 to be established, leaving the details of the Twelfth and subsequent 
 censuses to the officers having them, respectively, iii charge. Noth- 
 ing came of this effort, however, and no provision was made for a 
 permanent census office until the passag(^ of the act of March 6, 1902, 
 which made permanent, after June 30, 1902, the Census Office tempo- 
 rarily established by the act of March 3, 1899. The act approved 
 July 2, 1909 (36 Stat., 1), entitled "An act to provide for the Thir- 
 
20 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 teenth and subsequent decennial censuses," and several other later 
 acts of varying though less importance, amplified considerably the 
 duties of the Bureau and comprise the larger part of the law under 
 which it now operates. 
 
 The Bureau of the Census is charged w^th the duty of taking the 
 decennial censuses of the United States, of makmg certam other sta- 
 tistical investigations at regular intervals of years, and of collecting 
 such special statistics as may be authorized by law from time to time. 
 The last decennial census, 1910, covered the subjects of population, 
 manufactures and mines and quarries, and agriculture. An mterme- 
 diate census of manufactures is taken in the fifth year after the decen- 
 nial census, and the act pro"sading for the Thii'teenth Census requires 
 a census of agriculture, much less comprehensive than the decennial 
 census, to be taken in 1915 and every ten years thereafter. The 
 act cstabUshmg the permanent Census Bureau requii'es that, after 
 the completion of the regular decennial census, the Director of the 
 Census shall decennially collect statistics relative to the defective, 
 dependent, and delinquent classes; crime, including judicial statis- 
 tics pertaining thereto; social statistics of cities; public indebtedness 
 expenditures, and taxation; religious bodies ; transportation by water, 
 and express business; savings banks and other savings mstitutions, 
 mortgage, loan, and similar institutions; and the fishing industry, in 
 cooperation with the Bureau of Fisheries. Every five years statistics 
 must be collected relating to street railways, electric light and power 
 stations, and telephone and telegraph business. Annual statistics 
 must be gathered relatmg to births and deaths in States and cities 
 maintaining efficient registration systems; the fuiancial and other sta- 
 tistics of cities having a population of 30,000 and over; the production 
 and distribution of cotton, and forest products; and the quantity of 
 leaf tobacco on hand. 
 
 The carrying out of these inquiries involves the collection of neces- 
 sary data by mail or by personal visits of employees to the individual 
 or commercial establishment, the subsequent assembling, tabidation, 
 and compilation of the information secured, and the publication in 
 reports of tables setting forth the data, with comparisons, percentages, 
 averages, textual comment, maps, and diagrams. These rej)ort8 form 
 a list of publications, which in the course of ten years comprises up- 
 ward of 400 bulletins of a more or less temporary character, and over 
 50 volumes of a substantial form. 
 
 The following brief statement conveys only a superficial idea of the 
 work involved in carrying out the functions mentioned: 
 
 Decennial census of population. — The last decennial census was 
 taken as of April 15, 1910. The general methods are as follows: 
 Schedules calling for data concerning each individual with regard to 
 name, sex, color or race, age, marital condition, nativity, citizenship, 
 language, occupation, education, etc., are circulated, collected, and 
 
BUREAU OF THE CENSUS. 21 
 
 revised by enumerators \\a)rkiiit>; under the direction of supervisors. 
 These scliedules avo then forwarded to the Bureau. Tlie oflice work 
 consists of the following steps: (1) A count of tlie population (Hrect 
 from the schedules for the purpose of determinino; the pay of the 
 enumerators and — after subsequent careful examination of the sched- 
 ules to determme their accuracy — for the purpose of announcing the 
 population of the various localities and States, and ultimately the 
 United States as a whole; (2) such editing of tlie schedules as is nec- 
 essary to prepare them for the punching clerks, particularly with ref- 
 erence to the returns of mother tongue and occupation; (3) ])imching 
 of a card for each individual making up the population, showing all 
 the facts appearing on the schedule concerning him, this being done 
 by means of a punching machine; (4) the verification of the cards 
 by means of electrical machines which automatically reject cards in 
 which any of the required holes have not been punched or in which 
 the holes are inconsistent with each other, and the correction of such 
 rejected cards; (5) the sorting of the cards b}" means of electrical 
 sortmg machines into main groups, as determined, for example, by sex, 
 color, or nativity, several different sortings being required at the dif- 
 ferent stages of the work; (6) tabulation of the facts with regard to the 
 characteristics of the population from the cards by means of electrical 
 tabulating machines, it being necessary to run the cards through the 
 machines several times in order to take off all of the facts; (7) tran- 
 scribmg on large sheets of results from tabulatmg-machme records, 
 and compilation of statistics for publication. 
 
 Decennial census of agriculture. — A separate schedule is provided 
 for each individual farm and contains numerous questions pertaining 
 to the farm and its productions, including the name and address of 
 farmer, his color or race, country of birth, and age; the acreage, 
 value, and tenure of farm; number and value of domestic .animals; 
 quantity and value of live-stock prothicts; and acreage, quantity, 
 and value of crops. These schedules are prepared ])j the enumerators 
 of the population census. The various data are tabulated in the 
 office, chiefly by the aid of adding machines. 
 
 Census of manufactures. — The conduct and scope of the decennial 
 and intermediate censuses of manufactures are practically the same. 
 They cover all manufacturing establishments conducted under what 
 is known as the factory system, exclusive of so-called neighborhood, 
 household, and hand industries; also mining and quarrying establish- 
 ments, and steam laundries. By a special provision of the Thirteenth 
 Census Act, retail slaughtering establishments are also canvassed 
 in order to secure an enumeration of animals slaughtered for food 
 and of hides procured. The inquiry as to manufactures includes 
 character of ownership of the establishment; data as to wage earners 
 and other persons engaged, including sex antl age; and with reference 
 to capital, wages, cost of material, other expenses, ami value of 
 
22 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 produrts. Additionftl data are also ascertained with reojard to the 
 qiiantity ol" the prin('ii)al ])ro(hi('ts manufaetured and quantity of 
 ])rincii)al materials used. This inlorniation is collected on schedules 
 by special agents or by clerks detailed from the office, a general 
 schedule for all establishments w-ith the addition of special industry 
 schedules being used. The information on the schedules is examined 
 and tabulated in the office principally by the use of adcUng machines. 
 
 Annual inquiries. — The collection of statistics of cities involves the 
 abstracting, from the office records of municipalities having a popula- 
 tion of 30,000 and over, of data relating to the total expenditures for 
 city government and for specified public services and objects; the 
 revenue derived from all sources and from each specified source; 
 and the amount and character of municipal debt. The information 
 is secured on schedules by employees sent from the Bureau to the 
 various cities, the results being compiled in the office. Special 
 inquiries as to the operations of particular branches of city admin- 
 stration — such as sewers, schools, or parks — are made from tmie to 
 time. 
 
 The work of gathering statistics of births and deaths involves 
 the receipt and recording of transcripts of the original certificates 
 of the same, furnished by persons selected for the purpose by the 
 State and city authorities. The transcripts are tabulated in the 
 office by methods sunilar to those used in the population census. 
 The greater part of this work is in connection with death statistics, 
 wliich are compiled so as to show general and specific death rates; 
 summaries of deaths, by causes, sex, and age, by color and nativity, 
 and by urban and rural localities; and average death rates in States 
 and cities. 
 
 The cotton statistics assembled by the Bureau are collected in 
 the cotton-producing States by local agents, and elsewhere by mail 
 or by employees detailed from the office. The results are issued 
 in annual reports on the production, distribution, and consumj)tion 
 of cotton and cottonseed products; monthly reports showing cotton 
 consumed and on hand in manufacturing establishments and ware- 
 houses; and ten summaries compiled during the cotton-ginning 
 season from telegraphic reports showing amount of cotton ginned. 
 
 Statistics are also collected and published annually with regard 
 to the production of lumber; and a half-yearly statement is issued 
 showing the amount of tobacco on hand in factories and warehouses. 
 
 The work of properly and economically dividing the country into 
 enumeration districts, and of pre})aring ma])s, etc., to accompany and 
 illustrate reports, is performed by a staff of employees under the 
 charge of the geographer. 
 
 The mechanical appliances used in the census work include a large 
 number of punching, sorting, and tabulating machines, many of which 
 have been devised and wholly or partially constructed, or have been 
 
BUREAU OP THE CENSUS. 23 
 
 modified, by the mechamcal force of tlie Bureau. This work, with 
 that of inaintaininjjj the machines in oi)eration, calls for a consider- 
 able amount of expert work, the constant aun being to pro(Uice 
 improvements with a view to economizing:^ and accelerating their 
 work. The mechanical equipment used during the Thirteenth 
 Census included 200 hand pimching machines, ,300 electric ])unching 
 machines, 17 card-sorting machines, OG card-tabulating machines, 
 and over 350 adding machines. 
 
 The organization of the Bureau is of a twofold nature — one for 
 intercensal years, the other a largely expanded force during decennial 
 "census periods." The former force is provided for by the act of 
 March 6, 1902, establishing the permanent office, and is modified 
 from time to time in annual appropriation acts. Special provision 
 is usually made by Congress for the expanded force during census 
 periods, which cover three years immediately preceding and following 
 the date of enumeration. 
 
 The permanent force may, briefly, be said to consist of a Director, 
 chief clerk, geographer, four chief statisticians, eight chiefs of divi- 
 sion, a small number of expert special agents, and such clerks and 
 mechanical and subclerical employees as may be authorized. The 
 total force at present is approximately 600. There is also a force of 
 special agents, numbering about 700, who are residents of the cotton- 
 growing States, and whose duties (which are occasional) consist of 
 collecting statistics of cotton ginned, consumed, and on hand in their 
 respective localities. 
 
 The force during the census period is expanded by the addition of 
 a few officials, such as an Assistant Director, an appouitment clerk, 
 and a disbursmg clerk, and a large number of employees in the cler- 
 ical and subclerical grades. During the Thirteenth Census period 
 this force m Washington reached a maximum of nearly 4,000. Super- 
 visors and enumerators, to the number of approximately 330 and 
 70,000, respectively, were also employed for the actual enumeration in 
 the field. 
 
 The force of the Bureau during either census or intercensal periods 
 is divided into groups, according to the nature of the inquiries and 
 statistics which constitute its main functions. These groups arc (1) 
 administrative force; (2) Division of Population; (3) Division of 
 Agriculture; (4) Division of Statistics of Cities; (5) Division of 
 Manufactures; (6) Division of Vital Statistics; (7) Division of Pub- 
 lication; (8) Division of Revision and Results; (9) Geographer's 
 Division; (10) mechanical force, and (11) maintenance force. 
 
 The work of these divisions is sufficiently indicated by their designa- 
 tions. Their strength, with the exception of the administrative and 
 maintenance forces, varies considerably from tune to time, as the 
 amount of work devolving on the divisions increases or diminishes. 
 
UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY. 
 
 The authorization of the Coast Survey in 1807 established the first 
 scientific bureau of tlie Government, and as soon as the ])roper 
 instruments and skilled workmen were i)rovided and the survey was 
 undertaken the effect produced was a stimulus to all educational and 
 scientific work. The methods used by the Survey have been the 
 standard for similar undertakings in the United States, and many 
 commendations of their excellence have been received from abroad, 
 while the influence of the Survey in the various operations resulting 
 from the advancing scientific activity of the country can hardly be 
 overestimated. 
 
 A survey of the coast of the United States was authorized by act 
 of Congress of February 10, 1807, and the plans formulated by 
 F. R. Hassler, an eminent scientist of Swiss birth, were adopted. The 
 necessity of securing instruments from abroad and the breaking out 
 of hostilities with Great Britain delayed the organization of the Survey 
 under the Treasury Department until 1816. The work had just begun 
 when, by act of April 14, 1818, Congress repealed so much of the 
 statute of 1807 as authorized the employment of other than Army 
 and Navy officers in the Survey. 
 
 No surveys were made under the War Department, and after a full 
 consideration of the unsatisfactory results obtained in the survey 
 made under the Navy Department, as repeatedly suggested by the 
 Secretary of the Navy and others, Congress revived the law of 1807, 
 with somewhat extended sco])e, by the act of July 10, 1832, and the 
 work was again ])laced under the Treasury Department. Operations 
 had hardly been resumed before President Jackson, on March 1 1 , 1834, 
 directed that the Survey be transferred to the Navy Department. 
 Again the work proceeded so unsatisfactorily that in two years — 
 March 26, 1836 — it was retransf erred by President Jackson to the 
 Treasury Department, where it remained until Jidy 1, 1903, when the 
 Coast and Geodetic Survey was placed under the supervision of the 
 Secretary of this Department, in accordance with the act of Congress 
 approved February 14, 1903. 
 
