DEPARTMENT DUTIES.

THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

SECRETARY OF STATE.

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

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE.

The Assistant Secretary of State becomes the Acting Secretary of State in the absence of the Secretary. Under the organization of the Department the Assistant Secretary, Second Assistant Secretary, and Third Assistant Secretary are charged with the immediate supervision of all correspondence with the diplomatic and consular officers and are intrusted with the preparation of the correspondence upon any questions arising in the course of the public business that may be assigned to them by the Secretary.

CHIEF CLERK.

The Chief Clerk has the general supervision of the clerks and employees and of the business of the Department.

DIPLOMATIC BUREAU.

Diplomatic correspondence and miscellaneous correspondence relating thereto.

CONSULAR BUREAU.

Consular correspondence and miscellaneous correspondence relating thereto.

BUREAU OF INDEXES AND ARCHIVES.

Opening, preparing, indexing, and registering all correspondence to and from the Department; the preservation of the archives.

BUREAU OF ACCOUNTS.

Custody and disbursement of appropriations under direction of the Department; charged with custody of indemnity funds and bonds; care of the property of the Department.

BUREAU OF ROLLS AND LIBRARY.

Custody of the rolls, treaties, etc.; promulgation of the laws, etc.; care and superintendence of the library and public documents; care of the Revolutionary archives, and of papers relating to international commissions.

BUREAU OF STATISTICS.

Edits and publishes the monthly consular reports, special consular reports, and the annual report laid before Congress entitled Commercial Relations of the United States."

SOLICITOR.

(From the Department of Justice.)

The Solicitor is the law officer of the Department, and investigates questions referred to him by the Secretary and Assistant Secretaries covering matters of both municipal and international law.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

The Secretary of the Treasury is charged by law with the management of the national finances. He prepares plans for the improvement of the revenue and for the support of the public credit; superintends the collection of the revenue, and prescribes the forms of keeping and rendering public accounts and of making returns; grants warrants for all moneys drawn from the Treasury in pursuance of appropriations made by law, and for the payment of moneys into the Treasury; and annually submits to Congress estimates of the probable revenues and disbursements of the Government. He also controls the construction of public buildings; the coinage and printing of money; the collection of statistics; the administration of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Life-Saving, Light-House, Revenue-Cutter, Steamboat-Inspection, and Marine-Hospital branches of the public service, and furnishes generally such information as may be required by either branch of Congress on all matters pertaining to the foregoing.

The routine work of the Secretary's office is transacted in the offices of the Supervising Architect, Director of the Mint, Superintendent of Engraving and Printing, Supervising Surgeon-General of the Marine-Hospital Service, General Superintendent of the Life-Saving Service, Supervising Inspector-General of Steamboats, Bureau of Statistics, Light-House Board, and in the following divisions: Bookkeeping and Warrants; Appointments; Customs; Public Moneys; Loans and Currency; RevenueCutter; Stationery, Printing, and Blanks; Mails and Files; Special Agents, and Miscellaneous.

ASSISTANT SECRETARIES OF THE TREASURY.

To Assistant Secretary William Edmond Curtis is assigned the general direction and supervision of all matters relating to the public business assigned to the following divisions: Public Moneys; Loans and Currency; Miscellaneous; the Bureau of Engraving and Printing; the offices of the Chief Clerk and Superintendent (including World's Columbian Exposition); the Supervising Architect; the Supervising SurgeonGeneral of the Marine-Hospital Service; and the Supervising Inspector-General of the Steamboat-Inspection Service, with authority to sign all letters and papers as Assistant Secretary, or By order of the Secretary," relating to the business of the above-mentioned divisions, bureaus, and offices that do not by law require the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury.

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To Assistant Secretary Charles S. Hamlin is assigned the general direction and supervision of all matters pertaining to the Customs Service, to the accounting system of the Treasury Department, to the public business assigned to the following divisions: Customs; Revenue-Cutter; Special Agents and Secret Service, to the Light-House Board and Service, and to the Bureau of Statistics, with authority to sign all letters and papers as Assistant Secretary relating to the above-mentioned business, offices, divisions, and bureau that do not by law require the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury.

