THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE UNITED STATES TUB DEPARTMENT OF STATE UNITED STATES ITS HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF STATE 1893 Hal cL PREFATORY LETTER. 7<7 Sevellon a. Brown, Esq., Chief Clerk and Representative of the Department of State, Governme7it Board of JManagers, World'' s Colutnbian Exposition. Sir : In compliance with your instructions, I have the honor to transmit an account of the Department of State, its history and functions. As far as it has been possible to do so, the sources of infor- mation used have been the archives of the Department itself. These are, unfortunately, not complete in many instances, and this has rendered it difficult to present as perfect a picture of the development of the Department machinery as might be wished. The obfect sought is to give, as briefly ami accttrately as possible, the history of the formation of the Department, and to slunv what its duties are and what they have been. Every- thing relating to the diplomatic history of the Government has been carefully excluded, as a part of the general history of the United States. 202110 VI PKEFA TOR Y LE TTER. It is believed that this is the first effort to present an account of the actual developtnent of one of the Executive Depart- ments. It ivouhl he strange if, in a novel work of this kind, there should not be errors. The early records of the Government are nearly all unprinted, and those liihicli it is desirable to use are only to be found after careful and laborious searching. Some are thus apt to be overlooked ; but every effort has been made to discover everything of importance. Some apology may be necessary for the long citations of laws ; but this is done in p7uier to allow the story to be told, so far as possible, in the language of others. I have received assistance generally from the officers and clerks in the Department, and it xvould be unfair to name a few where so maiiy have cooperated. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, Gaillard Hunt, Special Agent. Was/iingion, Department of State, fanuajy, iSgj. CONTENTS. Page. Prefatory Letter v I. Before the Constitution i II. Formation of the Department of State ... 43 III. The New Department — Duties that are No Longer Under Its Supervision 63 IV. Subdivisions of the Department of State . . 89 V. Duties of the Department of State ... 99 VI. Buildings Occupied by the Department . . . 199 VII. Secretaries for Foreign Affairs and Secretaries of State 203 vii Sljf Jlcparliuf lit of S>U\U of tl|c lluitcb Statc0. I. BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. nnHE first Congress of the Revolution as- sembled in Carpenter's Hall, Philadel- phia, September 5, 1774. An address to the King of England was adopted and transmitted to the agents of several of the Colonies in Lon- don, with instructions to present it to the King. They were to ask the aid of such Englishmen as they might have reason to believe were "Friends to American Liberty." These in- structions were drafted October 26, 1774, by John Jay and Richard Henry Lee,'^' and were sent to Paul Wentworth, who represented New * Secret Journals of Congress, I, 58. 2 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. Hampshire ;'•' Charles Garth, a member of Par- liament, the aofent of South Carolina ; William Bollan, agent of the Massachusetts Council ; Thomas Life, the ao^ent of Connecticut; Ed- mund Burke, who had been chosen ag-ent of New York in 1771 ; Arthur Lee, who held an appointment to succeed Benjamin Franklin as agent of the Massachusetts Assembly; and Franklin himself, who had been appointed in 1765 agent of Pennsylvania, in 1768 of Georgia, in the same year of New Jersey, and in 1770 of the Massachusetts Assembly. For the first time, these agents were deputed to act for the "United Colonies;" but Bollan, Lee, and Franklin, who alone, according to Franklin, " properly had anything to do with the tea business, "t were the only ones who accepted the office. Their duties were, to a certain ex- * Force's American Archives (fourth series), I, 938, gives the names of the Colo- nies these agents represented. Wentworlh soon afterwards hecame a secret agent of the British Cjovernment, and entered into active correspondence with the Earl of Suffolk and William Eden, furnishing them with information concerning the prog- ress of American affairs. (See Stevens' Facsimiles of Manuscripts in European Archives Relating to America.) t Works (Bigelow's edition), V, 509. BEFORE THE COXSTITUTION. 3 tent, diplomatic, and they were the representa- tives of a power that was soon to become inde- pendent. The first effort by the Congress to estabhsh a foreien service and a channel throuorh which to conduct its business was made Noveniber 29, 1775, when the Secret Committee of Cor- respondence was created by the following reso- lutions: Resolved, that a committee of five be appointed for the sole purpose of corresponding with our friends in Great Britain, Ireland, and other parts of the world ; and that they lay their correspondence before Congress when di- rected. Resolved, that this Congress will make provision to de- fray all such expenses as may arise by carrying on such correspondence, and for the payments of such agents as they may send on this service. The members chosen — Mr. Harrison, Dr. Franklin, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jay.* Franklin was chairman. The Committee at once opened correspondence with several resi- *Secret Journals of Congress, II, 5. 4 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. dents of Europe, chief among whom were Ar- thur Lee, who was instructed to communicate with Count Vergennes, in Paris, and Charles W. F. Dumas, a Swiss gentleman, then resid- ing at the Hague, a friend of Franklin's and a student of international law.'=' The first repre- sentative sent by the Committee abroad was Silas Deane, of Connecticut. His instructions, f dated March 3, 1776, are to appear in France **in the character of a merchant," as the "Court of France may not like it should be known publicly that any agent from the Colonies is in that country," but to confide to Count Ver- gennes that he has come "upon business of the American Cono-ress." He is to endeavor to obtain arms and ammunition for the defense of the Colonies, and to ascertain whether, in the event of their beinof "forced to form them- selves into an independent state," France would * Parton's Franklin, II, 3. Dumas afterwards acted with John Adams when the latter was on his mission to the Hague, and held office after the adoption of the Con- stitution (see p. 67). ■|" Diplomatic Correspondence, I, 8, BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 5 feel disposed to enter into a treaty of friendship and alliance with them. September 26, 1776, the mission to France was made a Commission, with Deane, Frank- lin, and Jefferson as the members. They were elected by Congress, and a committee com- posed of Robert Morris, Richard Henry Lee, George Wythe, and John Adams was chosen "to prepare a draft of letters of credence to the Commissioners " and their instructions.''' Jefferson declining to serve, Arthur Lee was elected in his place. *|* The Secret Committee was composed at this time of Benjamin Harri- son, Richard Henry Lee, John Witherspoon, and William Hooper, but the two last did not act continuously. ;j; It was decided later to send Commissioners to other European states, and Franklin and Arthur Lee were selected for Spain, Ralph Izard * Secret Journals of Congress, II. 31. + //vV., 11,35. X Department of State MS. archives. 6 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. for Tuscany, and William Lee for Vienna and Berlin/'' The functions of die Secret Committee of Correspondence, after its first action, do not ap- pear to have been important. Arthur Lee and Thomas Morris, whgj acted as the commercial agents of the Colonies while the committee was still in existence, did not correspond with it, but were under the jurisdiction of the Secret Com- mittee of Congress, a separate committee from the Secret Committee of Correspondence, "As all affairs relative to the conduct of commerce and remittance," wrote the latter to the Com- missioners at Paris, "pass through another de- partment, we beg leave to refer you to the Secret Committee, and Mr. Thomas Morris, their agent in France, for every information on these subjects. "f On April 17, 1777, the title of the Committee was changed, and it became the "Committee of * Secret Journals of Congress, II, 45. They did not perform diplomatic functions at these courts, however. t Letters of William I,ee, I, 195. BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 7 Foreiofn Affairs." The first members were Benjamin Harrison, Robert Morris, Thomas Hayward, jr., and James Lovell. Hay ward did not act after August, and in October John Witherspoon went on the Committee, and later Richard Henry Lee. The first Secretary of the Committee was Thomas Paine, appointed at a salary of $70 per month.'-' He severed his connection with it in January, 1779.-I- The chief function of the Committee was to furnish the agents of the Government abroad with full accounts of the course of events in America. Beyond that it acted simply as an agent to exe- cute the orders of Congress, and was intrusted with few of the duties that subsequently per- tained to it. The members of the Committee were being constantly changed, and the com- munications reflected the opinions of those who happened to be serving at the time they were sent. * Department of State MS. archives. f Paine was dismissed by Congress for making an ofTicial matter public. An ex- planation and a defense of his conduct may lie found in Conway's Life of Paine, I, 90 ct seq. 8 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. Communications relative to foreig-n affairs were usually referred by Congress to special committees; and May 1,1777, less than a month after the Foreign Affairs Committee had been instituted, John Wilson, John Adams, and Rich- ard Henry Lee were selected a committee to "inquire into the laws and customs of nations respecting neutrality, and to report their opin- ion, whether the conduct of the King of Portu- gal, in forbidding the vessels of the United States to enter his ports, and ordering those already there to depart at a short day is not a breach of the laws of neutrality,"''' Inquiries of this character, it might reasonably be ex- pected, would fall within the functions of the Foreign Affairs Committee, but rarely ciid so. The communications of the Committee were usually signed by several of the members ; but Lovell signed them — often "for the Commit- tee" — continuously up to the time the Com- mittee was superseded by the Department of * Secret Journals of Congress, 11,44. BF.FORE THE CONST/TUTION. 9 Foreign Affairs. It is fair to presume, there- fore, that he was the most active member of the Committee, and that its business was carried on chiefly by him. '=' The first pubhc recognition of the independ- ence of the United States by a foreign power was recorded in the Treaty of Amity and Com- merce and of AlHance Eventual and Defensive between the United States and France, signed at Paris, February 6, 1778, by Benjamin Frank- hn, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee, on the part of the United States, and by C. A. Gerard, on the part of France ; and following this treaty, in July, 1778, came Gerard, the first representa- tive of a foreign state to the United States. He was styled Minister Plenipotentiary, f and bore a commission also as Consul-General. J * James Lovell was born in Boston, October 31, 1737, graduated at Harvard in 1756, and was a school-teacher. He was imprisoned by the British after Bunker Hill battle, but exchanged, and entered Congress December, 1776, serving till 1782. He espoused the cause of General Gates against Washington (Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography). He was a member of the Committee of 1779 to furnish a design for a seal of the United States, but the design was not adopted (The Seal of the United States, Department of State, 1892). ■[■Secret Journals of Congress, H, 92. X Department of State MS. archives. lO BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. Soon after his arrival, he transmitted to the President of Congress a copy of the speech he intended to deliver at his first audience, and it was referred, with the question of the cere- monies to be observed in receiving him, to R. H. Lee, Robert Morris, and Witherspoon.* They prefaced their report with the following "observations : " That Ministers being of three different classes, viz. i. ambassadors, 2. Ministers Plenipotentiary and Envoys and 3. Residents, it will be necessary to establish a ceremonial for each according to their respective Dignity. That your Committee report for an Ambassador the following Cere- monial, viz — When he shall arrive within any of the United States he shall receive from any Battery, Fort or Castle the same salute or other Honors which are paid to the Flag of the Prince or State which he shall represent f and when he shall arrive at the Place which the Congress shall be he shall wait upon the President and deliver his credentials or copies thereof. Three members of Congress shall then be deputed to wait upon him.-i^ * Department of State MS. archives. f "Also at all Places where there are guards Gentries and the like he shall receive the same military Honors and Respect which are paid to a (ieneral ofllcer in the service of the United States of the highest Rank." (Note in original MS.) BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. I I For a Resident Minister the committee pro- posed to omit the honor of escort by three mem- bers of Congress and to substitute a Master of Ceremonies. The other ceremonies were modi- fied in the same proportion. The consideration of so much of this report as related to Ambassadors and Resident Min- isters was postponed as unnecessary at the time. The ceremonies in the case of Ministers Pleni- potentiary were prescribed in the following reso- lutions which were adopted: At the time he is to receive his audience, the two mem- bers [who are to act as his escort] shall again wait upon him in a coach belonging to the States; and the person first named of the two shall return with the minister pleni- potentiary or envoy in the coach, giving the minister the right hand and placing himself on his left, with the other member on the front seat. When the minister plenipotentiary or envoy is arrived at the door of the Congress hall, he shall be introduced to his chair by the two members, who shall stand at his left hand. Then the member first named shall present and an- nounce him to the President and the house; whereupon he shall bow to the President and the Congress, and they to 12 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. him. He and the President shall again bow unto each other, and be seated, after which the house shall sit down. Having spoken and been answered, the minister and President shall bow to each other, at which time the house shall bow, and then he shall be conducted home in the manner in which he was brought to the house. Those who shall wait upon the Minister, shall inform him, that, if in any audience he shall choose to speak on matters of business, it will be necessary previously to de- liver in writing to the President, what he intends to say at the audience; and if he shall not incline thereto, it will, from the Constitution of Congress, be impracticable for him to receive an immediate answer. The style of address to Congress shall be "Gentlemen of the Congress." All speeches or communications in writing may, if the public ministers choose it, be in the language of their re- spective countries. And all replies, or answers, shall be in the language of the United States. After the audience, the members of Congress shall be first visited by the Minister Plenipotentiary or Envoy.* These ceremonies were followed when the French Minister had his first audience, Aucrust 6, 1778. The Committee of Foreig^n Affairs *Secret Journals of Congress, II, 94 et seq. BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. I 3 did not participate in the ceremonies as a com- mittee.''' The communications of the French Minister were sent direct to the President of Congress, and were considered by the whole Congress after having been reported upon by some special committee. Upon occasion, in the event of some communication of importance, the President of Congress would declare that, in his opinion, it was expedient that the Con- gress and the Minister should confer. The latter would then meet the Congress in com- mittee of the whole, and the result of the in- terview would be reported to the Congress itself. The Minister held the right to be pres- ent, however, when foreign affairs were beinp" discussed, and thus became a potent factor in the conclusions reached. His dispatches to his Government are in themselves a record of the proceedings of the Congress. The discussion of negotiating a treaty of * After the Department of Foreign Affairs had been organized a few unimportant changes were made in these ceremonies. (Department of State MS. archives.) 14 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. peace with Great Britain began in Congress early in the summer of 1779, and August 4 a committee of five was selected " to prepare in- structions for the minister plenipotentiary of these United States to be appointed for nego- tiating a treaty of peace."'-' August 13 Robert Morris, Henry Laurens, Samuel Huntington, John Dickinson, and Thomas McKean, the members chosen, submitted a draft, which was debated paragraph by paragraph and adopted the next day.f This was the method usually pursued in the case of important communica- tions, the Foreign Affairs Committee having no participation, as a committee, in their prepara- tion. The first Consul of the" United States was William Palfrey, appointed December 9, 1780, to France, J "with powers adequate to a gen- eral agency in our commercial concerns there."§ * Secret Journals of Congress, II, 219. t Ibid., 224 et seq. \ Ibid., 353. g Department of State MS. archives. BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. I 5 His commission, as, indeed, the commissions to our other agents abroad, did not differ materi- ally from those now in use. The necessity for a more adequate provision for managing the increasing foreign business of the country necessitated a change. "There is really," wrote Lovell to Arthur Lee, August 6, 1779, "no such thing as a committee of for- eign affairs existing — no secretary or clerk fur- ther than I persevere to be one and the other. The books and the papers of that extinguished body lay yet on the table of Congress, or rather are locked up in the secretary's private box. There was a motion, as I have before told you, to choose a new committee ; the house would not so insult me. An indifference then took place as to filling the old one, upon presump- tion, I suppose, that a little leaven would leaven the whole lump."''' Nevertheless, in January, l^ 1 78 1, "a plan for the Department of Foreign Affairs" was reported to Congress as follows: * Department of State MS. archives. 1 6 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. That the extent and rising power of these United States entitles them to a place among the great potentates of Europe, while our political and commercial interests point out the propriety of cultivating with tkem a friendly cor- respondence and connection. That to render such an intercourse advantageous, the necessity of a competent knowledge of the interests, views, relations and systems of these potentates, is obvious. That a knowledge, in its nature so comprehensive, is only to be acquired by a constant attention to the state of Europe, and an unremitted application to the means of ac- quiring well grounded information. That Congress are, moreover, called upon to maintain with our ministers at foreign courts a regular correspond- ence, and to keep them fully informed of every circum- stance and event which regards the publick honour interest and safety. That to answer these essential purposes, the committee are of opinion, that a fixed and permanent office for the department of foreign affairs ought forthwith to be estab- lished, as a remedy against the fluctuation, the delay and indecision to which the present mode of managing our foreign affairs must be exposed : Whereupon : Resolved, That an office be forthwith established for the BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. I J department of foreign affairs, to be kept always in the place where Congress shall reside. That there shall be a secretary for the despatch of busi- ness of the said office, to be styled " secretary for foreign affairs. ' ' That it shall be the duty of the said secretary to keep and preserve all the books and papers belonging to the de- partment of foreign affairs, to receive and report the appli- cations of all foreigners ; to correspond with the ministers of the United States at foreign courts, and with the minis- ters of foreign powers and other persons, for the purpose of obtaining the most extensive and useful information relative to foreign affairs, to be laid before Congress when required ; also to transmit such communications as Con- gress shall direct, to the ministers of these United States and others at foreign courts, and in foreign countries ; the said Secretary shall have liberty to attend Congress, that he may be better informed of the affairs of the United States, and have an opportunity of explaining his reports respecting his department ; he shall also be authorized to employ one or if necessary more clerks to assist him in his office ; and the Secretary, as well as such clerks, shall, be- fore the President of Congress, take an oath of fidelity to the United States, and an oath for the faithful execution of their respective trusts.