TO THE LIBRARIANS OF THE UNITED STATES: The exigencies of the great World War brought very impressively to the mind of the public the important function of the State Department in fulfilling its statutory duty to subserve the interests of the United States and its citizens in international affairs and in shaping the character of such intercourse to adapt it to the changed conditions necessarily following the obligatory participation of this country in the war against an aggressive and defiant European power to the end that future peace, when restored, should be permanently assured to the benefit of all. Hence it is fitting that the complex machinery of the State Department should be well understood in order that its operation for the advancement of our national interests may be intelligently appreciated and supported by our people. This publication is a step in the desired direction, and as such is most welcome. THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. [The bureaus and offices given page numbers are the ones selected as having matter of interest to librarians. Appointment and disbursing offices and other divisions connected primarily with the administrative work of a department have been omitted.] The Secretary Counselor____. Assistant Secretaries__ Page. Director of the Consular Service.. Chief clerk.-- Division of Foreign Intelligence__ Division of Passport Control. Passport Bureau, New York__. Passport Bureau, San Francisco__ Diplomatic Bureau_ Consular Bureau_ Bureau of Appointments_ Bureau of Indexes and Archives_ Bureau of Accounts.. Bureau of Rolls and Library. Office of the Solicitor--- Office of the Foreign Trade Adviser_ Office of the Adviser on Commercial Treaties. Office of the law clerk.. Office of the translator__ (10) THE OLDEST DEPARTMENT. The great building, housing offices of the Departments of State, War, and Navy, is the only departmental structure which was constructed for the purpose of housing other than one department under one roof. That part of the building occupied by the State Department is directly opposite the executive offices of the President, and the windows of the chief clerk's office offer a comprehensive view of the fine old trees and stretches of velvet lawn beyond the privet hedge which surrounds the White House grounds. On May 19, 1789-that is, 19 days after Washington's inauguration-the matter of creating executive departments of the new Government was taken up, and on June 27 the President signed the final act creating the first of the executive departments, the Department of Foreign Affairs, changed on September 15, 1789, by a further act to the Department of State. Of the Presidents, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, and James Buchanan served as Secretaries of State. The position of the Secretary of State is regarded of such consequence that in the event of the death of the President and the death or absence of the Vice President he would become acting President of the United States. So far no Secretary of State has been called on to fill this place. As this department was created to manage, in addition to foreign affairs, such home affairs as did not fall under the other two departments, War and Treasury, it had in the beginning bureaus now under Interior, Commerce, Labor, and Agriculture, among them the Patent Office. It has certain important functions relating to Presidential elections, such as receiving from the governors of the States certification of the appointment of presidential electors, the receipt and transmission to Congress of any challenge of the ballot as reported. It is the duty of the department to cause all acts of Congress to be printed in at least three papers of the United States, to transmit amendments of the Constitution to the governors of the States, and to act as the official medium for transacting business connected with international exhibitions. The most important diplomatic function of the department is that of making treaties. All treaties, other than Indian treaties, are made by the Secretary of State, who often conducts the negotiations in person, has interviews with foreign envoys, drafts his own notes, and often the treaty itself. One of the most dramatic episodes in connection with the Department of State occurred in the second year of the War of 1812. On August 20, 1814, Secretary of State James Monroe was commissioned by the President to see what advance the British were making toward the city. On the 20th he actually saw the British forces from a hilltop and at once dispatched a messenger with a note to his department to save the records. Messrs. Graham, Pleasanton, and King, of the department, immediately packed in coarse linen bags the valuable papers, including those of the Revolutionary Government, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. Mr. Pleasanton transported them by wagons to Leesburg, Va., 35 miles distant. Mr. Pleasanton writes: On the 26th of August I returned to Washington and found the President's house and public offices still burning. Mr. Gaillard Hunt, in his History of the Department of State, writes: So far as the State Department is concerned, the vigilance of Monroe and of Pleasanton and his colleagues prevented any destruction of important irreplace able archives. That they deserve public gratitude for this will be realized if the mind is permitted to imagine the indelible shame which would have