To Assistant Secretary Scott Wike is assigned the direction and supervision of all matters relating to the public business assigned to the following divisions: Warrants, Estimates, and Appropriations; Stationery, Printing, and Blanks; Mail and Files; the Navigation and Immigration Bureaus, and to the offices of the Life-Saving Service, and the signing of all letters and papers as Assistant Secretary or By order of the Secretary," relating to the business of the above-mentioned divisions, bureaus, and office that do not by law require the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury.

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CHIEF CLERK.

The Chief Clerk supervises, under the immediate direction of the Secretary and Assistant Secretaries, the duties of the clerks and employees connected with the Department; the superintendence of all buildings occupied by the Department in Washington, D. C.; the transmission of the mails, the care of all horses, wagons, and carriages employed; the direction of engineers, machinists, firemen, or laborers; the expenditure of the appropriations for contingent expenses of the Treasury Department; for furniture and repairs of same; fuel lights, water, and miscellaneous items, and the assignment of custodians' force for buildings under the control of the Department; the distribution of the mail; the custody of the records and files and library of the Secretary's office; the answering of calls from Congress and elsewhere for copies of papers, records, etc.; supervision of all the official correspondence of the Secretary's office, so far as to see that it is expressed in correct and official form; the enforcement of the general regulations of the Department, and the charge of all business of the Secretary's office not assigned.

COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY.

The act of July 31, 1894, reorganizing the accounting offices of the Treasury, abolished the offices of Second Comptroller of the Treasury and the Commissioner of Customs, and provided that hereafter the First Comptroller shall be known as the Comptroller of the Treasury. The Comptroller is not charged with the duty of revising accounts, except upon appeal from the settlements made by the Auditors, an appeal to be taken within one year by either the claimant, the head of the Department interested, or by the Comptroller himself. Upon the request of a disbursing officer or the head of a Department, the Comptroller is required to give his decision upon the validity of a payment to be made, which decision, when rendered, shall govern the Auditors and the Comptroller in the settlement of the account involving the payment. He is required to approve, disapprove, or modify all decisions of the Auditors making an original construction or modifying an existing construction of statutes, and to certify his action to the Auditor. He transmits all decisions made by him forthwith to the Auditor or Auditors whose duties are affected thereby. By the regulations of the Department the Comptroller passes upon the sufficiency of authorities to indorse drafts and receive and receipt for money from the Government, upon the evidence presented in applications for duplicates of lost or destroyed United States bonds, drafts, checks, etc. The forms of keeping and rendering all public accounts (except those relating to the postal service), the recovery of debts certified by the Auditors to be due to the United States, and the preservation, with their vouchers and certificates, of accounts finally adjusted, are under the direction of the Comptroller. Upon revision of accounts, appealed from the several Auditors to the Comptroller, his decision upon such revision is final and conclusive upon the executive branch of the Government.

AUDITOR FOR THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

The Auditor for the Treasury Department receives and examines all accounts of salaries and incidental expenses of the office of the Secretary of the Treasury and all bureaus and offices under his direction. All accounts relating to the Customs Service, the public debt, internal revenue, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurers, mints and assay offices, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Coast and Geodetic Survey, Revenue-Cutter Service, Life-Saving Service, Light-House Board, Marine Hospital, public buildings, Steamboat-Inspection Service, Immigration Service, Bureau of Navigation, Secret Service, Alaskan fur-seal fisheries, and all other business within the jurisdiction of the Department of the Treasury, and certifies the balances arising thereon to the Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants.

The subordinate divisions of his office are

Customs Division.-Receipts and expenditures of the customs service, including fines, emoluments, forfeitures, debentures, drawbacks, and warehouse and bond accounts received from custom-houses.