* ♦Secret Journals of Congress, II, 580 et seq. 1 8 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. It was not until August lo that the new De- partment was organized, when, on motion of WilUam Floyd, of New York, Robert R. Liv- ingston, of New York, was elected Secretary,''' He had been a member of the Committee of Foreign Affairs for a brief period in 1779 ; but he declined the new office, until informed of the extent of his powers. Having been satis- fied on this score, he accepted, September 23. Until then Lovell acted for the old Committee, his last communication bearing date September 20. f In the meantime the Articles of Confedera- tion had been adopted, and the United States had at least the form of a government. Upon Livingston devolved the task of form- ing the new Department. He wrote, soon after he took office, to Count Vergennes, in- forming him of the change. " Congress," he said, " having thought it ex- pedient to dissolve the committee of their own * Secret Journals of Congress, \\, 587. f Department of State ^lS. archives. BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 1 9 body, by whom their Foreign Affairs had hith- erto been conducted, and to submit the general direction of them (under their inspection) to a Secretary for Foreign Affairs I do myself the honour to inform Your Excellency that they have been pleased to appoint me to that De- partment, and to direct me to correspond in that capacity with the Ministers of Foreign Powers." He also informed Franklin, John Adams, Dana, and Jay, our ministers abroad, as soon as he took office/'' He started record books, and endeavored to give system to the conduct of business ; but the functions of his Depart- ment were ill defined, and Conoress continued the custom of appointing special committees to consider diplomatic communications. Janu- ary 25, 1782, Livingston set forth the difficul- ties surroundine the administration of the bus- iness of his office in a letter to the President of Concfress. ♦Department of State MS. archives. 20 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. In the first organization of a new Department [he wrote] some things are frequently omitted, which experience will shew, ought to be inserted, and many inserted which ought to be omitted ; it becomes the duty of those who are placed at the head of such department to mention the difficulties that may arise from these causes, and leave it to the Wis- dom of Congress to alter them, or to Judge whether they can be changed without introducing greater inconven- iences. Upon this principle Sir, I am induced to offer the following Observations. The Secretary for Foreign Affairs is to correspond with the Ministers of the United States at foreign Courts, and with the Ministers of foreign Powers. This Correspond- ence must necessarily detail such Sentiments as the Sover- eign wish to have known, and lead to such inquiries as they chuse to make. An intimate knowledge of their sentiments is therefore absolutely necessary to a discharge of this duty, and we accordingly find that the Minister for Foreign Affairs is in monarchical governments considered as the most confidential servant of the Crown. In Repub- lics it is much more difficult to execute this task, the Sentiments of the Sovereign sometimes changes with the Members of the body which compose the Sovereignty, it is more frequently unknown no occasion offering on which to call it forth. It is never perfectly expressed but by some publick Act, waiting for this time, and the advantages BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 21 of embracing a favorable opportunity are frequently lost. There are numberless minutiae upon which no act is formed, and about which notwithstanding their Sentiments should be known to their Ministers. There are even occasions in which their Secretary should speak a Sentiment which it would be improper for them to declare by a publick Act. Congress sensible of the inconvenience that the officer en- trusted with the management of their foreign Affairs must labor under in the execution of his duty without a more perfect knowledge of their Sentiments than can be ob- tained from their publick Acts, have been pleased to admit him to attend Congress that (as the Ordinance expresses it) he may be better informed of the affairs of the United States, and have an opportunity of explaining his reports respecting his department. But here it stops short and does not shew in what manner he is to gain the sentiments of Congress, when he does himself the honour to attend upon them. It is true they may in part be collected from an attention to the Debates, l)ut it often so happens that the debate does not take the turn that he would wish in order to satisfy a doubt, and he goes away after hearing a subject largely distressed, ignorant perhaps of the only point upon which he wishes to be informed, when perhaps by a single question his doubt might be removed, or by a word of information which he has the best means of ac- quiring, a debate might be shortened. It is true the power 22 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. of explaining his reports given by the Ordinance seems to imply a permission to offer his sentiments, when they are under consideration, but as I do not wish to assume a lib- erty, which is not explicitly given, I must beg the Senti- ments of Congress on this subject. The Ordinance is also deficient in not affording a power to the Secretary for foreign affairs to take order upon the application either of Foreigners or Subjects relative to matters not of sufficient moment to engage the Attention of Congress — as for in- stance, application for aid in procuring the release of an American taken under particular circumstances in English ships, and confined in the french West Indies or elsewhere, claims upon Prizes carried into the french Islands &c. which cases occur every day and are attended with long Memorials which would take up much of the time and attention of Congress. As I have hitherto taken the Liberty to transact Business of this kind with the Minister of his most Christian Majesty, and the Governors or Generals of the french Islands, I wish to be justified in so doing by the orders of Congress — As a check upon myself I keep a Book (tho it is attended with much labour) in which all such applications, and the steps taken in consequence thereof are inserted at length. The organization of this office will too I presume render some alterations necessary in matters of form and Ceremony as heretofore settled by Congress, in conformity to the practice of other Nations, and to enable us to avail ourselves of the advantage they sometimes afford in creating JU'.FORE rilE CONSriTUTION. 23 usefull delays, and concealing for political Reasons the views of the Sovereign. Congress having vested me with the power of appointing clerks I have appointed two (Gen- tlemen is whose integrity and Abilities I can confide, these are barely sufficient to do the running business of the office which is much greater than I imagined it would be, five copies besides the draft being necessary of every foreign Letter or paper transmitted. To copy all the Letters which have hitherto been received, with the Secret Journals, and other extracts from the Books and files of Congress, tho' absolutely necessary both for order and security will be impossible without farther aid for at least one year. Con- gress have not indeed limited the number I may employ nor have they fixed their salaries, upon both of which points I could wish for their directions. An Interpreter is so necessary both for this department, and the Admiralty, that I cannot but recommend to Congress the appointment of one from whom, if a man in whom I could confide, I might receive assistance as a Secretary when hurried with business. It may possibly be expected that I should close this long letter by a report on the matters it contains, but as it is a delicate subject to point out a mode for extending my own i}0wers, I only beg leave to recommend the enclosed Resolve. 1 have, etc., R. R. Livingston.* * Department of State MS. archives. 24 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. As soon as this letter had been read, Con- gress appointed Nicholas Everleigh, Edmund Randolph, and William Ellery a committee to confer with Livingston/-' They made an inven- tory of the Department : List of Books and papers kept in the office of foreign affairs. Books. 1. Book of Foreign Letters. 2. Book of American Letters. 3. Book of Resolutions of Congress. 4. Journal of daily Transactions. 5. Book of reports made to Congress. 6. Letters of the late Comm. for foreign affairs. 7. A Book containing commissions and Instructions to the ministers at foreign courts. 8. One more do. 9. A Book of the Letters of the Commissioners in France while Mr. Adams was among them. ID. Communications of Monsr. Gerard. 11. Do of the Chv. de la Luzerne^ 12. Letters of Mr. J. Adams V not completed 13. Letters of Mr. Arthur Lee. J * Department of State MS. archives. BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 25 Papers. ist liox. I. Joint Letters from the Commrs. of Congress at Paris. 2. Letters from the Hon. B. Franklin. 3. Letters from the Hon. J. Laurens. 4. Letters from the Hon. J. Laurens. 5. Letters from Mr. T. Barclay. 6. Correspond, betw. Mr. Adams & Count Ver- gennes. Letters from Hon. J. Jay. Letters from the Hon. W. Carmichael. Letters from Mr. B. Harrison. Letters from Hon. John Adams. Letters from F. Dana, Esq. Letters from Mr. Dumas. 2. Letters from Mr. J. De Neuville. Letters from Messrs. Deane, Izard &c. Letters from Messrs. Bingham, Parsons &:c. Letters, notes, memorials and communica- tions to the Chv. de la Luzerne. 8th Box. Original papers relative to complaints re- ferred to the office of foreign affairs. gth Box. Miscellaneous letters tv: papers.* * Department of State MS. archives. 2nd Box. I. 2. a- 3rd Box. I. 2. 4th Box. I. 2. 5th Box. 6th Box. 7th Box. 26 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. On their report It was — Resolved, That the department of foreign affairs be under the direction of such officer as the United States in Congress assembled have already for that purpose ap- pointed, or shall hereafter appoint, who shall be styled "Secretary to the United States of America for the De- partment of Foreign Affairs," shall reside where Congress or the committee of the States shall sit, and hold his office during the pleasure of Congress. That the books, records and other papers of the United States that relate to this department, be committed to his custody, to which, and all other papers of his office, any members of Congress shall have access ; provided that no copy shall be taken of matters of a secret nature without the special leave of Congress. That the correspondence and communications with the ministers and other officers of foreign powers with Con- gress, be carried on through the office of foreign affairs by the said secretary, who is also empowered to correspond with all other persons from whom he may expect to receive useful information relative to his department; provided always, that letters to ministers of the United States, or ministers of foreign powers, which have a direct reference to treaties or conventions proposed to be entered into, or instructions relative thereto, or other great national sub- BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 27 jects, shall be submitted to the inspection and receive the ai)probation of Congress before they shall be transmitted. That the secretary for the department of foreign affairs correspond with the governours or presidents of all or any of the United States, affording them such information from his department as may be useful to their states or to the United States, stating complaints that may have been urged against the government of any of the said states, or the subjects thereof, by the subjects of foreign powers, so that justice may be done agreeably to the laws of such state, or the charge proved to be groundless, and the honour of the government vindicated. He shall receive the applications of all foreigners relative to his department, which are designed to be submitted to Congress, and advise the mode in which the memorials and evidence shall be stated, in order to afford Congress the most comprehensive view of the subject; and if he conceives it necessary, accompany such memorial with his report thereon. He may concert measures with the ministers or officers of foreign powers amicably to procure the redress of private injuries, which any citizen of the United States may have received from a foreign power, or the subjects thereof, making minutes of all his transactions relative thereto, which have passed on such occasions. He shall report on all occasions expressly referred to him for that purpose by Congress, and on all others touching his department, in which he may conceive 2 8 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. it necessary. And that he may acquire that intimate knowledge of the sentiments of Congress which is neces- sary for his direction, he may at all times attend upon Congress ; and shall particularly attend when summoned or ordered by the President. He may give information to Congress respecting his department, exi)lain and answer objections to his reports when under consideration, if re- quired by a member, and no objection be made by Con- gress. He shall answer to such inquiries respecting his department as may be put from the Chair by order of Con- gress, and to questions stated in writing about matters of fact which lie within his knowledge, when put by the President at the request of a member, and not disapproved of by Congress. The answers to such questions may, at the option of the secretary, be delivered by him in writ- ing. He shall have free access to the papers and records of the United States in the custody of their secretary, or in the ofifices of finance and war and elsewhere. He may be furnished with copies or take extracts therefrom, when he shall find it necessary. He shall use means to obtain from the ministers and agents of the United States in foreign countries an abstract of their present state, their commerce, finances, naval and military strength, and the characters of sovereigns and ministers, and every other i)olitical in- formation which may be useful to the United States. All letters to sovereign powers, letters of credence, plans of BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 29 treaties, conventions, manifestoes, instructions, passports, safe-conducts and otlier acts of Congress relative to the department of foreign affairs, when the substance thereof shall have been previously agreed to in Congress, shall be reduced- to form in the office of foreign affairs, and sub- mitted to the opinion of Congress; and when passed, signed and attested, sent to the office of foreign affairs to be countersigned and forwarded. If an original paper is of such a nature as cannot be safely transmitted without cyphers, a copy in cyphers, signed by the secretary for the department of foreign affairs, shall be considered authen- tick, and the ministers of the United States at foreign courts may govern themselves thereby in the like manner as if the originals had been transmitted. And for the better execution of the duties hereby assigned him, he is author- ized to appoint a secretary and one, or if necessary, more clerks, to assist him in the business of his office. Resolved That the salaries annexed to this Department shall be as follows : To the secretary of the United States for the depart- ment of foreign affairs, the sum of four thousand dollars per annum, exclusive of office expenses to commence from the first day of October last. To the secretary, one thousand dollars per annum. To the clerks, each five hundred dollars per annum. Resolved, That the secretary for the department of for- 30 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. eign affairs, and each of the persons employed under him, shall take an oath before a judge of the state where Con- gress shall sit, for the faithful discharge of their respective trusts, and an oath of fidelity to the United States, before they enter upon office. Resolved, That the act of the loth of January, 1781, respecting the department of foreign affairs, be and is hereby repealed.* These resolutions, which embodied remedies for the difficulties Livingston had pointed out in his letter, were passed February 22, 1782, and modified March i so as to allow the appointment of two Under Secretaries at a salary of ^800 and $700 per annum, respectively, instead of a Secretary and clerk. Communications from our Ministers abroad now regularly came to Livingston, and were by him submitted to Congress, anci the replies were sent through him. The French Minister, how- ever, communicated occasionally directly with Conoress. The workings of the Department were still * Secret Journals of Congress, HI, 93. BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 31 unsatisfactory, as, indeed, all our Governmental workings at the time were f' and Madison, Izard, Witherspoon, and Clymer were appointed a committee to inquire into the proceedings of the Department. Lovell, also, was appointed, but left Congress before the report was com- pleted. The committee reported September i8, 1782, that, from the time of the institution of the Department, in October, 1781, up to July 5, 1782, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs had sent fourteen letters to the Minister Plenipotentiary at Versailles, ten to the Minister Plenipotenti- ary at Madrid, eight to the Minister Plenipoten- tiary at the Hague, five to the Minister Plenipo- tentiary at St. Petersburg, two to the Secretary of Leoation at Madrid, to our Consul in France four letters, five to our Agent at Habana, one to Mr. Dumas, one to Messrs. de Neuville & Son, three to Mr. Harrison at Cadiz, one to * Rudely formed amid the agonies of a revolution, the Confederation had never been revised and brought nearer to perfection in a season of tranquility. Each of the thirteen States the Union bound together retained all the rights of sovereignty, and asserted them punctiliously against the central government. (McMaster's History of the People of the United States, I, 130.) 32 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. Samuel Parsons at Martinique, and thirteen to the French Minister. The Department had also corresponded with the Governors and Pres- idents of the States, requesting authentic state- ments of damages sustained from the enemy, sendincj circulars containino- information touch- ing the progress of our foreign intercourse and similar information. Altogether there had been but eight of these communications. The report closed as follows : Upon the whole the committee report that the business of this Department appears to have been conducted with much industry, attention and utility; and without any errors or defects worthy of being taken notice of to Con- gress. Such improvements and alterations in the general plan of the business as were judged by the committee proper they have taken the liberty of suggesting to the Secretary in the course of their incjuiry. As far as their suggestions can be of use, the committee have no doubt that they will be attended to.* December 3, 1782, Livingston announced his intention of retiring from office, but consented * Pepartment of State MS. archives. BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. T^T^ to remain until May followinor, and did, in fact, serve until fune 4, when he took his departure for New York, receiving- before he left the thanks of Cono-ress for his services. He 7 which may in future be communicated to Congress from the office of the department of foreign affairs, shall be ac- companied with a translation into English. Resolved, That the Secretary for the department of for- eign affairs be and he is hereby authorized, to appoint an interpreter, whose duty it shall be to translate all such papers as may be referred to him, as well by the United States in Congress assembled as by Committees of Con- gress, the secretary for the department of foreign affairs, the secretary of Congress, the board of treasury, or the secretary for the department of war ; and who shall be en- titled to receive such allowance as the secretary for foreign affairs may think sufficient, not to exceed the annual pay of a clerk in the office; and who, previous to his entering on his duty as interpreter, shall take the oath of fidelity, and the oath of office, prescribed in an ordinance passed on the 27th day of January last, a registry of which oaths shall be kept in the office of the secretary of Congress.* The Secretary still had no power to take im- portant action without the authority of Con- gress. To carry on boundary negotiations with the Spanish Minister, for instance, it was necessary that he should have full powers from *Secret Journals of Congress, III, 527. o 02110 38 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. Congress, and August 29, 1786, they were con- ferred upon him — To treat, adjust, conclude and sign with don Diego de Gardogui, encargado de negocios of his catholic Majesty whatever articles, compacts and conventions may be neces- sary for establishing and fixing the boundaries between the territories of the said United States and those of his catho- lic majesty, whatever articles compacts and conventions may be necessary for establishing and fixing the bounda- ries between the territories of the said United States and those of his catholick majesty, and for promoting the gen- eral harmony and mutual interest of the two nations. He was, however, charged to inform Con- gress what propositions were made to him before he agreed to any of them. All the treaties had thus far been negotiated lunder instructions from Congress by our Min- [isters abroad. Their ratification by Congress was announced by proclamation. The ap- proval of the representatives of at least nine States was necessary under the Confederation for ratification. The Constitution of the United States had BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 39 been adopted, and elections were in progress for the new Congress, when the last Congress under the old Confederation appointed, August 14, 1 788, a committee composed of Messrs. Otis, L'Hommedieu, Reed, Tucker, and Brown to report on the condition in which the Depart- ment of Foreign Affairs then was. They found that it occupied two rooms, one being the Sec- retary's and the other that of his Deputy and clerks. The methods of doing business were set forth: The daily transactions are entered in a minute Book as they occur, and from thence are mostly copied into a Jour- nal at Seasons of Leisure. This Journal contains a note of the Dates, Receipt and contents of all Letters received and written by him, wiih References to the Books in which they are recorded — of all matters referred to him, and the Time when, and of his Reports thereupon ; and in general of all the Transactions in the Department. It is very minute and at present occupies 2 Folio Vols. His official Letters to the ministers and servants of con- gress and others abroad are recorded in a Book entitled Book of foreign Letters, and such parts as require secrecy are in cyphers. 