USA > Vermont > Outlines of the geography, natural and civil history and constitution of Vermont. Also the Constitution of the United States. with notes and queries > Part 21
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He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and lins en- deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose charac- ter is thus mark d by every act which may detine a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attentiens to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our com- inon kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must there- fore acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of Amer- ica, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the reetitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That there united colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political con- nection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances,
256
APPENDIX.
establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which in- dependent states may of right do. And, for the support of this declaration, with a firin reliance on the protection of Divine Provi- dence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
New Hampshire,
JOSIAH BARTLETT, WILLIAM WINPPLE, MATTHEW THORNTON.
Massachusetts Buy. SAMUEL ADAMS. JOHN ADAMS, ROBERT TREAT PAINS,
ELBRIDGE GERRY.
Rhode Island, &c.
STEPHEN HOPKIN3, WILLIAM ELLERY.
Connecta ut.
ROGER SHERMAN SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, WILLIAM WILLIAMS, OLIVER WOLCOTT.
New York
WILLIAM FLOYD, PHILIP LIVINGSTON, FRANCIS LEWIS, LEWIS MORRIS.
New Jersey.
RICHARD STOCKTON, JOHN WITHERSPOON. FRANCIS HOPKINSON. JOHN HART. ABRAHAM CLARK.
Pennsylvania.
ROBERT MORRIS, BENJAMIN RIJSH. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, JOHN MORTON GEORGE CLY MER,
JOHN HANCOCK.
JAMES SMITH, GEORGE TAYLOR, JAMES WILSON, GFORGE ROSS.
CESAR RODNEY, GEORGE READ. THOMAS MD'ALAN.
M.s. y'ad. SAMUEL CHASE,
WILLIAM PACA.
THOMAS STONE,
CHAS, CARROLL, of Carcolliea.
Virgina.
GEORGE WYTHE, RICHARD HENRY LEE, THOMAS JEFFERSON, BENJAMIN HARRISON, THOMAS NELSON, JK ,
FRANCIS LIGHTSOUT LEE.
CARTER BRAAPON.
Vorth Carolina.
WILLIAM HOOPER., JOSEPH HEWES, JOIN PENN.
South Carolina. EDWARD RUTLEDGE, THOMAS HEYWARD, JR, THOMAS LYNCH. JR .. ARTHUR MIDDLETON.
Georgia. BUTTON GWINNETT, LYMAN HALL, GEORGE WALTON.
257
APPENDIX.
ORDINANCE OF 1787.
The Ordinance is here given, in order to show the power exercised by the first Congress under the Constitution over the original terri- tory of the United States. The Ordinance was an Act of the Con. tinental Congress, but by i's adoption by the said first Congress, alter the formation and adoption of the Constitution, it became an Act of the Congress of 1789. Nearly every act of Congress for the government of the territories has embraced the essential prin- eiples of this Ordinance, and by some it has been regarded as the organic law for the government of the acquired territories of the United Statce.
COMPACT BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL STATES AND THE PEOPLE AND STATES TO BE FORMED IN THE TERRITORY NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO RIVER, CONTAINED IN THE ORDINANCE OF ITS7.
It is herby ordained and declared by the authority [of Congress] that the following articles shall be considered as articles of com- part between the original states and the people and states in the baid territory. and forever remain walterald , unless by common consent, to wit :-
ART. I. No person, demeaning himtelt iu a peaccable and orderly manuer shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religions sentiments, in the said territory.
ART. 11. The inhabitants of the said territory chall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury, of a proportionate representation of the legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be Laitable, unless for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate, and no croel and unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of bis liberty or property but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land, and should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his par- ticular services, full compensation shall be made for the tame. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is under- stood and declared, that na Jaw ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private contraets or engagements bona fide and without fraud, previously formed.
258
APPENDIX.
ART. III. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians ; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent ; and in their property, rights, and liberty they never shall be in- vaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress ; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall from time to time be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
ART. IV. The said territory, and the states which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the Uni- ted States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, und to such alteratione therein as shall be constitutionally made ; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States, in Congress assembled, conformable thereto The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts, contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the ex- penses of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress, recording to the same common rule and measure by which appor- tionments thereof shall be made on the other states ; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new states, as in the original states, within the time agreed upon by the United States, in Congress assembled. The legislatu es of those districts, or new states, shall never interfere with the primary dis- posal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchaseis. No tax shall be im- posed on lands the property of the United States ; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States and those of any other states that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, im- post, or duty therefor.
