Founded in 1800 by an act appropriating $5,000 for the purchase of “books for the use of both Houses of Congress,” the Library continued, down to the midpoint of its 139 years of history, to be no more than its name implies—a collection for the use of the National Legislature. By 1865 the Library had attained a growth of 82,000 volumes, which was notable among American libraries neither in size nor in service rendered.

The collections include the library of Thomas Jefferson (6,760 volumes, the nucleus of the present collections, purchased for $23,950 in 1815), the Peter Force and the Toner collections of American history, the Smithsonian Institution’s unequaled collection of the proceedings of learned societies of the world, the Yudin collection of Russian books (with later additions probably the largest outside of Russia), the collection of John Boyd Thacher (fifteenth-century books, and books on the French Revolution, early Americana, autographs of European notables), the Schiff-Deinard collection of Hebrew literature, and 130,000 Chinese books, understood to be one of the largest and best-organized collections outside the Orient. Most notable among recent accessions is the Vollbehr collection of 3,000 fifteenth-century books (incunabula), for whose purchase Congress appropriated $1,500,000 in July, 1930. The gem of this group is the Gutenberg Bible, one of the three extant perfect copies on vellum of the first great book printed in Europe from movable type (A. D. 1450-1455).

Manuscripts relating chiefly to American history are among the Library’s greatest treasures. The reproducing by photography of manuscript materials for American history in foreign archives and libraries, which since 1927 has formed so significant a portion of the division’s work, has added more than 2,000,000 pages to the resources which students of that history can use in Washington without going to Europe.

Chief among originals beyond all price are the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States—both added in 1921—the personal papers of President Washington, many Presidents, and other statesmen.

The Library is rich in music. This collection numbers over 1,194,000 pieces and volumes, surpassed only in two or three European libraries. An auditorium of 500 seats, given and richly endowed by Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, provides free concerts and lectures.

Other notable groups are 1,400,000 maps and views; 542,000 engravings and other pictorial reproductions, including the splendid Pennell collections; the law library (404,000 volumes). The social and political sciences are represented by 890,500 volumes, language and literature by 350,000, history by 420,000, and pure science by 265,500.

The most recent important development in service is the division of aeronautics, established through a benefaction of $140,000 from the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for Aeronautics, now supplemented by an annual congressional appropriation.

Special facilities for serious research include some 50 individual study rooms and (elsewhere) 125 special desks or tables. Interlibrary loans for investigators whose work is likely to advance the boundaries of knowledge are sent far and wide through the United States and some abroad.

There is a service for blind readers which last year loaned 42,000 volumes in embossed type to some 3,000 readers in the United States.

Printed catalogue cards, numbering 110,000,000, prepared by the Library for its own catalogues, are sold at cost to some 6,300 other libraries, effecting for the subscribers prodigious savings in their cataloguing bills but yielding a revenue to the Treasury of $328,405.

Until very recently Congress alone provided the funds to meet all the Library’s expenses, excepting one gift of $20,000 received in 1904. But in 1925 the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board was created by Congress, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Librarian of Congress being ex officio chairman and secretary of the board, respectively. The act authorized the board to receive and invest funds for permanent endowments, and the Librarian to receive gifts of money for immediate disbursement. Already endowments aggregating about $2,000,000 and gift funds of $1,415,000 for immediate expenditure have been received and have yielded an income from 1925 to 1938 of $726,000. These new resources add to the bibliographic apparatus and support a project for developing an archive of American folk song. One endowment yields $4,000 per year for the purchase of recent Hispanic literature and employs a consultant to suggest items for purchase in this particular field.

Six consultants, men of professional rank and experience, are engaged (without any administrative duties) in advising the maturer users of the Library in their investigations. This unique service is to be found nowhere else in libraries.

Notable among gifts are those of John D. Rockefeller, jr.—one of $450,000 for the acquisition in facsimile copies of source material for American history existing in the archives of foreign countries, and another of $250,000 for the development of a great union catalogue of important books in other American libraries.

The scheme of classification, covering 5,000 printed pages, has been adopted in 80 large libraries in America and Europe.

Herbert Putnam, the Librarian, took office on April 5, 1899.