40 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. The official Correspondence with foreign ministers here, and with officers of Congress, and others in the United States, inchiding the Letters received -•' * * and written by him, are recorded at large in a 15ook entitled American Letter Book. They already fill 3 folio vols. His Reports to Congress are recorded in a Book entitled Book of Reports, the 3d Vol. of which is now in Hand. The Papers on which the Reports are made are "subjoined to the Report, unless in Cases where according to the ordi- nary course of the office, they are recorded in other Books. His Correspondence and the Proceedings with the En- cargado de Negocios of Spain are recorded in a Book kept for that Purpose. The Passports for vessels issued by the Secretary under the Act of Congress of 12th February 1788, together with the evidence accompanying the several Applications, are recorded in a Book kept for that Purpose. The Letters of Credence and Commissions of foreign Ministers, Charge des Affaires and Consuls to the United States, are recorded in a Book entitled Book of foreign Commissionj) There is also a Book kept and regularly sent to the Sec- retary of Congress, to receive such Acts of Congress as respect the Department. A Book of Accounts is kept in which are entered the contingent Expenses of the office. The Business of the office is done by his Dei)uty and two Clerks and whatever Time can be spared from the BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. 4 1 ordinary and daily Business is employed in recording the Letters received from the American Ministers abroad. In this Work considerable Progress has been made — We find already recorded o/ic vol. containing the Letters of Mr. Dana during his mission to Russia, commencing iSth February 1780 and ending 17th December 1783 of Mr. H. Laurens commencing 24th January 1780 and ending 30th April 1784, and of Mr. John Laurens during his special mission to Versailles, commencing 3rd January 1781 and ending 6th September following. Five vols containing the letters of Mr. Adams commencing 23rd December 1777 and brought up to loth April 1787, the 6th vol is now in hand. Two vols containing the Letters from Mr. Jay commencing the 20th December 1779 and ending 25th July, 1784. The Letters from Mr. Deane commencing 17th September 1776 and ending 17th March 1782 are recorded, and those from Mr. Arthur Lee commencing 13th February 17 76 and brought uj:* to 13th February 1778 are now in hand. Those from Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jefferson the first joint Commissioners the joint commissioners for negociating a Treaty of Peace, and those for negociating Treaties of Commerce, Mr. William Lee, Mr. Dumas and others are numerous, and are yet to be recorded. The Letter Book of the late Committee for foreign .Affairs composed of sheets stitched together and much 42 BEFORE THE CONSTITUTION. torn, has been fairly copied in a bound Book and indexed. The Books used for these Records are of demy Paper, and each vol contains from 5 to 6 Quires of Paper, being all of a size, except the two Vols, of the Secretary's Reports which are somewhat less. There is an index to the Paper Cases, and to the Boxes in each case, and to the Papers in each box. In these cases and boxes are filed the original Letters and Papers belonging to the office. The office is constantly open from 9 in the morning to 6 o'clock in the Evening, and either his Deputy or one of the Clerks remains in the office while the others are absent at Dinner. The report concludes, "and upon die whole diey find neatness, method and perspicacity throughout the Department."''' Such was the condition of the Department of Foreign Affairs when the Government took its new form under the Constitution. Livingston and Jay had been the only Secretaries. , * Department of State MS. arcfaives. II. FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. ^ I ^HE first Congress under the Constitution obtained a quorum in both branches early in April, 1 789. After Washington had been de- clared elected President and John Adams Vice- President, the question of providing the proper executive machinery for the Government was taken up, and among the first Departments brought under consideration was that of For,eign Affairs. The plan of operating the old Depart- ment developed by Livingston and Jay was good, as far as it went. The trouble lay in the insufficient authority vested in the department and the insufficient authority of the old Con- gress itself. In providing for the new Depart- ment the design at first was for a foreign office, completely separated from the conduct of do- 43 5-^^ 44 FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. mestic affairs, and the bill introduced in the House June 2 was framed accordingly. One clause of this bill, to the effect that the Secre- tary for Foreign Affairs should be "removable from office by the President of the United States," gave rise to debate, which condnued a week. William Smith, of South Carolina, said: Either that the constitution has given the President the power of removal, and therefore it is nugatory to make the declaration here ; or it has not given the power to him, and therefore it is improper to make an attempt to confer it upon him. It was contended that the power of appoint- ment carried with it the power of removal ; but an appointment required the advice and consent of the Senate — did not a removal also require it? Boudinot, of New Jersey, said: If the President complains to the Senate of the miscon- duct of an officer, and desires their advice and consent to the removal, what are the Senate to do? Most certainly they will inquire if the complaint is well founded. To do FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. 45 this they must call the ofificer before them to answer. Who, then, are the parties? The Supreme Executive against his assistant; and the Senate to sit as judges to determine whether sufficient cause of removal exists. Does not this set the Senate over the head of the President? But sup- pose they shall decide in favor of the officer, what a situa- tion is the President then in, surrounded by officers with whom he can have no confidence. He thoucfht the President had the rioht of re- moval, but that, as some doubt respecting the construction of the Constitution had arisen, the clause ouorht to remain in the bill. Madison o also supported this view, and the bill, contain- ing- in the second section an expression of the right of removal, passed the House by a vote of twenty-nine to twenty-two June 27.''' As it went to the Senate it read as follows : Be it enacted by the Congress of the United States that there shall be an executive department to be denominated the department of Foreign affairs : and that there shall be a principal officer therein, to be called the Secretary for the department of foreign affairs, who shall perform and ex- *Annals of Congress, I, ^zy et seg. 46 FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. ecute such duties, as shall from time to time be enjoined on, or be entrusted to, him by the President of the United States agreeable to the Constitution, relative to corre- spondencies Commissions, or instructions, to or with public Ministers or Consuls, from the United States, or to negotia- tions from foreign States or Princes, or to memorials or other applications, from foreign public ministers, or other foreigners, or to such other matters respecting foreign affairs, as the President of the United States may assign to the said department: and furthermore that the said prin- cipal officer, shall conduct the business of the said depart- ment in such a manner as the President of the United States shall from time to time, order or instruct. And be it further enacted That there shall be in the said department, an inferior officer, to be appointed by the said principal officer, and to be employed therein as he shall deem proper, and to be called the Chief Clerk in the de- partment of foreign affairs, and who whenever, the said principal officer shall be removed from office by the Presi- dent of the United States, or in any other case of Vacancy shall during such vacancy have the charge and custody of all records, books and i)apers appertaining to the said de- partment — Provided, nevertheless that no aijpointment of such chief Clerk shall be valid until the same shall have been approved by the President of the United States. And be it further enacted, That the said principal officer, FORMATION OF THF DEPARTMENT. 47 and every other person to be appointed or employed in the said department, shall before he enters on the exercise of his office or employment take an oath or affirmation, well and faithfully to execute the trust committed to him. And be it further enacted that the Secretary for the de- partment of foreign affairs, to be appointed in consequence of this act shall forthwith after his appointment be entitled to have the Custody and charge of all records books, and papers in the office of Secretary for the department of foreign affairs heretofore established by the United States in Congress assembled. Passed the House June 24, 1789. This is indorsed "Copy as it came from House."* In the Senate the bill was again debated ; but, as the sessions were held behind closed doors, there is no record of what was said. It was passed July i8, with slight amendment, the pro- viso requiring the President's approval of the Chief Clerk being struck out, and the phrase "Concrress of the United States" beinof altered to "Senate and House of Representatives of the *U. S. Senate MS. archives. The archives of the House covering this period were destroyed by the British in the war of 1812. 48 FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. United States of America in Congress assem- bled."''' On the 20th the House agreed to the Senate amendments,-}- and the President signed the bill the 27th. 'Die final act read: An act for establishing an Executive Department, to be denominated the Department of Foreign Affairs. (Sect. I.) Be it enacted by the senate and house of repre- sentatives of the United States of America in congress as- sembled, That there shall be an executive department, to be denominated the department of foreign affairs, and that there shall be a principal officer therein, to be called the secretary for the department of foreign affairs, who shall perform and execute such duties as shall, from time to time, be enjoined on or intrusted to him by the president of the United States, agreeable to the constitution, rela- tive to correspondences, commissions, or instructions, to or with public ministers or consuls, from the United States, or to negociations with public ministers from foreign states or princes, or to memorials or other applications from for- eign public ministers, or other foreigners, or to such other matters respecting foreign affairs as the president of the United States shall assign to the said department ; And furthermore, that the said principal officer shall conduct the business of the said department in such manner as the *U. S. Senate MS. archives. fAnnals of Congress, I, 51, 52. FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. 49 president of the United States shall, from time to time, order or instruct. (Sect. 2.) Ami he it furtJier enacted. That .there shall be in the said department an inferior officer, to be appointed by the said principal officer, and to be employed therein as he shall deem proper, and to be called the chief clerk in the department of foreign affairs; and who, whenever the said principal officer shall be removed from office by the president of the United States, or in any other case of va- cancy, shall, during such vacancy, have the charge and custody of all records, books, and papers, appertaining to the said department. (Sect. 3.) And be it furtiier enacted. That the said prin- cipal officer, and every other person to be appointed or employed, in the said department, shall, before he enters on the execution of his office or employment, take an oath or affirmation, well and faitiifully to execute the trust com- mitted to liini. (Sect. 4.) And be it fwtJier enacted. That the secretary for the department of foreign affairs, to be appointed in consecjuence of this act, shall, forthwith after his appoint- ment, be entitled to have the custody and charge of all records, books, and papers, in the office of secretary for the department of foreign affairs, heretofore established by the United States in congress assembled, {Approved, July 27, 1789.). 4 5 O FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. Before the final passage of this Act, but after it had passed the House, Vining, of Delaware, mapped out what were to be the functions of the Home Department, which should be sepa- rate from the Foreign Department. His reso- lutions, as introduced in the House, read : * >ii * That an Executive department ought to be established, and to be denominated the Home department; the head of which to be called the Secretary of the United States for the Home Department ; whose duty it shall be to correspond with the several States, and to see to the exe- cution of the laws of the Union ; to keep the great seal, and affix the same to all public papers, when it is neces- sary ; to keep the lesser seal, and to affix it to commissions, &c. ; to make out commissions, and enregister the same ; to keep authentic copies of all public acts, &c. ; and trans- mit the same to the several States ; to procure the acts of the several States, and report on the same when contrary to the laws of the United States ; to take into his custody the archives of the late Congress ; to report to the President plans for the protection and improvement of manufiictures, agriculture, and commerce ; to obtain a geographical ac- count of the several States, their rivers, towns, roads, &:c. ; to report what post roads shall be established ; to receive FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. 5 I and record the census; to reqeive reports respecting the Western territory; to receive the models and specimens presented by inventors and authors ; to enter all books for which patents are granted ; to issue patents, &c. ; and, in general, to do and attend to all such matters and things as he may be directed to do by the President.'"' The proposition met with Httle favor. Ben- son, of New York, thoui^ht "the less the gov- ernment corresponded with particular states the better ;" and White, of North Carolina, gave it as his opinion that correspondence with States was the business of the Chief Executive, and it belonged to the judiciary to see that the laws were executed. The great seal might be kept by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and the lesser seal also.f Commissions should be made out by the departments under which the appointees were to serve. The public acts could be sent to the Executives of the States by the officers of Congress. Post roads properly belonged *Annals of Congress, I, 666. t There was no lesser seal, nor was one ever authorized. 52 FORMATION OF THF DEPARTMFNT. under the supervision of the Postmaster-Gen- eral, and it was hardly necessary to establish a great department for the purpose of receiving the models, specimens, and books presented by inventors and authors. To this Vining replied that the duties men- tioned in his resolutions were necessary, but that they were foreign to each of the depart- ments projected. He thought they could best be performed by a confidential officer under the President. As soon as the resolutions had been de- feated, Theodore Sedgwick, ot Connecticut, moved — That a committee be appointed to l)ring in a bill su])- plementary to the act for establishing the I)ei)artment of Foreign Affairs, declaring that department to be hereafter denominated , and that the principal officer in that department shall have custody of the records and seal of the United States, and that such bill do contain a provision for the fees of office to be taken for copies of records, and further provision for the due publication of the acts of Congress, and such other matters relating to the premises, FORMATION OF TIIF DFPARTMENT. 53 as the Committee shall deem necessary to be reported to this House. This motion was also lost, but July 31 Sedg- wick introduced a bill "to provide for the safe keeping of the acts, records, and great seal of the United States, for the publication, preser- vation, and authentication of the acts of Con- gress &c," which was read the third time and passed August 27/-' It was reported to the Senate the next day, referred to a committee composed of Rufus King, William Patterson, and George Read, concurred in with slight amendmentsf September 7,;j; reported back to the House and agreed to the following day.§ The President signed it the 1 5th. This was the bill establishing the Department of State. It read as follows : An act to provide for the safe keeping of the acts, records, and seal, of the United States, and for other purposes. (Sect. I.) Be it enacted by the senate aitd house of repre- *Annals of Congress, I, 674 et seq. tU. S. Senate MS. archives. I Annals of Congress, I, 73, 74, 75. 54 FORMATION OF THF DFPARTMENT. seniatives of the United States of America iti eoiigirss as- sembled, That the executive department, denominated the department of foreign affairs, shall hereafter be denomi- nated the department of state, and the principal officer shall hereafter be called the secretary of state. (Sect. 2.) And be it further enacted, That whenever a bill, order, resolution, or vote, of the senate and house of representatives, having been approved and signed by the president of the United States, or not having been returned by him with his objections, shall become a law, or take effect, it shall forthwith thereafter be received by the said secretary from the president: and whenever a bill, order, resolution, or vote, shall be returned by the president with his objections, and shall, on being reconsidered, be agreed to be passed, and be ajjproved by two thirds of both houses of congress, and thereby become a law or take effect, it shall, in such case, be received by the said secretary from the president of the senate, or the speaker of the house of representatives, in whichsoever house it shall last have been so approved ; and the said secretary shall, as soon as conven- iently may be, after he shall receive the same, cause every such law, order, resolution, and vote, to be published in at least three of the public newspapers printed in the United States, and shall also cause one printed copy to be deliv- ered to each senator and representative of the United States, and two printed copies, duly authenticated, to be FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. 55 sent to the executive authority of each state; and he shall carefully preserve the originals, and shall cause the same to be recorded in books to be provided for the purpose. (Sect. 3.) And be it further enacted. That the seal here- tofore used by the United States in congress assembled, shall be, and hereby is declared to be, the seal of the United States. (Sect. 4.) And be it fiirtJier enacted, That the said sec- retary shall keep the said seal, and shall make out and re- cord, and shall affix the said seal to all civil commissions to officers of the United States to be appointed by the ]Dresident, by and with the advice and consent of the sen- ate, or by the president alone. Provided, That the said seal shall not be affixed to any commission, before the same shall have been signed by the president of the United States, nor to any other instrument or act, without the special war- rant of the president therefor, (Sect. 5.) And be it further enacted, That the said sec- retary shall cause a seal of office to be made for the said department, of such device as the president of the United States shall approve, and all copies of records, and papers, in the said office, authenticated under the said seal, shall be evidence equally as the original record, or paper. (Sect. 6.) And be it further ettaeted, That there shall be paid to the secretary, for the use of the United States, the following fees of office, by the persons requiring the ser- 56 FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. vices to be performed, except when they are performed for any ofificer of the United States, in a matter relating to the duties of his office, to wit; For making out and authenti- cating copies of records, ten cents for each sheet contain- ing one hundred words; for authenticating a copy of a record, or paper, under seal of office, twenty five cents. (Sect. 7.) And be it further enacted, That the said sec- retary shall, forthwith after his appointment, be entitled to have the custody and charge of the said seal of the United States, and also of all books, records, and papers, remain- ing in the 6ffice of the late secretary of the United States in congress assembled; and such of the said books, rec- ords, and papers, as may appertain to the treasury depart- ment, or war department, shall be delivered over to the principal officers in the said departments, respectively, as the president of the United States shall direct. (^Approved September 75, ijSg.) This Act was supplemented by the follow- ing: Resolved, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to procure, from time to time, such of the statutes of the several states as may not be in his office. (^Approved, September 2j, 17 8g.) And so much of the Act of July 27. 1789, as FORMATION OF TIIF DEPARTMENT. 57 related to an Acting- Secretary was changed by the foHowinof : And be it further enacted, That in case of the death, ab- sence from the seat of government, or sickness, of the Sec- retary of State, Secretary of the treasury, or of the secre- tary of the war department, or of any officer of either of said departments, whose appointment is not in the head thereof, whereby they cannot perform the duties of their said respective offices, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, in case he shall think it necessary, to authorize any person or persons, at his discretion, to perform the duties of the said respective offices until a successor be appointed, or until such absence, or inability by sickness shall cease. {Approved May 8, 1792') This was, in its turn, modified in 1795. Be it enacted, etc., That, in case of vacancy in the office of Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, or of the Secretary of the Department of war, or of any officer of either of the said departments, whose appointment is not in the head thereof, whereby they cannot perform the duties of their said respective offices, it shall be lawful for the president of the United States, in case he shall think it necessary, to authorize any person or persons, at liis dis- 58 FOR.VATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. cretion, to perform the duties of the said respective offices, until a successor be appointed or such vacancy be filled : Provided, That no one vacancy shall be supplied, in man- ner aforesaid, for a longer term than six months. Approved, February ij, lYQS- Early in June. 1789. while the old Depart- ment of Foreign Affairs still existed, Washing- ton wrote to Jay, asking for ''some informal communication from the office of Secretary for Foreign Affairs ;"'=' and, after the new Depart- ment was formed, and had been enlarged into the Department of State, Jay continued at its head, al thou eh his nomination was not sent to the Senate, and he held no commission as Sec- retary of State. In view of tl"te opinion ex- pressed by Jefferson soon after he entered upon the duties of Secretary of State,f it may be doubted whether Jay did not become Sec- retary of State in the natural course of events, although he never received a formal api^oint- ment to the office. ♦Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, III, 369. fSee p. 67. FORMA TION OF THE DEPAR TMENT. 