The Washington Union

The Organization of the Executive Departments
For the Government of the United States:

The whole machinery employed to conduct the business arising out of our foreign relations with all the powers of the world is far more simple than is generally conceived. The number employed in the Department of State of the United States is only seventeen, as follows:

One Secretary of State, (Hon. Lewis Cass,) one Assistant Secretary of State, (Hon. John Appleton,) one chief clerk, twelve clerks, one translator, and one librarian.

Diplomatic Branch.—This branch of the State Department has charge of all correspondence between the department and other diplomatic agents of the United States abroad, and those of foreign powers accredited to this government. In it all diplomatic instructions sent from the department, and communications to commissioners under treaties of boundaries, &c., are prepared, copied, and recorded; and all of like character received are registered and filed, their contents being first entered in an analytic table or index.

Consular Branch.—This branch has charge of the correspondence, &c., between the department and the consuls and commercial agents of the United States. In it instructions to those officers, and answers to their despatches and to letters from other persons asking for consular agency, or relating to consular affairs, are prepared and recorded.

The Disbursing Agent.—He has charge of all correspondence and other matters connected with accounts relating to any fund with the disbursement of which the department is charged.

The Translator.—His duties are to furnish such translations as the department may require. He also records the commissions of consuls and vice consuls, when not in English, upon which exequaturs are issued.

Clerk of Appointments and Commissions.—He makes out and records commissions, letters of appointment, and nominations to the Senate: makes out and records exequaturs, and records, when in English, the commissions on which they are issued. Has charge of the library.

Clerk of the Rolls and Archives.—He takes charge of the rolls, or enrolled acts and resolutions of Congress, as they are received at the department from the President: prepares the authenticated copies thereof which are called for: prepares for, and superintends their publication, and that of treaties, in the newspapers and in book form; attends to their distribution throughout the United States, and that of all documents and publications in regard to which this duty is assigned to the department; writing and answering all letters connected therewith. Has charge of all Indian treaties, and business relating thereto.

Clerk of Authentications and Copyrights.—He has charge of the seals of the United States and of the department, and prepares and attaches certificates to papers presented for authentication; receives and accounts for the fees. Has charge of publications transmitted to the department under the laws relating to copyrights; records and indexes their titles; records all letters from the department, other than the diplomatic and consular.

Clerk of Pardons and Passports—He prepares and records pardons and remissions; and registers and files the petitions and papers on which they are founded. Makes out and records passports; keeps a daily register of all letters, other than diplomatic and consular, received, and of the disposition made of them; prepares letters relating to this business.

ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE.

Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney General of the United States; A. B. McCalmont, esq., chief clerk. The ordinary business of this office may be classified under the following heads:

1. Official opinions on the current business of the government, as called for by the President, by any head of department, or by the Solicitor of the Treasury.

2. Examination of the titles of all land purchased, as the sites of arsenals, custom-houses, light houses, and of other public works of the United States.

3. Applications for pardons in all cases of conviction in the courts of the United States.

4. Applications for appointment in all the judicial and legal business of the government

5. The conduct and argument of all suits in the Supreme Court of the United States in which the government is concerned.

6. The supervision of all other suits arising in any of the departments when referred by the head thereof to the Attorney General.

To these ordinary heads of the business of the office are added at the present time the following, viz:

First. The direction of all appeals on land claims in California,
Second. The codification and revision of the laws of the District of Columbia.

INTERIOR DEPARTMENT.

Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Hon. Jacob Thompson, of the State of Mississippi. Its clerical force consists of one chief clerk, (Moses Kelly, esq.,) two disbursing clerks, and ten other regular clerks; and to its supervision and management are committed the following branches of the public service:

1st. The Public Lands. The chief of this bureau is called the Commissioner of the General Land Office. The Land Bureau is charged with the survey, management, and sale of the public domain, and the issuing of titles therefor, whether derived from confirmations of grants made by former governments by sales, donations, or grants for schools, military bounties, or public improvements, and likewise the revision of Virginia military bounty-land claims, and the issuing of scrip in lieu thereof. The Land Office, also, audits its own accounts. The present Commissioner is Hon. T. A. Hendricks, of Indiana. Its principal officers are a recorder, chief clerk, principal clerk of surveys besides a draughtsman, assistant draughtsman, and some 150 clerks of various grades.

2d. Pensions.—The present head of this bureau is George C. Whiting, of Virginia. The commissioner is charged with the examination and adjudication of all claims arising under the various and numerous laws passed by Congress granting bounty land or pensions for the military or naval services in the revolutionary and subsequent wars in which the United States have been engaged. He has one chief clerk, (S. Cole, esq.,) and a permanent corps consisting of some ninety other clerks.

3d. Indians.—Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Charles E. Mix, of Georgetown, D. C. He is provided with a chief clerk and about fifteen other subordinate clerks.

4th. Patent Office.—To this bureau is committed the execution and performance of all "acts and things touching and respecting the granting and issuing of patents for new and useful discoveries, inventions, and improvements;" the collection of statistics relating to agriculture, the collection and distribution of seeds, plants, and cuttings. It has a chief clerk—who is by law the acting Commissioner of Patents in the absence of the Commissioner—twelve principal, and twelve assistant examiners of patents, some dozen subordinate permanent clerks, besides a considerable number of temporary employees. Hon. Joseph Holt is the Commissioner, and Samuel T. Shugert, esq., Chief Clerk.