 By the act of March 3, 1843, prompted by suggestions of the 
 expediency of a retransfer of the Survey to the Navy Department, 
 Congi-ess provided that the President should organize a board to make 
 an intelligent and efficient inquiry for the development of a plan of 
 permanent organization for the Survey. The report of this board, 
 giving in detail its plan for reorganization, was approved by the 
 
 24 
 
UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY. 25 
 
 President April 29, 1843, and the work of the Survey has ever smce 
 been modeled on the lines then laid down. For fifty years prior to 
 1898 nearly one-half of the vessels of the vSurvey were manned and 
 officered by the Navy, but since the war with Spain these duties have 
 devolved exclusively upon the civilians of the service. 
 
 By including in the appropriation for the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
 a provision for the pay and subsistence for ofTiccrs and men for the 
 vessels of the Survey, formerly supplied by the Navy (which provision 
 has been continued in subsequent acts). Congress in 1900 placed the 
 service on a purely civilian basis. 
 
 The name "Coast and Geodetic Survey" was authorized by its use 
 in the sundry civil appropriation act approved June 20, 1878. 
 
 FIELD WORK. 
 
 The Survey is now a bureau of the Department of Commerce, and 
 its work is under the i»imediate supervision of the Superintendent, 
 whose representatives in the field are the assistants who have charge 
 of the parties and command the vessels. The OfTicc at Washington 
 and the subofhces at San Francisco and Manila are under assistants. 
 Its original and principal duty is the survey of the coast of the 
 United States, but there have been added, by legislation, the deter- 
 mination of the magnetic elements, and exact elevation and geo- 
 graphical position of points in the interior of the country. 
 
 The scope of the Survey has also been extended from tune to time 
 to include Lake Champlain, the Pacific coast from San Diego to 
 Panama, a transcontinental triangulation between the Atlantic and 
 Pacific coasts, and surveys of the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, and 
 "other coasts under the jurisdiction of the United States." 
 
 By joint resolution of February 5, 1889, the United States accepted 
 the invitation of the Imperial German Government to become a party 
 to the International Geodetic Association, and the delegates are by 
 law officers of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, appointed by the 
 President. 
 
 The use of the facilities of the Survey for research and study by 
 scientific investigators and students of any institution of higher 
 education is granted by law (31 Stat., 1039), and resolution of A])ril 
 12, 1892. 
 
 The general continental coast line of the United States, including 
 Alaska, measures, in extension, 11,500 miles, which is expanded by 
 the indentations and convolutions of the littoral of its tidal rivers, 
 islands, bays, sounds, and gulfs to 91,000 miles; and to these figures 
 must be added, because of the recently acquired insular possessions, 
 5,400 miles of general coast line and 12,100 miles of detailed shore 
 line. For the use of the mariner and surveyor the results of the Sur- 
 vey's operations are published in 756 charts and maps; in its Tide 
 
 8638°— 13 4 
 
26 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 Tables, which, jjieptircd annually in advance of the year for which 
 they are intended, give the daily high and low values of the tidal 
 phenomena for each day of tlie year for every port in tlie United 
 States and for all the leading ports of the world; in the 21 volumes 
 of the Coast Pilot and Sailing Directions, and in its weekly notices 
 to mariners, published in cooperation mth the Bureau of Light- 
 houses. These publications supply such comprehensive, accurate, 
 and detailed information concerning tlie navigation of our coasts 
 and the approaches to our harbors that, save in the case of certain 
 little-frequented sections of Alaska and the Philippines, and certain 
 channels where storms and currents produce constant changes, it may 
 be truthfully claimed that in American waters the mariner Is afforded 
 an unrivaled opportunity for the safe navigation of his vessel. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing the Survey issues a gi-eat variety of 
 publications recording the researches of its officers as well as the 
 results of its surveys. These are distributed free to schools, scien- 
 tific institutions, libraries, and individuals particularly interested 
 in them. 
 
 The first survey of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts of the 
 mainland of the United States, excei)t in the case of Alaska, has 
 been completed, but the ceaseless changes due to the operation of 
 the tides; to the alterations in the conditions of our great river sys- 
 tems, resulting from the subjection to cultivation of the interior of 
 our continent; to the demands for change and im])rovement that 
 are a consequence of the scale upon whicii modern works for 
 meeting the demands of trade and commerce are j)lanned; to the 
 rec^uirements of leviatlians that are now considered essential for 
 both the necessities of commerce and national defense; to the needs 
 of the ra])i(lly increasing fleets of motor boats, and, lastly, the secular 
 results of continental u})heaval and subsidence, necessitate revision 
 of surveys from time to time. 
 
 On the Atlantic and Gulf coasts this work of i(>vision and ad<Mtion 
 requires tlie em})ioynient of two steamei"s of the Survey, two schoon- 
 ers, and several chartered launches; another small steamer, which 
 was especially designed for the work i?i whicli it is engaged, is necessaiy 
 for the surveys and examinations wliich have to be made to keep 
 the information in the Coast Pilot volumes for the Atlantic and Gulf 
 coasts accurate and timely. 
 
 Along the I^icific coast four steamers and two large launches are 
 required to meet the pressing demands for accurate surveys in 
 Alaskan waters. In the "winter season one of the steamers from this 
 fleet is engaged in surveys in Hawaiian waters and the other steamers 
 are on duty for chart revision and necessary resurveys to meet the 
 constantly gi'owing imjiortance of the coast from the Strait of Juan 
 de I'uca to San J)iego. 
 
UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SUEVEY. 27 
 
 The acquisition of Porto Eico, Hawaii, and tlic Pliilipj)ines 
 increased tremendously the responsibilities of the Survey. Porto 
 Rico, ahhough one of the oldest Spanish possessions in the New 
 World, was so poorly charted that the Sailing Directions of the 
 British Admiralty cautioned navigators to make an allowance of 
 from 4 to 5 miles in approaching its shores. One of the first results 
 of the work undertaken by the Coast and Geodetic Survey was the 
 development of the land-locked harbor of Jobos, and this was 
 followed by the development which first made available for commerce 
 other harbors on the south and west coasts. 
 
 In the Philippines, on a larger scale, was presented the spectacle 
 of a country lavishly endowed by nature with her richest gifts, 
 islands with lands of exuberant fertility, and mountains seamed 
 mth precious veins of minerals and vestured with forests of the most 
 magnificent woods almost impenetrably sealed against the world's 
 uses by the indifference of its masters to surveying and charting 
 its vv^iterways and shores. The archipelago comprises 3,141 islands 
 and islets, and as there is no point m the group distant more than 
 60 miles from the sea the importance of correct charting of its vast 
 system of waterways is self-evident. This duty was one of the 
 first undertaken in the islands by the United States, and in December, 
 1900, a suboffice of the Coast and Geodetic Survey was opened in 
 ]\Ianila, simultaneously with which astronomic, topographic, and 
 hydrographic parties began operations, which have been continued 
 with the greatest diligence and have shown the most gratifying 
 results. The importance of the work in the Philippines was almost 
 instantly recognized by the insular government, which, from the 
 beginning, most generously cooperated with the national authorities. 
 The field results receive their preliminary discussion and are prepared 
 for earliest possible publication in Manila. A large force of native 
 draftsmen is employed in the Manila oihce m the preparation of 
 chart drawings, which are engraved and printed in Washington, D. C. 
 
 A very important operation of the Survey is the determination of 
 the exact elevations of standard i)oints throughout the country by 
 lines forming a network of refined levels, which furnishes a connec- 
 tion for securing the most useful results from the thousands of miles 
 of levels run for works of public improvement. 
 
 The magnetic surveys, which at sea and on shore are so essential 
 for the perfection of charts and so important for the proj^erty and 
 political interests of this country, where the magnetic noodle has 
 been so generally used in determining i)roperty outlines and boimdary 
 lines, form a very important i^art of the activities of the Survey. 
 
 The character of the operations necessary for charting the groat 
 coast line of the United States demanded from the first the qualifi- 
 cations looked for in the technical experts to whom are intrusted 
 
28 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 boundary and delimitation work of the highest importance, and both 
 the States and the National Government call on the C^oast and 
 Geodetic Survey for the execution of many of the more important 
 projects of this character. The requests of the States of New York, 
 Maryland, and Delaware for the detail of officers to supply technical 
 direction for political and economical surveys in those States are 
 examples of the varying demands to which the splendidly trained 
 and equipi)ed technical force furnish adequate response. 
 
 The Superintendent, as Commissioner on the part of the United 
 States, is charged with surveying and marking the southeastern 
 boundary of Alaska from Portland Canal to Mount St. Elias, and of 
 the meridianal boundary from Mount St. Elias to the Ai'ctic Ocean, 
 the survey parties engaged in the field work facing hardships, priva- 
 tions, and dangers known only to the most intrepid of explorers. 
 Under his direction other parties are engaged m the re-markmg and 
 additional boundary surveys required along the forty-ninth parallel 
 of latitude, in Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. On the 
 northeastern boundary parties under his direction are making siu'veys 
 for the revision of the boundary in the St. John and St. Croix Valleys. 
 
 An officer of the Survey is detailed as a member of the Mississippi 
 River Commission. 
 
 OFFICE WORK. 
 
 While the valuable oilice equi])ment of the Bureau can not show a 
 picturesqueness comparable with that noted in a consideration of the 
 duties of the field section with its personnel spread from the Antilles 
 to the China Seas and from Bering Sea to waters within 5 degrees of 
 the Equator, the variety of its tasks are as great and its operations 
 as interesting and instructive. In addition to the administrative 
 divisions there are tlie Computing, Chart Construction, Instrument, 
 and Tidal Divisions. 
 
 In the Computing Division are discussed with the highest mathe- 
 matical refinement the observations made in the field, the results 
 being prepared for their final publication and utilization. 
 
 The Chart Construction Division comprises the drawing, engraving, 
 electrotype, photograph, and printing sections, all engaged in the 
 construction, maintenance, and publication of charts. The drawing 
 section assembles and compiles all chart information received, includ- 
 ing the results of the topographic and hydrographic parties, harbor 
 improvement surveys of the Army Engineers, surveys by local engi- 
 neers, additions and changes in lights and buoys, and newly discov- 
 ered rocks and other dangers. From tliis information new chart 
 drawings are ])re]jared for engravmg or photolithography and old 
 cluirts are brought up to date. The engravmg section engraves the 
 chart drawings on coi)pcr i)lates and makes the changes required on 
 
UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY. 29 
 
 the plates. The electrotype section duplicates the engraved copper 
 plates previous to printing, so that worn plates can be replaced b}^ 
 new ones. The photograph section makes negatives for those charts 
 published by photolithography, makes photographic copies of original 
 surveys requii-ed by other departments and the courts, and etches on 
 copper some of the new charts. The printing section prints from 
 copper plates and by photolithography over 140,000 charts a year. 
 
 In the Instrument Division have been initiated types of instruments 
 that are now adopted by the national European surveys, one of its 
 late achievements being the construction of the most effective tidal 
 predicting machine in existence. This machine takes into account 
 37 of the tidal influencing components, producing a year's record of 
 predictions of all the daUy high and low waters for a port in less than 
 ten hours, an undertaking not possible by the direct computation of 
 100 computers. 
 
 In the Tidal Division are discussed the tidal phenomena on such a 
 scale that the Tide Tables of the Survey, published amiually m ad- 
 vance, furnish the marmer with the values of the high and low tides 
 at 3,270 ports selected from all over the world and covermg every 
 region of any value to commerce. 
 
 A study of the annual report of the Superintendent of the Survey 
 will disclose an account of activities which are of the highest value to 
 the maiiner, the hydrographer, the surveyor, the engineer, the land- 
 owner, and the physicist, and a record which, for the practical needs 
 of commerce and the contribution which the United States in common 
 with other first-class powers is making to the knowledge of the dimen- 
 sions and configuration of the globe we five on, is worthy of the hon- 
 orably distinguished name which has so long been borne by this the 
 oldest bureau of applied science under the Government. 
 
 A more extended description of the organization and functions of 
 the Survey will be found in the pamphlet entitled ' ' The Work of the 
 Coast and Geodetic Survey," which those interested may obtain on 
 a])plication. 
 
BUREAU OF CORPORATIONS. 
 
 The Bureau of Corporations was created by the organic act of the 
 Department, approved Febniary 14, 1903. The act authorizes the 
 Bureau, under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce, to inves- 
 tigate the organization, conduct, and management of the business of 
 any corporation, joint stock company, or corporate combinatioji 
 engaged in interstate or foreign commerce, except common carriei-s 
 sul)ject to the interstate-commerce act; to gather such information 
 and data as \\'i!l enable the President to make recommenchitions to 
 Congress for legislation for the regulation of interstate and foreign 
 commerce; to report the data so collected to the President from time 
 to time as he may require, and to make public such part of said 
 information as the President may direct. 
 