59 The records intended for die Department Charles Thomson had had in his keeping- as long as the old Congress lasted ; but they were, upon his resignation, delivered to Roger Alden by order of Washington. ' ' You will be pleased, Sir," Washington wrote Thomson July 24, "to deliver the Books, Records and Papers of the late Congress — the Great Seal of the federal Union — and the Seal of the Admiralty, to Mr, Roger Alden, the late Deputy Secretary of Con- gress, who is requested to take charge of them until further directions shall be given."* Information of the law authorizinsf the new Executive Department of Foreign Affairs was conveyed by the President to the Governors of the several States July 5, and September 21 they were informed of the passage of the Act making it the Department of State.* A few days later Jay was nominated to be Chief Justice and Thomas Jefferson to be Secretary of State, and both were commissioned September 26. * Department of State MS. archives. 6o FORMAT/ON OF TIIF DFPARTMFNT. Jay accepted at once, but continued to dis- charge the duties of Secretary of State for some months. Under date of October 13, Washing- ton informed Jefferson of his appointment, and added that "Mr. Jay had been so obhging as to continue his good offices." Mr. Alden, he said, had the State papers and Mr. Remsen those relating immediately to foreign affairs. '=' When this letter was written, Jefferson had not yet returned to America from his mission to France. Upon his arrival Jay wrote to him, December 12, congratulating him upon his ap- pointment and recommending to him favorably "the Young gentlemen in the office."-)- Jeffer- son accepted the office in the following lettef to the President: Monticello Feb. 14. 1790 Sir I have duly received the letter of the 21st of January with which you have honored me, and no longer hesitate to undertake the office to which you are pleased to call me. * Department of State MS. archives. t Correspondence and Public Papers of J olin Jay, 111,381. FORMATION OF THF DFPAKTMFNT^. 6 I Your desire that I should come on as quickly as possible is a sufficient reason for me to postpone every matter of busi- ness, however pressing, which admits postponement. Still it will be the close of the ensuing week before I can get away, & then I shall have to go by the way of Richmond, which will lengthen my road. I shall not fail however to go on with all the dispatch possible nor to satisfy you, I hope, when I shall have the honor of seeing you at New York, that the circumstances which prevent my immediate departure, are not under my controul. I have now that of being with sentiments of the most perfect respect cv: at- tachment, Sir Your most obedient & most humble servant Th. Jefferson. The President of the U. S.* Shortly afterwards he assumed office, the rec- ords were turned over to him, and the Depart- ment of State was fairly started in its career. The compensation of the Secretary was fixed by the Act of September ii, 1789, at $3,500 per annum, that of the Chief Clerk at $800, and of the other clerks at not more than 5^500. ♦Department of State MS. archives. 62 FORMATION OF THE DEPARTMENT. The number of the latter was left to the Secre- tary's discretion, being limited, of course, by the amount of money set apart for the Depart- ment. III. THE NEW DEPARTMENT— DUTIES THAT ARE NO LONGER UNDER ITS SUPERVISION. \ "\ 7HEN Jefferson entered upon his new du- ties, he found in the Department two officials whose services under the Government had extended over a number of years. They were Roger Alden and Henry Remsen, jr. The former had been Deputy Secretary, under Thomson, to the old Congress, and, when the Department of State was created, received from Tobias Lear, Washington's Secretary, orders to retain in his possession the records and pub- lic acts, to be delivered to the Secretary of State whenever the latter should enter upon the du- ties of his office.''' He served as Chief Clerk of the Department for a few months after Jef- ferson became Secretary, and in a letter dated * Department of State MS. archives. 63 64 THE NE W DEPARTMENT. July 25, 1790, tendered his resignation, in order, as he said, to enter into a more lucrative en- gagement.'=' Henry Remsen, jr., had been con- nected with the conduct of the foreign affairs of the Government from March, 1784, when, just before Jay's election as Secretary for Foreign Affairs, he was elected Under Secretary.f When Alden retired, Remsen succeeded to the rank of Chief Clerk, and held the position until 1792, when he was appointed First Teller to the new United States Bank, and George Taylor, jr., who had been a clerk in the Department for seven years, took his place. J From the very beginning the Department of State, more than any other Executive Depart- ment, was closely connected with the President, and was, in a measure, the President's office. Washington not only referred to it all official letters bearing upon its business, but made it * Department of State MS. archives. There is evidence that he was siihsequently an applicant for office, being recommended by his old chief, Charles Thomson. ^Ante, p. 35- \ Department of State MS. archives. THE NE W DEPAR TMENT. 6 5 the repository of the drafts of his pubHc letters, and, to a more limited extent, of his private cor- respondence. It must be borne in mind that at that time the business of the Government was sufficiently light to render it possible for the President to attend personally to matters such as are now rarely, if ever, brought to his atten- tion. The Secretaries of the Executive Depart- ments were then more literally secretaries than they are now, and the President was literally the fountain from whence all Executive action sprang. It was Jefferson's custom to consult his chief frequently. Notes, of which the fol- lowing is an example, were going constantly from the Secretary to the President: Mr. Jefferson has the honour of enclosing for the perusal of the President, rough draughts of the letters he supposes it proper to send to the court of France on the present oc- casion. He will have that of waiting on him in person immediately to make any changes in them the President will be so good as to direct, and to communicate to him two letters just received from Mr Short. April 5. 1790. a quarter before one.* * Department of State MS. archives. 66 THE NEW DEPARTMENT. The Department had sole control, under the President, of all diplomatic and consular corre- spondence, and the foreign ministers to this country were required to communicate directly with the Secretary of State. This rule had been laid down before Jefferson's appointment, when Washington declined direct correspondence with Moustier, the French Minister; and Mous- tier's successor, the notorious Genet, received a forcible reminder of it in 1 793. The representatives of the United States abroad continued to serve under the Constitu- tion without, in all cases, receiving new appoint- ments, Dumas, for instance, who had been employed by Franklin when the latter was at the head. of the Committee of Secret Corre- spondence, '=• and whose services continued thereafter, received no new commission, but continued to perform his duties and to receive compensation. Jefferson wrote to Washington, February 4, 1792 : *Ante, p. 4. THE NEW DEPARTMENT. dj The laws and appointments of the antient Congress were as valid and permanent in their nature, as the laws of the new Congress, or appointments of the new Executive; these laws & ap])ointments in both cases deriving equally their source from the will of the Nation : and when a question arises, whether any particular law or appointment is still in force, we are to examine, not whether it was pronounced by the antient or present organ, but whether it has been at any time revoked by the authority of the Nation ex- pressed by the organ competent at the time. The Nation by the act of their federal convention, established some new principles & some new organizations of the govern- ment. This was a valid declaration of their will, and ipso facto revoked some laws before passed, and discontinued some offices and officers before appointed. Whenever by this instrument, an old office was superseded by a new one, a new appointment became necessary; but where the new Constitution did not demolish an office, either expressly or virtually, nor the President remove tire officer, both the office and the officer remained. This was the case of sev- eral ; in many of them indeed an excess of caution dictated the superaddition of a new appointment ; but where there was no such superaddition, as in the instance of Mr. Dumas, both the office and officer still remained: for the will of the nation, validly pronounced by the proper organ of the day, had constituted him their agent, and that will has not 68 THE NEW DEPARTMENT. through any of its successive organs revoked his appoint- ment.* The compensation of our Ministers abroad was regulated under the Act of July i, 1790, which authorized the President — To draw from the treasury of the United States, a sum not exceeding forty thousand dollars, annually, to be paid out of the moneys arising from the duties on imports and tonnage, for the support of such persons as he shall com- mission to serve the United States in foreign parts, and for the expense incident to the business in which they may be employed. Provided, That, exclusive of outfit, which shall, in no case, exceed the amount of one year's full salary to the minister plenipotentiary or charge des affaires, to whom the same may be allowed, the president shall not allow to any minister plenipotentiary a greater sum than at the rate of nine thousand dollars per annum, as a compen- sation for all his personal services, and other expenses; nor ♦Department of State MS. archives. It may be remarked, as bearing upon this subject, that the custom of returning the commission to tlie Department under which the officer served, upon his resignation, was not uncommon at this period. Washington returned his commission as Com- mander in Chief of the Army into the hands of the President of Congress when he resigned in 1783, and the Department archives show similar cases after that; but Andrew Jackson, when John Branch resigned as Secretary of the Navy in i83i,sent back to him the commission he had returned, saying : " It is your own private prop- erty, and by no means to be considered part of the archives of the government. Ac- cordingly I return it." The custom has since been entirely abandoned. THE NE W DEPA R TMENT. 69 a greater sum for the same, than four thousand five hundred dollars per annum to a charge des affaires; nor a greater sum for the same, than one thousand three hundred and fifty dollars per annum to the secretary of any minister plenipotentiary. And provided, also, That the president shall account, specifically, for all such expenditures of the said money as, in his judgment, may be made public, and also for the amount of such expenditures as he may think it adviseable not to specify, and cause a regular statement and account thereof to be laid before congress annually, and also lodged in the proper office of the treasury department. Sect. 2 And be it further enacted, That this act shall continue and be in force for the space of two years there- after and no longer. This Act was continued in force in subsequent years, with additional appropriations for specific purposes of foreign intercourse, and the Act of May I, 1 8 10, included Consuls to Algiers and other states on the coast of Barbary, the salary being limited to ^4,000 for the Consul at Algiers and ;^2,ooo for those at other states on the Bar- bary coast; but they were to have no payments whatever for outfits. By this Act, also, the President was authorized to make foreign ap- 70 THE NEW DEPARTMENT. pointments during the recess of the Senate, to "be submitted to the Senate at the next session thereafter, for their advice and consent." Other Consuls were not, at this time, in re- ceipt of regular salaries, their payment coming from the fees of office which they were allowed to collect. In 1792 (November 5) Jefferson made a re- port on the subject of expenditures as follows r^ Estimate of the fund of 40,000 Dol. for foreign intercourse, and its application D D 1790 July I. to 1791 July I. a year's appropriation. ..40,000 1791 July I, to 1792 July I do ...40,000 1792 July I, to 1793 Mar. 3 being 8jL months 27,000 107 ,000 1790. July I. to 1 79 1. July l,actual expenses incurred.. 2 1 ,054 1791. July I. to 1792 July I. do ..43,431.09 1792. July I. to 1793. Mar. 3. the probable expenses may be abt 26 , 300 Surplus unexpended will be about 16,214.91 107 ,000 He estimated the ordinary expenses of the different grades of diplomatic missions as fol- lows (dated November 5, 1792):'=' * Department of State MS. an;hives. THE NEW DEPARTMENT. 71 bO S o W o o .S '^ CD ^ r^ ^-r I ^o -^ 1^ a, rt O -x. o o >> i_ o^ w i: 3 W &i o o - ro m ro 3 CS ^ C cfi CO W ro rn VD CO 8 M M "-) ii-1 ■^ "^ rO O) 1 o ■35 ^3 1" .S rt o C 2 ^ rrt b " " - p: hj s J ffi ro 1-1 10 10 to 10 fS fl u-i "^ tn ^ •^ o n q •- S j; o V- o s --i rt in d J2 Ph hJ »i!; 1-1 S 72 THE NEW DEPARTMENT. This question is further elucidated by the fol- lowing (dated April i8, 1793): The Secretary of State thinking it his duty to communi- cate to the President his proceedings of the present year for transferring to Europe the annual fund of 40,000 Dollars appropriated to the department of State (a report whereof was unnecessary the two former years, as monies already in the hands of our bankers in Europe were put under his orders) Reports That in consequence of the President's order of Mar. 23. he received from the Secretary of the Treasury Mar. 31. a warrant on the Treasury for 39.500 Dollars : that it being necessary to purchase private bills of exchange to transfer the money to Europe, he consulted with persons acquainted with that business, who advised him not to let it be known that he was to jturchase bills at all, as it would raise the exchange, and to defer the purchase a few days till the British packet should be gone, on which went bills gener- ally sunk some few percent. He therefore deferred the purchase, or giving any orders for it till Apr. 10, when he engaged Mr. Vaughan (whose line of business enabled him to do it without suspicion) to make the purchase for him : he then delivered the warrant to the Treasurer, & received a credit at the Bank of the U S. for 39,500 D. whereon he THE NE IV DEPAR TMENT. . J 3 had an account opened between "The I)ei)artment of State & the Bank of the US." That Mr. Vaughan procured for him the next day the following bills. £ Sterl Doll Willing, Morris & Swanwick on John 1^ Francis Baring & Co. I-ondon 3000 for 13,000 Walter Stewart on Joseph Uirch — merch' Liv- erpool 400-0 = 1,733.33 Robert Gilmer & Co. on James Strachan & James Mackenzie, London, indorsed by Mordecai £ Lewis 200 ") 150 r 600-0 = 2,600 250) 4000-0 = 17,333-33 averaging 4''-7yVo'' ^^^ dollar, or about 2% per cent above par, which added to the i. per cent loss heretofore always sustained on the government bills (which allowed but 99 florins, instead of 100 do. for every 40. dollars) will render the fund somewhat larger this year than heretofore: that these bills being drawn on London (for none could be got on Amsterdam but to considerable loss, added to the risk of the present possible situation of that place) he had them made payable to Mr. Pinckney, and inclosed them to him by Capt. Cutting, in the letter of Apr. 12 now communi- cated to the President, and at the same time wrote the let- ter of the same date to our bankers at Amsterdam & to 74 THE NEW DEPARTMENT. Col° Humphreys, now also communicated to the President, which will place under his view the footing on which this business is put, and which is still subject to any change he may think proper to direct, as neither the letters nor bills are yet gone. The Secretary of state proposes hereafter to remit in the course of each quarter, 10,000 D. for the ensuing ([uarter, as that will enable him to take advantage of the times when exchange is low. He proposes to direct at this time a further purchase of 12,166.66 D. (which with the 500 D. formerly obtained & 17,333-33 now remitted, will make 30,000 D of this year's fund) at long sight, which circum- stance with the present low rate of exchange will enable him to remit it to advantage. He has only further to add that he delivered to Mr. Vaughan orders on the bank of the U S. in favor of the persons themselves from whom the bills were purchased for their respective sums.-'- The Department was the medium through which correspondence with the National Gov- ernment and the several State governments was conducted. How the communications from the States to Congress were to be transmitted was '■'Department of State MS. archives. THE NEW DEPARTMENT. 75 the subject of the following letter from Jeffer- son to Washington (April i, 1790):''' Th. Jefferson has the honor to inform the President that Mr Madison has just delivered to him the result of his reflections on the question How shall communications from the several states to Congress through the channel of the Pres- ident be made ? He thinks that in no case would it be proper to go by- way of letter from the Secretary of state : that they should be delivered to the houses either by the Secretary of state in person or by Mr Leir, he supposes a useful division of the office might be made between these two, by employing the one where a matter of fact alone is to be communicated, or a paper delivered in the ordinary course of things and where nothing is required by the President ; and using the agency of the other where the President chuses to recom- mend any measure to the legislature and to attract their attention to it. The President will be pleased to order in this what he thinks best. T. Jefferson supposes that whatever may be done for the present, the final arrangement of business should be considered as open to alteration hereafter. The government is as yet so young, that cases enough have not occurred to enable a division of them into classes, and the * Department of State MS. archives. 7 6 THE NE IV BETA R TMENT. distribution of these classes to the persons whose agency would be the properest. He sends some letters for the President's perusal, pray- ing him to alter freely anything in them which he thinks may need it. Touchioi^ the question of correspondence with the several Governors, he wrote November 6, 1791 : I have the honour to inclose you a draught of a letter to Governor Pinckney, and to observe that I suppose it to be proper that there should, on fit occasions, be a direct cor- respondence between the President of the U. S. and the governors of the states; and that it will probably be grate- ful to them to receive from the President answers to the letters they address to him. The correspondence with them on ordinary business may still be kept up by the Sec- retary of State in his own name.* Having reached this point in our inquiry into the Department's business, it will be found con- venient to consider the functions which fell to its charge under the law separately. Those which have, in the course of time, passed out of * Ucpurtmciu ^ — A Second Assistant Secretary was allowed by Act of July 25, 1866, at $3,500, the Assistant Secretary's salary being also increased ; and the Act of June ^^yO, 1875, added the office of Third Assistant Secretary, at the same compen- sation. The Assistant Secretary's salary was increased subsequently to $4,500. The office of Examiner of Claims was created by Act of August 12, 1848, which prescribed that a clerk at $2,000 per annum be assigned to the duty of examining claims in the Depart- ment of State of our citizens against foreign SUBDIVISIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT. 93 governments and of foreign citizens against this Government. The office became a regular one at $3,500 per annum by Act of July 25, 1866. When the Department of Justice was organized by the law of June 22, 1870, this officer was transferred to its jurisdiction, his duties, how- ever, remaining a part of the functions of the Department of State; and in 1891 the title was changed to "Solicitor of the Department of State." The salary of the Chief Clerk was in- creased from $800 to $2,000, and by Act of March 3, 1855, placed at $2,200. It was raised, afterwards to $2,400, then to $2,500, and, finally, to the present rate of $2,750. In the progress of the business of the Depart- ment, as the clerks have demonstrated especial fitness for particular branches of its business, they have been assigned to them, and this was the origin of the present system of divisions or bureaus. Taking up the bureaus separately, the first that received legal sanction were the Diplomatic 94 SUBDIVISIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT. and Consular Bureaus. These had been formed early, the duties resting with a division of the clerks, supervised by other clerks who acted as chiefs. There were two Chiefs of the Consular Bureau and two of the Diplomatic Bureau ; but they were simply clerks of class IV, until the Act of May 22, 1872, recognized them as chiefs of bureau and increased their compensation to $2,400 per annum. The Act of June 30, 1874, concentrated these offices in one Chief for the Diplomatic Bureau and one for the Consular Bureau at $2,400 per annum each. This Act also provided for the Bureau of Rolls and Library, with a Chief at the same salary. Previous to this action a clerk of class IV had acted as librarian, and had also been in charge of the rolls and historical papers. In 1870 there was instituted the Bureau of Indexes and Archives, and it was given control of the indexing of all incoming and outgoing mail, which had before been indexed by the sev- eral other divisions of the Department. The SUBDIVISIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT. 95 Act of March 3, 1873, authorized the appoint- ment of a Chief of this Bureau at $2,400 per annum. What is now the Bureau of Statistics had its origin in the "Statistical Office." In 1842 Daniel Webster, as Secretary of State, recom- mended to Congress that the work of arranging and condensing the information received from our Consuls abroad on commercial subjects be intrusted to one person, and that he should have charge of the correspondence on these subjects. No action was taken on this recommendation until 1856, when the Committees on Commerce in both Houses of Congress took it up and the "Statistical Office of the Department of State" was authorized, the first Superintendent being appointed August 18, 1856. In anticipation of the action of Congress, the office had been or- ganized by the Department two years previ- ously. The salary of the "Superintendent" was fixed at $2,000, and so continued, until the Act of June 30, 1874, authorized the Bureau 96 SUBDIVISIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT. of Statistics, the Chief to receive $2,400 per annum. The financial business of the Department had been in the beginning intrusted to one of the clerks, and the Act of 1855 authorized a dis- bursing clerk, who should give bonds. By Act of March 3, 1873, the Bureau of Accounts was instituted, with the disbursing clerk as Chief, with the same salary as was allowed the other chiefs of bureau. In 1875 the Translator of the Department, who had before that been simply one of the clerks, was placed upon the same footing as the chiefs, with the same salary. The Appropriation Act of August 15, 1876, reduced all these salaries to $2,100, which rate maintains at the present time. Beside the regular bureaus described above, the Department business has necessitated the institution of two others, the heads of which are selected from the clerical force. These are the Bureau of Commissions and Pardons and that SUBDIVISIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT. 97 of Passports. Of the former it is sufficient to say that it was the natural outgrowth of the assignment to a certain clerk of the papers re- lating to appointments to office and of the duty of making out the commissions and par- dons. The Passport Bureau will be described later on.''' As now constituted, the Executive force of the Department comprises the Secretary of State, three Assistant Secretaries, a Chief Clerk, a So- licitor (from the Department of Justice), Chief of the Bureau of Indexes and Archives, Chief of the Diplomatic Bureau, Chief of the Consular Bureau, Chief of the Bureau of Rolls and Li- brary, Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, Chief of the Bureau of Accounts, the Translator, Clerk to the Secretary of State, eleven clerks of class IV, four clerks of class III, eight clerks of class II, fifteen clerks of class I, a telegraph operator at 5)^1,200 per annum, five clerks at $1,000 per annum, ten at $900 per annum, a *See p. 176, 98 SUBDIVISIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT. lithographer at $900 per annum, one messen- ger at $840 per annum, two assistant mes- sengers at #720 per annum, one packer at $720 per annum, and ten laborers at ;^66o per annum. V. