Senate is required to make an appointment. It provides that in the Departments at Washington, and in custom-houses and post-offices where as many as fifty clerks are employed, appointments shall be made by reason of merit or fitness. Competitive examinations are held, and when a new appointment is to be made in any Department or office, as to fill a vacancy, it must be filled from the four persons standing highest on the list of those who have passed the examinations. This is called the eligible list. Every State or Territory is entitled to its fair share of the appointments, and no person can be finally appointed until he has served a probation of six months. This is called the merit system. The President, in the exercise of his discretion as the executive head of the Government, has extended this system to many classes of officers and employés that the law does not in terms include. Mention may be made of the Government Printing Office and of the Postal Railway Service.

406. The President's Message.--The President is required to give Congress information of the state of the Union from time to time, and to recommend to its consideration such measures as, in his judgment, are necessary and expedient for the good of the country. At the opening of each session of Congress, he sends to the Houses a written communication that is styled a message, conveying such information and making such recommendations. He also sends in from time to time special messages, conveying special information or recommendations as occasion requires. The communications in which the President makes nominations, transmits treaties to the Senate, and assigns his reasons for refusing to sign bills are also known as messages. The heads of the several Departments make

annual reports to the President, and these the President transmits at the same time that he sends in his annual message. Collectively they are called the Executive Documents.

407. Special Sessions of Congress.- The President, on extraordinary occasions, may call the Houses of Congress together in special session. In such cases he transmits a message explaining why he does so, and recommending such action as he thinks necessary to be taken. He may also convene either House of Congress alone, and it is the custom for the President, just before retiring from office, to issue a proclamation calling the Senate together immediately following the inauguration of his successor. This gives the new President an opportunity to nominate his Cabinet and such other officers as he thinks important to appoint at that time. No President has ever found it necessary to call the House of Representatives by itself.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.

The American Government. Sections 511–524.

The executive business of the Government is transacted through the eight Executive Departments, that Congress has by law created. The President's office in the White House exists only for his personal convenience and is not an office of record. All the public records are kept in the Departments through which the business is transacted. The Departments are established in Government buildings in Washington. The names of the Departments, with the dates of their establishment, are as follows: State, Treasury, War, Justice, formerly called the Office of the Attorney General, and Post-Office, 1789; Navy, 1798; Interior, 1849, and Agriculture, 1889. The heads of these Departments all receive the same salary, $8,000 a year.

408. Department of State.-At the head of this Department stands the Secretary of State, who is considered the head of the Cabinet. There are also three Assistant Secretaries of State. Under the direction of the President, the Secretary conducts the foreign and diplomatic business of the country. The originals of all treaties, laws, and foreign correspondence are in his custody. He also has in his possession the seal of the United States, and affixes it to public documents that require it, and also authenticates the President's proclamations with his signature. The business of the Department is conducted through various bureaus, such as Archives

and Statistics, the Diplomatic, and the Consular Bureaus, etc.

409. Department of the Treasury.-The Secretary of the Treasury proposes plans for the public revenues and credit, prescribes the manner of keeping the public accounts, superintends the collection of the revenue, issues warrants for the payment of moneys appropriated by Congress, and makes an annual report of the state of the finances. The several auditors of the Department examine the accounts of the different branches of the public service; the comptrollers certify the results to the Register, who has charge of the accounts and is the National book keeper. The Treasurer has the moneys of the Government in his custody, receiving and disbursing them. The Commissioner of Customs looks after the customs, the Comptroller of the Currency after the National Banks, and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue after that part of the public service. There are also directors of the Mint, of Statistics, and of Printing. The head of the Department is assisted by three Assistant Secretaries.

410. Department of War.-The Secretary of War directs the military affairs of the Government. He has charge of the army records, superintends the purchase of military supplies, directs army transportation and the distribution of stores, has the oversight of the signal service and the improvement of rivers and harbors, and looks after the supply of arms and munitions of war. The Department contains ten bureaus: The offices of the Adjutant, Quartermaster, Commissary, Paymaster, and Surgeon Generals, the Chief of Engineers, the Ordnance and Signal Office, the Bureau of Military Justice, and the Military Academy at West Point. There is also an Assistant Secretary of War.

411. Department of Justice. The head of this Department is the Attorney-General, who is the responsible adviser of the President and the heads of the other Executive Departments on matters of law. He and his assistants look after the interests of the Government in the courts, prosecuting or defending law suits to which the United States are a party, and passing upon the titles of all lands purchased by the Government for forts or public buildings. There are in the Department a Solicitor General, four Assistant Attorney-Generals, two Solicitors of the Treasury, a Solicitor of Internal Rev. enue, a naval Solicitor, and an Examiner of Claims for the Department of State. The District Attorneys in the different judicial districts are also under the direction of the Attorney-General.

412. Post-Office Department. Subject to the President, the Postmaster-General is the head of the vast postal service of the country. He has a larger number of subordinates than all the other heads of Departments. together. The First Assistant Postmaster-General has charge of salaries and allowances, free delivery, moneyorders, dead letters, and correspondence. The Second Assistant has charge of the transportation of mails, including contracts, inspection, railway adjustments, mail equipment, railway mail service, and foreign mails. The Third Assistant has general charge of the finances of the department, including accounts and drafts, postage stamps and stamped envelopes, registered letters and classification of mail matter, special delivery and official files and indexes. The Fourth Assistant has general charge of appointments, including bonds and commissions, appointment of post-office inspectors, depredations on the mails, and violations of the postal laws.