Besides these four principal branches of this new executive department, the organic act of 1849 transferred to it from the Treasury Department the supervision of the accounts of the United States marshals and attorneys, and the clerks of the United States courts, the management of the lead and other mines of the United States, and the affairs of the penitentiary of the United States in the District of Columbia; and from the State Department the duty of taking and returning the censuses of the United States, and of supervising and directing the acts of the Commissioner of Public Buildings. The hospital for the insane of the army and navy and of the District of Columbia is also under the management of this department; in addition to which, by laws recently passed, the Secretary of the Interior is charged with the construction of the three wagon roads leading to the Pacific coast.

The department requires an additional building for its accommodation, and the erection of one has been repeatedly recommended during the last few years for that purpose. At present the Pension Office is provided with rooms in what is known as "Winder's Building," while the other branches of the department, including the Secretary's office, are all crowded into the Patent Office building, the whole of which will be required at an early day for the use of the Patent Office, for which it was originally intended.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT

The Treasury Department consists of the offices of the Secretary of the Treasury, two comptrollers, commissioner of the customs, six auditors, treasurer, register, solicitor, light house board, and coast survey,

The following is a brief indication of the duties of these several offices and of the force employed therein, respectively:

Secretary's Office.—Hon. Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. Philip Clayton, Assistant Secretary; one engineer in charge; one architect, and three draughtsmen temporarily employed, and twenty-three clerks. The Secretary of the Treasury is charged with the general supervision of the fiscal transactions of the government, and of the execution of the laws concerning the commerce and navigation of the United States. He superintends the survey of the coast, the light-house establishment, the marine hospitals of the United States, and the construction of certain public buildings for custom houses and other purposes.

First Comptroller's Office.—Hon. William Medill, Comptroller, and fifteen clerks. He prescribes the mode of keeping and rendering accounts for the civil and diplomatic service, as well as the public lands, and revises and certifies the balances arising thereon.

Second Comptroller's Office.—J. M. Cutts, esq., Comptroller, and seventeen clerks. He prescribes the mode of keeping and rendering the accounts of the army, navy, and Indian departments of the public service, and revises and certifies the balances arising thereon.

Office of Commissioner of the Customs—Samuel Ingham, esq., Commissioner, and eleven clerks. He prescribes the mode of keeping and rendering the accounts of the customs revenue and disbursements, and for the building and repairing custom houses, &c., and revises and certifies the balances arising thereon.

First Auditor's Office—Thomas L. Smith, esq., First Auditor, and nineteen clerks. He receives and adjusts the accounts of the customs revenue and disbursements, appropriations and expenditures on account of the civil list and under private acts of Congress, and reports the balances to the Commissioner of the Customs and the First Comptroller, respectively for their decision thereon.

Second Auditor's Office.—Thomas J. D. Fuller, Second Auditor, and twenty-one clerks. He receives and adjusts all accounts relating to the pay, clothing, and recruiting of the army, as well as armories, arsenals, and ordnance, and all accounts relating to the Indian department, and reports the balances to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon.

Third Auditor's Office.—Robert J. Atkinson, esq., Third Auditor, and seventy-eight clerks. He receives and adjusts all accounts for subsistence of the army, fortifications, Military Academy, military roads, and the Quartermaster's department, as well as for pensions, claims arising from military services previous to 1816, and for horses and other property lost in the military service, under various acts of Congress, and reports the balances to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon.

Fourth Auditor's Office.—Aaron O. Dayton, esq., Fourth Auditor, and sixteen clerks. He receives and adjusts all accounts for the service of the Navy Department and reports the balances to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon.

Fifth Auditor's Office.—Murray McConnel, esq., Fifth Auditor, and six clerks. He receives and adjusts all accounts for diplomatic and similar services performed under the direction of the State Department, and reports the balances to the First Comptroller for his decision thereon.

Sixth Auditor's Office—Dr. Thomas M. Ta, auditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department, and one hundred and fourteen clerks. He receives and adjusts all accounts arising from the service of the Post Office Department. His decisions are final, unless an appeal be taken in twelve months to the First Comptroller. He superintends the collection of all debts due the Post Office Department, and all penalties and forfeitures imposed on postmasters and mail contractors for failing to do their duty; he directs suits and legal proceedings, civil and criminal, and takes all such measures as may be authorized by law to enforce the prompt payment of moneys due to the department; instructing United States attorneys, marshals, and clerks in all matters relating thereto; and receives returns from each term of the United States courts of the condition and progress of such suits and legal proceedings; has charge of all lands and other property assigned to the United States in payment of debts due the Post Office Department, and has power to sell and dispose of the same for the benefit of the United States

Treasurer's Office—Samuel Casey, esq., Treasurer, and thirteen clerks. He receives and keeps the moneys of the United States in his own office, and that of the depositories created by the act of the 6th of August, 1846, and pays out the same upon warrants drawn by the Secretary of the Treasury, countersigned by the First Comptroller, and upon warrants drawn by the Postmaster General, and countersigned by the Sixth Auditor, and recorded by the Register. He also holds public moneys advanced by warrant to disbursing officers, and pays out the same upon their checks.

Register's Office.—Finley Bigger, esq., Register, and twenty-nine clerks. He keeps the accounts of public receipts and expenditures; receives the returns and makes out the official statement of commerce and navigation of the United States; and receives from the First Comptroller and Commissioner of Customs all accounts and vouchers decided by them, and is charged by law with their safe-keeping.