tory one section of land in each township for the support of the common schools, and has liberally endowed State universities and agricultural colleges in these States by setting apart large areas of public lands for the support of these institutions.

Bounties of public lands have been given to the soldiers and sailors of the United States for their support when they have been honorably discharged from service, and extensive grants have been made to States to enable them to build roads and canals; still other donations have been made to railroad companies for the purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads necessary for the development of the country.

Many thousands of acres of the public lands of the United States have been sold for cash, and from this source the government has received several hundred millions of dollars. In other cases, lands aggregating thousands of acres have been donated to settlers upon their compliance with certain laws, which require persons receiving such grants to settle upon and improve the land.

Pensions.-The Pension Bureau has charge of the granting and payment of pensions to soldiers and sailors of the United States who have suffered injury or contracted disease while serving in its army or navy. A similar provision is also made for the support of the widows and families of soldiers and sailors. The government expends annually in the payment of pensions more than $100,000,000 and the work of distributing this vast sum is performed under the direction of the Commissioner of Pensions, at the various pension agencies which have been established in different parts of the country.

Other Offices.-Other heads of bureaus of the Interior Department are the Commissioner of Patents, who super

intends the granting of patents to inventors; the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, who has control of the support, government and education of the Indians now living within our borders, the Indians being regarded as wards of the government; the Commissioner of Railroads, who looks after the interest which the government has in several of the Pacific railroad companies, the government having aided in the construction of these railroads by grants of land and the loan of credit and money, which must be repaid by the companies; and the Superintendent of the Census, who has charge of taking the census, which the Constitution requires shall be taken every ten years. Two other important bureaus are those of Education and of Geological Survey, the former of which collects and distributes information upon educational matters, and the latter investigates the geological and mineralogical features of the different parts of the country and publishes reports giving the results of its investigations.

The Post Office Department.-Every one is more or less familiar with the workings of this department, for the reason that every citizen avails himself of its benefits in the transaction of his daily business. This department was established in 1789, but the Postmaster-General did not become a member of the Cabinet until President Jackson's administration in 1829.

He has charge and control of the mail service of the government, which provides for the transmission of letters, newspapers, periodicals and small packages to all parts of the world, and has power to award contracts to railroad and steamship lines to do this work. He also establishes postoffices and appoints postmasters in places, where the salary paid does not exceed $1,000 per year. In other places

the postmasters are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

Justice. The Department of Justice has been represented in the federal government ever since the year 1789, when the office of Attorney-General was created, but this officer did not become a member of the Cabinet until the year 1870.

The Attorney-General is the chief legal officer of the government. He advises the President upon all legal matters concerning which his opinion is sought; controls and manages, on behalf of the government, all litigation in which the United States is interested, and directs Marshals, District Attorneys and other law officers of the government in the performance of their duties.

Subordinate to him are several assistant attorneys-general, one of whom is detailed for service in the Interior Department and another for service in the Postoffice Department; also a Solicitor of the Treasury, who attends to some of the legal affairs of that department; a Solicitor of the Internal Revenue, and an Examiner of Claims. The office of Attorney-General is one of the most important in the entire government, and it has been filled by some of the most eminent lawyers and statesmen of our country, among whom may be mentioned Theophilus Parsons, William Pinckney, Roger B. Taney, Caleb Cushing, Edwin M. Stanton and William M. Evarts.

The Solicitor-General is one of the important law officers of the government. He is appointed by the President to assist the Attorney-General in the performance of his duties. In case of a vacancy in the office of Attorney-General or of his absence or disability, the Solicitor-General has power to exercise all the duties of that office.

Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture is of

comparatively recent creation. It was organized in the year 1862, and in 1889 the Secretary of Agriculture became a member of the Cabinet. The particular duty of this department is to take all necessary steps for promoting the agricultural interests of the country, which constitute the larger portion of the wealth of our people. To this end it maintains numerous bureaus for investigating the habits of insects and birds that injure the crops and determines the best method for the farmer to employ in order to protect himself from these pests.

It studies the various diseases with which cattle and horses are afflicted, and ascertains the causes and best methods of treating these evils, and protects the public from the sale of diseased meat, sometimes causing whole herds of cattle to be slaughtered in order to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.

The department also conducts numerous agricultural experiments, such as raising silk worms, growing sorghum and beets for the manufacture of sugar, and testing seeds, so that the best varieties may be distributed among the farmers.

Weather Bureau.-The Weather Bureau, since the year 1891, has been a branch of this department. This bureau maintains several hundred stations located in various parts of the country, where meteorological observations are made daily, and upon them are based predictions as to the state of the weather for the ensuing twenty-four hours. The work of this bureau is exceedingly useful to the people, because thereby notice is given of the approach of storms likely to be dangerous to vessels and likely to affect important commercial and agricultural interests.

Labor. The Department of Labor became a separate department in the year 1888, having been, prior to that

time, a bureau of the Interior Department. The duties of this department are solely to collect facts and statistics upon industrial questions, such as wages, strikes, convict labor and industrial depressions; therefore, it is not necessary to speak in detail of its workings.

Other Executive Officers.-This completes the list of the important branches of the executive department. There are several others, such as the Inter-State Commerce Commission, the Civil Service Commission and the Office of the Librarian of Congress, whose duties have been described elsewhere, and still others, such as the Fish Commission, which makes scientific observations concerning the habits of fishes, their foods and the methods of capturing them, and also propagates and distributes to all parts of the country such fishes as are suitable for food, and the Government Printing Office, which prints the numerous reports of the different branches of the government and publishes the proceedings of Congress. The head of this office is appointed by the President and is called the Government Printer.

After this brief survey of the branches of the executive department and the enormous amount of business transacted through them, the conclusion is readily reached that so far as the masses of the people are concerned, this department, more than any of the others, represents the power of the government and the practical results of its workings. All of these departments are centralized in the President, who is directly responsible to the people for the manner in which he discharges the trusts imposed upon

him.