Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-16
Scope Of the Department.

Scope Of the Department.
The department today comprises the bu-
reau of corporations of which Mr.. James
r. Garfield. son Of the former President
and later a civil service commissioner is
the commissioner; the bureau Of the census,
Of which Mr. 8. N. D. North is director:
the bureau of labor, the lighthouse board,
the coast and geodetic survey, the bureau
OF statistics the steamboat and inspection
service the bureau of fisheries, the bureau
Of navigation, the bureau Of immigration
and the bureau of standards. Some of
these were Independent organizations be-
fore the creation Of the Department OF
Commerce and Labor, while others were
transferred from other departments to the
new one. Under this comprehensive organ
1zat1on every industrial question with which
the government is concerned comes for set
Element.
The Importance of some Of these bureaus
can scarcely be overestimated. The CEN
sus alone Is a great organization, and in
!9lO. when the next census of the country
1s to be taken. 1t will be Of tremendous i'm
portance and employ thousands of clerks
and field workers Then there is the bu-
from the first been looked on with distrust
by the great industrial bodies of the coun-
try. owing to the powers which were given
1t in the act of Congress which created the
department. 1t has the power to investi-
gate the management Of any corporation
engaged in interstate commerce except
those that are under the care of the inter
state commerce commission-the common
carriers, or the interstate railroads and
steamboat lines-it can call on witnesses
and compel their attendance and elicit
from them such information as is desired
by the bureau. In this way it is in a po-
sitfon at any time to investigate the oper-
alton of any of the great corporations and
to place before the public an outline or
specific plan of just what is beingSdone by
the trusts. This bureau is the one that
has caused more worry among the great
corporations than any other, and it's op-
portunitles have yet to be put to the test
Its plan of organization is even as vet I'M
completed, and nothing has been done
toward the end to which reference has
been made, but there is no doubt that this
VIII come at such time when the bureau
IS ready to take up It's real work and the
opportunity is presented for investigation
OF any particular corporate body.
Protection Of Workmen.
The bureau of immigration is destined to
protect American workmen as they have
never before been protected, and to assure
to them the safety of their employment
from the incursions of any undesirable
foreign element. Anarchy Is held by this
bureau in check by stopping it's advocates
at the doors of the country, and the work
is making such strides that 1t can soon be
depended upon to effect a decided decrease
in the tremendous foreign element that
has been for years pouring into America.
1t has already done much toward making
the Chinese exclusion act exclude, and is
paying careful attention to every detail of
the immigration laws.
Other bureaus of the department are
likewise doing effective work along their
special lines, and all have shown some i'm
provement since gathering beneath the
wing of the new department. 1t can hard
ly be said that the Department of Com
merce and Labor is yet at work, for large
bodies move slowly, and it has been in ex-
istence for such short time as time goes
with great bodies, that it has scarcely got
out of pfnafores. But it's potential power
cannot be overestimated, and the belief is
steadily gaining converts that it is des-
tined to do more for the betterment of the
masses of the American people than any
branch of the government service yet es-
tablished