 It is also the duty of the Bureau, under the direction of the Secre- 
 tiary of Commerce, to gather, compile, publish, and suppl}' useful 
 information concerning corporations engaged in interstate or foreign 
 commerce, including corporations engaged in insurance. 
 
 The creation of the Bureau was in the nature of a resi)ons6 to a 
 growing public demand for some power or tribunal wliich should 
 deal with the new economic problems involved in the increased ten- 
 dency toward concentrated ownership of the large industries of the 
 country. The organization of certain ' 'trusts " from time to time 
 during the eighties and earlier was followed in 1S90 by the so-called 
 Sherman antitrust law, wliich, however, largely on accoujit of early 
 decisions thereunder, resulted not so much in checking the growth 
 of consolidations as in changing then- form. In the late nineties 
 there came the phenomenal concentration of industrial capital fre- 
 quently referred to as the "consolidation craze." A conference was 
 held at Chicago, known as the Chicago Trust Conference, in 1899. 
 The Industrial Commission, created in 1898, devoted especial atten- 
 tion in 1899 and 1900, among other subjects, to industrial combina- 
 tions. Finally, in December, 1901, there was introduced in the 
 United ^tates Senate a bill "to establish a Department of Com- 
 merce." This bill, with the title amended to read Department, of 
 Commerce and Labor, was passed by the Senate in January, 1902, 
 and referred to the House. In Januaiy, 1903, a report was sub- 
 mitted by the House Committee on Intei-state and Foreign Com- 
 merce, in which for the first time the Bureau of Corporations was 
 provided for. The House bill was not accepted by the Senate, but 
 in February, 1903, a compromise bill was reported from conference 
 30 
 
BUREAU OF CORPORATIONS. 31 
 
 and speedily agreed to in both Houses. Oii KehruHT-y 14, lOO.S, it 
 received the signature of the President. 
 
 Tiu' first year of the Bnreau's work was largely taken up in a close 
 inspection of the whole field that Would eventually be covered by its 
 operations. Studies were made of action taken by the different 
 States in the matter of coiporate control and regulation, and also of 
 statutes, constitutions, and court decisions. Preliminary investiga- 
 tions were made of the organization and operations of certain of the 
 larger corporate combinations. This early work of the Bureau 
 naturally led to the economic field rather than to the legal, as the 
 Bureau, under the act creating it, has no power of remedial redress, 
 nor was it created for the purpose of directly assisting individuals in 
 their private relationships to large corporations. Its investigatory 
 work, by the terms of the organic act, is for the purpose of acquiring 
 and transmitting to the President of the United States information 
 concerning combinations and consohdations and their operations 
 which will enable him to recommend legislation, and wliich may also, 
 under his direction, be made pubhc througli printed reports. Tlie 
 preparation and issuance of such reports has essentially constituted 
 the work of the Bureau up to tliis time. 
 
 The Bureau's investigations thus far have naturally, to a great 
 extent, been connected with tlie control by corporations of the natural 
 resources of the country. In this connection, investigations luive 
 been made of the petroleum industry, the steel industry, and the 
 lumber industry. Another important though somewhat less ex- 
 tensive investigation involved the control of water power. Certain 
 other investigations have been especiaUy concerned mth conditions 
 involved in the sale and distribution of articles of very general con- 
 sumption, as, for instance, those of the beef industry and the tobacco 
 industry. Another investigation, having a vital bearing on the 
 entire subject of waterways, was that of transportation by water, 
 and the element of control involved in the ownei-ship of terminals 
 and water carriers. Still another investigation of great pubhc 
 importance because of its direct relation to the agricultural interests 
 of the country is that of the International Harvester Co. The early 
 study of the corporation statutes of the various States developed some- 
 what naturally into an investigation of State taxation of corporations, 
 in connection with which the Bureau has already submitted several 
 parts of its report, wliich, when completed, will cover the entire 
 country. 
 
 The last paragraph of the act creating the Bureau and defuiing its 
 duties with respect to the investigation of corporations expressly 
 mentions corporations "engaged in insurance." In the early years 
 of the Bureau's existence considerable attention was paid to that 
 subject. Later, it was definitely decided to abandon this field, 
 
32 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 owino; to doubtful FocTeral jurisdiction, insurance having repeatedly 
 been hold by the vSui)renio Court of the United States not to be com- 
 merco. 
 
 One of the first essentials in the conduct of the work of the Bureau 
 is the treatment of each hidividual investigation on its own merits 
 with the scientific aim of ascertaming the exact facts. This results 
 in a marked degree of discrimination and in clear definition of the 
 particular principles involved in a given case. The vital ])rincii)le 
 involved in the Bureau's work by reason of the terms of the organic 
 act creating it is that of publicity. The results of this publicity have 
 been substantial. A direct and practical effect is seen in the use 
 made of the Bureau's reports in laying the basis for constructive 
 legislation, and again in their frequent use as the basis of judicial 
 ]-)rocee(Ungs. A further exceedingly im]>ortant result has been the 
 corrective effect upon the interests specifically investigated. A less 
 noticeable but i)erha])s even more important result of the Bureau's 
 work has been the enlightenment of public opinion by the jniblica- 
 tion of precise and carefully verified information concerning the 
 operations of some of the large corporations. 
 
 The organization of the Bureau is simple. Outside of those 
 employees assigned to matters involving administration and accounts, 
 and the stenographic division, the force consists, broadly speaking, 
 of two classes — investigators and statisticians. The expert investi- 
 gators of the Bureau, technically known as special examiners, .have 
 to a large extent either been given charge of an investigation or 
 assigned to the most important constructive work, such as the ]>repa- 
 ration of text or (Urection of field investigation, these men being 
 directly responsible to the Commissioner. They have been assisted 
 in turn by field agents or other special examiners, and by members of 
 the clerical force assigncnl to })articular investigations. In the main, 
 however, the statistical work of the Bureau instead of being distrib- 
 uted among the various investigations has been handled by a compact 
 unit or division conducting the statistical work in general. 
 
 The actual work of investigation has to a large extent devolved 
 upon the special examiners directly in charge of such investigations, 
 subject to constant supervision by the Commissioner. As the results 
 of this work are drafted f(n" publication, they are submitted to the 
 Commissioner, who reads and revises them, and epitomizes them in 
 the form of letters of submittal for submission to the President of 
 the United States and with a view to publication in the press. 
 Accompanying these letters of submittal in most instances, more- 
 over, there has been a summary digest giving in rather more extended 
 but still condensed form the essential facts contained in the reports. 
 It has been found that these letters of submittal and the accompany- 
 ing summaries have resulted in very widespread publicity of the 
 
BUEEAU OF CORPORATIONS. 33 
 
 results of the Bureau's work. This cooporatiou of the press is an 
 exceedingly important factor. 
 
 Up to this time the princi})al work of the Burc^au iias tlierefore 
 been that of investigation and ])ublicity. It has not been a bureau 
 of record. Frequently letters of inquiry are received by the Bureau 
 for specific information about i)articular corporations, evidently 
 under the impression that the Bureau keeps a record of all corpora- 
 tions, or at least of tlie larger corporations, and of the leading facts 
 connected with their organization and operation, for general infor- 
 mation. It is desirable to correct tliis impression, for such is not 
 the case. Recommendations have repeatedly been made to pro- 
 vide for the automatic submission to the Bureau of the leaduig 
 facts concerning the organization and 0})eration of tiie })rincipal 
 corporations engaged in interstate conniierce, but thus far no action 
 has ])een taken. 
 
BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
 
 The Bureau of Fisheries owed its inception to the widely enter- 
 tained opinion that the fislieries in general were diminishing in value 
 and imjjortance on account of the intensity and methods with which 
 they were prosecuted, a view which investigation has shown to be 
 justified with respect to many fishes and other valuable aquatic 
 animals. The American Fish Culturists' Association (now the Ameri- 
 can Fisheries Society) took a leading ])art in advocating an investiga- 
 tion of the subject, and Lirgely through its influence and the repre- 
 sentations of State fishery oilicers Congi-ess passed a joint resolution, 
 aj)proved P'cbruary 9, 1871, which provided for the appointment of a 
 Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, who was directed to conduct 
 investigations concerning the facts and the causes of the alleged 
 (lin^iinution and the feasibihty of remedial measures. This was the 
 l)eginning of one of the earliest and most effective conservation move- 
 ments undertaken by the P'ederal Government. 
 
 Until July 1, lOO.S, the establishment was independent, reporting 
 du'ectly to Congress, and was known as the United States Commission 
 of Fish and Fisheries, but on the organization of the Department of 
 Commerce it was included bylaw in the new Department and the 
 name was changed to its present designation. 
 
 The original conception of the Bureau was a body for scientific, 
 statistical, and practical investigation of the fisheries, and that phase 
 of its work always has been prominent; but it was soon found that 
 to secure the practical end which dictated its formation it should be 
 clothed with powers to make its own findings effective. This was 
 in part accomplished by an act approved June 10, 1872, which gave 
 authority for the pro])agation of food fishes, a branch of the service 
 which has grown until at present it constitutes the largest part of the 
 Bureau's activities. 
 
 Until recently the Bureau was wholly without administrative or 
 executive control of the fisheries, as these functions are vested in the 
 several States within whose territorial limits the fisheries are located. 
 There existed, and in major part still exists, the anomalous condition 
 of an organization national in scope but performing duties of local 
 importance which is without power to give dii"ect efi'ect to some of its 
 activities or to adequately protect the results of others. This con- 
 dition has caused some embarrassment in places, and has often 
 retarded the practical application of the results of investigations and 
 experiments, but on the whole the results are better than might be 
 expected and in many cases are highly satisfactory. Acting in an 
 advisory capacity, the Bureau has been able to exert a powerful 
 mfluence on the fisheries legislation of the States. Local authorities 
 84 
 
BUEEAU OF FISHERIES. 35 
 
 and interests hold its work in higli regard, ant], appreciating that its 
 advice is authoritative and disinterested, frequently seek it. Mem- 
 bers of its staff are called on to sei-ve with and assist State commissions 
 and, frequently, to address State legislative bodies on topics con- 
 nected with the admmistration of the fisheries and to assist in the 
 (h-aftmg of State fisheries laws. 
 
 The published reports on special investigations not only contain 
 facts the knowledge and understanding of which lie at the root of 
 rational conservation of the aquatic resources of the States, but they 
 often contain specific recommendations for new legislation and prac- 
 tical criticisms of that in force. These suggestions are generally 
 given consideration by the States. They are often enacted into law 
 and sometimes induge complete changes in the methods of admin- 
 istering important fisheries. 
 
 By an order of the Secretary dated February 15, 1905, the Bureau 
 for the first time became clothed with the administration and enforce- 
 ment of fishery laws through the assumption of supervision of the 
 salmon fisheries of Alaska. Subsequently by law this jurisdiction 
 was extended to all of the fisheries of Alaska. On December 28, 
 1908, the Alaskan fur-seal service, which since the formation of the 
 Department had been admuiistered through the Secretary's Office, 
 was transferred to the Bureau; and in 1910, by act of Congress and 
 direction of the Secretary, supervision was assumed over all of the 
 fur-bearing animals of the Territory. 
 
 The admhiistration of the laws regarding Alaska fish and fur-bear- 
 ing animals is exercised in Federal territory, and by act of Congress 
 in 1906 the Department became charged with the duty, which is also 
 exercised through the Bureau of Fisheries, of controlling in certain 
 respects the sponge fishery prosecuted on the high seas off the coast 
 of Florida. 
 
 In addition to the general executive duties pei-formed by the 
 Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries and the Deputy Commissioner, 
 the work of the Bureau is organized as follows: 
 
 Division of Administration. — This division of the service is under the 
 immediate direction of the assistant in charge of office, and exercises 
 supervision of the accounting office, the office of the architect and 
 engineer, the vessels of the Bureau, and the library, records, corre- 
 spondence, and property. In this division are prepared contracts and 
 land deeds, also plans and specifications for fish-cultural and biological 
 stations and their related structures, and for engineering work in gen- 
 eral. It is responsible for the purchase, maintenance, and repair of 
 all vessels and boats, and for accountmg relative to appropriations 
 and property. 
 