ART. V. There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three, nor more than five states ; and the boundaries of the states, us soon as Virginia eball alter her act of cession, and con- sent to the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit : the western state in the said territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash rivers; a direet line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due north, to the ter- ritorial line between the United States and Canada ; and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle state shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash, from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line
259
APPENDIX.
drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern state shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Penn- sylvania, and the said territorial line. Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of these three states shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two states in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or ex- treme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the said states shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such state shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever ; und shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and state government ; provided the constitution and government so to be formed shall be republican, and in conformity to the prin- ciples contained in these articles; and, so far as can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an carlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the state thin sixty thousand.
ART. VI. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servi- tude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of erimer, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted ; pro- vided, always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original states, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.
Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this Ordinance, be, and the same are hereby, repealed, and declared null and void. Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 13th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, und of their sovereignty and independence the 12th.
CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.
260
APPENDIX.
REPRESENTATION AND RANK OF STATES IN POPULATION.
The ratio for the census of 1790 was 33,000; for 1800, 33,000; for 1810, 35,000 ; for 1820, 40,000 ; for 1830, 47,700 ; for 1840, 70,000 ; for 1850, 93,702 ; and for 1860, 127,316.
The following table gives the number of representatives for each state according to the census of 1860. The aggregate number of representatives is two hundred and thirty-three (233), BE provided by the Act of 23d May, 1850. (9) United Statutes, 12%.)
To the state of-
Alabama
6 Minnesota 1
Arkansas
3 Mississippi. 5
California.
3 Missouri .. 9
Connecticut
1 Now llampshire. 3
Delaware.
1 : New Jersey.
Florida
1 New York. 31
Georgia
7
North Carolina
Illinois
13
Ohio 18
Indiana
11
Oregon . 1
Iowa
5
Pennsylvania 23
Kans18
1 Rhode Island. 1
Kentucky
6 South Carolina 4
Louisiana
5 | Tennessee 8
Maine ..
5 Texas. 4
Maryland.
Vermont ">
Massachusetts.
10 | Virginia . 11
Michigan.
Wisconsin 6
The following table, prepared from the official reports, exhibits the progress of each state, and their relative rank as shown by cach census. The territories which are now states have been given distinct from the states with which they were connected.
To explain the use of the table in reference to the relative rank of any state, one or two examples will be given. Thus Illinois was admitted as a state, December 3, 1818, and in the census of 1820 she was the twenty-fourth state in rank ; in the census of 1830, she was the twentieth state in rank, and in the census of 1860 she is the fourth state in rank in the union. Massachusetts in the census of 1790 was the fourth state in relative rank, and in the census of 1860 she is the seventh state in rank.
261
APPENDIX.
-RANK.
1790. 1800. 1810. 1820. 1830. 1940. 1850.
1860.
Va. Va.
Va.
N Y. N. Y. N Y. N. Y N. Y.
2 :Pa. Pa. N. Y. Va.
Pa.
Pa.
Pa.
Pa.
2
3 N. C. N Y. Pa.
Pa. Va. Ohio.
Ohio
Ohio
3
4 Mass. IN C. N. C. N. C. Ohio. Va.
Va.
Ills.
4
5 N. Y. Mass Mass. Ohio. N C. Tenn. Tenn
Va.
5
6 Md. S. C. S. C. Ky
Ky.
Ky. Mass. Ind.
7 S. C. Md
Ky. Mass. Tenn.
N. C. Ind.
Marg. r-
8 Conn. Conn. M2.
S. C. Macs.
Mass.
Ky.
MMo.
8
9 N J. Ky.
Conn Tenn. IS C.
Gia.
Gu.
Tenn.
9
10 N H. N J.
Tenn. Md.
Ga.
Ind. N CKy.
1/2
Ills.
Ga.
11
12 Vt.
Ga
N. J. Mc
Me
N. C. 12 S. C. Ala.
13
Ga.
Me.
Ohio. N. J. Ind.
Me
Mo.
Ala
13
15 R I.
Tenn. Vt.
16
Del.
R. L. N II
Vt.
Conu.
