of the coasts and rivers of the
United States. He has charge of the publication of charts and
sailing directions which are of inestimable value to mariners.

The Light-House Board.--The Light-house Board has charge of
the light-houses, of which 1199 had been established previous to
the year 1899, besides the light vessels and beacons used for the
protection of navigation.

THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

On March 4, 1913, the bill was signed by the President which created the
Department of Labor. It is evidence of the spirit manifested by the
Americans to make their government serve the cause of human
conservation. Besides the Bureau of Information, which was created for
the department, there were transferred from other departments the Bureau
of Immigration[55] and the Children's Bureau. The Division of
Naturalization was made a bureau, and the Bureau of Labor was
constituted the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[Footnote 55: In 1912 there were 838,172 immigrants to the United
States, and 2853 were refused admission. Of these there were 767
paupers, 31 contract laborers, 749 diseased persons.]

SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS AND REFERENCES.

1. Does the President select the members of his Cabinet from among
former members of Congress? Would this be desirable?

2. Have the members of the Cabinet ever been allowed to appear before
Congress in the interests of their own departments? Would this be
desirable? Walker, The Making of the Nation, 92; Bryce, American
Commonwealth, I, Chapter 9; Atl. Mo., 65:771-772.

3. Who are now the heads of the executive departments? Were they
prominent in National affairs before they were selected for these
positions?

4. In 1901 a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives which
provided for an increase of the annual salary of the Vice-President to
$25,000, and that of each member of the Cabinet to $15,000. What reasons
can you give for or against such a change?

5. What was the history of the State Department prior to 1789? Harrison,
This Country of Ours, 182-187.

6. Give a list of the Presidents who have been Secretaries of State. How
do you account for this policy in the first years of our government, and
not at a later time? Name some of the other prominent Secretaries of
State.

7. Who are our ambassadors? Can you give the name of any foreign
ambassadors in Washington? See Congressional Directory.

8. The methods by which our ministers are se