The Library staff, organized in 30 divisions, consists of 1,055 persons, of whom 585 are doing library work proper; 136 handle the copyright business, which since 1870 has been under direction of the Librarian; 204 constitute the building force, which guards the building day and night, keeps it in beautiful order, attends to heating, lighting, and ventilating the 15 acres of floor space, vacuum cleans—the year round—the 162 miles of books, and looks after the countless other mechanical matters. The remainder (111 persons) are printers and bookbinders engaged on Library work, but under the Public Printer’s direction; 19 are engaged on special projects.

FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY

When Henry C. Folger, of New York City, decided to build the library his first thought was to have this monument to the glory of Shakespeare designed in harmony with the architecture of Shakespeare’s time. However, the library being in Washington, very near the Capitol, the House of Representatives and Senate Office Buildings, and the Library of Congress (to which group was added the Supreme Court Building), made it appear somewhat dangerous to introduce Elizabethan architecture in such a classical frame.

After a conference with Dr. Paul Cret, architect, and Alexander B. Trowbridge, consultant, Mr. Folger agreed with this view, and a white marble structure of classic design was agreed upon. However, if the façades of a building are part of the scenery, once the door is passed, it is quite legitimate to harmonize the interiors with the collections therein displayed. It was with this end in view that the general plan was studied and adopted.

The requirements of the donor necessitated a reading room as free as possible from disturbance, and to find, for the benefit of the public, a room where could be displayed some selected material—books, prints, costumes, paintings, and works of art relating to Shakespeare. An exhibition room and theater were laid out to form a somewhat separated unit. The location of this reading room on the courtyard side away from the street noise is also more favorable to study. Below the reading room are two stories of stacks fully lighted by the courtyard.

The exhibition hall and the reading room form the center of the plan. The east wing is occupied by the lecture room-theater, which has its own lobby, and can be used at night independently of the rest of the building. The retiring rooms and dressing rooms are in the basement, and stairs lead to the balcony.

The west wing is occupied by the administration. On the main floor are the founder’s rooms and the offices of the director, his assistants, and clerks. On the second floor are the library staff workrooms and five private study rooms for scholars.

The over-all size of the building is 226 feet by 111 feet. It rises to a height of 48 feet on a property 364 feet by 186 feet. Work was started in November 1929. The façades were to harmonize in masses and material with classic Washington. A quiet modern Georgia marble façade, with silver grilles and balconies, was designed, using, as principal decoration, a set of nine bas-reliefs illustrating Shakespeare’s plays and some inscriptions emphasizing its purpose of memorial to a great poet.

The sculptural theme is based on the following plays: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Julius Caesar, Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Richard the Third, Hamlet, and Henry the Fourth. Their execution was entrusted to John Gregory of New York. They are placed so as to have more importance than the usual frieze—below each window of the exhibition room, at the proper height for the passer-by, and along a marble terrace raised 3 feet above the street level.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

The Smithsonian Institution was established by act of Congress in 1846, under the terms of the will of James Smithson, an Englishman, who in 1826 bequeathed his fortune to the United States to found, at Washington, under the name of the “Smithsonian Institution,” an establishment for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” The Institution is legally an establishment, having as its members the President of the United States, the Vice President, the Chief Justice, and the President’s Cabinet. It is governed by a Board of Regents. The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution is its executive officer and the director of its activities. The building was designed by James Renwick, architect.

The regents are empowered to accept gifts without action of Congress, in furtherance of the purpose of the Institution, and to administer trusts in accordance therewith. Throughout its history, the Smithsonian Institution has conducted and encouraged important scientific researches, explorations, and investigations, which have contributed largely to the advancement of knowledge, and thereby accomplishing the “increase of knowledge.” The “diffusion of knowledge” is carried on through several series of publications based on its researches and collections, through its museum and art gallery exhibits, and through an extensive correspondence. The Smithsonian issues 13 series of scientific publications which are distributed free to libraries, learned societies, and educational institutions throughout the world. It also maintains a library of 876,000 volumes, which consists mainly of transactions of learned societies and scientific periodicals.

The Institution has charge of the National Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the National Collection of Fine Arts, the Freer Gallery of Art, the International Exchange Service, the Bureau of American Ethnology, the National Zoological Park, and the Astrophysical Observatory (with several field stations).

The United States National Museum is the depository of the national collections. It is rich in the natural history, geology, paleontology, archeology, and ethnology of America, and has large and important collections illustrating American history, including military and naval material, and also valuable series relating to arts and industries. It is an educational and research museum and issues scientific publications. Its aeronautical collection includes the airplane The Spirit of St. Louis, deposited by Col. Charles A. Lindbergh in the spring of 1928.