Mo.
Me
Mich.
17
Tenn. Del.
'R. I.
La
Vt.
Miss
Md.
Md.
17
18
Ohio.
La
Ind.
N H. N. J.
La.
18
19
Miss.
Del.
Ala.
La.
La. N J. lo.
19
Ind.
Miss.
Mo.
Vt
L'onn !La.
20 21 22
23
Ills
Mo.
R I.
Mich. Vt.
Texas. 23
24
Mich. Ils.
De. Fia.
Ark.
Texas.| Ark.
25
Mich
Mich
Del.
Ark.
Cal. 26
26 27 28
Io.
R. 1
Vt.
28
23
W is. Cal.
R. I. :29
Del.
Min.
30
Fla.
tla.
31
Min.
32
32 33
Kan. Del. 33
3+
Or.
34
Vt.
Me.
Conn. N. J.
S. C
Miss.
14
Mit.
Miss
Wis. 15 16
20 21 52
Ind.
Miss. R I.
Ills.
Conn. Mich. N. J.
Mo.
Del
Miss.
N. H. N. H. Me.
R. I.
'Wis. Conn. 24
25
Ark.
.1rk.
Fla.
N. 1. 27
10
11 Mc.
N. H.
Ga.
Gu.
6
RANK.
1
30 31
262
APPENDIX.
DEPARTMENTS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERN- MENT.
The following summary of the several departments of the na- tional government, taken from the Congressional Directory, will furnish very satisfactory information of the manner of doing busi- ness in these subordinate departments.
STATE DEPARTMENT.
The Diplomatic Branch has charge of all correspondence between the department and other diplomatie agents of the United States abroad, and those e f foreign powers accredited to this government.
'The Consular Branch has charge of the correspondence, &c., be- tween the department and the consuls and commercial agents of the United States.
The Disbursing Agent has charge of all matters connected with accounts relating to any fund disbursed by the department.
The Translator furnishes such translations as the department may require, and records the commissions of consuls and vice con- suls, when not in English, upon which crequaturs are issued.
The Clerk of Appointments and Commissions makes out and re- cords commissions, letters of appointment, nominations to the Senate, exequaturs, and records, when in English, the commissions on which they are issued ; has charge of the library.
The Clerk of Rolls and Archives takes charge of the enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress as they are received from the Presi- dent ; prepares authenticated copies thereof; superintends their publication, and that of treaties : attends to their distribution, 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.
The Clerk of Authentications and Copyrights has charge of the scals 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.
263
APPENDIX.
The Clerk of Pardons and Passports prepares and records par- dons and remissions, and registers and files the papers on which they are founded, and makes out and records passports.
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE.
The ordinary business of this office may be classified under the following heads :---
1. Official opinions on the current business of the government, as enlled 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-houres, and all 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 is added at the present time the direction of all appeals on land claims in Cal- ifornia.
INTERIOR DEPARTMENT.
To its supervision and management are committed the following branches of the public service :---
1st. The Public Lands .- Its hend is the Commissioner of the General Land Office. The Land Bureau is charged with the survey, management, and sale of the public domain, the revision of Vir- ginia military bounty land claims, and the issuing of scrip in lien thereof.
2d. Pensions .- The Commissioner is charged with the examin- ation and adjudication of all claims arising under the various and numerous laws passed by Congress granting bounty land or pen- sions for the military or naval service in the Revolutionary and subsequent wars.
3d The Indian Office has charge of all matters connoeted with the Indians
4th The Patent Office is charged with the performance of all " acts and things touching and respecting the granting and isau- ings of patents for new and useful discoveries, inventions and im- provementa " ; the collection of statistics relating to agriculture ; the collection and distribution of seed, plants, and cuttings.
The Department of the interior has, besides, the supervision of the accounts of the United States marshals and attorneys, the elerks of the United States courte, the management of the lead and
264
APPENDIX.
other mines of the United States, the affairs of the penitentiary of the United States in the District of Columbia, the taking and re- turning of the censuses of the United States, and the supervising and directing the acts of the Commissioner of Public Buildings, the management of the hospital for the insane of the army and navy and of the District of Columbia, and the construction of the three wagon roads leading to the Pacific coast.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
Secretary's Office .- The Secretary of the Treasury is charged with the general supervision of the fiscal transactions of the government and the execution of the laws concerning commerce and navigation, 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.