 Division of Fish Culture. — This branch of the service, under an 
 assistant in charge, has direction of all operations connected with the 
 artificial propagation and distribution of fishes. Its practical work 
 
36 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 in 1912 was conducted through 32 fish-cultural stations and 92 sub or 
 field stations, located in 31 States and the Territory of Alaska, and 5 
 specially devised railway cars engaged in (listril)uting tlieir product. It 
 is the endeavor of the Bureau to hatch and plant fishes in sufficiently 
 large numbers to compensate for the depletion of the natural supply 
 through the fisheries, and the volume of its output has steadily 
 increased until in 1912 it aggregated over 3,687,000,000 fish and eggs. 
 As the effects of fishing are more markedly manifested in circum- 
 scribed waters, most of the hatcheries are located in the interior, wliere 
 they can more readily supply the inland lakes and streams, but some 
 also are located in the coastal States for the hatching of fishes, such 
 as shad and salmon, which run from the sea into the rivers for the 
 purpose of spawnuig, and directly on the coast for the propagation of 
 particularly important marine species, such as the members of the 
 cod family, flat-fishes, and lobsters. These operations liave materially 
 benefited some fisheries and have saved others from extinction. This 
 division has also carried on particularly successful work in introduc- 
 ing valuable fishes in waters to which they were not indigenous and 
 in rescuing fishes from overflowed lands where the recession of the 
 waters would leave them stranded to die. It carries on its work 
 independently or, in cases where public interest dictates, in coopera- 
 tion with the States. 
 
 Division of Inquiry Respecting Food Fishes. — This division, under 
 an assistant in charge, continues the work for which the Bureau origi- 
 nally was instituted, enlarged to meet the requirements dictated by 
 experience. The scientific work comprehensively covere the field of 
 aquatic biology, as for a proper understanding of the requirements 
 for the protection and fostering of the fisheries it is necessary to know 
 not only the complete life histories of species of direct economic A'^alue, 
 but also the habits of the food and enemies of those species and their 
 relations to their physical and biological environments. An impor- 
 tant feature of the work is furnishing advice and facts relating to 
 fisheries legislation and administration. The division also conducts 
 investigations and experiments tending directly to the increase of 
 economic aquatic anunals, especially those wliich, Hke sponges, 
 oysters, mussels, and terrapin, are from their habits and nature not 
 susceptible to the ordmary methods of fish culture, and in this way 
 has added materially to the value of the fisheries. 
 
 The investigations and experiments are conducted by field parties 
 or at the biological stations, of which there are two on the Atlantic 
 coast, one in the Mississippi Valley, and a fourth to be constructed on 
 the Gulf coast. There are also one especially equipped steamer for 
 deep-sea investigations, one for coastal work, and a number of smaller 
 craft for inshore and river duty. 
 
 The small permanent pei'sonnel, which is concerned chiefly with the 
 work of more direct economic application, is supplemented as occasion 
 
BUEEAU OF FISHEEIES. 37 
 
 requires by the employment of experts and investigators from scien- 
 tific institutions. The facilities of the laboratories are, under certain 
 conditions, extended to qualified independent investigators. 
 
 Division of Statistics and Methods of the Fisheries. — Under the 
 du'ection of an assistant in charge, this division ])erf"orms another 
 of the original functions of the Bureau. The first duty to which 
 the Bureau of Fisheries was assigned, namely, the investigation of 
 the reported decrease of food fishes in New England, necessarily 
 involved the collection of statistics of production, personnel, and 
 capital. Smce that time tliis branch of the work has been con- 
 ducted without interru])tion, and in it have naturally been included 
 the various other subjects affecting the economic and commercial 
 aspects of the fisheries. Among its functions are (1) a general survey 
 of the commercial fisheries of the country; (2) a study of the fishery 
 grounds with reference to their extent, resources, yield, and con- 
 dition; (3) a study of the vessels and boats employed in the fisheries, 
 with special reference to their improvement; (4) a determination 
 of the utility and effect of the apparatus of capture employed in 
 each fishery; (5) a study of the methods of fishing, for the special 
 purpose of suggesting improvements or of discovering the use of 
 unprofitable or unnecessarily destructive methods; (6) an inquiry 
 into the methods of utilizing fishery products, the means and methods 
 of transportation, and the extent and condition of the wholesale 
 trade; (7) a census of the fishing population, their economic and 
 hygienic condition, nativity, and citizenship; (8) a study of inter- 
 national questions affecting the fisheries; (9) the prosecution of 
 inquiries regarding the fishing apparatus and methods of foreign 
 countries. 
 
 Division of Alaska Fisheries. — This division is in charge of an 
 assistant designated as chief, and consists of three important sub- 
 divisions, namely, the fur-seal service, the salmon service, and the 
 fur-bearing animal service. 
 
 The fur-seal service has to do with all matters j^ertaining to the 
 fur seals of Alaska and to the control of the Pribilof Islands. The 
 islands of St. Paul and St. George were set aside as a s])ecial reserva- 
 tion in 1869, and the entire group in 1910, and have since been 
 continuously under Government supervision. As these islands are 
 the only land to which the Alaskan fur seals resort, the administra- 
 tion of the fur-seal service is concerned primarily with the care and 
 utilization of the seals, and, secondarily, with the maintenance and 
 education of the native inhabitants of the islands, the care and 
 utilization of the fox herds, and the })rotection of other animals 
 found on the islands. 
 
 The sealing ])rivilcgos of the Pribilof Islniuls were for 40 years 
 leased to private companies, which paid to the Government a per 
 
3<S DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 cai)ita tax on each seal killed ; but since April, 1910, the Government 
 has had in its own char«^e the business of taking and marketing seal- 
 skins. The seals killed for their pelts and for food for the natives are 
 surplus males two or three years old. 
 
 The representatives of the Bureau on the seal islands include 
 agents, physicians, school-teachers, and a naturalist. The agents 
 are charged with local matters of administration pertaining to the 
 seals, the foxes, the natives, and other interests. The naturalist 
 has immediate direction of all matters relating to the study and 
 conservation of the seal and fox herds, as well as to the education 
 and health of the natives. 
 
 Enforcement of the laws and regulations affecting all other fur- 
 bearing animals of Alaska was imposed on the Bureau by act of 
 Congress of April 21, 1910. This branch of the service has at present 
 in the field a warden, deputy wardens, and special wardens, whose 
 duties are to see that the laws enacted by Congi-ess and the regula- 
 tions thereunder for the protection of the fur-bearing animals are 
 observed; to make observations and investigations regarding the 
 abundance, distribution, and habits of the fiu* animals, their food, 
 diseases, and the condition of the fur in different localities at different 
 seasons; and to insjiect, so far as is possible, the furs offered for 
 shipment from Alaska, and to enforce the regulations concerning 
 shipments. 
 
 The salmon service, represented in Alaska by an agent, assistant 
 agents, and an inspector, is charged with the enforcement of the 
 laws and regulations relating to the salmon and other fisheries of 
 Alaska, and with the inspection of fisheries, canneries, salteries, 
 hatcheries, and other similar establishments. Other duties of this 
 branch are to make such investigations and exj)eriments as may be 
 desirable or necessary for the improvement and conservation of the 
 salmon and other fisheries. 
 
 The publications of the Bureau of Fisheries consist of four series, as 
 follows: (1) The annual report of the Commissioner and various 
 special reports on different branches of the work; (2) the annual 
 bulletin, which is made up of papers on miscellaneous subjects, fre- 
 quently of a technical nature; (3) economic cii-culars, consisting of 
 brief advance reports upon economic subjects to be more elaborately 
 treated in subsequent papers, or containing information of interest to 
 special localities or industries; (4) statistical bulletins giving, in tabu- 
 liir form, monthly and annual statements of the quantity and value 
 of fish and aquatic products landed at the principal fishing centers. 
 
 The publications under the control of the Bureau are all distributed 
 in pamphlet fojiu as separate papers. The bound bulletins are con- 
 gressional documents, and are distributed from the folding rooms of 
 Congress. 
 
BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce was created by 
 the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act approved 
 August 23, 1912, which consolidated under that name the Bureau of 
 Manufactures and the Bureau of Statistics. This action by Congress 
 was predicated on a suggestion emanating from the Department, 
 wliich in September, 1907, appointed a committee to inquire into its 
 statistical work, and this committee after a very extensive inquiry 
 recommended "that the Bureau of Manufactures and the Bureau of 
 Statistics be consolidated into one bureau ; and that the bureau thus 
 formed be called the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce." 
 
 BUREAU OF MANUFACTURES. 
 
 The Bureau of Manufactures was authorized by section 5 of the act 
 of February 14, 1903 (the organic act of the Department), in response 
 to a demand which had long since grown ()orsistent for a Govern- 
 ment ofhce to be especially charged with the duty of fostering, pro- 
 moting, and developing the manufacturing industries of the United 
 States. The Bureau was organized in 1904 and at once commenced 
 to build up in great ]>art the service described on succeeding pages. 
 
 BUREAU OF STATI.STU'S. 
 
 The Bun^aii of Statistics, before being merged into tlie Bureau of 
 Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Inid had almost a centurv of devel- 
 opment. 
 
 The Anlue of the systc^niatic and careful collection of information 
 concerning the status of our commerce was recognized early in our 
 liistory; and, in response to resolutions of Congress, the Secretary of 
 the Treasury made frequent reports on the subject, which were sub- 
 sequently collected and ])ublished in two volumes of the American 
 State Papers. 
 
 By act of Congress a])])roved February 10, 1820, (he regular collec- 
 tion and ])ublicntion of statistics of our fonugn conunerce was under- 
 taken. This information was gathered tln-ough the collectors of 
 customs, and there was organized in the Treasury Department a 
 division of conmierce and navigation, which collated and j)ublished 
 
 3y 
 
40 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 the information thus obtained. Joint rosohition of Congress of June 
 15, 1844, authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to direct the col- 
 lecting, arranging, and classifying of statistical information showing 
 each year the condition of agriculture and domestic trade, and to 
 report on these subjects annually. 
 
 By act approved July 28, 1866, the Bureau of Statistics, wdth a 
 Director, was established in the Treasury Department. The former 
 division of commerce and navigation was consolidated with the 
 Bureau of Statistics, and a broad range of subjects upon which to 
 compile statistics was proscribed. The act of July 20, 1868, abolished 
 the office of Director, provided that the Special Commissioner of the 
 Revenue should superintend the Bureau, and provided for a Deputy 
 Special (Commissioner to have charge of the Bureau of Statistics. 
 The office of Special Commissioner of the Revenue expired July 1, 
 1870, and the title of Chief of Bureau of Statistics was given to the 
 officer in charge and aitenvards authorized by law. 
 
 The work of the Bureau of Statistics was enlarged by act of March 
 3, 1875, and statistics relating to the internal commerce of the coun- 
 try were publislied from that year until 1912 under special aj)j)ro- 
 priations. 
 
 The old law of 1820 omitted statistics relating to commerce other 
 than that borne in vessels, but the act of March 3, 1893, amending 
 section 1 of the act of July 16, 1892, remedied this by providing for 
 statistics of exports of commodities by railways and land carriages. 
 By act approved April 29, 1902, the work of the Bureau was extended 
 to include statistics of commerce with Alaska, Porto Rico, Hawaii, 
 Pliili})pine Islands, Guam, and other noncontiguous territory. 
 
 BUREAU OF FOREIGN COMMERCE IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 By the act of February 14, 1903 (the organic act of the Depart- 
 ment), the Bureau of Statistics was transferred from the Treasury 
 Department to the new Department, from and after July 1, 1903. 
 The same act provided also for the transfer of the Bureau of For- 
 eign Commerce from the wState Department and for its consolidation 
 with tlie Bureau of Statistics, the two to constitute one bureau to be 
 called the Bureau of Statistics. By authority of section 11 of the 
 act the Bureau of Trade Relations was organized in the State Depart- 
 ment for the formulation and transmission. of correspondence between 
 the new Department and consular officers. 
 
 The Bureau of Foreign Commerce was, until July 1, 1897, the 
 Bureau of Statistics of the Dej)artment of State. Owing to the con- 
 fusion arising from the fact that there was also a Bureau of Statistics 
 in the Treasury De]>artment and a Division of ^Statistics in the 
 Department of Agriculture, Congress authorized the change of the 
 
BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE. 41 
 
 name to Bureau of Foreign Commerce on July 1, 1897, this name 
 more clearly indicating the functions of the Bureau. 
 
 The Bureau had its origin in an act of Congress approved August 
 16, 1842, which made it the duty of the Secretary of State "to lay 
 before Congress, annually, at the commencement of its session, in a 
 compendious form, all such changes and modifications in the com- 
 mercial systems of other nations, whether by treaties, duties on im- 
 ports and exports, or other regulations, as shall have come to the 
 knowledge of the Department." In a communication to the Presi- 
 dent of the Senate, February 4, 1857 (Ex. Doc. No. 35, 34th Cong., 3d 
 sess.). Secretary of State Marcy called attention to a previous state- 
 ment (in 1855) in which he said that "but three attempts had been 
 made to comply with the requisitions of the act of 1842; the first by 
 Mr. Secretary Webster in 1842, the second by Mr. Secretary Upshur 
 in 1843, and the third, and last, by ^Ir. Secretary Calhoun, in 1844." 
 IVIr. Webster, in 1842, recommended to Congress that the work "be 
 intrusted to one person, under the direction of the Department, who 
 should arrange and condense information on commercial subjects 
 from time to time, as it should be received, and should have charge 
 of the correspondence on these subjects with agents of the Govern- 
 ment abroad." 
 