The National Gallery of Art is a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution created by joint resolution of Congress approved March 24, 1937, as a result of the gift of Andrew W. Mellon to the Nation of his art collection of masterpieces valued at $50,000,000 and $10,000,000 to erect a building to house it. The above act accepting Mr. Mellon’s gift provided that the art collections already in possession of the Smithsonian Institution and therefore designated the National Gallery of Art should thereafter be known as the National Collection of Fine Arts. The National Gallery of Art is administered for the Smithsonian Institution, in which title is vested, by a Board of Trustees. The monumental marble building, designed by John Russell Pope, is now under construction on the site on the north side of the Mall between Fourth and Seventh Streets. (See p. 281 for illustration.)

The Bureau of American Ethnology is engaged particularly in the collection of information relating to the American Indians. The National Zoological Park has an area of 175 acres and is located adjacent to Rock Creek Park. Its collection comprises about 3,000 animals.

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

The Government Printing Office, in which the printing and bookbinding for the various branches of the National Government is executed, is located on North Capitol Street between G and H Streets NW. Covering almost a city block with its eight-story, red-brick building, this plant is the best-equipped and is reputed to be the largest printing office of its kind in the world.

Printing for the Government of the United States was first mentioned during the initial session of Congress, in 1789, in the form of a recommendation to that body that proposals be invited for “printing the laws and other proceedings of Congress.”

The first specific appropriation for public printing was passed in 1794, when an expenditure of $10,000 was authorized for “firewood, stationery, and printing.”

Between 1804 and 1814, Congress had no fixed policy in relation to printing. A contract system by the lowest bidder was adopted. The plan prevailed for 5 years but was very unsatisfactory, and Congress was compelled to look for a better method. In December, 1818, both houses passed a resolution appointing a joint committee to “consider and report whether any further provisions of law are necessary to insure dispatch, accuracy, and neatness in printing the documents of the two Houses of Congress.” The inquiries by this committee led them to New York and Philadelphia, where they studied printing costs and methods, and upon returning to Washington they made a report declaring most emphatically for the establishment of a national printing office as the only means by which Congress could secure necessary printing at reasonable costs.

No definite action was taken on the report, with the result that for the next forty-odd years the method of handling public printing was constantly changing. Some years there was a “Printer to the Senate” and a “Printer to the House,” both elected by a ballot of Congress, and in other years there was a “Superintendent of Public Printing.” Altogether it was expensive and impractical, and by act of Congress on June 23, 1860, a national printing office was authorized. On February 19, 1861, $135,000 was appropriated, and with this money the printing establishment of Joseph T. Crowell, located at H and North Capitol Streets, Washington, D. C., was purchased, upon approval of the Joint Committee on Printing. This building had been constructed in 1856 by Cornelius Wendell, as a private office. The building at that time was 243 by 61¹⁄₂ feet, 4 stories high, but by subsequent appropriations up to 1876 several additions were made to the original structure.

The plant, as taken over in 1861, employed between 300 and 400 persons and evidently was, for that period, very complete. It consisted of a drying room, pressroom, wetting room, job room, folding room, reading room, office, bindery, machine shop, boiler house, and stable. Among some of the items of equipment were 1 timepiece, 5 wrenches, one 40-horse engine, 104 pressboards, 2 wetting tubs, and a large assortment of book and job type. The reading room had eight armchairs, two pine desks, and one mahogany desk. The bindery had but few machines, with only 2 ruling and 2 cutting machines, but the list carried 10 pairs of shears, 4 bodkins, and other minor equipment. The pressroom had 23 Adams presses and 3 cylinder presses. With the stable came two horses, one wagon, and one carryall, and the boiler house had one 60-horse boiler, 525 feet of fire hose, five buckets, etc.

On March 23, 1861, President Lincoln appointed Hon. John Defrees, of Indiana, as the Superintendent of Public Printing. He reported that at once the cost of work decreased at least 15 percent from the old contract prices.

On March 3, 1873, the printing of the debates of Congress, then known as the Congressional Globe and handled under private contract, was taken over by the Government Printing Office and thereafter became the Congressional Record.