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. " I "HE law that created the Department of State prescribed that the Secretary should keep the seal of the United States, and he thus became the custodian of the most important official evidence of the Federal Executive au- thority. The law reads, that the Secretary of State "shall affix the said seal to all civil commissions to officers of the United States, to be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, or by the President alone. Provided, That the said seal shall not be affixed to any commission, before the same shall have been signed by the President of the United States, nor to any other instrument or act, with- out the special warrant of the President there- 99 lOO DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. for." The seal thus "attests, by an act sup- posed to be of j)ul)Hc notoriety, the verity of the presidential signature."'-' The commissions were not countersigned by the Secretary of State until a few months after Jefferson had been in office, but simply bore the President's signature and the impression of the seal. The device of the seal, as adopted by the first Congress under the Constitution, was the same as that adopted by the old Con- gress in 1782. The law read: The device for an armorial achievement and reverse of the great seal for the United States in Congress assembled, is as follows : ARMS. Paleways of thirteen pieces, argent and gules; a chief, azure; the escutcheon on the breast of the Amer- ican eagle displayed proper, holding in his dexter talon an olive branch, and in his sinister a bundle of thirteen ar- rows, all proper, and in his beak a scroll, inscribed with this motto, "E pluribus Unum." For the CREST. Over the head of the Ivigle, which appears above the escutcheon, a glory, or, breaking through * I U. S. Reports, 374. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. lOI a cloud, proper, and surrounding thirteen stars, forming a constellation, argent, on an azure field. REVERSE. A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith, an eye in a triangle, surrounded with a glory proper. Over the eye these/ words, " Anmtit ca'ptis.'' On the base of the pyramid the numerical let- ters MDCCLXXVI. And underneath the following motto, ' ' Novus Ordo Sccloriim. ' ' REMARKS AND EXPLANATION The Escutcheon is composed of the chief and pale, the two most honourable ordinaries. The pieces, paly, repre- sent the several States all joined in one solid compact en- tire, supporting a Chief, which unites the whole and repre- sents Congress. The Motto alludes to this union. The pales in the arms are kept closely united by the chief and the chief depends on that Union and the strength resulting from it for its support, to denote the Confederacy of the United States of America and the preservation of their Union through Congress. The colours of the pales are those used in the flag of the United States of America ; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness and valour, and Blue, the colour of the Chief signifies vigi- lance perseverance & justice. The Olive branch and ar- rows denote the power of peace and war which is exclu- sively vested in Congress. The Constellation denotes a I02 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. new State taking its place and rank among other sovereign powers. The Escutcheon is born on the breast of an American Eagle without any other supporters, to denote that the United States ought to rely on their own Virtue. Reverse. The pyramid signifies Strength and Duration: The Eye over it and the motto allude to the many signal interpositioiis of providence in favour of the American cause. The date underneath is that of the Declaration of Independence and the words under it signify the begin- ning of the new American yEra, which commences from that date. Passed June 20, 1782. The reverse of the seal was not cut then, nor has it ever been cut since. As it can not con- veniently be used, it has been allowed to go unnoticed officially to the present day. The seal of the Department, which the law of September 15, i7^^9, authorized, followed closely the design of the seal of the United States. The device has never been changed. As the duties of the Government have ex- panded, the impracticability of having the seal of the United States attached by the Department DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I03 of State to the commissions of officers who are under some other Department has been recog- nized by Congress. By the Act of March i8, 1874, the commissions of postmasters were di- rected to be made out under the seal of the Post-Office Department ; the Act of March 3, 1875, placed the commissions of officers of the Interior Department under that Department ; and by Act of August 8, 1888, all judicial offi- cers, Marshals, and United States Attorneys were ordered to be appointed under the seal of the Department of Justice. At the present time the seal of the United States is affixed to the commissions of all Cabinet officers and dip- lomatic and consular officers who are nomi- nated by the President and confirmed by the Senate; all ceremonious communications from the President to the heads of foreign govern- ments ; all treaties, conventions, and formal agreements of the President with foreign pow- ers ; all pardons or commutations of sentence by the President to offenders who have been I04 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. convicted before the courts of the United States ; all proclamations by the President; all exequa- turs to foreign consular officers in the United States who are appointed by the heads of the governments which they represent; to warrants by the President to receive persons surrendered by foreign governments under extradition trea- ties ; and to all miscellaneous commissions of civil officers appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, whose appointments are not now especially directed by law to be signed under a different seal."^ The recording of commissions, wliich the law required should be done by the Secretary of State after the affixing of the seal, has continued ui)on practically the same i)lan since i 789. The commission is written in the Department of State and sent to the President. Upon being returned with his sitrnature, it is countersiened ♦The Seal of the United Sir.tes ; How it was DcvelopcJ ami Ailoptcd. Depart- ment of State, 1892. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. 1 05 l)y the Secretary of State and the seal affixed. It is then recorded and delivered to the person for whom it is intended. During the early days of the Department Vice and Deputy Consuls were given commissions signed by the Presi- dent and bearing the seal of the United States ; but this practice was soon abandoned, such ap- pointments being made upon the certificate of the Secretary of State with the Department seal attached, and this system prevails at pres- ent. All appointments, however, of every grade have always been recorded, and the rec- ord books indexed. Although the President's warrants for par- doning criminals are still issued by the Secre- tary of State and bear the seal of the United States, the petitions and all other papers relating to the granting of the pardon are sent to the Attorney-General for his consideration. Up to 1850 they were, however, sent to the Secretary of State and passed upon by him, as well as by the Attorney-General, before they were sent to I06 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. the President for his final decision. Since that year the Secretary of State has issued the par- dons upon request of the Attorney-General, his duties being purely of an administrative char- acter.* The Secretary of State also causes the seal to be affixed to Presidential warrants of ex- tradition, and this brings us to one of the most important of the Department's legal func- tions. Extradition, "the act by which one nation de- livers up an individual accused or convicted of an offense outside of its own territory to another nation which demands him,"-)- is one of the func- tions committed to the Secretary of State, as the official charged with the duty of conducting for- eign intercourse. In the earlier clays of the Republic, this function was not infrequently dis- charged by the Governors of the individual *At the time of writing tliis a movement has been made to relieve the Depart- ment of State of this unnecessary labor. fMoore on Extradition; Boston, 1891. The author is indclitetl to Mr. Moore for the account of the early practice in this matter. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. lO/ States, in some cases with the approval of the Federal Secretary of State, and in others without consulting him. Some of our States have even gone so far as to enact statutes, conferring on their Chief Executives the power to deliver up fugitives from justice to foreign nations. But, with the development and clearer comprehen- sion of the powers of the National Government, the States have ceased to deal with the subject, and it is now generally admitted to belong ex- clusively to the Government of the United States. In one case, however, the United States has by treaty agreed that applications for ex- tradition may be made and granted by State and Territorial governments. This is the agree- ment in the Treaty with Mexico, which provides that, for offenses committed in the frontier States and Territories of the contracting parties, appli- cations for surrender may be made by and to the local authorities. But this provision does not preclude the exercise of supreme control in the matter by the National Government of either I08 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. country in any case arising under this special and exceptional stipulation. It has been the almost uniform opinion of our constitutional lawyers that extradition can law- full)- be granted by the United States only in pursuance of a statute or a treaty; and, as the only Federal legislation on the subject is that which has been adopted to execute our treaties, the Government declines to extradite fugitives from justice in the absence of a conventional oblioration.''' Under similar circumstances it refrains from demanding the surrender of fugitives by other governments. In rare cases, in the absence of a treaty, an appeal has been made to the good will of a foreign government to deliver up a notorious offender. But, as foreign govern- ments are likely to demand a promise of reci- * The only departure from this rule was in 1864, in the case of Arguelles, an offi- cer in the Spanish army, who was delivered up to Spain on a charge of slave-deal- ing in Cuba. But the lime and circumstances of this transaction, and the fact that Arguelles was seized and taken out of the counlry before there was opportunity to test the legality of his detention in the courts, have prevented the case from being considered as a precedent. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. IO9 procity in such cases, and as the United States is unable to make such a proniise, the appeal must always be attended with much embarrass- ment, and for that reason has seldom been made. The first treaty of this country providing for mutual surrender of criminals was that of 1 794 with Great Britain. Murder and forgery were the only crimes included in it, and it expired in twelve years. But, since the conclusion of a new treaty with Great Britain in 1842, treaties have been entered into with many powers, and the practice of extradition has become general. The forms of extradition warrants now in use are three: the mandate, called often — although iilcorrectly — the "warrant of arrest;" the war- rant of surrender; and the President's warrant, authorizinor accents to g^o abroad and brinor back surrendered criminals. The first mandate was issued in 1853, upon application of the British Minister, and was signed by President Franklin Pierce. Prior to I lO DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. that time the persons authorized to apply for the extradition of a criminal went, in the first in- stance, to the courts. But, owing to doubts suggested by one of our judges as to the regu- larity of this procedure, a practice grew up of applying to the Secretary of State for a man- date to authorize the institution of judicial pro- ceedings. Althouofh this course was afterwards prescribed by some of our treaties, it is not pre- scribed in others, and has been held by the Supreme Court to be unnecessary in the latter instance. It is now no longer issued by the De- partment of State, unless required by treaty. Up to i860 the mandate was signed by the President, but since then it has been signed by the Secretary of State. The form now used is as follows: DEPARTMENT OF STATE. To any Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ; any Judge of the Circuit or District Courts of the United States in any District; any Judge of a Court of Record of General Jurisdiction in any State or Territory of the United DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT \ 1 I States, or to any Commissioner specially appointed to exe- cute the provisions of Title LXVl of the Revised Statutes of the United States, for giving effect to certain treaty stip- ulations between this and foreign Governments, for the ap- prehension and delivering up of certain offenders. Whereas, ])ursuant to existing treaty stipulations between the United States of America [name of the foreign power to which the criminal is to be surrendered] for the mutual delivery of criminals, fugitives from justice in certain cases, [name of the foreign representative making the demand] has made application in due form, to the proper authorities thereof, for the arrest of [name or names of the offender or offenders], charged with the crime of [nature of the crime], and alleged to be [statement of the country from whence the flight was made] and who ["is" or "are"] believed to be within the jurisdiction of the United States. And whereas, it appears proper that the said [name or names of the offender or offenders] should be apprehended, and the case examined in the mode provided by the laws of the United States aforesaid. Now, therefore, to the end that the above-named officers, or any of them, may cause the necessary proceedings to be had, in pursuance of said laws, in order that the evidence of the criminality of the said [name or names of the offender or offenders] may be heard and considered, and, if deemed sufficient to sustain the charge, that the same may be certi- 112 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. fied, together with a copy of all the proceedings, to the Secretary of State, that a warrant may issue for ["his" or "their"] surrender, pursuant to said treaty stipulations. I certify the facts above recited. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of the Department of State to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this day [seal.] of , A. I). 1 8 — , and of the Independ- ence of the United Stated the . Secretary of State. The warrant of surrender has suffered only such alterations as have been made necessary by changes in the law. Like the mandate, it was signed by the President until i860, since which time it has been signed by the Secretary of State, by whom the law provides that it shall be issued. The form is as follows : DEPARTMENT OF STAJ'E. To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting : Whereas, [name of foreign representative making the demand], accredited to this Government, has made requi- DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. II3 sition in conformity with tlic provisions of existing treaty stipulations between the United States of America and [name of foreign power] for the mutual delivery of crimi- nals, fugitives from justice in certain cases, for the delivery up of [name or names of oftender or offenders], charged with the crime of [nature of crime], committed within the jurisdiction of [name of foreign country where crime was committed]. And whereas, the said [name or names of offender or offenders] ["has" or "have"] been found within the juris- diction of the United States, and ["has" or "have"], by proper authority and due form of law, been brought before [name of Commissioner or Judge of the United States be- fore whom the examination has been held] for examination upon said charge of [nature of crime]. And whereas, the said ["Commissioner" or "Judge"] has found and adjudged that the evidence produced against the said [name or names of offender or offenders] is suffi- cient in law to justify ["his" or "their"] commitment upon the said charge, and has, therefore, ordered that the said [name or names of offender or offenders] be com- mitted pursuant to the provisions of said treaty stipulations. Now, therefore, pursuant to the provisions of Section 5272 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, These Presents are to require the United States Marshal for the [statement of the district or State], or any other i)ublic I 14 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. officer or person having charge or custody of the aforesaid [name or names of the offender or offenders], to surrender and deliver ["him" or "them"] up to such person or persons as may be duly authorized by the Government of [name of foreign power] to receive the said [name or names of offender or offenders] to be tried for the crime of which ["he is" or "they are"] so accused. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of the Department of State to be affixed. Done at the C!ity of Washington, this day [seal.] of , A. D. 18 — , and of the Independ- ence of the United States the . Secretary of State. The President's warrant, authorizing- an officer of the United States to take a fug-itive into cus- tody and bring him back to the United States for trial, is issued in the following form : [President's name]. President of the United States of America. To [officer to take the offender into custody]. Whereas, it appears by information in due form by me received, that [name or names of offender or offenders]. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I I 5 charged with the crime of [nature of crime], fugitive from the justice of the United States, [whence fled]. And whereas, application has been made to the [what foreign authorities] for the extradition of said fugitive, in compliance with existing treaty stij)ulations between the United States of America and [name of foreign power]. And whereas, it is understood that, in compliance with such application, the necessary warrant is ready to be issued by the authorities aforesaid for the delivery of the above- named fugitive into the custody of such person or persons as may be duly authorized to receive the said fugitive and bring ["him" or "them"] back to the United States for trial. Now, therefore, you are hereby authorized and empow- ered, in virtue of the stipulations aforesaid, and in execu- tion thereof, to receive the said [name or names of offender or offenders] as aforesaid, and to take and hold ["him" or "them"] in your custody, and conduct ["him" or "them"] from such place of delivery [to what country the flight has been made], by the most direct and convenient means of transportation, to and into the United States, there to surrender the said [name or names of offender or offenders] to the proper authorities of the [name of the State making the request]. For all of which these Presents shall be your sufficient warrant. I I 6 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this day of [seal.] , A. D. 1 8 — , and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and By the President : Secretary of State. The forms quoted above have been printed for the past eight years only. Prior to that the warrants were written out. Before leaving the Department the extradition warrants are recorded in three books, entitled, variously, "Warrants of Arrest," "Warrants of Surren- der," and "President's Warrants." These date back only to 1862, the warrants before that time being recorded in the volumes of par- dons issued by the Department. The record- ing and issuinor of the warrants is a duty of the Bureau of Commissions and Pardons. The instructions on the subject of extradition DUTIES OF THE DETARTMENT. I I 7 are embodied in die following" circulars, which are of most recent date, and have superseded the previous circulars issued on this subject: Memorandum Relative to the Extradition of Fugi- tives FROM the United States in British Jurisdic- tion. Department of State, Washington, May, i8go. Where application is made for a requisition for the sur- render of a fugitive from the justice of the United States in British jurisdiction, it must be made to appear — 1. That one of the offenses enumerated in the treaties between the United States and Great Britain has been com- mitted within the jurisdiction of the United States, or of some one of the States or Territories. 