Internal Revenue Division.-Accounts of collectors of internal revenue, including salaries, contingent expenses, and compensation of storekeepers.

Public-Debt Division.-Redemption of the public debt, including principal, premium, and interest, the payment of interest, redemption of certificates of deposit, notes destroyed.

Miscellaneous Division.-Accounts of mint and assay offices, construction, repair, and preservation of public buildings; Treasurer of the United States, for general

receipts and expenditures; Bureau of Engraving and Printing; Coast and Geodetic Survey; Revenue-Cutter Service; Life-Saving Service; Light-House Board; MarineHospital Service, and all other miscellaneous accounts coming to this office.

AUDITOR FOR THE WAR DEPARTMENT.

The Auditor for the War Department receives and examines all accounts of salaries and incidental expenses of the offices of the Secretary of War and all bureau, and offices under his direction; all accounts relating to the military establishments armories and arsenals, national cemeteries, fortifications, public buildings and grounds under the Chief of Engineers, rivers and harbors, the Military Academy, and to all other business within the jurisdiction of the Department of War, and certifies the balances arising thereon to the Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants, and sends a copy of each certificate to the Secretary of War.

The work is distributed among six divisions, as follows: Archives Division, Review Division, Mail and Miscellaneous Division, Paymaster and Claims Division, Pay and Bounty Division, and Military Division.

AUDITOR FOR THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT.

The Auditor for the Interior Department shall receive and examine all accounts of salaries and incidental expenses of the office of the Secretary of the Interior, and of all bureaus and offices under his direction, and all accounts relating to Army and Navy pensions, Geological Survey, public lands, Indians, Architect of the Capitol, patents, census, and to all other business within the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, and certify the balances arising thereon to the Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants, and send forthwith a copy of each certificate to the Secretary of the Interior. He also examines and approves or disapproves all requisitions for advances of money made by all persons authorized to do so in the above-named Department.

AUDITOR FOR THE NAVY DEPARTMENT.

The Auditor for the Navy Department examines and settles all accounts of the Navy Department, including the office of the Secretary of the Navy, and all offices and bureaus under his direction, certifying the balances arising thereon to the Secretary of the Treasury (Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants), sending a copy of each certificate to the Secretary of the Navy.

Paymaster's Division.—Examines accounts of pay officers of the Navy and the Marine Corps, also the claims of subsidized railroads, and the naval accounts of the Western Union Telegraph Company.

Record and Claims Division.-Has charge of the records and files of the office, adjusts prize-money accounts, and claims of a miscellaneous character, such as arrears of pay, bounty, etc., arising in the Navy and the Marine Corps, furnishes the Pension Office with service record of officers, sailors, and marines, and prepares tabulated statements for Congress.

Navy Pay and Allotment Division.-Settles accounts of disbursing officers for the purchase of supplies for the Navy, and building, arming, and equipping new ships; accounts of naval attachés at London, Paris, and Berlin; account of fiscal agent of the United States at London; account of disbursing officer of the Navy Department; accounts of coaling stations and miscellaneous claims; also keeps the accounts of allotments made by officers and men of the Navy.

AUDITOR FOR THE STATE AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS.

The Auditor for the State and other Departments receives, examines, and certifies the balances arising thereon to the Division of Bookkeeping and Warrants all accounts of salaries and incidental expenses of the offices of the Secretary of State, the Attorney-General, and the Secretary of Agriculture, and of all bureaus and offices under their direction; all accounts relating to all other business within the jurisdiction of the Departments of State, Justice, and Agriculture; all accounts relating to the Diplomatic and Consular Service, the judiciary, United States courts, judgments of the United States courts, Executive Office, Civil Service Commission, Interstate Commerce Commission, Department of Labor, District of Columbia, Fish Commission, Court of Claims and its judgments, Smithsonian Institution, Territorial governments, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Public Printer, Library of Congress, Botanic Garden, and accounts of all boards, commissions, and establishments of the Government not within the jurisdiction of any of the Executive Departments. He also examines and approves or disapproves all requisitions for advances of money made by all persons authorized to do so in any of the abovenamed Departments, commissions, or establishments.