 No action was taken by Congress until 14 years later. By an act 
 approved August 18, 1856 (11 Stat., 62), the act of 1842 was amended 
 so as to make it obligatory upon tlie Secretary of State, in addition to 
 changes and modifications in the commercial systems of other nations, 
 to include in his annual report to Congress "all other commercial 
 information communicated to the State Department by consular and 
 diplomatic agents of this Government abroad, or contained in the 
 official publications of other Governments, which he shall deem suffi- 
 ciently important." It was further declared to be the duty of consuls 
 and commercial agents to procure such information in such manner 
 and at such times as the Department of State might prescribe, and the 
 Secretary of State was "authorized and required to appoint one clerk 
 who shall have charge of statistics in said department and shall be 
 called 'Superintendent of Statistics.'" 
 
 "Thus," says Secretary Marcy, in his letter of February 4, 1857, 
 "the 'Statistical Office of the Department of State,' which had been 
 organized two years before for the preparation of a general Rejiort on 
 the Commercial Relations of the United States with Foreign Nations, 
 in answer to a resolution of the House of Rej)resentatives, was, by that 
 law, placed on a permanent basis." 
 
 The "Bureau of Statistics" was substituted for the "Statistical 
 Office," July 1, 1874, under authority conferred by the legislative, 
 executive, and judicial appropriation act of June 20, 1874, in an item 
 
42 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 providinfj a salaiy of $"2,400 each for six chiefs of bui-eau, inchuhno: 
 one of Statistics. 
 
 Until October 1, 1S80, the duties of the Bureau were restricted to 
 the preparation of annual and occasional re])orts from consular offi- 
 cers, but on that date tlie publication of the montlily Consular 
 Reports was begun, in ])ursuance of a recommendation of Secretary 
 of State Evarts, in response to wiiich Congress, at the previous 
 session, had made provision ''for printing ami distributing more 
 frequently the ])ublications by the Department of State of the con- 
 sular and other reports." The daily publication of consular reports 
 was begun Januaiy 1, 1898, by order of the Secretary of State of 
 December 7, 1897. 
 
 W^ORK OF THE BUREAU. 
 
 Broadly, the function of tlie Bureau of Foreign and Domestic 
 Commerce is to promote commerce and manufacturing b}^ collecting 
 and distributing information for the use and benefit of commercial 
 interests. In carrying out this function advantage is taken of the 
 relations of the Bureau with many other branches of the Federal 
 service. 
 
 Consular reports. — Use is made especially of the consular service, 
 through the Department of State, to obtain reports on the current 
 development of 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 Consular and Trade Reports, the annual 
 volume called the "Commei'cial Relations of the United States," 
 special bulletins and })amphlets, and confidential circulars or letters. 
 
 Commercial agents. — Further, the Bureau is equipped with a corps 
 of field agents, called commercial agents, who supplement tlie work 
 of consular officers through special investigations for which they are 
 fitted by training or experience in various branches of commerce. 
 These special investigations cover a wide range of subjects, such as 
 the trade in cotton textiles, cottonseed products, machinery, lumber, 
 boots and shoes and other leather goods, chemical products, and other 
 articles of domestic manufacture or export. 
 
 Foreign tariffs. — To supplement this volume of commercial infor- 
 mation there are distributed accurate statements concerning the 
 customs tariffs of foreign countries, a work which is carried on cur- 
 rently by the Division of Foreign Tariffs. Not only are translations 
 of these tariffs made and published at frequent intervals, but through 
 consular reports and from other official sources there is maintained a 
 record of the existing regulations with respect to customs charges in 
 all foreign countries. 
 
 The tariff publications of the Bureau usually present either a com- 
 plete tariff of a particular country or the rates on a particular group 
 
BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE. 43 
 
 of articles as applied in various countiies. As far as possible these 
 published editions of foreij^n tariffs are revised to date, and, in addi- 
 tion, changes in foreign tariffs are noted in the Daily (.V)nsular and 
 Trade Reports and are reprinted in special pamphlets entitled "For- 
 eign Tariff Notes." The Bureau, by virtue of its close relations with 
 American consular officers, and its files of the current official publi- 
 cations of foreign countries, possesses exceptional facilities for keep- 
 ing informed as to tariff rates and customs formalities incident to the 
 entry of goods into foreign countries. 
 
 Commercial statistics. — Statistical information in regard to imports 
 and exports is received by the Bureau in monthly returns from the 
 collectors of customs, showing the principal articles imported and 
 exported, stating quantities where possible and values in all cases; 
 the countries from which each article or group of articles was imported 
 and to which each article or group of articles was exported. These 
 statements are printed primarily in the Monthly Summary of Com- 
 merce antl Finance and distributed to individuals and firms engaged 
 in commerce, to commercial organizations, educational institutions, 
 and libraries, and to such commercial and other newspapers of the 
 country as may request the same. 
 
 Other tables of imports, much more complete in detail are pub- 
 lished quarterly, showing the quantity and value of the imports en- 
 tered for consumption, the rate of duty, and the duty collected 
 on each article or group of articles; and these quarterly statements 
 are subsequently presented in the form of an annual statement. 
 This statement of merchandise imported for consumption includes: 
 (1) The merchandise entered for consumption and duty paid upon its 
 arrival at the port, and (2) merchandise withdrawn from warehouse 
 for consumption on payment of duty. Merchandise entering the 
 country and deposited in warehouse is not included in the statement 
 of imports for consumption unless subsequently "withdrawn from 
 warehouse. 
 
 The Monthly Summaiy also contains tables showing the principal 
 articles forming the trade between the United States and its non- 
 contiguous territories — Alaska, Porto Rico, Hawaii, the Philippine 
 Islands, Guam, and Tutuila. 
 
 Annual statements of the commerce of the United States present- 
 ing trade movements in much, greater detail than those of the 
 Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance are published in a vol- 
 ume entitled "Commerce and Navigation of the United States." 
 This volume shows m great detail the trade by articles and countries, 
 stating the countries from which each article or class of articles was 
 imported and to which each article or class of articles was exported 
 during a five-year period; also statements showing the movements of 
 merchandise and of gold and silver by customs districts, the imports 
 
44 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 for consumption, and other stntoments sliowing details of the trade 
 raovenicnts witii foreign countries an«l with tho noncontiguous terri- 
 tories for a term of years. 
 
 The Statistical Abstract of the United States, a volume of about 
 800 Images, presents in condensed form statements reganling the com- 
 merce, production, industries, popuhxtion, finance, currency, indebted- 
 ness, and wealth of the countr}', and. includes in addition to the com- 
 pilations made by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce 
 the more important statistical data compiled by other branches of 
 the Government, and with this a condensed statement of the commerce 
 of the principal foreign countries. It is published annually. 
 
 Specific opportunities to extend trade. — Specific opportunities for the 
 extension of American trade, transmitted by consuls, are published 
 in the Daily Consular and Trade Reports under the title ''Foreign 
 trade opportunities." Notes relative to opportunities for the sale of 
 American manufactures to the Federal Government are also published 
 under the heading "Proposals for Government supplies." 
 
 Plans and specifications for public and private works in foreign 
 countries, as well as samples of articles for which a demand has been 
 or may be created, often accompany reports by consular officei-s 
 and commerical agents. Announcement of the receipt of these is 
 made in the Daily Consular and Trade Reports, and circulation of 
 them is made by the Bureau, an endeavor being matlo to reach as 
 soon as possible the manufacturers likely to be interested. 
 
 The Bureau coo])erates with repi-esentative trade organizations by 
 conferences with their ofTicers, by the use of membership lists for 
 the distribution of confidential information, and by filing with 
 them plans and sjiecifications for work relating to the industry or 
 industries represented by such organizations. Numetous individual 
 requests for information from American manufacturers and exportei-s 
 receive attention and endeavor is made to supply promptly all 
 material in possession of the Bureau on a particular subject. 
 
 All of the trade information received is carefully indexed, and the 
 Bur(niu has a record of reports on most lines of trade in foreign 
 countries, and when requests for data on any particular Une are 
 received search is made through these records and all information 
 available is furnished. If a subject as to which information is sought 
 is one of importance and interest to a number of concerns, such con- 
 cerns are invited to submit a list of questions covering the facts de 
 sired, and these inquiries are sent to American consuls throughout 
 the world. The results of these inquiries are subsequently published 
 and distributed by the Bureau. 
 
 The Bureau has also issued a dhectory of 1,138 quarto pages con- 
 taining the names of about 125,000 individuals and firms in foreign 
 
BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE. 45 
 
 countries engaged in the import trade, classified by countries and 
 by industries. Supplements will be issued from time to time making 
 corrections and additions. 
 
 The bulletins and monographs of the Bureau on special statistical 
 and commercial subjects now number several hundred titles, and cover 
 a wide range of trade matters. 
 
 Domestic trade development. — Although the law provides for the 
 promotion and development of trade at home and abroad, work has 
 thus far, in largo measure been devoted to recording and extending the 
 foreign trade of the United States. The work of domestic commercial 
 development is now being taken up actively, and is destined to become 
 an extremely important branch of the service of the office. 
 
 The yearly exports of manufactures to foreign countries are now 
 about 5 per cent of the total of 20,000 million dollars' worth pro- 
 duced m the United States annually. The factors of commercial 
 promotion and development related to the domestic production, dis- 
 tribution, and consumption of manufactures which are of legitimate 
 interest to the Bureau are very numerous and worthy of extensive 
 investigation and publicity. 
 
 The Bureau has already entered this field with its commercial 
 agents and will extend its researches and add to its publications as 
 rapidly as practicable. Commercial and manufacturers' organiza- 
 tions have been studied, and a report has been published dealing with 
 the promotive activities of 70 representative organizations. Com- 
 mercial museums and expositions, commercial education, methods 
 of distribution of manufactured products, standards of credit, 
 quality and sources of raw materials, and similar subjects await 
 study from the point of view of the Bureau, as outlined in the law. 
 
BUREAU OF LIGHTHOUSES. 
 
 The first lighthouse on tliis continent was built in 1715-16, at the 
 entrance to Boston Harbor, by the Province of Massachusetts, and 
 was supported by hght dues on all incoming and outgoing vessels, 
 except coastei-s. Several other Ughthouses were built by the colonies. 
 Congress by the act of August 7, 1789, authorized the maintenance of 
 lighthouses and other aids to navigation at the expense of the United 
 States. There were at that date eight lights in operation, mamtained 
 by the colonies. These, together with others completed later, tliir- 
 teen in all, were cetled to the General Government by the States. 
 
 The maintenance of lighthouses, buoys, etc., was placed under the 
 Treasury Department, and up to 1820 was directed personally by the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, except for two intervals, when supervision 
 was assigned by him to the Commissioner of Revenue. In 1820 the 
 sui)crintendence of the Hghts devolved upon the Fifth Auditor of the 
 Treasury, who was popularly known as the General wSuperintendent 
 of Lights, and who continued in charge thereof until 1852, when the 
 United States Lighthouse Board, consisting of officers of the Navy 
 and Army, ami civihans, was organized, with the Secretary of the 
 Treasury as ex officio president of the Board. The Board selected 
 from its own number a member to act as chairman. 
 
 The Lighthouse Service was transferred to the Department of 
 Commerce on July 1, 1903. On July 1, 1910, the Lighthouse Board 
 was terminated, and the present Bureau of Lighthouses established. 
 In this Bureau four officers are appointed by the President — a Com- 
 missioner of Lighthouses, a Deputy Commissioner, a Cliief Construct- 
 ing Engineer, and a Superintendent of Naval Construction. 
 
 The United States Lighthouse vService is charged \vith the estab- 
 hshment and maintenance of aids to navigation, and with aU ecjuip- 
 ment and work incident thereto, on the sea and lake coasts of tlie 
 United States, on the rivers of the United States, and on the coasts 
 of aU other territory under the jurisdiction of the United States, with 
 the exception of the Pliihppine Islands and Panama. The juris- 
 (Uction of the Lighthouse wServicc over rivers not included in tidewater 
 navigation is restricted to such as are specifically authorized by law; 
 these now include practically all the important navigable rivers and 
 lakes of the country. 
 
 All the work of establisliing and maintaining the aids to navigation 
 
 under the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse vService is performed directly 
 
 by that Service through the district organizations, with the exception 
 
 of a few minor aids which are maintained by contract, and with the 
 
 4G 
 
BUEEAU OF LIGHTHOUSES. 47 
 
 exception of the American Samoan Islands and Guantanamo Bay, 
 Cuba, where the aids are maintained through the local authorities. 
 The Lighthouse Service also has supervision over the estabhshment 
 and maintenance of private aids to navigation. 
 