2. That the person charged with the offense has sought an asylum or been found within the British dominions. All api)lications for requisitions should be addressed to the Secretary of State, and forwarded to the Department of State, accompanied with the necessary papers, as herein stated, and must furnish the full name of the person pro- posed for designation by the President to receive the pris- oner and convey him to the United States. When the offense is within the jurisdiction of the State courts, the application must come from the Governor of the State. I I 8 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. When the offense is against the United States, the applica- tion must come from the Attorney-General or the proper executive department. It is stipulated in the treaties with Great Britain that ex- tradition shall only be granted on such evidence of crim- inality as, according to the laws of the place where the fugitive or person charged shall be found, would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial if the crime or offense had there been committed. It is admissible, as constituting such evidence, to pro- duce a properly certified copy of an indictment found against the fugitive by a grand jury, or of any information made before an examining magistrate, accompanied by one or more depositions setting forth as fully as possible the cir- cumstances of the crime. An indictment alone has been held to be insufficient. By the fourteenth section of the English extradition act of 1S70, "depositions or statements on oath, taken in a foreign state, and co])ies of such original dei^ositions or statements, and foreign certificates of, or judicial docu- ments stating the fact of conviction, may, if duly authen- ticated, be received in evidence of proceedings under this act." The fifteenth section of the same act provides as fol- lows : "Foreign warrants and depositions or statements on oath, and copies thereof, and certificates of, or judicial DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I I 9 documents stating the fact of a conviction, shall be deemed duly authenticated for the ])urposes of this act if authenti- cated in manner provided for the time being by law, or authenticated as follows: (i) If the warrant purports to be signed by a judge, magistrate, or officer of the foreign state where the same was issued ; (2) if the depositions or statements or the copies thereof purport to be certified under the hand of a judge, magistrate, or officer of the foreign state where the same were taken to be the original depositions or statements, or to be true copies thereof, as the case may require; and (3) if the certificate of, or judicial documents stating the fact of conviction purports to be certified by a judge, magistrate, or officer of the for- eign state where the conviction took place ; and if in every case the warrants, depositions, statements, copies, certifi- cates, and judicial documents (as the case may be) are authenticated by the oath of some witness or by being sealed with the official seal of the minister of justice, or some other minister of state; and all courts of justice, jus- tices and magistrates, shall take judicial notice of such official seal, and shall admit the documents so authenti- cated by it to be received in evidence without further proof." If the fugitive be charged with the violation of a law of a State or Territory, his delivery will be required to be made to the authorities of such State or Territory. I20 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. If the offense charged be a violation of a law of the United States (such as piracy, murder on board vessels of the United States, or in arsenals or dockyards, etc.), the delivery will be required to be made to the officers or au- thorities of the United States. Where the requisition is made for an offense against the laws of a State or Territory, the expenses attending the apprehension and delivery of the fugitive must be borne by such State or Territory. Expenses of extradition are defrayed by the United States only where the offense is against its own laws. PROVISIONAL ARREST. Applications, both by telegraph and by letter, are fre- quently made to this Department for its intervention to obtain the arrest and provisional detention of fugitives from justice in England, Scotland, or Ireland in advance of the presentation of the formal proofs upon which a de- mand for their extradition may be based. In such cases the only manner in which the Department can intervene is by informing the Minister of the United States in London of the facts and instructing him to take the necessary meas- ures. 'I'his the Minister does by autliori/.ing some one connected with the legation to make complaint on oath before a magistrate, in accordance with the recjuirements of the British extradition act of 1870. The form of this DUTIES OF THE DETARl^MENT. I 2 I complaint is hereto annexed as appendix 2. Attention is invited to its provisions, and especially to the statement deponent is required to make that he is informed and be- lieves that a warrant has been issued in the foreign country for the arrest of the accused. This Department, when re- quested to intervene in such a case, should always be en- abled to inform the Minister that such a warrant has been issued, in order that the complaint before the British mag- istrate may be made in due form and without delay. APPENDIX 1. The tenth article of tlie treaty between the United States and Great Britain, concluded August 9, 1842, provides for tlie surrender of crimi- nals for (i) murder, (2) assault with intent to commit murder, (3) piracy, (4) arson, (5) robbery, (6) forgery, (7) the utterance of forged paper. The convention concluded July 29, 1889, provides for extradition for the following additional offenses : 1. Manslaughter, wlien voluntary. 2. Counterfeiting or altering money; uttering or bringing into circula- tion counterfeit or altered money. 3. Embezzlement; larceny; receiving any money, valual)Ie security, or other property, knowing the same to have been cml)ezzled, stolen, or fraudulently obtained. * 4. Fraud by a bailee, lianker, agent, factor, trustee, or director or member or officer of any company, made criminal by the laws of both countries. 5. Perjury, or subornation of jierjury. 122 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT 6. Rape; abduction; child-stealing; kidnapping. 7. Duiglary ; house-breaking or shopbreaking. 8. Piracy by the law of nations. 9. Revolt or conspiracy to revolt liy two or more persons on board a ship on the high seas, against the authority of the master; wrongfully sinking or destroying a vessel at sea, or attempting to do so ; assaults on board a ship on the high seas, with intent to do grievous bodily harm. 10. Crimes and offenses against the laws of both countries for the suppression of slavery and slave trading. Extradition is also to take place for participation in any of the crimes mentioned in this convention or in the aforesaid tenth article, provided such participation be punishable by the laws of both countries. ]!y the seventh article of the convention of 1 889 it is stijjulated as follows : "The provisions of the said tenth article (of the treaty of 1842) and of this convention shall apply to persons convicted of the crimes therein respectively named and specified whose sentence therefor shall not have been executed." The eighth article of the convention of 1889 is as follows : " The pres- ent convention shall not apply to any of the crimes herein s[)ecified which shall have been committed, or to any conviction which shall have been pronounced, prior to the date at wliich the convention shall come into force." The ninth article jirovides that the convention "shall come into force ten days after its publication, in conformity with the forms prescribed by the laws of the high contracting parties." The convention was pro- claimed both in the United States and in Clreat ]>ritain March 25, 1890, and tluis came into force in IidIIi countries Ajiril 4, 1890. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 23 AI'l-ENDIX 2. Form of information used in o/>fniiiini[ provisional warrants of arrest in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Metropolitan ) ''"'i^' information of Police District, V To wit. 1 of , taken on oath this clay of in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and , at the I low Street Police Court, in the county of Middlesex, and within the Metropolitan police district, before me, the undersigned, one of the magistrates of the police courts of the metropolis, sitting at the jiolice court aforesaid. Who saith that , late of , is accused [or con- victed] of the commission of the crime of within the jurisdiction of , and now suspected of being in the United Kingdom. I make this application on behalf of the Government. I produce — -. I am informed and verily believe that a warrant has been is- sued in for the arrest of the accused; that the said Government will demand h — extradition in due course, and that there are reasona- ble grounds for supposing the accused may escape during the time nec- essary to present the diplomatic requisition for h — surrender, and I therefore pray that a provisional warrant may issue under the provisions of 33 a»< ;{; In view of these considerations, it is desired by the De- partment that its Diplomatic and Consular officers should devote attention to the question of methods by which trade with the United States can be most judiciously fos- tered. Without seeking to interfere with any commercial oper- ations or enterprises that may now be in existence, it is nevertheless deemed highly probable that you may be able, by examination and inquiry, to point out branches of trade with * ^^ * in which the United States may properly and usefully share. You are instructed, therefore, to make such examination at your convenience, and to advise the Department, when suitable occasions shall offer, as to the demand for different kinds of manufactured articles now in -'- -i- -'-, their nature and prices, and whether they DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. 147 are of the character which it is jjrolxible the industry of the United States can sui)ply. * ;1< ^; ^ ^ The inquiry here suggested should not be hastily made * ^' *. It is rather the purpose of the Department that it should be continuous, and that you may from time to time communicate to the Government such information as you may from time to time acquire in this direction, in order that it may be laid before Congress and the general public. I am, etc., Wm. M. Evarts. This circular was supplemented in August of the same year by a similar one to the Consuls in Europe. The replies were printed and dis- tributed, and paved the way toward the system- atic publication at regular intervals of " Consular Reports" by the Bureau of Statistics. Both of these circulars were followed by one dated April 11, 1878, which was, perhaps, the most important effort thus far made by the De- partment to utilize the consular corps as an instrument for gathering important statistics, 148 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. It was known as the "Labor Circular," and was sent to the consular officers in Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, and Den- mark. It read as follows : Gentlemen : With reference to the circular addressed to you in August, 1877, in respect to the trade of the United States with foreign countries, it is now deemed desirable that you should make inquiries and report in regard to the following points, viz: I'' The rate of wages usually paid to laborers of every class, but with more especial reference to agricultural labor- ers, mechanical laborers, and those upon public works and railways. 2^ The cost of living to the laboring class, or the prices paid for what may be termed the necessaries of life. 3'" So far as practicable, a comparison of the present rates with those prevailing during the i)ast five years, both as to wages and cost of living. 4"' Such information as may be obtainable touching the present state of trade, whether prosperous or otherwise; the amount and character of i)apor money, if any, as cir- culation ; and the amount and character of coin, with the relation borne by paper and coin to each other. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 49 5''' And lastly, such information as may he obtainable as to the business habits and systems of your districts. It is desired that the information which may come to your knowledge on the foregoing points should be em- braced in a report to the Department, to be made as soon as may be practicable. I am, etc., F. W. Seward, Assistant Secretary. The result of this circular was the publication, by order of Cong-ress, the following year, of the volume known as "Labor in Europe," the pre- cursor of the exhaustive report in three volumes which appeared in 1884, Since the organiza- tion of the present Bureau of Statistics numer- ous other special reports, following the same plan, have been printed, the largest and most elaborate of which are the volumes, profusely illustrated, entitled "Cattle and Dairy Farming of the World." The volumes of " Commercial Relations " issued by this Bureau were authorized by the Act of August 18, 1856. 150 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. In the same year, before the passage of that Act, appeared four large vohimes entitled "Re- port on the Commercial Relations of the United States with all Foreign Nations ; Edmund Flagg, Superintendent; Prepared and Printed under the Direction of the Secretary of State in Ac- cordance with Resolutions of the Senate and House of Representatives." The resolutions had voted $10,000 to defray the expense. In his introduction, Mr. Flagg, " Superin- tendent of the Statistical Office," stated: Three reports on "the privileges and restrictions of the commercial intercourse of the United States with foreign nations " similar to the present, have appeared since the es- tablishment of this government. The first was communi- cated to the House of Representatives, December 16, 1793, by Mr. Secretary Jefferson, in conformity to "instruc- tions" of that body, February 14, 1791, and embraces what is equivalent to some eight or ten octavo pages. The second was communicated to the Senate by Mr. Secretary Forsyth, December 18, 1839, in compliance with a resolu- tion of that body of December 19, 1838, and comprises seventy-four octavo pages. The third and last rei)ort was DUTIES OF THE DErARTMENT. 151 communicated to the House of Representatives by Mr. Secretary Webster, March 29, 1S42, in accordance with resolutions of that body of September 3, 1841, and Jan- uary 31, 1842, and forms a document of nearly six hun- dred pages. In addition to these reports, three other commercial compilations issued by the government should be named — to wit: — the "Commercial Digest," transmitted to the Senate by President Monroe, December 7, 181 9, con- formably to a resolution of that body, March 3, 181 7; the "Digest of Commercial Regulations," showing the "changes " in such regulations subsequent to the Digest of 18 19, prepared by Mr. Secretary Adams, in accordance with a resolution of the House, January 21, 1823, and communicated to that body January 30, 1824; and last, the "Digest of Commercial Regulations" prepared and printed, in three volumes, under the direction of the Sec- retary of State, in compliance with a resolution of the House, March 3, 1831; the first volume being completed for transmission to that body. May 28, 1833, ^^^ the sec- ond and third volume in 1836. But in neither of these works last named, was it required to communicate specific- ally "the jjrivileges and restrictions of the commercial in- tercourse of the United States with foreign nations," by which requirement the former were characterized. 152 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. The four volumes of the report were di- vided into three parts — "Commercial Digests," "Comparative Tariffs," and "Consular Re- turns." In 1857 appeared the first volume of the "Commercial Relations," the title page read- ing: " Report of the Secretary of State, Trans- mitting a Statement from the Superintendent of Statistics of the Commercial Relations of the United States with Foreign Nations, for the Year Ending September 30, 1856." The vol- ume was on the same plan as that now pursued, being composed of statistical reports giving in- formation of the condition of trade in their dis- tricts by the Consuls. While it is now edited and prepared in the Bureau of Statistics, its distribution is a function of the Bureau of Rolls and Library, which also has in its custody the laws of the United States. Under the terms of the Act creating the De- partment of State bills, orders, resolutions, etc., passed by Congress and approved by the Presi- DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 53 dent, or passed over his veto, were sent to the Secretary of State, by whom they were prhited in at least three newspapers, and copies sent to Senators and Representatives and the Execu- tives of the several States, and the originals re- corded and preserved. Applications from the newspapers for the printing were received and duly considered, and the contracts awarded. In 1795 (March 3) this method was abandoned, and the Secretary of State was directed "after the next session of Congress, [to] cause to be collated and printed, at the public expense, a complete edition of the laws of the United States, comprising the Constitution of the United States, the public acts then in force, and the treaties, together with an index of the same." Four thousand five hundred copies were to be divided among the several States and the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, through their respective Executives, according to the rule for apportioning Representatives in Congress, and five hundred copies were re- 154 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. served for the future disposition of Congress. The Acts passed at each succeeding Con- gress were to be printed and distributed in the same way. Under this law began the vol- umes "Laws of U. States," printed, in the beginning, by Richard Folwell, '^^■i) Carter's Alley. By Act of March 3, 1797, Congress directed that the five hundred copies reserved for its fu- ture use should be distributed by the Secretary of State as follows : Two sets to George Wash- ington, one for his personal use, the other for his official use; a set' to the Vice-President and to each Senator and Member of Congress ; six sets to the Secretary of the Senate and twelve sets to the Clerk of the House ; a set for each of the Judges of the United States Su- preme Court and the District Courts, and the Marshals and Attorneys ; one set each for the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, and of War, the Attorney-General, the Director of the Mint, the Comptroller of the Treasury, the DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 55 Commissioner of the Revenue, the Remster, the Auditor, the Accountant of the War De- partment, the Postmaster-General, and the Pur- veyor of Pubhc Supphes ; one set to the Gov- ernor and one to the Secretary of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, and to each of the judges of the Territory ; also to each collector, naval officer, surveyor, supervisor, and inspector of the revenue. The volumes were, upon sev- erance of an official from his office, to be left for his successor, except in the case of the President, Vice-President, Senators, Represent- atives, and Judges of the Supreme Court and District Courts, to whom they were to be per- sonal property. The publication of the laws in newspapers was revived by the Act of March 2, 1799, which provided that the Secretary of State should print them in at least one newspaper within each State ; and, in case this was found to be insufficient j)r()mulgation, the publication could be made in not more than three newspa- 156 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. pers in one State. He was also required to print five thousand copies in addition to the usual number, to be delivered to the United States Judges, District Attorneys, and Mar- shals, the remainder to be distributed according to the rule for apportioning Representatives. This Act necessarily increased the business ol the Department, and the correspondence with editors competing for publishing the laws be- came considerable. March 27, 1804, another Act was approved, requiring the Secretary of State "to procure four hundred copies of the laws of the United States," one hundred copies to be distributed in the Territory of Orleans and three hun- dred copies to be reserved for the disposal of Congress. One thousand copies of the laws printed at the close of Congress were to be similarly reserved, and the distribution of the remainder extended to the Territory of Orleans and District of Louisiana and the other Terri- tories. The Secretary of State was also re- DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 57 c[uircd to print the laws in a newspaper in each Territory where newspapers were printed. An appropriation of ;^2,ooo was made for defraying the expenses. The payments for carrying- out the provisions of the previous acts had come from the general fund. The method of printing described above con- tinued, and in 1814 (April 18) Bioren, Duane & Weightman were authorized, under the su- pervision of the Secretary of State, to publish an edition of the laws in four volumes. This did not supersede the issues by the Department, but merely authorized a reprint. November 21, 1814, the Secretary of State was authorized in his discretion to extend the pro- mulgation of the laws in the Territories by print- ing them in two newspapers in each Territory. The following year (March 3) the copies of the laws which had not been distributed were transferred from the Department of State to