CHAPTER XV

THE CABINET AND EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS

The Cabinet. Nowhere in the Constitution is a Cabinet mentioned, but it is implied in Article II, Section 2, which gives the President authority to require an "opinion in writing of the principal officer in each of the executive departments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices."

Executive departments have been created from time to time by act of Congress. Washington's Cabinet was made up of a Secretary of State, a Secretary of the Treasury, a Secretary of War, and an Attorney-General. The latter officer was not head of a separate department until the Department of Justice was created in 1870.

Other executive departments have been added in the following order:

Navy Department, in 1798.
Post-Office Department, 1829.1

Department of the Interior, 1848.

Department of Agriculture, 1889.

Department of Commerce and Labor, 1903.
Department of Labor (separated from Commerce),

1913.

The heads of these departments act as advisers to the President and make up his Cabinet. The President is The postal service has existed since colonial times, but was not a separate department until 1829.

From left to right around the table: the President, McAdoo (Treasury), McReynolds (Attorney General), Daniels (Navy), Houston (Agriculture), Wilson (Labor), Redfield (Commerce), Lane (Interior), Burleson (Post Master General), Garrison (War, Bryan (State).

under no obligation to consult with his Cabinet and need not follow its advice. Meetings of the Cabinet are usually held twice a week during the sessions of Congress and at any other time when the President desires.1 Cabinet meetings are held in secret, and no record of the meetings kept. The heads of executive departments are appointed by the President "by and with the advice of the Senate," and they may be dismissed at any time by the President. No Cabinet member may have a seat in Congress. Cabinet members receive a salary of $12,000 each, which is not more than enough to pay their necessary expenses.

The English Cabinet. The President's Cabinet received its name from the English Cabinet. Like the President's Cabinet the members of the English Cabinet are heads of executive departments. The English Cabinet is also unknown to the English Constitution, and no record is kept of its meetings. In other respects the two cabinets are very different. Members of the English Cabinet are nominally appointed by the crown, but actually the king must respect the wishes of the majority in the House of Commons. When a new Cabinet is required, the king sends for the recognized leader of the party which has a majority in the House of Commons and asks him to select a Cabinet. Cabinet members are chosen by the political leader after consultation with prominent members of the party, or rather "they have, so to say, chosen themselves by a career of steady success in the debates of the houses: they have come to the front by their own efforts, by the force of their own ability, and represent, usually, tried

'President Wilson, however, early in 1913, renewed the custom of holding Cabinet meetings only upon call of the President.

parliamentary capacity. Such capacity is necessary for their success as ministers; for when they have entered the Cabinet, they constitute, in effect, a committee of the majority of the House of Commons, commissioned to lead Parliament in debate and legislation, to keep it — and, through it, of course, the country at large-informed concerning all important affairs of State which can prudently be made public, and to carry out in the conduct of the government, the policy approved of by the representatives of the people." Members of the English Cabinet must be chosen from among the members of Parliament, usually the House of Commons, and they keep their position as legislators. There is, therefore, a union between the legislative and executive departments. A great advantage in the English system is that heads of executive departments, who are supposed to be well informed concerning subjects relating to their departments, may speak in Parliament on legislation affecting their departments. This is impossible in the United States since members of Congress may not continue to be Congressmen if they become members of the Cabinet.

Should the ministers of the English Cabinet be defeated in Parliament on an important measure, or should a vote of censure be passed upon them by the House of Commons, they must resign, or, if the defeated Cabinet thinks the House of Commons does not express the feelings of the voters, they may ask the king to break up Parliament and order a new election. If the party of the ministry wins in the election, the Cabinet remains unchanged, otherwise all must resign. This is in effect a "referendum" on important political questions.

1 Wilson, "The State," p. 384.

The Executive Departments. Each Cabinet officer is, in addition to being an adviser to the President, the head of an executive department. He is obliged to submit an annual report to the President, which describes the work of his department for the year, and may suggest needful legislation. The head of each department is called a secretary, except in the case of the Post Office Department, whose head is the Postmaster-General, and the Department of Justice, whose head is the Attorney-General.

Every department has one or more assistant secretaries. The work of the departments is divided into bureaus, and bureaus in turn are divided into divisions. At the head of each bureau is a commissioner, and there is a chief of division in charge of each division.

The Department of State. The Secretary of State is regarded as holding the most important place in the Cabinet. All correspondence with foreign powers is carried on by the Secretary of State under the direction of the President. Through him, also, the President and the governors of the various states communicate. The Secretary of State has charge of the great seal of the United States, which he attaches to all proclamations of the President, and to commissions, warrants for pardon, and other official papers. All laws and reso utions enacted by Congress are duly published by the government, and certified copies are forwarded by the Department of State to the governors of all the states. Passports for American citizens who desire to travel abroad, and written recognitions to consuls of foreign countries, are sent out from this department. The office of Secretary of State has been filled by some of the most eminent of American statesmen. Among these have