 There is an office in Washington, wliich is the executive center of 
 the Service, under the Commissioner of Lighthouses and the Deputy 
 Commissioner. There are in this office an engineering construction 
 division, under the Cliief Constructing Engineer; a naval construction 
 division, under the Superintendent of Naval Construction; a hydro- 
 graphic division, under an assistant engineer, and the general office 
 force, under the chief clerk. 
 
 The Service outside of Wasliington is divided into nineteen hght- 
 house districts, each of wliich is under the charge of a lighthouse 
 ins})ector. In each district there is a central office at a location 
 selected on account of either its maritime importance or its geograph- 
 ical position, and there are also one or more lighthouse depots located 
 conveniently for can'}ang on the work of the district, in the matter 
 of storing and distributing suppKes and apparatus. Each district 
 is pro\^ded A\dth one or more lighthouse tenders for the purpose of 
 distributing supplies to the various stations and light vessels and for 
 transportation of materials for construction or repair, for the placing 
 and care of the buoyage system in the district, and for transporting 
 the inspector and other officers of the Service on official inspections 
 of stations and vessels and on other official duty. 
 
 In addition to the various district depots, there is in the Third 
 lighthouse district, on Staten Island, New York Harbor, a general 
 Hghthouse depot, where many of the supphes for the whole Service 
 are purchased and stored and sent out for cUstribution, and where 
 much of the special apparatus of the Service is manufactured or 
 repaired, and where also there is carried on various teclmical work 
 in the way of testing apparatus and supplies and designing or improv- 
 ing apparatus. 
 
 On June 30, 1912, there were 44 regular lighthouse tendei-s in com- 
 mission, and the Service maintained light vessels at 51 stations; 
 having for this purpose 65 light vessels, of which 14 were relief vessels, 
 luukmg a total of 109 vessels. The number of employees was 5,534, 
 and the number and classes of aids to navigation maintained by the 
 Service were as follows : 
 
 Lighted aids: 
 
 Lights (other tlum jjost lights) 1, 475 
 
 Post liglits 2, 552 
 
 Light-^'es.sel stations 51 
 
 Gas buoys 346 
 
 Float lights 92 
 
 Total 4, 516 
 
48 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 Unlighted aids: 
 
 Fog signals 510 
 
 Submarine signals 43 
 
 Whistling buoys, unlighted 84 
 
 Bell buoys, unlighted 205 
 
 Other buoys 5, 992 
 
 Day beacons 1, 474 
 
 Total 8, 308 
 
 Grand total 12, 824 
 
 The number of private aids to navigation maintained was 507. 
 
 The appropriations made by Congress for the general maintenance 
 of the Lighthouse Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, 
 amount to $5,037,410; the appropriations made for special works are 
 $526,500. The average appropriations for special works for the ten 
 preceding yeare, 1903 to 1912, inclusive, amounted to $1,028,450 per 
 year. The special works mclude new lighthouses, fog signals, tenders, 
 light vessels, and depots, and extensive improvements or rebuilding 
 of these. 
 
 A report of the operations of the Lighthouse Service is submitted 
 annually b}^ the Commissioner of lighthouses to the Secretary of 
 C'ommerce and transmitted to Congress. The Service also publishes 
 Weekly Notices to Mariners (jointly with the Coast and Geodetic 
 Survey), Light Lists for the various coasts, and Buoy Lists for each 
 lighthouse district. These publications are distributed free. 
 
BUREAU OF NAVIGATION. 
 
 The recognized need of uniform regulation of navigation and 
 sliipping was one of the reasons for the formation of a more perfect 
 union of the States, and the third act of the Fii"st Congress, passed 
 July 20, 1789, provided for imposing duties on the tonnage of vessels. 
 This was followed on September 1, 1789, by the act for the registering 
 and clearing of vessels and regulating the coasting trade, which is 
 still the foundation of the navigation laws and policy of the United 
 States. Succeeding Congresses have built on this foundation a sys- 
 tem of laws designed to meet the growth and variety of conditions of 
 our water-borne commerce, with increasing regard in the course of 
 yeare to the safety of life. 
 
 The field force for the administration of these laws from the 
 bpiginning of our Government has consisted of collectors and sur- 
 veyors of customs, with their deputies and inspectors, under the 
 direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, acting at Washington 
 originally through the Register of the Treasury in the matter of 
 documents of vessels and through the Navigation Division of the 
 Customs Service in the administration of other features of the navi- 
 gation laws. By the act of July 5, 1884, the Bureau of Navigation, 
 with a Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, was established. 
 This Bureau was transferred to the Department of Commerce July 1 , 
 1903, by the act of Febi-uary 14, 1903, and to the Secretary of Com- 
 merce were transferred all the duties, power, authority, and juris- 
 diction previously conferred upon the Secretary of the Treasury by 
 acts of Congress relating to merchant vessels or yachts, their meas- 
 urement, numbers, names, registers, enrollments, licenses, commis- 
 sions, records, mortgages, bills of sale, transfers, entry, clearance, 
 movements and transportation of their cargoes and passengers, 
 owners, officers, seamen, passengers, fees, inspection, equipment for 
 \he better security of life, and b}^ acts of Congress relating to tonnage 
 tax, boilers on steam vessels, the carrying of inflammable, explosive, 
 or dangerous cargo on vessels, the use of petroleum or other similar 
 substances to produce motive power, and relating to the remission 
 or refund of fines, penalties, forfeitures, exactions, or charges in- 
 curred for violating any provision of law relating to vessels or 
 seamen. 
 
 The Bureau of Navigation by law has general supervision of the 
 merchant marine and of merchant seamen except in so far as special 
 lines of work are assigned to the Steamboat-Inspection Service and 
 the Public Health Service. 
 
 49 
 
50 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 The Commissioner is specially charged with the decision of all 
 questions relating to the issue of registers, enrollments, and licenses 
 of approximately 26,000 vessels of the United States, ranging from 
 trans-Atlantic liners to motor boats. The Bureau prepares and 
 publishes annually a list of these vessels, showing some details of 
 construction and the home port, and a separate list of seagoing ves- 
 sels showing signal letters, names of owners, signal code, etc. The 
 changes in the names of these vessels are governed by statute and 
 are made through the Bureau. 
 
 Entries of vessels at ports of the United States in foreign trade 
 number annually about 30,000, with a corresponding number of 
 clearances, and disputed questions relating to these movements are 
 decided by the Secretary of Commerce through the Commissioner of 
 Navigation. 
 
 JNIeasurement of vessels to ascertain the basis upon which Federal 
 tonnage taxes and various other charges — State, municipal, and pri- 
 vate — are assessed is also conducted by customs authorities under 
 the direction of the Bureau. 
 
 Tonnage taxes collected annually on entries amount in round 
 numbei-s to about $1,000,000, and the decisions of the Commissioner 
 of Navigation on tliis subject by statute are made final. 
 
 Among the special laws enforced through this Bureau are: 
 
 (1) Those governing radio communication enacted June 24, 1910, 
 July 23, 1912, and August 13, 1912, which cover wireless telegraph 
 stations both on shipboard and in the United vStates so far as they 
 affect intei-state and foreign commerce. For administrative purposes, 
 the country has been divided into nine districts and inspectoi-s ap- 
 pointed for each district. These laws as well as those covering other 
 items of equipment and the navigation of vessels are intended to 
 safeguard life and property. 
 
 (2) The passenger act of 1882, designed to promote the safety and 
 comfort of steerage passengers arriving in and departing from the 
 United States, numbering over a million a year. 
 
 (3) The motor-boat act of June 9, 1910, which aims to secure 
 obedience to the principles of navigation involved in the "rules of 
 the road" and to prevent risk of life through fire or water on small 
 motor craft, already numbering approximately 200,000. 
 
 (4) Regulations governing the anchorage of vessels in the harbor 
 of New York and other ports; the transit of vessels through the 
 improved watere of St. Marys River, where the navigation movement 
 is greater than that through the Suez Canal; and for the patrol of 
 crowded waters during regattas and marine parades. Regulations 
 are formulated by the Bureau, under the direction of the Secretary 
 of Commerce, and then enforced by revenue cutters and other 
 patrol boats. 
 
BUEEAU OF NAVIGATION. 51 
 
 (5) Laws concerning neutrality, so far as they relate to offenses 
 which are involved in the clearance of any vessel fitted out or built for 
 warlike purposes or the transportation of recruits, arms, or munitions 
 of war by water. 
 
 (6) The coastwise laws, designed to reservre to American vessels 
 the transportation of cargo and passengers in the domestic commerce 
 of the United States. 
 
 Appeals from the rulings of collectors of customs imposing fines, 
 penalties, and forfeitures on vessels and their owners or masters are 
 decided by the Secretary of Commerce after prelimmary investigation 
 and preparation of the evidence and facts by the Commissioner of 
 Navigation, involving a knowledge of precedents, construction of 
 statutes, decisions of the courts, and the practical necessities of the 
 shipping interests as they relate to safety to life and property and the 
 promotion of commerce. 
 
 The remuneration of collectors, and in many instances surveyors, 
 is based partly on services rendered to vessels, for which specific fees 
 were formerly provided and are still the basis on which such remuner- 
 ation is paid. The accounts for these services, in so far as they 
 involve navigation matters, have administrative audit by the Bureau, 
 after which they are transmitted to the Auditor for the State and 
 other Departments for settlement. 
 
 The Government of the United States, in accord with ancient mari- 
 time custom, exercises supervision over the contracts between the 
 owners and masters of vessels and the seamen, in order, so far as pos- 
 sible, to secure substantial justice in case of dispute, without recourse 
 to the courts. For this purpose shipping commissioners are appointed 
 at the principal seaports and at other seaports collectors of customs 
 act as shipping commissioners under the general supervision of the 
 Commissioner of Navigation. The laws thus enforced also cover the 
 shipment and discharge of seamen, all papers relating to the crew, 
 their wages, scale of provisions, etc. At 17 principal seaports 
 upward of 350,000 seamen in round numbers (countmg repeated 
 voyages) are thus shipped and discharged under Government super- 
 vision. 
 
 The laws administered through and by the Bureau of Navigation, 
 which are compiled every four years by the Commissioner of Navi- 
 gation, whose duty it is to investigate the operation of these laws 
 and to recommend to the Secretary of Commerce particulars in which 
 they should be amended or improved, are published quadrennially 
 in a separate volume entitled "Navigation Laws of the United 
 States," to which a supplement is issued annually upon the adjourn- 
 ment of Congress. The volume includes the laws relating to the reg- 
 istry, enrollment, and license, official numbers, and names of merchant 
 vessels and vessels engaged in the fisheries, undocumented vessels, 
 
52 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 and yachts ; admeasurement laws for ascertaining gross and net ton- 
 nage, crew accommodations, and propelling power; detailed statutory 
 requirements concerning the issue of marine documents, bills of sale, 
 mortgages, and records; laws relating to the officers and crews of 
 merchant vessels, including those which govern agreements, shipment 
 and discharge, offenses and punishments, legal scale of provisions, 
 and return and relief of distressed seamen; the laws to determine 
 seaworthiness and inspection, proWsions, medicines, and log books, 
 and statutes fixing the liability of owners, masters, and shijjpers; the 
 passenger act of 1882 with amendments, prescribing measures in 
 detail for the comfort of steerage passengers ; the general pilot laws, 
 laws governing motor boats, and provisions concerning tonnage 
 duties, discrimination, and retaliation; statutes governing entry and 
 clearance, manifests, boarding and search of vessels; the laws con- 
 cerning the coasting trade, and particular statutes affecting trade with 
 Hawaii, Porto Rico, Alaska, the Philippmes, and the Canal Zone; the 
 power of the Secretary of Commerce to mitigate and remit penalties 
 incurred by the owners and masters of vessels ; the statutory rules to 
 prevent collisions of vessels on the ocean, on inland waters, the Great 
 Lakes, and the Mississippi and tributaries, and those defining the 
 powers of the Secretary of Commerce over the anchorage and move- 
 ments of vessels ; the regulation of radio communication ; the appoint- 
 ment of shipping commissioners and radio inspectors, and various 
 other statutes. The volume comprises about 500 pages and is com- 
 piled for the use of collectors and inspectors of customs, shipping 
 commissioners, the owners, masters, and agents of vessels, seamen, 
 and others directly interested in vessels, their oflicers, crews, passen- 
 gers, cargo, and navigation. 
 
BUREAU OF STANDARDS. 
 
 The Constitution vests the Federal Government with power to "fix 
 the Standard of Weights and Measures," and from the beginning of the 
 RepubUc many of the foremost statesmen and scientists have worked 
 assiduously to bring our system of weights and measures to a more 
 satisfactory and scientific condition. Washington recognized this as 
 one of the important subjects committed to Congress by the Constitu- 
 tion, and repeatedly urged the necessity for uniform and reliable 
 standards. In 1790 Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, was 
 directed by Congress to investigate this subject, and after a most 
 careful consideration submitted a report in which he suggested 
 important reforms, which were not, however, adopted. 
 