AUDITOR FOR THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT.

The Auditor for the Post-Office Department examines and adjusts all accounts relating to the postal service, and his decisions on these are final, unless an appeal be taken in twelve months to the Comptroller. He superintends the collection of all debts due the United States for the service of the Post-Office Department and all penalties imposed, directs suits and all legal proceedings in civil actions, and takes all legal means to enforce the payment of money due the United States for the service of the Post-Office Department. The work of the office is assigned as follows: The Deputy Auditor assumes charge of the office as Acting Auditor during the absence of the Auditor; signs all official papers designated by the Auditor, which includes drafts, letters, statements, post-office warrants, and other papers; is also charged with the custody and care of the furniture, and has supervision of all requisitions for supplies.

The Chief Clerk has a general supervision of the work of all the clerks in the office; has charge of all correspondence; the opening, reading, and assigning of all letters received; reading, preparing for signature, and press-copying letters sent; keeping the roll and making report of attendance and absence of employees, and all miscellaneous matters not otherwise assigned.

The Disbursing Clerk has charge of the preparation of pay rolls, disbursements, of appropriations for the salaries of officers and employees of the office; the disposition of deposits made in connection with offers of compromise of debts and judgments on post-office accounts, and the receipt and dispatch of the registered mail addressed to and sent from the office. There are seven subordinate divisions, viz:

Assorting and Checking. -Arranges money orders by States and offices in the exact numerical order of their issue, and compares them with the statements of the issuing postmasters.

Bookkeeping.-Has charge of the preparation of the quarterly and annual reports of the receipts and expenditures of the Post-Office Department; receives and audits each postmaster's account, keeping ledger account with the same, also mail contractors; has charge of the general appropriations for the Post-Office Department; registers post-office warrants and drafts; receives all evidence of deposits to credit of postal revenue, and states the account against the general Treasury.

Collecting-The collection of balances due from and the payment of balances due to late and present postmasters, and the final settlement of postal accounts.

Foreign.-Adjustment of postal and money-order accounts with foreign countries. Inspecting.-Receives and examines the money-order statements of postmasters, comparing the vouchers with the corresponding entries on the statements, and making additions of the debt and credit sides.

Pay.-The adjustment and payment of all accounts for the transportation of the mails, both foreign and domestic, and post-office supplies.

Recording.-Stating accounts of postmasters at money-order offices, payment of commissions, and collection of balances.

TREASURER OF THE UNITED STATES.

The Treasurer of the United States is charged with the receipt and disbursement of all public moneys that may be deposited in the Treasury at Washington and the subtreasuries at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, San Francisco, St. Louis, Chicago, and Cincinnati, and in the national-bank United States depositories; is trustee for bonds held to secure national-bank circulation and public deposits in national banks; is custodian of Indian trust-fund bonds; is agent for paying the interest on the public debt, and ex officio commissioner of the sinking fund of the District of Columbia. The Treasury subdivisions are

Chief Clerk.-Receives and distributes the official mail; has charge of the correspondence and the disposition and payment of the clerical force, and the custody of the records and files; and of the issue of duplicate checks and drafts.

Cash Division. For receipt and payment of public funds at Washington. Issue Division.—Completion of new United States notes, gold and silver certificates, and count of silver, gold, and minor coin.

Redemption Division.-All currency except national-bank notes received and redeemed.

Loan Division.-Interest checks prepared and bonds redeemed.

Accounts Division.-The accounts of the Treasury, the subtreasuries, and the United States national-bank depositaries are kept.

National Bank Division.—Has custody of bonds held for national-bank circulation, for public deposits, and various public trusts, and makes collection of semiannual duty.

National Bank Redemption Agency.-Notes of national banks are redeemed and accounted for.