DEPARTMENT OF WAR

Secretary: Has charge of all matters relating to national defense and sea-coast fortification, estimates of appropriations and expenditures for the support, transportation and maintenance of the military establishment, army ordnance, prevention of obstructions to navigation, plans and locations for bridges over navigable waters, establishment of harbor lines, improvements of rivers and harbors, etc.

Assistant Secretary: Acts as director of munitions, responsible for obtaining and furnishing in the field all material required for military operations of the army, except for air service; controls expenditures for construction of camps, cantonments, etc.; has direct supervision of matters relating to rivers and harbors, bridges over navigable waters, etc.

Assistant and Chief Clerk: Has charge of records and files of the department, supervision of civilian personnel, etc.

General Staff Corps: Makes plans for the national defense and mobilization of the military forces in time of war, and in time of war is responsible for execution of the military program. The Chief of Staff is the immediate adviser of the Secretary of War on military matters, and through an executive assistant coordinates the bureaus of the War Department and the four divisions of the General Staff, which are as follows: Military Intelligence, War Plans, Operations, Purchase, Storage, and Traffic.

Coast Artillery: The chief is a member of the General Staff Corps, is concerned with all matters relating to coast artillery, operation of large guns on railroad mounts, anti-aircraft guns, etc.

Military Bureaus: These bureaus are thirteen in number, as follows:

(1) Adjutant General's Department, which handles all orders, regulations, commissions, recruiting, etc.; (2) Inspector General's Department, with duties to inspect and investigate all portions of the military establishment;

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Judge Advocate General's Department, which supplies legal advice to all parts of the War Department and the entire military establishment, and is in charge of the military judicial system; Quartermaster General's Department, which provides for clothing, feeding and transporting the

army;

Construction Division, charged with all construction and maintenance work in the U. S. for. the army, maintenance and repair of all such construction projects, and operation of utilities that are used in connection with them;

Motor Transportation Corps, with technical supervision over all motor vehicles, the design, operation and maintenance of such vehicles, the design and operation of garages, etc., and the recruiting and training of personnel for these services;

Surgeon General's Department, advising the War Department upon all medical and sanitary affairs with respect to the army, directing the professional duties of medical personnel, and controlling general army hospitals;

Office of the Chief of Engineers, directing the Corps of Engineers which conducts reconnoitering and surveying for military purposes, preparation of military maps, planning, construction and repair of military defenses, installation of power plants connected with seacoast batteries, construction and repair of military roads, railroads, bridges, etc.; also charged with improvement of rivers and harbors, matters arising under the laws for protection and preservation of navigable waters, establishment of regulations for use, administration and navigation of navigable waters, issuance of permits for construction and operation of bridges over navigable waters, surveying and charting the Great Lakes, preservation of Niagara Falls, care of buildings and ground in the District of Columbia, water supply of the District of Columbia, supervision of the work of the Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska, etc.;

Chief Signal Officer's Department: Directs the Signal Corps, with duties in connection with construction and operation of telegraphs, telephones, radio, etc., for military purposes, photographic work for the army, etc.;

Ordnance Department, which designs, obtains, and maintains armament for the field service, including artillery, small arms, ammunition and all munitions of war; it performs all technical engineering work necessary to investigate and construct experimental material, prepares detailed information necessary for manufacture and inspection of munitions, etc.;

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Militia Bureau, with administrative duties involving organization, armament, instruction, etc., of the
National Guard;

Air Service, which obtains, maintains and operates all aircraft, aircraft engines and aircraft equip-
ment, and organization and trains forces for operation of aircraft;

Bureau of Insular Affairs, dealing with matters pertaining to civil government in the island possessions, subject to the jurisdiction of the War Department, i. e., the Philippines and Porto Rico.

Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors: A permanent body created by law in 1902. It considers and passes upon all reports respecting projects as to which Congress asks for examination and survey and all projects or changes in projects for works of river and harbor improvement upon which a report is desired by the Chief of Engineers, United States Army. Its duty is to give consideration to all engineering, commercial, navigation, and economic questions involved in determining the advisability of undertaking river and harbor improvements at the expense of the United States.

Chemical Warfare Service: Operates and maintains, or supervises, plants engaged in investigating or producing toxic gases, means of defense against such gases, filling of gas shells, etc.

War Credits Board: During the emergency consequent upon war it exercised the authority conferred by Congress upon the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy to make advances to war contractors.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Secretary: Charged with promoting commerce, mining, manufacturing, shipping, fishery and transportation interests.

Assistant Secretary: Has such duties as are prescribed by the Secretary or conferred by law. Chief Clerk: Has general supervision of personnel for the department, superintendency of buildings occupied by different bureaus, obtaining and issuing supplies, etc.

Bureau of the Census: Takes the decennial census for population, agriculture, manufactures, mines and quarries, forestry and forest products, with collection in intervening years of statistics respecting wealth, transportation by water, etc.

Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce: Charged with development of markets at home and abroad for manufacturing industries, with gathering and publishing information useful to such industries.

etc.

Bureau of Standards: Has the custody of standards and compares standards used in scientific investigations, engineering, manufacturing and commerce, constructs standards, determines physical constants and properties of materials when such data is of importance to scientific or manufacturing interests and not obtainable elsewhere with sufficient accuracy, and cooperates in its functions with state and municipal governments, with scientific societies, and with firms and corporations engaged in manufacturing.

Bureau of Fisheries: Engaged in the propagation of useful food fishes, study of food resources of the waters of the country and development of commercial fisheries, administration of salmon fisheries in Alaska, fur seal herd, etc.

Bureau of Lighthouses: Establishes and maintains aids to navigation, with all equipment.

Coast and Geodetic Survey: Surveys coasts and publishes charts, including sailing charts, charts of coasts, harbor charts, tide tables, etc.; makes magnetic observations and researches, determines heights and geographic positions, etc.

Bureau of Navigation: Has general superintendence of commercial, marine and merchant seamen of the United States, deciding all questions relating to issue of American documents to vessels, investigates operation of navigation laws, enforces navigation and steamboat-inspection laws, laws governing radio communication, etc.

Steamboat Inspection Service: Inspects vessels, licenses officers, and administers laws relating to such vessels and their officers for the protection of life and property.