 A reference to the subject of weights and measures appears in the 
 act approved March 2, 1799 (R,. S., 2627), where it was ordered, among 
 other things, that the surveyor of each port of the United States should 
 "from time to time, and particularly on the first Mondays of Jan- 
 uary and July in each year, [examine and] try the weights, measures, 
 and other instruments used in ascertaining the duties on imports, with 
 standards to be provided by each collector." Apparently this act was 
 not enforced, probably for the reason that no standard had been 
 adopted by Congress or by the Treasury Department. In 1817 Pres- 
 ident Madison reminded Congress that nothing had been accomplished 
 in reforming and unifying the weights and measures, whereupon the 
 whole subject was referred to John Quincy Adams, then Secretary 
 of State. Mr. Adams, after four years of research, prepared a report 
 which has become a classic in metrology ; in it he advised t he adoption 
 of a universal standard by international agreement. 
 
 By Senate resolution of May 29, 1830, the Secretary of the Treasury 
 was directed to have an examination made of the weights and meas- 
 ures in use at the principal customhouses, and, as was expected, large 
 discrepancies were discovered. As a consequence, the Secretary of 
 the Treasury directed that standards be adopted by the Treasury 
 Department, and that copies be made and distributed to the various 
 customhouses. The avoirdupois pound was adopted as the standard 
 of weight, and the distance between certain lines on a brass bar in the 
 possession of the Department, and supposed to conform to the 
 English yard, was taken as the standard of length. In June, 1836, 
 Congress directed further that the Secretary of the Treasury should 
 furnish each State with copies of these standards. 
 
 53 
 
54 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 By act approved July 28, 1866, the use of the metric system of 
 weights and measures was legalized, and the Secret ary of the Treasury 
 was directed to furnish each State with a set of standard weigt ts and 
 measures of this system. 
 
 In 1875, more than half a century after Adams had recommended a 
 conference between nations for the purpose of establishmg world-wide 
 uniformity in standards, such a conference was held, and as a rcsidt 
 there was established in Paris a permanent International Bureau of 
 Weights and Measures. The bureau thus established undertook the 
 construction of prototypes of the metric standards, and in 1889 these 
 were ready for distribution among the seventeen nations rc])resented 
 at the international conference. Two meter prototypes (stanchirds of 
 length) and two kilogram prototypes (standards of mass) were sent 
 under seal to the United States by special messengers, and were opened 
 at the Wliite House in the ])resence of the President, the Secretary of 
 State, and a distinguished company of scholars. 
 
 The custody of the standards referred to above, and the execution 
 of the proAT-sions made by Congress, remained until July 1, 1901, 
 under the direction of the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic 
 Survey, Treasury Department, in his capacity as Superintendent of 
 the Office of Standard Weights and iMeasures. The facilities of the 
 latter office were exceedingly hmited, and the exercise of its functions 
 confined to departments of the General Government and the States. 
 
 The act of March 3, 1901, established the National Bureau of 
 Standards and made it an independent bureau of the Treasury 
 Department, where it remained until, on July 1, 1903, it became a 
 part of the Department of Commerce, under the profusions of the 
 law establishing the Department. The name "Bureau of Stand- 
 ards" was adopted by order of the Secretary on July 1, 1903. 
 
 Since 1901 the Bureau has grown as funds were provided to enable 
 it to take up more fully the functions prescribed in its organic act. 
 The relative urgency of the several lines of activity fixed the order 
 and extent of their development. The scoj^e of weights and measures 
 had broadened in recent times to include power, light, heat, elec- 
 tricity, refrigeration, and services of other kinds, which nmst bo 
 measured and for which standards and methods of measurement are 
 needed. Not less urgent are standards of quality, which rest u]>on 
 the properties of materials, and which for certain materials are ])ar- 
 tially defined in "specifications." Units and stanchirds are here 
 needed relating to physical and chemical properties in addition to 
 those of dimension and weight. The Bureau aims to meet this need 
 by the development of standard materials, standard specifications, 
 and standard methods of test for the properties of materials. 
 
 Few subjects directly affect more people than weighing and measur- 
 ing, since practically all products involve measurement, whether 
 
BUBEAU OF STANDARDS. 55 
 
 grown ill the soil or manufactured. Construction, commerce, and 
 daily trade are based upon measurement. Measure and money are 
 the two factors which fix price, and measurement is the basis of 
 science and technology. The Bureau's functions touch closely all 
 who design and make, buy and sell, transport, or utilize materials, 
 energy, or other services wliich require accurate standards and measur- 
 ing instruments. 
 
 The Bureau has taken up as fully as possible the special functions 
 prescribed by law, which may be summarized as follows: 
 
 (1) The custody of the standards, which involves their care and 
 preservation and the varied researches necessary to maintain their 
 constancy. 
 
 (2) Comparisons of standards for States, municipaUties, institu- 
 tions, and the general public, including those used in commerce, manu- 
 facturing, and science, assuring to the public accuracy at its source — 
 in the factory and the industrial laboratory. 
 
 (3) The construction of new standards demanded by scientific and 
 teclinical progress on the basis of the best available data and new 
 researches at the Bureau, and whenever practicable by international 
 agreement. 
 
 (4) Standardization of measuring instruments for manufacturers 
 as a test of their output, or for the user that he may verify instru- 
 ments or materials independently. 
 
 (5) Technical research on problems connected with standards — 
 research which in many cases limits the rate of progress in a given 
 field. 
 
 (6) The determination of physical constants and the properties of 
 materials — the exact tlata relating to materials and energy wliich 
 underlie technical and industrial work, and for which direct reference 
 to the fundamental standards is highly desirable. 
 
 (7) The determination of the properties of materials, such work 
 being based upon the modern view that quality may be measured and 
 standardized exactly as dimension and weight may be, although the 
 problems may be difficult and require advanced research. 
 
 The organization of the Bureau is a practical groupmg of the 
 several classes of work — scientific, clerical, and mechanical. The 
 divisions of the scientific work are electricity, weights and measures, 
 heat, light, and chemistry. The technical operations also inchide 
 engineering instruments and the investigation of materials. The 
 clerical work comprises i)ul)lication, records, library, accounts, cer- 
 tificates and correspondence, stores, and shipping. The mechanical 
 staff has the operation of the engineering ])lant, care of buildings 
 and grounds, construction in the instrument shop, cabinet shop, 
 and the shop for glass blowing and glass working. The Bureau aims 
 to attain steady progress in exj)orienco and knowledge among the 
 
56 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 employees in its several lines by a series of graded positions, and by 
 providing facilities and o])portunities, such as a technical library, 
 journal meetings, and encouraging evening study to supj)lement 
 their practical experience. This policy stimulates interest and 
 efficiency. 
 
 The work of the Bureau has its main sanction as the legal custodian 
 of the standards and also on account of the fundamental character 
 of the investigations undertaken and the ])recision attained in such 
 researches. In all of its work the Bureau aims to cooperate fully 
 and directly with all interests concerned, since only in this manner 
 can all ]>oints of view and sources of information be regarded. 
 
 Wlien mternational standards are involved, the Bureau cooperates 
 with the standardizing institutions of other countries and with the 
 International Bureau of Weights and Measures. The international 
 agreement as to the precise value of the candlepower as a unit of 
 light is an example. While such fundamental standards are still 
 relatively few, the derived standards, such as standards of light, color, 
 composition, combustion, efficiency, and other quantities which are 
 developed as industrial and scientific needs multiply, steadily increase 
 m complexity. 
 
 Sets of the national standards have been supplied to every State 
 of the Union, and these are verified from time to time at the Bureau 
 of Standards. These sets serve to regulate the local measures used 
 by county sealers for inspection of trade weights and measures. In 
 all of such work the Bureau cooperates with State governments and 
 officials by holding annual conferences, assisting in the technical 
 details of the inspection service, and giving advice concerning new 
 legislation. 
 
 The Bureau also cooperates with the national technical societies 
 m developing uniform standard nomenclature, im})roved specifi- 
 cations, more exact methods of measurement, and more reliable 
 and convenient forms of standarils. The manufacture of measur- 
 mg appliances is now a large grouj) of industries, and in testing the 
 standards used to make measuring appliances the Bureau is indi- 
 rectly distributing ]u-ecision in all branches of commerce and trnde. 
 To the general manufacturer the Bureau makes available its facili- 
 ties by standardizing the measures by which he makes his product 
 and upon his request the ])roduct itself may be tested. Manufac- 
 turers also refer technical problems to the Bureau, and wherever 
 possible the Bureau aims to serve as a clearing house for technical 
 information upon subjects within its field. The large number of 
 inquiries by mail afford another medium for giving information 
 upon these subjects — data which often may be directly applied in 
 commerce, manufacturing, research, and daily trade. The need for 
 a clearing house for such information needs no emphasis. 
 
BUREAU OF STANDARDS. 57 
 
 Length measures in great variety — gauges, bars, rules, tapes, level 
 rods — are standardized under known conditions of temperature and 
 manner of support. Researches are made as to the design and use 
 of such instruments, as well as their change with heat. All length 
 standards used in manufacturing, in engineering — whether measuring 
 lands, laying out buildings or other structures, or making maps and 
 charts — or in scientific work must come directly or indirectly from 
 the Bureau. Likewise the Bureau is the legal custodian of the stand- 
 ards of mass, and all makers of weights and balances and weighing 
 instruments, from the most delicate used by chemists and physicists 
 to the heaviest used in commerce, depend upon the Bureau for their 
 standards. 
 
 Each year many thousand glass measures— flasks, pipettes, bu- 
 rettes, cylinders, and other forms used by chemists and others — are 
 tested. Such tests are made by determining accurately the volume 
 of distilled water contained or delivered by the vessel at a certain 
 temperature. Cubic-foot standards are also verified for use in test- 
 ing gas and water meter pro vers. Likewise each year hydrometers 
 in large numbers are tested, mainly for use by the Internal-Revenue 
 Service to measure the densities of liquids in order to assess the proper 
 tax. The Bureau is called upon also to determine densities of solids, 
 liquids, and gases in special cases. These tests of length, mass, and 
 capacity are fundamental, and with time form the basis of more com- 
 plex measure of energy and the properties of materials. Many of the 
 tests requested require the development of special apparatus and 
 methods. 
 
 The importance to science and industry of correct standards and 
 uniformity of measures of length, mass, and capacity is apparent, but 
 it is equally important that standards be provided for the measure of 
 electricity, heat, light, pressure, power, and other quantities. More- 
 over, the standards here involved are far more complex. Their prep- 
 aration and comparison involve measurements and research of a high 
 order in practically all branches of physics and chemistry. This work 
 includes standard measuring instruments for temperatures ranging 
 from the lowest to the highest attainable; the establishing of the 
 standard temperature scale, and the determination of standard heat- 
 ing values of combustibles; and testing <)f pyrometers for measuring 
 the high temperatures used in the steel, glass, pottery, and other 
 industries. The standards and instruments of the electrical indus- 
 tries are no less important or varied in their nature. They involve 
 as fundamental units those of electrical resistance and electromotive 
 force, as well as those of capacity, inductance, and magnetic quanti- 
 ties. The Bureau maintains also a laboratory for preparing and test- 
 ing standards of illumination used in the manufacture of electric 
 lamps or the testing of gas, oil, and other illuminants. The optical 
 
58 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 work of the Bureau also requires its special units and standards, for 
 the special optical problems involved, the tests of optical materials 
 and instruments, and the determination of optical constants of indus- 
 trial and scientific importance. 
 
 Standards for manufacturers are not constructed at the Bureau of 
 Standards except in rare cases, although the Bureau has designed 
 standard weights and prepared specifications for the several grades. 
 In general, standards are purcliased from the makers of standard 
 measures and sent to the Bureau from time to time for comparison 
 with the Government standards and certification of errors. The de- 
 gree of precision with which they are compared is planned to meet 
 the exact needs — to avoid at once needless overprecision f or the usual 
 cases and also to insure the adequate high precision where that is 
 required for more fundamental or exacting work. The nice adjust- 
 ment of tlxe degree of precision to the specific case in hand requires 
 the experience and judgment of the specialist. 
 
 The testing of water, gas, and electric meters practically concerns 
 all who utilize such services. These services should, of course, be as 
 accurately measured as are the ordinary articles of trade, and yet 
 proper provision is often wanting for impartial tests of the accuracy 
 of such meters. While the pubhc may suffer loss tlu-ough faulty 
 meters for which proper testing faciUties are inaccessible, yet sus- 
 picion may exist %vithout cause, and in such cases it is equally impor- 
 tant that the accuracy should be authoritatively attested. Most of 
 this wca"k is for manufacturing or central-station plants or for munici- 
 palities. 
 