the Congressional Library. April 20, 1818, another law was enacted au- 158 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. thorizing the Secretary of State to publish the laws, etc., currently, "in not more than one newspaper in the District of Columbia, and in not more than three newspapers in each of the territories of the United States." The compen- sation for printing by the newspapers was fixed by this Act "at the rate of one dollar for each printed page of the laws, resolutions, and trea- ties, as published in the pamphlet form." The pamphlet was prescribed to be "eleven thousand copies of the Acts of Congress at large, includ- ing all resolutions passed by Congress, amend- ments to the Constitution adopted, and all public treaties made and ratified since the last publication of the laws ; which copies shall be printed on paper, and in the size of the sheet and type, in a manner to correspond with the late revised edition of the laws, published by Bioren and Co." The Secretary of State was required, also, to insist that whoever printed the laws should furnish "two good and sufficient sureties for the faithful performance of the con- DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 59 tract." The appropriation for carrying out the Act was "whatever sum of money may be nec- essary." By Act of April 24, 181 8, the Secre- tary was ordered to have printed the laws of Michigan Territory, and to distribute them among the people of the Territory. All the previous Acts were modified by the law of May 1 1, 1820, prescribing the publication of the laws "in a number of public newspapers, not exceeding one in the District of Columbia, and in not more than three newspapers in each of the several states and territories of the United States." All treaties, except Indian treaties, he was ordered to publish in one newspaper, "and that to be within the limits of the state or territory to which the subject matter of such treaty shall belong." These publications in the newspapers did not, however, interfere with the pamphlet publica- tions by the Department ; but the Act of August 26, 1842, recognized as authority the edition of Little, Brown & Company and discontinued the l6o DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. Department pamphlet. This Act also provided for the printino- jn "not less than two nor more than four of the principal newspapers pub- lished in the City of Washington for country subscribers, givin^- the preference to such pa- pers as have the greatest number of permanent subscribers and the most extensive circulation." The compensation allowed was the same as that fixed by the Act of April 20, 181 8. Little, Brown & Company continued to pub- lish the laws; anci October 31, 1850, under authority, the Secretary of State concluded a contract with them for that purpose. The Act of June 25, 1864, revived the pam- phlet publication l)y the Department and dis- continued the payments to Little, Brown & Company, provision being- made, also, for the publication in newspapers. The Act of July 23, 1 866, appropriated ^i 5,000 for printing the laws in newspapers in the insurgent States. A reso- lution of March 31 of that year had directed the renewal of the contract with Little, Brown i; :^ A list of such [books] as are thought, from time to time, to be needed is sent to the Assistant Secretary for approval, and such as meet with his approval are then ordered of the dealer by letter. When the books are received each volume is stamped with the date of its receipt, a number assigned to it, and the volume entered in a register of accessions. The full title of the work is then copied upon cards under an author, title and subject, a separate card being used for each. The size, place, and date of its publication, the pub- lisher, number of its pages and illustrations, the date of its receipt, from whom purchased and the price paid for it, such price when in foreign money being converted into the American equivalent, are also recorded upon the cards. The volumes are then arranged in the library, each being assigned its proper alcove and shelf. ;f: * * The cards, when made, are added to the card catalogue, strict alpha- betical order being preserved in their arrangement. * * * The original invoices of the dealers are carefully pre- served in the library for record, an itemized voucher for their payment being made out in the library, approved by the Assistant Secretary, sent to the dealer by letter for sig- 172 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. nature and then turned over to the Bureau of Accounts for payment. In building- up the Lil)rary, the aim has been from the beginning to make it as complete a collection of publications on international law, American history, and foreign countries as pos- sible. The law creating the Department of State prescribed that the Secretary should pro- cure copies of the laws of the different States, and this Act has never been repealed. The Library has therefore endeavored to preserve as complete sets of the session laws of the States as possible.''' The constant purchase for years of works on international law has resulted in the largest and most complete collection in this country, both historically and in the sense of current publications. In 1887 was published the first nimiber of a "Catalogue of the Works Relative to the Law of Nations and Diplomacy in the Library of the *It must be admitted, however, that this object has never been fully attained. The Library does not contain complete sets of these laws, nor is it lielievfd thai they are to be found in the archives of all the Stales themselves. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. 173 Department of State," which was followed by "A List of Books Received at the Library of the Department of State, July i -October 30, 1886, with References to International Treaties and Articles on Subjects Relative to the Law of Nations and Diplomacy in Magazines Re- ceived During the Same Period." The third, fourth, and fifth issues of these lists included indexes of the publications of the second session of the Forty-ninth Congress which concerned the Department of State. These publications were discontinued, owing to the insufficient clerical force at the library's disposal. A new series has, however, been recently inaugurated, the title of the first number beincr "A List of Books and Pamphlets Received at the Library of the Department of State, by Purchase, Ex- change, and Gift, during the Period from May 27, 1892, to October i, 1892, Supplemented by a List of Periodicals and Newspapers Now Cur- rently Received." The first issue appeared in October, 1892. 174 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. As the repository of the historical records of the Government, this Bureau has in its custody the principal papers relating to the Revolution- ary War. The records of the Continental Con- gress were turned over to the Secretary of State under the law creating the Department of For- eign Affairs. They include the secret journals, committee reports, letter books, etc. There are deposited here, also, the Decla- ration of Independence, Articles of Confedera- tion, and the Constitution of the United States, besides all the treaties made by this Government with foreign powers. In 1834, by Act of June 2,0, the Secretary of State was authorized to purchase the manuscript papers and books of George Washington for ^25,000, and fifteen years later an Act (March 3, 1849) appropriated ^20,000 for the purchase of the remainder of the. Washington collection. The Act of May 31, 1848, added the Madison papers, bought for 5^25,000, to the collection; and August 12 of that year ^20,000 was appropriated for the DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. 175 purchase of Jefferson's manuscript papers. March 3, 1849, ^20,000 was appropriated for the purchase of the Monroe papers. All of these historical papers are in the custody of the Bureau of Rolls and Library. All payments of moneys under the Depart- ment's control are under the supervision of the Bureau of Accounts. It is described as follows :''' The work is of such a nature as to require separation into three distinct divisions, viz.: 1 . Matters of accounts relating to the Department proper ; 2. Matters relating to international indemnities; 3. Examination and regulation of diplomatic and con- sular accounts. All disbursements on account of the Department of State are made by the Chief of this Bureau, who is the disbursing clerk of the Department. % ^y. % sK * The accounts of ministers for salary and contingent ex- penses, the salary accounts of secretaries of legation and charges, the accounts of consuls for contingent expenses, clerk hire, compensation of interpreters, and guard, &c., ♦Methods of Business in the Executive Departments, \\\, 17 et scij. 176 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. and all special accounts of ministers and consuls for ex- penses incurred in jtursuance of special authorization or by reason of emergencies in the service, are required to be approved by the Secretary of State before being admitted to settlement by the accounting officers of the Treasury. The Secretary's approval is not given until he has ascer- tained by means of an examination in this Bureau that the accounts are in every detail in accordance with law and regulations. The entire telegraphic correspondence of the Department of State is conducted by the clerks of this Bureau. '^ -'~ * The greater portion of these messages in quantity, though not in number, is in cipher. This Bureau, as we have seen before, is also in charge of the distribution of the Federal Laws,'^' and it also receives whatever funds come from the issuance of passports. The granting of passports to American citi- zens for their protection in traveling abroad was a function which fell to the Government under the general provisions of international law as soon as there was competent authority *Ante, p. 167. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 77 for the purpose. Naturally, it came under the supervision of the Department of Foreign Affairs and afterwards of the Department of State, but for some years it was not wholly within the Department's charge. The treaty of 1778 with France provided for the form of passport to be given by the two Governments to their respective vessels ; but there was no law at that time relative to the granting of passports to individuals, nor would a passport, if issued, have proved a protection, as no power, except France, had as yet acknowl- edged the independence of the United States. After the peace passports were issued ; and by Act of Congress approved April 30, 1 790, it was provided that, if any person should violate a sa(fe-conduct or passport issued under the au- thority of the United States, he should, upon conviction, suffer fine and imprisonment. Pass- ports being issued only to American citizens, the Department necessarily required some evi- dence of citizenship. This was usually a certifi- 178 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. cate of a notary public ; but there was no fixed rule, nor was the Department the only authority which issued passports. In 1835 the Supreme Court described the situation thus : There is no law of the United States, in any manner regulating the issuing of passi)orts, or directing upon what evidence it may be done, or declaring their legal effect. It is understood, as matter of practice, that some evidence of citizenship is required, by the Secretary of State, before issuing a passport. This, however, is entirely discretionary with him.* The lack of legal provision on the subject led to gross abuses, and "the impositions practiced upon the illiterate and unwary by the fabrica- tion of worthless passports "-|- led finally to the passage of the Act of August 18, 1856. This provided that the Secretary of State be author- ized to grant and issue passports, and cause them to be ijranted and verified in foreign coun- tries by diplomatic and consular officers of the United States, under such rules as the President *9 Peters, 699. tOp. Atty. Gunl., IX, 350. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 79 might prescribe. No one else was to issue passports, and they must be issued to none but citizens of the United States. There was to be no charge, except in foreign countries, where the fee was to be 5^1. Any person not author- ized to do so who granted a passport should, upon conviction of the offense, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and fined and imprisoned. All returns of passports issued abroad were to be made to the Secretary of State. Such returns had, however, been made from the beginning; but it is probable that they were not made regularly or by all our agents abroad who granted passports. The early passports were not essentially different in form from those now used, but frequently a simple certificate of citizenship was made to do duty for a regular passport. An example may be cited: William Deas, Charge des Affaires of the United States of America to the Court of Great Britain. I do certify, That Samuel Potts, sixty years of age, Five feet eight inches in height, blue eyes, ordy. sized mouth, I So DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. large Nose, high Forehead, bald, fair complexion, gray Hair and long Face — is a citizen of the United States of America and as such is entitled to all privileges to that character be- longing. This certificate to avail during the Voyage upon which Mr. Potts is on the point of embarking for the United States. Given under my Hand and the Seal of the Legation at London this Twenty-seventh day of October 1795. W" Allen Deas [seal.] Copies of a number of certificates of this character are among the Department archives, together with the letters to the legations asking for them; and since 181 7, John Ouincy Adams being Secretary of State, the papers relating to the issuance of passports by tlie Department have been kept systematically and separate from the other correspondence. Although the Act of August 18, 1856, cited above, required that no fee be charged by the Department for issuing passports, it does not appear that one had ever been charged, except, perhaps, the notarial fee for administering oaths. The Act of July i, 1863, was the lirst one es- DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. l8l tablishing a passport fee, which was fixed at 5^3. This was increased to ^5 by Act of June 20, 1864. The administering of the oath was done by a regularly qualified person having authority to administer oaths for general purposes, but the Act of February 3, 1870, authorized the Passport Clerk in the Department to adminis- ter oaths and affirmations on applications for passports, free of charge. These oaths and affirmations are deemed to be made under the pains and penalties of perjury. The passport fee was abolished by Act of July 14, 1870, re- stored by that of June 20, 1874, and reduced by Act of March 23, 1888, to $1, the present rate. The system, as it has been followed by the Department under the law, has been reduced to three classes of passports — the ordinary passport, the special passport, and that given to diplomatic representatives of foreign govern- ments in their transit through the territory of the United States. The ordinary passports are issued to citizens of the United States upon ap- I 82 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. plication, the prescribed form of which for na- tive citizens is as follows : [ Edition of 1889.] No. . Issued . United States of America. State of County of I, , a Native and Loyal Citizen of the United States, hereby apply to the Department of State, at Washington, for a passport for myself, accompanied by , as follows : , born at , on the day of , i8 — , and ■ ■. I solemnly swear that I was born at , in the State of , on or about the day of ■ , i8 — ; that my father is a citizen of the United States ; that I am domiciled in the United States, my permanent residence being at , in the State of , where I follow the occupation of ; that I am about to go abroad temi)orarily ; and that I intend to return to the United States , with the purpose of residing and performing the duties of citizenship therein. OATH OF allegiance. r^irther, I do solemnly swear that I will support and de- fend the Constitution of the United States against all ene- DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 83 mies, foreign and domestic ; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of eva- sion : So help me God. Sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . Notary Public. DESCRIPTION OF APPLICANT. Age: years. Mouth: . Stature : — feet — inches, Eng. Chin : . Forehead: . Hair: . I?ygg . Complexion : . Nose: . Face: . IDENTIFICATION. , 18—. I hereby certify that I know the above-named personally, and know him to be a native-born citi- zen of the United States, and that the facts stated in his affidavit are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. [ Address of witness ] Applicant desires passport sent to following address: 184 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. The form for a naturalized citizen is as fol- lows: [ Edition of 1889. J No. . Issued . UNrrED States of America. State of County of I, , a Naturalized and Loyal Citizen of the United States, hereby apply to the Department of State, at Washington, for a passport for myself, accompa- nied by , as follows : , born at , on the day of , i8 — ; and I solemnly swear that I was born at , on or about the day of , i8 — ; that I emigrated to the United States, sailing on board the , from , on or about the day of , i8 — ; that I re- sided years, uninterruptedly, in the United States, from to , at ; that I was naturalized as a citizen of the United States before the Court of , at , on the day of — — — , i8 — , as shown by the accompanying certificate of naturalization ; that I am the identical person described in said certificate : that I am domiciled in the United States, my permanent DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT 185 residence being at , in the State of , where I follow the occupation of ; that I am about to go abroad temporarily ; and that I intend to return to the United States , with the purpose of residing and performing the duties of citizenship therein. This is followed by the oath of alleg-iance, de- scription, and identification of the applicant, as in the case of a native-born citizen. The blank for a person claiming citizenship through naturalization of husband or parent is as follows : [Edition of 1889.] No. . Issued . United States of America. State of County of I, , a Naturalized and Loyal Citizen of the United States, hereby ai)ply to the Department of State, at Washington, for a passport for myself, accompanied by my wife, , and minor children, as follows: , born at , on the day of , 18 — ; and . 1 86 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I solemnly swear that I was born at on or about the day of , 1 8 — ; that my emigrated to the United States, sailing on board the , from , on or about the day of , i8 — ; that he resided years, uninterruptedly, in the United States, from to , at ; that he was nat- uralized as a citizen of the United States before the Court of , at , on the day of , 1 8 — , as shown by the accompanying certificate of naturali- zation ; that I am the of the person described in said certificate; that I have resided in the United States, uninterruptedly, for years, from to , at ; that I am domiciled in the United States, my permanent residence being at , in the State of , where I follow the occupation of ; that I am about to go abroad temporarily; and that I intend to return to the United States with the purpose of residing and performing the duties of citizenship therein. The oath of allegiance, description of appli- cant, and identification are the same as in the other forms. The regulations governing the issuance of passports are set forth in the following — DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 87 General Instructions in Regard to Passports — 1889. Department of State, Washmgton, D. C. Passports are issued only to citizens of the United States, upon application, supported by proof of citizen- ship. Citizenship is acquired by birth, by naturalization, and by annexation of territory. An alien woman who marries a citizen of the United States thereby becomes a citizen. Minor children resident in the United States become citizens by the naturalization of their father. When the applicant is a native citizen of the United States he must transmit his own affidavit of this fact, stating his age and place of birth, with the certificate of one other citizen of the United States to whom he is per- sonally known, stating that the declaration made by the applicant is true. The affidavit must be attested by a notary public, under his signature and seal of office. When there is no notary in the place the affidavit may be made before a justice of the peace or other officer authorized to administer oaths; but if he has no seal, his official act must be authenticated by certificate of a court of record. A person born abroad who claims that his father was a native citizen of the United States must state in his affi- davit that his father was born in the United States, has resided therein, and was a citizen of the same at the time 1 88 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT of the applicant's birth. This affidavit must be supported by that of one other citizen acquainted with the facts. If the applicant be a naturalized citizen, his certificate of naturalization must be transmitted for inspection (it will be returned with the passport), and he must state in his affidavit that he is the identical person described in the certificate presented. Passports can not be issued to aliens who have only declared their intention to become citizens. Military service does not of itself confer citizenship. A person of alien birth, who has been honorably discharged from military service in the United States, but who has not been naturalized, should not transmit his discharge paper in application for a passport, but should apply to the proper court for admission to citizenship, and transmit the certifi- cate of naturalization so obtained. The signature to the application and oath of allegiance should conform in orthography to the applicant's name as written in the nat- uralization paper, which the Department follows. Every applicant is required to state his occupation and the place of his permanent legal residence, and to declare that he goes abroad for temporary sojourn and intends to return to the United States with the purpose of residing and performing tlie duties of citizcnshij) therein. The wife or widow of a naturalized citizen must trans- mit the naturalization certificate of the husband, stating in her affidavit that she is the wife or widow of the i)erson DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 89 described therein. The children of a naturalized citizen, claiming citizenship through the father, must transmit the certificate of naturalization of the father, stating in their affidavits that they are children of the person described therein, and were minors at the time of such naturalization. The oath of allegiance to the United States will be re- quired in all cases. The application should be accompanied by a description of the person, stating the following particulars, viz: Age, years; stature, feet inches (English meas- ure); forehead, ; eyes, ; nose, ; mouth, ; chin, ; hair, ; complexion, ; face, . If the applicant is to be accompanied by his wife, minor children, or servants, it will be sufficient to state the names and ages of such persons and their relationship to the ap- plicant, when a single passport for the whole will suffice. For any other person in the party a separate passport will be required. A woman's passport may include her minor children and servants. By act of Congress api^roved March 23, 1888, a fee ot one dollar is required to be collected for every citizen's passport. That amount in currency or postal note should accompany each application. Orders should be payable to the Disbursing Clerk of the Department of State. Drafts or checks are inconvenient and undesirable. A passport is good for two years from its date and no 190 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. longer. A new one may be obtained l)y stating the date and number of the old one, paying the fee of one dollar, and furnishing satisfactory evidence that the applicant is at the time within the United States. The oath of allegiance must also be transmitted when the former passport was issued prior to 1861. Citizens of the United States desiring to obtain pass- ports while in a foreign country must apply to the chief diplomatic representative of the United States in that country, or, in the absence of a diplomatic re])resentative, then to the consul-general, if there be one, or, in the ab- sence of both the officers last named, to a consul. Pass- ports can not be lawfully issued by State authorities, or by judicial or municipal functionaries of the United States. (Revised Statutes, section 4075.) To persons wishing to obtain passports for themselves blank forms of application will be furnished by this Department on request, stating whether the applicant be a native or a naturalized citizen, or claims citizenship through the naturalization of liusband or parent. Forms are not furnished, except as samples, to those who make a business of procuring passports. Communications should be addressed to the Department of State, indorsed " Passport Division," and each commu- nication should give the post-office address of the person to whom the answer is to be directed. Professional titles will not be inserted in passports. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. 191 The ordinary passport is made out on the folio win o- blank: o Good only for two years from date. United States ok America, department of state, 'lo all to whom these presents shall come Greeting : I, the undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States of America, hereby request all whom it may concern to permit , a Citi- zen of the United States DESCRIPTION, Years Age — Stature — ■ Feet — Inches Eng Forehead . Eyes . Nose . Mouth . Chin . Hair . Complexion Face Signature of the Bearer. safely and freely to pass, and in case of need give all lawful Aid and Protection. Given under my hand and the Seal of the Depart- ment of State, at the City of Washington, [seal.] the day of in the year 18 — and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred . No. 192 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. The Special passport is issued, by order of the Secretary of State, to officers of the Govern- ment and distinguished citizens, the form being : No. . (Special passport.) United States of America, department of state, To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Know Ye, that the bearer hereof, , [where he will travel]. These are therefore to request all whom it may concern to permit to pass freely, without let or molestation, and to extend to all such friendly aid and protec- tion, as would be extended to like of Foreign Gov- ernments resorting to the United States. In testimony whereof, I , Secretary of State of the United States of America, have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of [seal.] the Department of State to be affixed at Wash- ington, this day of , A. D. 18 — , and of the Independence of the United States of America, the . The passports issued to foreign diplomatic representatives traveling through the United DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 93 States are granted as a mark of courtesy, and request "all officers of the United States or of any State thereof, whom it may concern, to per- mit to pass freely, without let or molestation, and to extend friendly aid and protection in case of need " to the person or persons named. The greater part of the Department business relative to passports has always been in the hands of some clerk especially adapted to per- form the work, and is now in charge of the Pass- port Bureau, of which the Passport Clerk is the head. He receives the returns of foreign pass- ports, the applications and fees, conducts what- ever correspondence is necessary, and issues the passports, subject to the instructions of his superior officers. At the close of each day he transfers whatever moneys may have come into his hands to the disbursing officer of the De- partment and receives a receipt therefor. Each passport is numbereci, and a record kept of its number and of the name of the person to whom it is issued. The applications and the corre- 194 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. spondence are filed chronologically. The mon- eys received are transferred by die disbursing- officer of die Department to the Treasury De- partment, and credited to the fund "Miscella- neous Accounts." The Passport Bureau also has the custody of the Department seal, and affixes it to such doc- uments as require it, principal among which are commissions to consular officers who are not appointed by the President, and authentication of public acts. Before reaching any other bureau, all mail coming to the Department is received and opened in the Bureau of Indexes and Archives. The routine of that Bureau is as follows -.'^ The mail of the Department is received in the Bureau each morning from the mail clerk and distributed among the different index clerks. The diplomatic index clerk takes all correspondence received from United States diplo- matic officers abroad, from foreign ministers accredited to this country and from foreign sovereigns and secretaries of state ; the consular index clerk, all correspondence from * Methods of liusincss in the Executivi; Dcpartiucnts, III, 12 f^ scq. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. I 95 American consular officers abroad and from foreign con- sular officers in the United States ; the miscellaneous index clerk, all other communications, including those from Con- gress, the Executive Departments, and from private indi- viduals and corporations. The communications are then opened by the proper index clerk, carefully read and full abstracts, under appropriate " catch words " made in large books labeled, respectively "diplomatic," "consular," and * ' miscellaneous register " — To fhe Dcpartineuf. These reg- isters are arranged under convenient heads, and from them the writer, the subject, or the date being known, any com- munication can be found and its contents fully noted. The incoming mail being thus daily indexed as soon as received, is sent to the Chief Clerk * * *. The letters written by the Department are, in turn, after being signed by the Secretaries, sent to the Index Bureau, where they are carefully read by the chief and the index clerks, and full abstracts entered in a set of books corre- sponding to the incoming registers, which are labeled "/vw;/ the Department.^'' After being indexed the outgoing mail is sent to the Bureau from which it emanates, where it is press-copied and sent to its destination. Press-copies are then sent to the Index Bureau, where they are distributed among the diplomatic, consular, and miscellaneous recording clerks, who copy them into blank 196 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. books, which become the permanent records of the Depart- ment. The press-copies are for a certain number of years kej)! for convenient reference and are then carefully stored away, it being the practice of the Department to destroy none of its records of whatever nature. •^ ;,k -^ % ^; To return to the incoming mail, which we have seen has now been indexed and answered. This is again returned to the Index Bureau, where it is filed in pigeon-holes con- veniently arranged for ready reference. The pigeon-holes are 532 in number. % -)(. -^ -i^. ^^ As soon as the pigeon-holes contain a sufficient num- ber of communications, the communications are arranged chronologically in their proi)er divisions and bound in book form. There are numerous series of volumes ; one for each American Legation abroad, one for each foreign legation in this country, one for each consulate, &c. The miscellaneous letters make a series of volumes by them- selves. All of the routine work of the Department is immediately under the supervision of the Chief Clerk. His duties were defined in the report of the Senate Committee as follows : ''' * Mvlliods of liiisilicss in llie Kxccutivc I JcpartinciUs, \\\, i, et seq. DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. 197 Hie Chief Clerk of tlie Department of State is its ex- ecutive officer under the direction of the Secretary of State. He has the general supervision of the clerks and employes and of the business of the Department. -^ * * After the daily mail is received at the Department, opened, and indexed in the index room, -^^ * * it is placed upon the Chief Clerk's desk, read by the Chief Clerk, and distributed among the Assistant Secretaries for their action. During the day the Chief Clerk receives and transacts the business of all persons having interests con- nected with the Department of State, other than those whose business is of such a character as to require the per- sonal hearing of the Secretary of State or the Assistant Secretaries. * * * After the several Assistant Secre- taries have given (usually by written memorandum) their directions as to what action is to be taken by the Depart- ment upon the various written communications addressed to it, the mail is returned to the Chief Clerk's desk, and again by him distributed to the Bureaus charged with the execution of the Assistant Secretaries' instructions. In the afternoon the mail prepared for the signature of the Secretary or the Assistant Secretaries, and embodying the latter's instructions, is delivered to the Chief Clerk, by him read carefully, and sent to the Secretary, or distributed among the Assistant Secretaries, for whose signature it is prepared. The Chief Clerk is, besides, constantly ready 198 DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT. to answer the call of the Secretary or Assistant Secretaries, and inquiries from cliiefs of ]5ureaus or clerks, when more particular directions are asked as to the disposition of work. It is for the Chief Clerk to generally supervise the sending of the foreign mails from the Department, and to guard the privacy of the closed pouches, and to enforce disci- pline in matters looking to the efficiency of the laborers and inuring to the general comfort of the occupants of the building. VI. BUILDINGS OCCUPIED BY THE DEPARTMENT. npHE first meeting place of the Congress, where the plan for the conduct of our for- eign affairs was first taken into consideration, was Carpenters' Hall, a building which had been constructed for the Society of House Carpen- ters, of Philadelphia. It stands at the end of an alley, south from Chestnut street, between Third and Fourth streets. The lower floor, consisting of one large room, was occupied by the Congress, and the rooms in the second story by committees. From Carpenters' Hall the Government went to what has ever since been known as Independence Hall. As soon as the Department of Foreign Af- fairs was organized under Livingston, it took possession of a small house in Philadelphia, 199 200 BU/LDI.VGS OCCUPIED. owned by Peter L. Du Ponceau, No. 13 South Sixth street, on the eastern side. Livingston's office was in the front room of the second floor, and in the back room were the Under Secreta- ries, while the clerks and interpreters occupied the room on the crround floor. This buildincr was demolished in 1846. It was occupied as the Office of Foreijjn Affairs from the latter part of 1 781 up to June, 1783, when the De- partment was practically suspended until Jay took control of it in 1785. In January, 1785, the seat of g-overnment being moved to New York, the Department of Foreign Affairs found quarters in the famous Fraunce's Tavern, in the long room of which Washington had taken farewell of the generals of the Revolution at the close of the war. Here it remained till i 788, when it moved to the west side of Broadway, in a house owned by Philip Livingston, near the Battery. Later it was moved to another house on the same street on the o[)posite side. BUILDINGS OCCUPIED. 20I The capital having- been again located at Phil- adelphia, the Department took up its abode first on Market street, then on the southeast corner of Arch and Sixth streets, then in North Alley, and finally at the northeast corner of Fifth and Chestnut streets, where it remained until it was moved to Washington, except for an interval of three months from August to November, 1 798, when it occupied the State House at Trenton, N. J., the office being moved from Philadelphia on account of an epidemic of yellow fever. On June i, 1800, the archives were lodged in the Treasury, the only building sufficiently completed to receive them, and August 27 were placed in one of the "six buildings" on Penn- sylvania avenue and Twentieth street. In May, 1 80 1, the offices were placed in the large brick building on Seventeenth street, opposite G street, known as the War Office, and here it remained up to December, 18 19, with an in- terval from September, 18 14, to i\pril, 181 6, when it occupied a building on the south side of 202 BUILDINGS OCCUPIED. G Street, near Eighteenth, pending- the repair of its former building, which had been demol- ished in the invasion of the city by the British troops. In January, 1820, the offices were moved to the corner of Fifteenth street and Pennsylvania avenue, the site now covered by the north wing of the United States Treasury, and there it re- mained up to October, 1866, when it leased the premises then belonging, as now, to the Wash- ington Orphan Asylum, on Fourteenth street, near S street. It remained there until July, 1875, when it was removed to its present quar- ters, which constitute the south wing of the State, War, and Navy Building. VII. SECRETARIES FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND SEC- RETARIES OF STATE. nr^HE following have been the actual incum- bents of the office of Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Secretary of State : Robert R. Livingston, New York, Secretary for Foreign Affairs* — September 23, 1781, to June 4, 1783. John Jay, New York, Secretary to the United States of America for the Department of Foreign Affairs f — Sep- tember 21, 1784, to September 15, 1789, when the De- partment of State was organized. John Jay, New York, Secretary of State by continuance — September 15, 1789, to September 26, 1789. J Thomas Jefferson, Virginia — September 26, 1789. Edmund Randolph, Virginia — January 2, 1794. * Resolutions of Congress, February 22, 1782, changed the title to "Secretary to the United States of America for the Department of Foreign Affairs " (p. 26). f A resolution of Congress of February 11, 1785, gave the title " Secretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs" (p. 36), and it was so called after the adoption of the Constitution (p. 48). J See pp. 58 and 67. 203 2 04 ■S^ C/v'^ TA RIES. TiMOiHv Pickering, Pennsylvania — December lo, 1795. John Marshall, Virginia — May 13, iSoo. James Madison, Virginia — March 5, 1801. Robert Smith, Maryland — March 6, 1809. James Monroe, Virginia — Ai)ril 2, 181 1. James Monroe — reappointed February 28, 1815. John Q. Adams, Massachusetts — March 5, 181 7. Henry Clay, Kentucky — March 7, 1825. Martin Van Buren, New York — March 6, 1829. Edward Livin(;ston, Louisiana— May 24, 1831. Louis McLane, Delaware — May 29, 1833. John Forsyth, Georgia — June 27, 1834. Daniel Webster, Massachusetts — March 5, 1841. HuoH S. Legare, South Carolina — May 9, 1843. Abel P. Upshur, Virginia — July 24, 1843. John Nelson, Maryland (acting) — February 29, 1844. John C. Calhoun, South Carolina — March 6, 1844. James Buchanan, Pennsylvania — March 6, 1S45. John M. Clayton, Delaware — March 7, 1849. Daniel Webster, Massachusetts— July 22, 1850. Edward Everett, Massachusetts — November 6, 1852. William L. Marcy, New York — March 7, 1853. Lewis Cass, Michigan — March 6, 1857. Jeremiah S. Black, Pennsylvania — December 17, i860. William H. Seward — New York, March 5, 1861. Elihu B. Washburne, Illinois — March 5, 1869. SECRETARIES. 205 Hamilton Fish, New York — March 11, 1869. Hamilton Fish — reappointed March 17, 1873. William M. Evarts, New York — March 12, 1877. James G. Blaine, Maine — March 5, 1881. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, New Jersey — December 12, 1881. Thomas F. Bayard, Delaware — March 6, 1SS5. James G. Blaine, Maine — March 5, 1889. John W. Foster, Indiana — June 29, 1892. Walter Q. Gresham, Illinois — March 6, 1893. INDEX. Accounts, Bureau of. (^See Bureau of Accounts.) Adams, John, 5, 8, 19, t,^^ 41, 43- Adams, John Q., 135,151, 180,204. Address to King, I. Alden, Roger, 59, 60, 63, 64. Algiers, Consuls to, 69. Arguelles, 108. Armorial achievement, seal of the United States, loo. Articles of Confederation, 18. Barbary Coast, Consuls to, 69. Baring & Co., 73. Bayard, Thomas F., 205. Benson, 51. Berlin, Commissioner to, 6. Biennial register, 87. Bills on Europe, purchase of, 72 . Bioren & Co., 158. Bioren, Duane & Weightman, 157. Birch, Joseph, 73. Black, Jeremiah S., 204. Blaine, James G., 205. Blue Book, 87. Bollan, William, 2. Book of American letters, 40. Book of foreign commissions, 40. Book of foreign letters, 39. Books for Library, how purchased, 171. Boudinot, Elias, 44. Branch, John, 68. Brown, 39. Buchanan, James, 204. Buildings occupied by the Depart- ment of State, 199. Bureau of Accounts, 96, 167, 175- Bureau of Commissions and Par- dons, 97, 116, 129. Bureau of Indexes and Archives, 94, 194. Bureau of Rolls and Library, 94, 152, 169. Bureau of Statistics, 95, 152. Burke, Edmund, 2. Cadwalader, John L., 137. Calhoun, John C, 204. Campbell, Levin IL, S3. Carmichael, William, 34. Carpenters' Hall, i, 199. Cass, Lewis, 204. Catalogues of Library, 172. "Cattle and Dairy Farming," 149. 208 INDEX. Census enumeration, 84. Chief Clerk : Compensation, 61, 93. Duties of, 196. First, 64. Office of, 89. Provided for, 46. Clay, Henry, 135, 204. Clayton, John M., 204. Clerks in Department of State, 89, 91. Clymer, 31. Commercial Digest, 151. Commercial Relations, 149, 152. Commissions and Pardons, Bureau of. (^See Bureau of Commissions and Pardons.) Commissions, how signed, 100. Committee of Foreign Affairs :' Formed, 7. Functions of, 8, 12, 14. Committee of Secret Correspond- ence, 66. Compensation : Consuls, 69. Ministers, 68. Officers of the Department of State, 89. Confederation, Articles of, 31, 174. Congressional Library, 157. Connecticut, agent of, 2. Constitution of the United States, 174. Consular Bureau, 94, 138. Cdnsular Regulations, 140. Consular Reports, 144-147. Consuls, 14, 69, 105, 138. Copyright, 83. Craig, Dr. John D., 82. Cutting, Captain, 73. Dana, J. F., 1 9, 34, 41. Deane, Silas, 4, 5, 9, 41. Declaration of Independence, 174. Department of Foreign Afiairs : Act creating, 48. Defects in, 19. Duties defined, 36. Formation of, 43. Inventory of, 24. Organized, 18. Plan of, 15. Report on, 26. Resolution changing, 52. Department of Justice, 93, 103. Department of State : Act creating, 53. Buildings of, 199. E.xecutive force of, 97. E.xpenditures of, 70. Formation of, 43. Organization in 1S29, 90. Seal of, 102. Started, 61. Subdivisions of, 89. Department of the Interior, 84, 85, 86, 87, 103. Dickinson, John, 3, 14. Digest of International Law, etc., 137- INDEX. 209 Digest of I'ulilishcd ( )pinioiis, etc., 137- Diplomatic liuieau, 94, 131. Diplomatic Correspondence of the Revolution, 135. Disbursing Clerk. [^Scc Bureau of Accounts.) Dumas, Charles W. F., 4, 31, 34, 41, 66. Du Ponceau, Peter L., 34, 200. Eden, William, 2. Ellery, ^Yilliam, 24. Encargado de negocios, 38. Evarts, W. M., 145, 147, 205. Everett, Edward, 204. Everleigh, Nicholas, 24. Examiner of Claims, 92. Exequaturs, 104, 129. Expenditures of Department of State, 70. Extradition : Definition, 106. Instructions, 117. Warrants, 109. Fish, Hamilton, 141, 205. Flagg, Edmund, 150. Floyd, William, 18. Foreign Relations, publication of, 134- Forsyth, John, 204. Foster, John W., 205. Franklin, Benjamin, 2, 3, 5, 9, 19, II, 34,35.41.66. Franklin, William Temple, 34. Frelinghuysen, Frederick T., 205. Gardogui, Diego de, 38. Garth, Charles, 2. Gates, General, 9. Genet, 66. Gerry, Elbridge, 35. Gilmer, Robert, & Co., 73. Girard, C. A., 9. Gresham, Walter Q., 205. Harrison, Benjamin, 3, 5, 7, 31. Hayward, Thomas, jr., 7. Home Department, proposed, 50. Hooper, William, 5. Hopkins, Samuel, 81. Huntington, Samuel, 14. Indexes and .\rchives, IJureau of. {See Bureau of Indexes and Archives.) Interior, Department of. (^c'^" De- partment of the Interior.) Inventory of Department of I'oreign Afiairs, 24. Izard, Ralph, 5, 31. Jackson, Andrew, 68. Jay, John, I, 3, 19, t,t,, 35, 36, 41, 42, 58, 59, 60, 203. Jefferson, Thomas, 5, 34,41,58, 59, 65, 70. 75. 81, 150, 174. 203. Johnson, 3. Jones, Thomas P., 82. 14 2IO INDEX. " I-al)or Circular," 148. " Labor in Europe," 149. Laborers, 98. Laurens, Henry, 14, 34, 41. Laurens, John, 41. Laws of the United States : Custody of, 152. Distribution of, 154, 162. Editor of, 1 66. How printed, 165. How sold, 167. Pamphlet, 158. Pocketed, 166. Printing and collecting of, 153- Promulgation of, 154. Revised statutes, 164. SHp, 165. Statutes at Large, 166. Lear, Tobias, 63, 75. Lee, Arthur, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 15, 41. Lee, Richard Henry, i, 5, 7, 8, 10. Lee, William, 6, 41. Legare, LIugh S., 204. Lewis, Mordecai, 73. L'Hommedieu, 39. Life, Thomas, 2. Lithographer, 98. Little, Brown