The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03

great creative works now under way in the various departments Said he:
 Every one of the administrative cf- lfices is taking on creative features. The postoffice, which was formerly, a mere transmitter of letters, has iust started postal savings banks, and if is protesting the people from frauds through the mails. The department of war, which is the great national and international police force of the government, has taken charge of the Philippines and our other island possessions, and it is doing all sorts of creative work there. It is even build | ing the Panama canal. The treasury, which was once only machine for the collection of revenues, is now the Gounda- tion of our national banks, and it is also erecting public buildings throughout the country. The department of justice is watching your interests In the restric- ltion of the corporations and trusts, and the department Of the navy has many creative features. As for the interior that has become 9 great conservation blI- reau, which is conserving our coal lands. reclaiming our deserts and draining the swamps It is also watching )ver inc safety of the men in the mines. And Hast. as to the department of agriculture, that has so largely to do with creative work that if is impossible to describe it's i Ir5iuidcatons
 "But how about your own depart ment MT. Seeretary?" I asked. You. too. are not idle. Give me san outline nf your work in a nutshell"
 Tt is difficult to put the department of commerce and labor in a nutshell" 1 as the saoretarys reply. "A year or so ago we were employing more men than there arc soldiers in the United States army. That was when the cen sus was in full swing We had last year over 71 ,009 enumerators and also l a temporary force of clerks numbering l three or four thousand. In addition to 1 the census, we have dozen different 1 bureaus here at Washington, each of which has its own work
 l ''Th's department. which was origin . 1 ally organized to deal with commerce. and labor and especially with the cor l poTatious and the business interests of l the United Stat.s. has taken in many l of the lurea'ss Of the other depart . i ments, rhe bureau of manufactures. far in7tance. is an offspring of the aepaTtr1"nt of state It Is devoted to lthc det2loomeat of our domestic and
 foreign trade and it publishes informa ton Gathefsd hy the census, who are
 under tEe state department. We have
 also our own special agents who travel
 over the world looking up trade and NA"Nt DHtulllHS- IHeN are gathering 2
 Information to certain classes of ex-
 ports, reporting the demand for then in each country and telling how they
 slould 10 handled and marketed We
 publish daily reports from other coun-
 tries aa tp tha opportunities offered fo,
 American manufactures, and in time we
 shall have z corps of such experts go.
 ing from trade center to trade center
 in the United States and advising the
 people ho@ and where to market theil
 products abroad.
 Our Foreign Trade
 Tn the same way we have inherited
 the bureau of statistics from the de.
 partment of the treasury. This has
 also to do with our foreign commerce
 and, together with the bureau of man.
 ufactures. it gives a vast amount ot
 valuable information as to Uncle Sam
 business and how it may be spread
 to every part of the globe. With other