followed if they had been less loyal and resourceful and Cockburn and Ross had carried away with them, as trophies of their exploit, the original of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. One of the most historic signatures ever affixed to a document by a Secretary of State will be the signature which authenticates the President's ratification by Congress of the treaty of peace at present before that body. The Senate agreeing that the treaty ought to be ratified, an attestation of the agreement and of any amendments it may have proposed is attached to the treaty, and it is sent back to the President, It is then signed by the President, this being the ratification, countersigned by the Secretary of State, and the great seal affixed, a special warrant for the purpose having been made. The massive building, so glibly referred to as "State, War, and Navy," has for all patriotic Americans a new significance when one realizes that in the south wing of that massive pile in a big, quiet room on the third floor there is an iron box in which are kept the two greatest American documents, shortly to be joined by the third, a trio not to be surpassed in the world-the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the present treaty of peace. THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. DIVISION OF FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. This division collects, through clippings, information of foreign affairs and sends to the press in the United States and foreign countries, with which we have relations digests in the form of news items explaining American policies and activities. It also furnishes texts of official documents needed for the better understanding of the foreign policy of the United States. The Information Series (consisting of confidential political information on current subjects) and the Foreign Relations Series (covering all diplomatic correspondence that it is deemed wise to print) are edited by this division. DIVISIONS OF LATIN-AMERICAN AFFAIRS, WESTERN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS, NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS, FAR EASTERN AFFAIRS, AND MEXICAN AFFAIRS. These divisions deal with diplomatic correspondence on matters other than of an administrative character relating to political con ditions of the countries under their jurisdiction. All correspondence regarding what may be called politico-geographic conditions is filed with the bureau under whose jurisdiction the country referred to is placed. The Division of Latin-American Affairs covers Central America, Panama, South America, and the West Indies; the Division of Western European Affairs covers Great Britain (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and British colonies not elsewhere enumerated), Portugal, Spain, France, Morocco, Belgium, the Kongo, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark, and Liberia; the Division of Near Eastern Affairs covers Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Roumania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Abyssinia, Persia, Egypt, and colonies belonging to countries of this series; the Division of Far Eastern Affairs covers Japan, China, and leased territories, Siberia, Hongkong, French IndoChina, Siam, Straits Settlements, Borneo, East Indies, India, and, in general, the Far East; the Division of Mexican Affairs deals with Mexico. These divisions issue no publications. DIVISION OF PASSPORT CONTROL. Passports (documents attesting American citizenship) are issued by the Department of State through its accredited officers over the facsimile of the Secretary's signature. The highest duty of our American diplomat or consular officer is to protect citizens of the United States in lawful pursuit of their affairs in foreign countries. The first passport found in the files of the department is dated July 8, 1796, and reads as follows: To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: The bearer hereof, Francis Maria Barrere, a citizen of the United States of America, having occasion to pass into foreign countries about his lawful affairs, these are to pray all whom it may concern to permit the said Francis Maria Barrere (he demeaning himself well and peaceably) to pass wheresoever his lawful pursuits may call him, freely and without let or molestation in going, staying, or returning, and to give him all friendly aid and protection, as these United States would do to their citizens in the like case. In faith whereof I have caused the seal of the Department of State for the said United States to be hereunto affixed. Done at Philadelphia, this eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord 1796, and of the Independence of these States the twenty-first. TIMOTHY PICKERING, (Gratis.) During normal times the traveler seldom goes through the form of obtaining a passport, but if conditions are disturbed a passport is vitally necessary. One might call the passport a barometer of foreign political conditions. For instance, during the Spanish-American War more passports were issued than during any like period of time. Again, during the Russian-Japanese War, the number rose to large proportions. Under Secretary Lansing more than 180,000 passports have been issued during slightly more than four years. Librarians, on application to the Division of Passport Control, Department of State, Washington, D. C., may obtain sample forms |