In 1876, Hon. A. M. Clapp, then Congressional Printer, was designated the first Public Printer, at a yearly salary of $3,600. Composing rooms employed 520 persons, pressroom 209, and bindery 591; in all, 1,361 persons were on the roll. The total yearly pay roll was $786,493. It cost $188,198 to print the Congressional Record in 1876, while binding of all kinds cost $402,069, paper $298,251, and the total output of the Office was charged at $1,617,469. The total purchase of machinery and equipment in that year was only $342.50.

In 1878 the building known as the Globe Vault was purchased from the private owner, together with the bound and unbound volumes of the Congressional Globe and all the stereotyped plates. The price paid was $100,000.

Fireproof extensions to the Government Printing Office were erected in 1879 and 1880. In 1882 the first fire escapes were installed, and force pumps proved such an attraction to the public that the apparatus had to be covered with canvas. Bows and arrows were also provided which would enable life lines to be “shot” through the upper windows.

By the act of January 12, 1895, the Office of the Superintendent of Documents was established in the Government Printing Office. Previously it was a part of the Interior Department. The principal functions of the office were the preparation of the official catalogs and indexes of the Government and distribution and sale of Government publications.

The Office was placed under operation of the civil-service law August 1, 1895. In the same year the Annex Building, formerly used by the Superintendent of Documents, was constructed, and in the following year the Public Printer reported the total floor space of the entire Office had increased to 8³⁄₄ acres.

In 1898 Congress appropriated $190,000 for the purchase of ground occupied by the present building. In 1899 the building was started. It was completed about 4 years thereafter, at a cost of $2,430,000.

In 1903 a small space in the Old Building was set aside as the “sick room.” Its equipment consisted of a cot, blanket, and a small supply of medicines contributed by the employees. This was the nucleus from which developed the first emergency hospital in any Government establishment and was the initial step toward scientific medical and surgical service. In 1907 an emergency room was installed and an additional physician and matron were assigned to that service.

The first linotype machine and the first monotype keyboard were installed in 1904. In 1912 electric trucks displaced the horse-and-wagon delivery. In 1915 the Government Printing Office was an exhibitor at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco, Calif.

Between 1921 and 1934 several innovations were made. A few of the outstanding are as follows: The eighth floor was remodeled and raised to provide room for the Cafeteria, Harding Hall, recreation rooms, rest rooms, and large space for productive work. The Cafeteria serves around 2,800 meals daily, and Harding Hall, seating 1,200, is devoted to social activities of employees and may be quickly converted into a ballroom, a motion-picture theater, or a forum. Recreational activities include orchestra, baseball clubs, bowling alleys, dances, moving pictures and lectures, annual excursions, and similar affairs. The photo-engraving plant was also added as one of the new mechanical departments and is also located on the eighth floor. A roof garden was built, covering practically the entire building. The emergency hospital was enlarged, and wards for men and women were provided, with beds, toilets, and shower baths.

Two hundred apprentices received training for occupational pursuits in the various printing and bindery trades represented in the Office.

A testing laboratory was established in the Office for the purpose of standardizing all materials, supplies, and stock used in the manufacture of printing.

The boiler and generating rooms were abolished, and the purchase of electric current and steam from the Capital Power Plant was started.

Since 1934, under the direction of Public Printer A. E. Giegengack, the Government Printing Office has continued to grow not only in size but also in public esteem. Under his leadership, appropriations for a much-needed building program were granted by Congress, and the erection of a warehouse and an eight-story, red-brick addition to the main Printing Office building was accomplished. The cost of this building program, which included buildings, machinery and equipment, furnishings, the expense of moving, and other incidentals, amounted to $7,700,000.

Among the many noteworthy improvements inaugurated for the betterment of service to the Government, to the public, and to the 5,500 employees of the Office, are the following:

The establishment of a department of typography, through which there are incorporated into Government printing the accepted improvements in the field of typography; the standardization of a type-metal alloy for all type-casting machines; the installation of a more efficient cost-finding and pay-roll bookkeeping system; the reestablishment of the Government Printing Office Apprentice School; and encouragement of greater employee participation in all social, fraternal, and welfare activities sponsored by the Office.

Uncle Sam’s Book Shop sold 10 million copies from its list of 65,000 publications in 1937. This department is called the Office of the Superintendent of Documents, which is located in the Government Printing Office building, and these Government publications, covering almost every phase of human endeavor, are for sale to the public at a reasonable price.