 The work of testing materials is another important branch of the 
 Bureau's functions. Public safety rests upon the certainty that the 
 materials used for buildings, bridges, railroads, and other structures 
 are of sufficient strength and stability. The time has passed when 
 the strength of materials can be taken for granted. Willi the rajiid 
 increase in the height of buildings, length of spans of bridges, and 
 speed of transportation new problems in safety and e(ficiency arise, 
 which should not be left to guesswork or even personal judgment. 
 Positive tests by assured methods alone can guarantee that, to begin 
 with, the materials are pro})erly selected for the work. B}" means of 
 strain gauges and other means, the finished structure may be studied 
 under service conditions. Experience is the ultimate test, but until 
 the knowledge of materials is sufficiently complete the best sub- 
 stitute when judgment must be formed in advance is based on the 
 laboratory test. The Bureau cooperates with other agencies in plac- 
 ing the testing of materials upon a scientific basis as fully as possible. 
 
 The growing appreciation of the vast waste due to defective mate- 
 rials and then" misuse has raised the whole question of efficiency. 
 Adequate testing or measurement is the keynote to the solution of 
 
BUREAU OF STANDARDS. 59 
 
 the central problem. The testing of Government supplies is an 
 illustration. In this work the various branches of the Government 
 are cooperating with the Bureau and the purchasing officers in 
 amending the faulty definitions, varying practices, and imperfect 
 specifications, and providing suitable working standards of quality 
 and methods of testing. The development of specifications has 
 been made the subject of special conferences at the Bureau, attended 
 by Government experts, manufacturers, and users, and the results 
 obtained in the case of electric lamps, Portland cement, paper, and 
 other materials show the value of such work. Among the more 
 important groups of materials tested are metals and metal products, 
 ceramics, cement and concrete, lime, stone, wood, bituminous mate- 
 rials, paint materials, inks, paper, textUes, rubber, leather, adhesives, 
 and a large range of miscellaneous manufactured products. 
 
 The Bureau of Standards is located in tlio northwest section of 
 Washington, D. C, at an elevation of 350 feet above the Potomac 
 River, on a natural hill site of about 16 acres — a location admirably 
 suited to its work, being practically free from mechanical and elec- 
 trical disturbances. It occupies a group of five buildings, each of which 
 was designed especially for the purpose for which it is used. In 
 addition, it maintains laboratories in Pittsburgh and Northampton, 
 Pa., and Charleston, S. C. 
 
 Besides an extensive modern equipment of scientific instruments 
 and apparatus for experimental and testmg work, the Bureau's facil- 
 ities are in many respects unique, since the range of work is so varied. 
 In the heat division temperature ranges are available from that of 
 liquid air to the heat of a vacuum electric furnace ; in electrical work 
 wide ranges of current are available; in chemical work the usual facil- 
 ities are supplemented by many special services. For the experi- 
 mental work electrical power, refrigeration, steam, gas, compressed 
 air, vacuum, Uquid au", freezing brine, time service for precision pur- 
 poses, and many other facilities are available. 
 
 The Bureau is provided with a technical library of more than 
 10,000 volumes, chiefly on physics, chemistry, and technology, and 
 regularly receives about 300 journals relating to subjects in its field 
 of work. The Bm'eau has issued more than 250 publications giving 
 the results of its scientific work and describing the various lines of 
 testing now going on. These are available for public distribution. 
 
STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE. 
 
 The act of Congress approved July 7, 1838, which pro^dded for 
 hfcboats, signal lights, fire pumps and hose, and the inspection of 
 the hulls and boilers of steam vessels, was the first legislation on 
 the important question of "the better security of lives of passengers 
 on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part hj steam." This 
 act was modified by the acts of March 3, 1843, and March 3, 1849, 
 the latter of which provided for signal lights on all vessels. 
 
 The act of Congress approved August 30, 1852, known as the 
 steamboat act, however, was really the establishment of the present 
 Steamboat-Inspection Service, and since that date the work has been 
 prosecuted, with but few innovations, on the plans then adopted. 
 Prior to July 1, 1903, the Secretary of the Treasury was charged 
 with the general supervision of the Service, but on that date this 
 supervision was transferred to the head of what is now the Depart- 
 ment of Commerce by act of Congress approved February 14, 1903 
 (the organic act of the Department). 
 
 At the present time the Steamboat-Inspection Service is charged 
 with the duty of inspecting the hulls and machinery of steam vessels 
 and with the administration of the laws requiring passenger vessels 
 to be equipped with boats, rafts, water-tight bulkheads, signal fights, 
 life-savmg appliances, and fire-fighting apparatus. It is charged also 
 with the duty of determining the number of passengers a vessel can 
 carry with prudence and safety, the number of officers necessary for 
 the safe navigation of vessels, and the licensing of such officers. It 
 prescribes pilot rules to be observed by vessels navigating the waters 
 of the United States, and conducts investigations and trials for viola- 
 tions of the steamboat-inspection laws and the rules and regulations 
 issued in furtherance thereof. 
 
 For the purpose of administering the ])ilot rules the waters of the 
 United States are divided into three parts, and separate rules are 
 made for, each. These three divisions are (1) Atlantic and Pacific 
 coast inland waters, (2) the Great Lakes and their connecting and 
 tributary waters as far east as Montreal, (3) rivers whose waters 
 flow into the Gulf of Mexico, and their tributaries, and the Red 
 River x)f the North. 
 
 The jurisdiction of the Service extends to all steam vessels navi- 
 gating any waters of the United States which are common liigliways 
 of commerce or open to general or competitive navigation, except 
 vessels owned b}^ the United States or other governments and boats 
 60 
 
STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE. 61 
 
 propelled in whole or in part by steam for navigating canals. It has 
 jurisdiction also over coastwise seagoing vessels and vessels navigating 
 the Great Lakes, when navigating within the jurisdiction of the United 
 States, as well as over all foreign private steam vessels carrying passen- 
 gers from any port of the United States to any other place and 
 country. 
 
 At the head of the Service is the Supervising Inspector General, 
 located at Washington, whose duty it is, under the direction of the 
 Secretary of Commerce, to superintend the administration of the 
 steamboat-inspection laws; preside at the meetings of the Board of 
 Supervising Inspectors; receive all reports and accounts of inspectors; 
 examine, on application of the officer whose license is in question, 
 any case involving the revocation or suspension of license; report 
 fully at stated periods to the Secretary of Commerce on all matters 
 pertaming to his official duties, and produce a correct and uniform 
 administration of the inspection laws, rules, and regulations. The 
 Supervising Inspector General is responsible for the general effective- 
 ness, usefulness, and capacity of the Service, and for the intelligent 
 du'ection and management of its affairs. 
 
 The United States and all its territorial possessions, with the 
 exception of the Philippine Islands, is divided into 10 supervising 
 mspection districts, each of which is presided over by a supervising 
 inspector of steam vessels, and these districts, in turn, are divided 
 into local districts in charge of boards of local inspectors, consisting of 
 a local inspector of hulls and a local mspector of boUers. Wherever 
 necessary, assistant inspectors of hulls and boilers are appointed to 
 assist the local inspectors in the inspection of vessels, and to each 
 board at least one clerk is assigned to perform necessary clerical work. 
 
 The supervising inspectors, in charge of the various supervising 
 inspection districts, are selected for their knowledge and practical 
 experience in the uses of steam for navigation and are responsible 
 for the general condition and efficiency of the Service throughout 
 their respective districts. It is their duty to watch over all parts 
 of the territory assigned to them; instruct local boards of inspec- 
 tors in the proper performance of their duties; examine, whenever 
 they think it expedient, into the condition of any licensed vessel 
 for the purpose of ascertaining whether the laws have been ob- 
 served both by the inspectors and the masters and owners; and 
 report to the Secretary any failure of a board to do its duty. They 
 are also obliged to visit any district in which there is at any time no 
 board of inspectors and within which steam vessels are owned and 
 employed, and to perform in such district all the duties imposed 
 on local boards. They hear and decide all cases in which any person, 
 master, or owner deems himself wronged by the decision of the local 
 inspectors, and investigate and decide all cases, when requested to 
 
62 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 
 
 do SO, where disagreements have arisen between the local inspectors. 
 At the end of each year they submit reports to the Supervising Inspec- 
 tor General covering the general business transacted during the year, 
 together with all violations of laws and the action taken in relation 
 thereto. 
 
 On the third Wednesday of January, in each year, and at such 
 other times as the Secretary of Commerce may prescribe, the super- 
 vising inspectors and the Supervising Inspector General assemble at 
 Washington as a Board of Supervising Inspectors for the purpose of 
 joint consultation, the assignment of territory, the approval of instru- 
 ments and equipment required to be used on steam vessels for the 
 better security of life, and the formulation of regulations necessary 
 to carry out in the most effectiv^e manner the provisions of the 
 steamboat-inspection laws, which regulations, when approved by the 
 Secretary of Commerce, have the force of law. The Secretary, how- 
 ever, is authorized to call in session, at any time, after reasonable 
 ])ublic notice, a meeting of an executive committee, composed of the 
 Supervising Inspector General and two supervising inspectors, which 
 committee, with the approval of the Secretary, may change or repeal 
 any of the rules or regulations made by the Board of Supervising 
 Inspectors, such changes to have the force of law and continue in 
 effect until 30 days aft^ the adjournment of the next meeting of the 
 Board of Supervising Inspectors. The executive committee may 
 also approve instruments, machines, and equipment required to be 
 used on steam vessels for the better SiCcurity of life. 
 
 Each of the local districts into which the various super-sdsmg inspec- 
 tion districts are divided is presided over by aboard of local inspectors, 
 consistmg of a local Inspector of hulls and a local inspector of boilers. 
 It is the duty of this board to mspect, at least once a year, each steam 
 vessel within its district, and to certificate or disapprove the same, 
 and to examine all steamers arriving and departing to and from the 
 ports in its district, and order the master or owner to make necessary 
 repairs or correct unlawful conditions. It is also incumbent on the 
 board to examine all persons applying for officers' licenses, to license 
 for five years each of them who can be safely intrusted with the duties 
 and responsibilities of the station for which application is made, to 
 investigate all acts of incompetency or misconduct committed by 
 licensed officers while acting under the authority of their licenses, and 
 when necessary to suspend or revoke the licenses of such officers. It 
 is required to keep a record of all licenses granted to masters, mates, 
 pilots, and engineers, as well as its decisions in cases where licenses 
 have been refused, suspended, or revoked, and to transmit to the 
 supervising inspector of its district all testimony received by it in 
 such proceedings. It is also required to keep a record of certificates 
 issued to vessels and of every steamer boarded during the year, which 
 
STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SEKVICE. 63 
 
 information, together with an account of all other official acts, is com- 
 municated to the supervising inspector in the form of a report at such 
 times as may be directed. 
 
 Assistant inspectors perform such duties of actual inspection as 
 may be assigned to them under the direction, supervision, and control 
 of the local inspectors, and may be detailed by the Supervismg Inspec- 
 tor General, under the dii'ection of the Secretary of Commerce, to 
 inspect, at the mills where the same are manufactured, iron and steel 
 plates to be used in the construction of marine boilers, which plates, 
 when properly stamped, are accepted by local inspectors as bemg in 
 full compliance with the law. 
 
 Whenever any local inspector or supervising inspector ascertains 
 that any vessel subject to the provisions of the steamboat-inspection 
 laws is being operated or navigated without complying with the pro- 
 visions of such laws, the certificate of inspection issued to such 
 vessel is immediately revoked, and no new certificate is issued until 
 the law has been fully complied with. Any vessel operating or navi- 
 gating, or attempting to operate or navigate, after the revocation of 
 her certificate of inspection and before the issuance of a new certifi- 
 cate is subject to a fine, and may by proper order or action of any 
 district court of the United States having jurisdiction be seized 
 summarily by way of libel and held without privilege of release by 
 bail or bond until a proper certificate of inspection shall have been 
 issued to said vessel. Any master or owner of any vessel whose 
 certificate shall have been revoked may, however, appeal to the 
 Secretary of Commerce for a reexamination of the case, and upon 
 such appeal the Secretary has power to revise or set aside the action 
 of the local or supervising inspector and to direct the issuance of a 
 certificate of inspection. The judicial process brought against the 
 vessel shall thereupon be of no further force or effect, and the vessel 
 shall be released. 
 
 In addition to the annual report of the Supervising Inspector 
 General and the list of officers licensed each year, the Service issues 
 and distributes frequent editions of pilot rules for each of the tlu-ee 
 divisions into which the waters of the United States are divided, laws 
 governing the Service, and general rules and regulations prescribed 
 by the Board of Supervising Inspectors. 
 
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