The First Comptroller prescribes the mode of keeping and render- ing accounts for the civil and diplomatie service, as well as the public lande, and revises and certifies the balances arising thereon.
The Second Comptroller prescribes the mode of keeping and reu- derin the accounts of the army, navy, and Indian departments of the public service, and revises and certifies the balances arising thereon.
The Commissioner of the Customs prescribes the mode of keeping and rendering the account of the customs revenue and disburse- ments, and for building and repairing custom-houses, &c., and revises and certifies the balances arising thercon.
The First Auditor receives and adjusts the accounts of the eustous revenue and disbursements, appropriation and expendi- tures on account of the civil list and under private ac's of Congress, and reports the balances to the Commissioner of the Customs and the First Comptroller respectively, for their decision thereon.
The Second Auditor receives and adjusts all accounts relating to the pay, clothing, and recruiting of the army, as well as the armo- ries, arsenals, and ordnanec, and all accounts relating to the Indian department, and reports the balances to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon.
The Third Auditor receives and adjusts all accounts for subsist- ence of the army, fortifications, military academy, military roads, and the quartermaster's department, pension claims arising froin military services previous to 1816, and for horses and other prop- erty lost in the military service, and reports the balinees to the Second Comptroller for his decision thereon.
The Fourth Auditor adjusts all accounts for the service of the Navy Department, and reports the balances to the Second Comptrol- ler for his decision thereon.
The Fifth Auditor adjusts all accounts for diplomatic and si milar services performed under the direction of the State Department, and reports the balances to the First Comptroller for his decision thereon.
265
APPENDIX.
The Sixth Auditor adjusts all accounts arising from the service of the Post Office Department. Ilis 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 Depart- ment, and all penalties imposed on postmasters and mail-contractors for failing to do their duty : he directs suits and legal proceedings, civil and criminal, and takes legal measures to enforce the prompt payment of moneys due to the department. instructing attor- neys, marshals, and clerks relative thereto, and receives returns from each term of the United States comit, 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.
The Treasurer receives and keeps the moneys of the United States in his own office and that of the depositarics, and pays ont the same upon warrants drawn by the Sceretury of the Trens- ury, 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.
The Register keeps the accounts of public receipts and expendi- tures, 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.
The Solicitor superintends all civil snits commenced by the Uni- ted States, (except those arising in the Post Ofice Department,) and instructs the United States attorneys, marshals, and clerks in all matters relating to them and their results. He receives returns from each term of the United States courts, showing the progress and condition of such suits, has churge of all lands and other prop- erty assigned to the United States in payment of debts, (except those assigned in payment of debts due the Post Office Department,) and has power to rell and dispose of the same for the benefit of the United States.
The Light House Board .- The Secretary of the Treasury is ex- officio president of this board. It directs the building and repair- ing of light houses, light vessels, buoys, and beacons, contracts for supplies of oil, &c.
United States Coast Survey. The coast enrvey office is charged with the superintendence of the survey of the coast of the United States, and its superintendent is the superintendent of weights and measures.
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
The management of the Post Office Department is assigned by the Constitution and laws to the Postmaster General.
266
APPENDIX.
The Appointment Office, at the head of which is the First Assistant Postmaster General, attends to the establishment and discontinuance of post offices, changes of sites and names, appoint- ment and removal of postmasters and route and local agents, and the giving of instructions to postmasters. It provides them with marking and rating stamps and letter balances. It provides blanks and stationery for the use of the department and superint i.de the several agencies established for supplying postmasters with blanks. It has the supervision of the ocean mail steamship lines, and of the foreign and international postal arrangements.
The Contract Ofice, at the head of which is the Second Assist- ant Postmaster General, arranges the mail service, and places the same under contract, corresponds and acts respecting the trips, conveyance, departures and arrivals on all the routes, the course of the mail between the different sections of the country, the points of distribution, and the regulations for the government of the domestic mail service. It prepares the advertisements, receives the bids, and takes charge of the annual and occasional mail lettings, the adjustment and execution of the contracts, applications for the establishment or alteration of mail arrangement, and the appoint- ment of mail messengers. All claims for transportation service not under contract are to be recognized by the Contract Office as authority for the proper eredits, at the Auditor's Office. Postmas- ters at the ends of routes receive from it the statement of mail arrangements prescribed for the respective routes. It reports weekly to the Auditor all contracts executed, and all orders affect- ing accounts for mail transportation, prepares the statistical ex- hibits of the mail service and the reports of the mail lettings giv- ing a statement of each bid : also, of the contracte made, the new service originated, the eurtailments ordered, and the additional al- lowances granted within the year.