THE WHITE HOUSE

The site of the White House, or the President’s House, was selected by President Washington. It was part of the David Burnes farm, and at the time it was chosen a cornfield extended one-half mile south to the Potomac.

The cornerstone of the President’s House was laid on October 13, 1792, but not by George Washington, as the records show that he and his family were in Philadelphia at the time. The design was made by James Hoban, an architect of Dublin, Ireland, who won a $500 prize and a lot for the best plan. In its exterior it somewhat resembles the palace of the Duke of Leinster in Ireland. That, however, has Corinthian columns over a rusticated base, showing the influence of the Renaissance in England; and there are other distinctions in their classical motives.

The White House was first occupied by President and Mrs. John Adams, who moved in the latter part of November, 1800, the year Washington became the seat of government. At the time it was very incomplete, and much discomfort was experienced, particularly as to heating and lighting. The East Room was used to dry the family wash. The White House was not finished until 1826. Then and for many years following it secured its water from springs a short distance to the northeast, in the vicinity of what is now Franklin Square.

The President’s House, as it was then called, was considerably damaged by fire by the British, who threatened the destruction of the city in 1814. The building, except for the wings at each side, which were used for offices and servants’ quarters, was restored by Hoban. Of white sandstone, the building which became discolored by the fire was thereupon painted white and has since been known as the White House. It was first lighted by gas in 1848, and a system of heating and ventilating was installed in 1853.

The White House was remodeled during the administration of President Roosevelt in 1902, when the Executive Office was taken out of the building and placed in a temporary building to the west of the main building. This was enlarged during the administration of President Taft in 1909 to twice its former size. It was further remodeled in 1927 by making the building fireproof and constructing a third story out of the attic.

In 1929 it was found necessary by President Hoover to use also the basement for an office. In the same year the building was partially burned, but has since been rebuilt. It is thought by some that in the years to come the remodeled State Department Building will become the permanent Executive Office Building, and the State Department will have a new building on the west side of Lafayette Square.

The White House has a length of 183 feet (east and west) and a width of 85 feet; it is 58 feet high. The portico of Ionic columns forms a porte-cochère and measures 40 feet by 59 feet (east and west), and is 50 feet high.

The building contains many beautiful paintings and other works of art, among them a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, called the Lansdowne Stuart, which was saved by Dolly Madison by cutting the picture from its frame when the White House was burned by the British in 1814. It is now in the East Room, which is the great reception room, 82 feet long (the width of the mansion), 40 feet wide, and 22 feet high. From the ceiling hang three massive crystal chandeliers. In addition to numerous paintings, large vases and other articles adorn the room.

Other interesting rooms are the State Dining Room, the scene of brilliant State functions; the Blue Room—the President’s reception room—the walls of which are covered with rich blue corded silk, with window hangings of blue; the Red Room, the walls and window draperies of which are of red velvet; and the Green Room, which has on the walls green velvet. The wainscoting of the Green Room is of white enamel.

Large and beautiful grounds bound the White House on the south. Here the Marine Band plays every Saturday afternoon during the summer months. Also it is here where the annual Easter egg rolling takes place, always a great day for the boys and girls of Washington. The area is called the White Lot because about 1850 a board fence that later was painted white surrounded these grounds.

Originally the main entrance to the White House was on the south side, while the portico on the opposite side was a garden where the family spent their evenings. This is the arrangement observed to-day at Arlington House and at Mount Vernon, and is an indication that in the colonial days the back yards of homes were as nicely kept as were the front yards.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

In 1788 the Department of Foreign Affairs moved from Fraunce’s Tavern to a house owned by Philip Livingston, on the west side of Broadway, near the Battery, in New York City. Later it moved to another house on the same street on the opposite side. The Capital having been again located at Philadelphia, the department took up its abode first on Market Street, then on the southeast corner of Arch and Sixth Streets, then in North Alley, and finally at the northeast corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets, where it remained until it was moved to Washington, except for an interval of three months—from August to November, 1798—when it occupied the statehouse at Trenton, N. J., the office being moved from Philadelphia on account of an epidemic of yellow fever.

