Evening star., 1899-11-04
Genesis and Development of the
Executive Departments.
GROWTH CoINCIDEEF WITH NATIONS
An Interesting Review of Early
Capital History
ORIG IN AL BUILDING


building on Pennsylvania avenue opposite
the Treasury shall have been completed all
the government departments will be housed
in their own property. though some of the
bureaus will most likely be In rented quar-
ters. This recalls the fact that the Attor-
ney General was for many years an officer
with but small force. his duties being
those of the legal adviser of the President
| and the representative of the government
before the Supreme Court of the United
States.
The office of Attorney General was ere
ated in 17S9 the same year in which the
State, Treasury. War and Post Office De
partments were established. The latter be
ing at first temporary. was afterward made
permanent establishment His duties for
over half a century were limited. and q
large force was not needed by him-a c,erk
and messenger being sufficient until near
" three-fourths of century had passed
Much of the law business of the nation
unul 1t reached the Supreme Court and
passed into the care of the Attorney Cen
eial, was in charge Of the Treasury De-
nartment prior to the civil war Prior TO
lefo the NTH auditor as agent for the rov-
erhment. had charge of all the legal bust
ness before it reached the court of last
resort. In addition thereto having charge
OF me accounts of the State and Post Of
a.
me treasury having been created i'm ISlo
1ne law business was placed in his charge
Inc Attorney Generals rooms were for
nas nay years convenient to the SOLICITORS
once IN the south wing OF the old Treas
ury bul ding, but in 1881 a larger srl:ta or
rooms was provided for him at the south
east corner of 18th and + streets.
so'tS m1SHsegGenuy; 1.; on the completion of the
souta wing of the treasury, a suite of
rooms was assigned to him there and his
toIce Lao Peeh increased to half a dozen
persons. " "S"
Created in 1870.
Inc Department of Justice was created
os 'he act OF June % 1870, and the At
torney General became its head
Though the Attorney General and tba
postmaster General were not regarded as
members of the cabinet during the early
administrations, the former office vae 70
some extent, stepping stone to the Presi-
dent table-the first incumbent Cdmund
5tahdoiph OF Virginia, going to the State
Department, and Robert Smith of Ma~,,
land Richard Rush of Pennsylvania and
Roger b. Taney of Maryland to the treas
uiy, the latter afterward becoming chief
justice of the Supreme Court
The growth of other branches of tba .,o,,-
ernment in the number of bureaus and en-
picyes, the division of business and the
creation of new departments is as interest
ing as mat OF the Department of Justice
ana II Will be seen that the relationship of
parent and child is involved.
Development of Other Departmepts
The War Department had been in exist
ence but nine years when 1t was relieved of
the management of naval affairs by the
creation of the Navy Department, in lIaS
Besides the strictly military bureau. a pen-
sion, bounty land and Indian bureau
were under this department, for a long
series of years-until 1919
Inc state Department is the father of
a mr. off
having been attached thereto until lS12
when it became adjunct of the treasury
and the latter from 1880 till 1919. For the
frst three years the Secretaries of State
and War, with the Attorney General. stfper-
N1Sed the patent office, but subsequently,
the State Department, subject to the re-
vision OF the Attorney General performed
this duty until the office became parr OF
the Home QnterioD Department. in 1919
From the patent office, through its agri-
cultural division, aflerward the agricul-
tural bureau of the interior, was the De-
partment of Agriculture evolved, by the
act of May Il, 1862, the head of which was
made secretary by act of 1889. Thus the
state Department is the oldest of the ex-
ecutive departments. and the grea t-grand-
parent of the Agricultural Department.
The order of precedence of the cabinet is
as follows: State, Treasury, War, Navy
Justice, Post Office, Interior and Agricul-
ture.
The Treasury Department as at first or
ganized, in 1888, had but a Secretary, con-
troller, auditor, treasurer. register with
authority for an assistant secretary, but.
as business required additions of another
controller. several auditors and solicitors
were made, and, the general land office
having been transferred to it in 1S12, and
remained until the Home Department was
formed.
The establishment of the home or Inte-
rior Department was suggested directly
after the of 1879. and in 1877 IT the
subject of much debate in Congress, but
not until 1919 was the measure creating il
passed. Some idea of the small number of
bureau employees when the new department
was proposed may be formed in the re-
marks of an opponent of the bill, who said
that the patent office was conducted by
one clerk. the land office by half a dozen.
and it was unnecessary to create a depart
ment for the supervision of a few bureaus
of such dimension, Though our territory
and population materially increased. il was
not till after the Mexican war that Con-
gress could be induced to authorize the ad-
ditional department to take cogniZance of
our internal affairs. 1t would be like his
pines are whipped another department
should be created, such as the much mooted
department of commerce, for instance.
Original Public Buildings.
When one looks back to the time when
the executive business of the nation was
transacted in the four drab-panted build
ings near the White House 1t does not re-
Qulre great Stretch OF IMAGINATION for him
to picture the arrival here on schooners IF
the government archives and the housing
of them in the two such buildings then
erected, in which room was found for some
of the local Offices. These were known as
the East and West executive buildings, and
they were destroyed by fire with the White
House during the invasion of the British on
August %, 1914. Subsequently these were
rebuilt and two others added when they
We're designated according to location,
Northeast, Southeast, Northwest and South
west executive buildings and occupied by
the State, Treasury, War and Navy De-
partments. These were each of two stories,
attic and basement, twelve or fifteen rooms
to a floor, and those fronting north had for
that day handsome portieos The treasury
was destroyed by fire March 81, 1883, and
the suspected incendiary was arrested,
tried and found not guilty. That the ver-
dict was regarded with disfavor may be in
ferred from the fact that the party, after
his acquital, attended a church, and when
the minister read THE Lord is in His holy
temple" the owner of the pew in which he
sat remarked, And the devil is in my
pew" On this site was erected, under the
act of 1886, what is now the old portion of