The Finance Office, the head of which is the Third Assistant Postmaster General, supervises the financial business of the depart- ment, not devolved by law upon the Auditor, embracing accounts with the draft officers and other depositaries of the department. the issuing of warrants and drafts in payment of balances reported by the Auditor to be due to mail contractors and other persons, the supervision of the accounts of offices under order to deposit their quarterly balances at designated points, and the superintend- ence of the rendition by postmasters of their quarterly returns of postages. It has charge of the dead letter office, of the issuing of postage stamps and stamped envelopes for the prepayment of port- age, and of the accounts connected therewith.
To the Third Assistant Postmister General all postmasters should direct their quarterly returns of postage ; those at draft offices, their letters reporting quarterly the net proceeds of their offices ; and those at depositing offices, their certificates of deposit. To him should also be directed the weekly and monthly returns of
267
APPENDIX.
the depositaries of the department, as well as all applications and receipts for postage stamps and stamped envelopes, and for dead letters.
The Inspection Office, the hend of which is the Chief Clerk, is assigned the duty of receiving and examining the registers of the arrivals and departures of the mails, certificates of the service of route agents, and reports of mail failures ; of noting the delinquen- cies of contractors, and preparing enses thereon for the action of the Postmaster General ; furnishing blanks for mail registers, and reports of mail failures ; providing and sending out mail bags and mail locks and keys ; the suppression of all cases of mail depreda- tion, of violation of law by private expresses, or by the forging or illegal use of postage stamps.
NAVY DEPARTMENT.
Secretary's Office .- The Secretary of the Navy has charge of everything connected with the naval establishment, and the execu- tion of all laws relating thereto, under the general direction of the President. All instructions to commanders of squadrons and com- manders of vessele, all orders of officers, commissions of officers, both in the navy and marine corps, appointments of commissioned and warrant officers, orders for the enlistment and discharge of seamen, emanate from the Secretary's Office. All the duties of the different bureaus are performed under the authority of the Score- tary, and their orders are considered as emanating from him. He has a general superintendence of the marine corps, and all the orders of the commandant of that corps should be approved by hin.
The Bureau of Navy Yards and Docks has charge of all the navy yard, docks, and wharves, buildings and machinery in navy yards, and everything immediately cornceted with them. It is also charged with the management of the Naval Asylum.
The Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repair .- The office of the engineer-in-chief of the navy is attached to this bureau. It has charge of the building and repairs of all vessels of war, pur- chase of materials, and the providing of all vessels with their enaipiments, as gaila, anchors, watertanks, da. The engineer-in- chief superintends the construction of all marine steam engines for the navy, and, with the approval of the Secretary, decides upon plans for their construction.
The Bureau of Provisions and Clothing contracts for all provi- sions for the use of the navy, and clothing.
The Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography bas charge of all ordnance and ordinance stores, the manufacture and purchase of cannon, guns, powder, shot, shells, Joe., and the equipment of ves- sels of war, with everything connected therewith. It also provides them with maps, charts, chronometere, barometerr, de., together with such books as are furnished ships of war. "The United States Naval Observatory and Hydrographical Office " at Washing.
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APPENDIX.
ton, and Naval Academy at Annapolis, are also under the general superintendence of the chief of this bureau.
The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery manages everything re- lating to medicines and medical stores, treatment of sick and wounded, and management of hospitals.
WAR DEPARTMENT.
The following bureaus are attached to this department :--
Commanding General's Office .- This office, at the head of which is the Lieutenant General, is at Washington.
Adjutant General's Ofise .- In this office are kept all the records which refer to the personnel of the army, the rolls, &c. It is here where all military commissions are made out. The Judge Advo- eate General is also connected with it.
The other bureaus. consist of, --
The Quartermaster General's Office, the Paymaster General's Ofice, the Commissary General's Office, the Surgeon General's Ofice, the Engineer Office, the Topographical Bureau, and the Ord- nance Bureau.
END.
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