On July 27, 1789, the act establishing an executive department to be called the Department of Foreign Affairs was approved; but the Sedgwick Act, approved September 15, 1789, changed this title to the Department of State and that of the principal officer to the Secretary of State. A few days later John Jay, who was Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Confederation, was nominated to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Thomas Jefferson to be Secretary of State, and both were commissioned on September 26. Jay accepted at once, but continued to discharge the duties of Secretary of State for some months. Under date of October 13 President Washington informed Jefferson of his appointment, and added that Mr. Jay had been so obliging as to continue his good offices. When this letter was written Jefferson had not returned to America from his mission to France. Upon his arrival Jay recommended to him favorably “the young gentlemen in the office.” Jefferson formally entered upon the discharge of his duties on March 22, 1790.

When the seat of government was established in the District of Columbia in 1800 the archives and the seven employees of the Department of State were crowded into the Treasury Office, a building of 30 rooms, to the east of the White House. It was the only Government building sufficiently completed to receive them. John Marshall was then Secretary of State. On August 27, 1800, the Department of State was removed to one of the Seven Buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue and Nineteenth Street NW.

It has been interesting to determine positively the name of this historic group of buildings, because some confusion has arisen through there being in 1800 two groups or rows of houses, near to one another, one called the Six Buildings and the other the Seven Buildings. Christian Hines, in his Early Recollections of Washington City (1866), says, when giving a list of the few houses standing in the year 1800:

Samuel C. Busey, in his Pictures of the City of Washington in the Past (1898), refers to and confirms Hines’s statements as to these two sets of buildings, and adds that in the Six Buildings was located O’Neal’s famous hotel. All writers apparently agree that the first home of the Department of State in Washington was in the house on the northwest corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Nineteenth Street. This row of buildings—Nos. 1901-1913 Pennsylvania Avenue—is still standing, though it has undergone considerable change.

From the early part of 1820 to November, 1866, the Department of State was located at the corner of Fifteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW., in what was known as the Executive Building. The picture shown below was given to William McNeir, chief of the division of accounts of that department, by Thomas Ridgate, who found it in the attic of the old building. It will be noted from the picture, which shows the Treasury Department Building columns at the extreme left, that it was taken before the building was razed to make room for the north wing of the present Treasury Department Building; the rest of the new building had at that time been erected. Of this building Jonathan Eliot states, in his Historical Sketches of the Ten Mile Square, describing Washington in 1830:

W. K. Force, in his Picture of Washington for 1850, said, speaking of the northeast Executive Building:

John Quincy Adams was Secretary of State when the move to this new home was made, and thereafter followed a long list of distinguished Secretaries, the last to occupy this building being William H. Seward, from 1861 to 1869.

The north wing of the present Treasury Department Building bears on its exterior wall on Fifteenth Street a tablet, erected April 30, 1929, by the Kiwanis Club of Washington, in cooperation with the Committee on Marking Points of Historic Interest, which contains the following inscription:

FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA WAS DEVELOPED AND STRENGTHENED BY THE SIGNING OF THE WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY, ON AUGUST 9, 1842, IN THE OLD STATE DEPARTMENT BUILDING WHICH STOOD ON THIS SITE. THIS TREATY ESTABLISHED THE NORTHEASTERN BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES.

On March 3, 1871, Congress appropriated half a million dollars to start work on the State, War, and Navy Departments Building. The act provided:

The original plans were drawn by Thomas U. Walter, a noted Philadelphia architect, who designed the Dome of the Capitol and the completed Treasury Building, but A. B. Mullett, Supervising Architect of the Treasury, undertook the work, and finally only the interior conformed to the original plans.

The building was erected in five different sections. The south wing was commenced in 1871 and completed in time for the Department of State to move in July 1, 1875. The east wing was commenced in 1872 and completed seven years later, so that on April 16, 1879, the War and Navy Departments moved into that wing. The old War Department Building, which had occupied the site of the north wing of the present building, was demolished in 1879, and the new building or north wing was completed three years later, the War Department moving into it in December, 1882. The west and center wings were the last to be erected, work on them commencing March 31, 1883, and being completed January 31, 1888. For a long time each wing was necessarily separated by a solid wall—and later by an iron grill, or gates in the corridors—but finally these disappeared, and the beauty of the long corridors as they now are appeared. The total cost of the whole building was slightly more than $10,000,000, and appropriations therefor spread over a period of 17 years. Separate permanent buildings for the War and the Navy Departments are now to be erected, these two departments being housed at present largely in temporary buildings. The Department of State alone remains in the building.

In 1910 a building for the Department of State was recommended for a site along Fifteenth Street, south of Pennsylvania Avenue, where now the Department of Commerce has been built. In 1917 it was recommended that a Department of State Building be erected on the west side of Lafayette Square.

In the new Federal building program Congress has provided that the present State, War, and Navy Building be remodeled to conform in design to the Treasury Department Building, and to be known as the Department of State Building. The building will thus properly balance the White House. Congress made a fund of $3,000,000 available for this work. The Secretary of the Treasury appointed Waddy Wood, architect of Washington, to prepare the design, which has been approved by the Commission of Fine Arts. However, the project has been held in abeyance.

The Department of State was created as the first department of the Government in 1789, in order to help the President in carrying on our foreign relations. However, in the early years of our country the Department of State not only had charge of foreign affairs, but, as Thomas Jefferson, the first Secretary of State, once wrote, it also had charge of all important matters of domestic government as well, except matters of war and finance. In the early days the Secretary of State even managed the mint. Until 1849 he had charge of the Patent Office, until 1859 handled all copyright matters, and until 1850 the census of the United States was taken under his direction. Before the Civil War, United States judges, marshals, and attorneys all received their instructions from the Department of State, but in 1870 a new Department of Justice was established to take care of these matters, and little by little much of the domestic work was taken from this department and put under new departments, such as the Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Commerce. Therefore, to-day the Department of State devotes most of its time to handling foreign affairs, although it is still the custodian, or the keeper, of the great seal, the official seal of the Government of the United States. When Congress passes new laws the original copies are kept in this department, and when there is any correspondence between the various States of the Union and the Federal Government it is carried on through the Department of State.

The Secretary of State has a force of some 950 people in the department in Washington, and about 3,800 people scattered over all the world in the Foreign Service of the United States. The department in Washington is divided into 35 divisions and offices, each with its special work to perform. Six divisions have charge of matters pertaining to foreign countries—South and Central America; the Far East, as China, Japan, and Siam; the division of Western European affairs; Eastern European affairs; a division of the Near East; and the Mexican division.

One of the largest offices in the department is the passport division, which issues passports to American citizens traveling in foreign countries. Last year 134,737 Americans obtained passports so that they might travel abroad, the fees for which amounted to nearly $1,500,000, almost enough to pay the entire expenses of the Department of State.

When foreigners wish to come to this country they must first go to one of our American consuls to obtain a visa or a permit. The immigration of foreigners into this country is now restricted by law. Therefore our consuls examine the foreigners abroad, so that they may know before starting on their journey whether they will be allowed to remain in this country. The visa division of the Department of State has charge of that work.

Whenever there are expositions or meetings of various kinds abroad, and it is decided that the United States Government shall take part in them, such participation has to be arranged through another of the divisions of the Department of State. As many as 150 cables are sent every day to all parts of the world, which are taken care of in the department’s telegraph office. In many foreign countries our Government is now buying and constructing its own buildings for our ambassadors and consuls, and one of the offices in the department attends to these matters.

The Secretary of State is assisted in the direction of all these officers and offices by an Under Secretary of State, four Assistant Secretaries of State, and a legal adviser. The United States has an ambassador or minister in 54 different countries of the world. There are 314 foreign commercial cities where the United States has a consul general, consul, vice consul, or consular agent, who, among other duties, help steamship lines and great business establishments to promote commerce with the United States. Our consuls protect and assist the hundreds of American missionaries whose stations are in remote foreign regions of the world. In addition to their many duties they help thousands of visitors during trips abroad who seek advice. And when an American is visiting in a foreign land, even though scenery and ruins that recall civilizations of past ages give him pleasure, there is nothing that gives him more joy than to see in such places the Stars and Stripes waving over a United States consulate.

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

The Department of the Treasury was created by act of Congress September 2, 1789. Robert Morris, of Pennsylvania, financier and statesman, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, was the first financial officer of the Government and was Superintendent of Finance from 1781 to 1784. Upon the resignation of Morris the powers conferred upon him by the Continental Congress were transferred to the Board of the Treasury. This board served until Alexander Hamilton, of New York, the first Secretary of the Treasury, assumed office. Hamilton served from September 11, 1789, to January 31, 1795, thus serving under President Washington. Since the formation of the Government there have been 50 Secretaries of the Treasury; the present incumbent, Hon. Henry Morgenthau, jr., of New York, assumed office January 1, 1934. The Secretary of the Treasury, of course, has supervision over the finances of the Government. The annual estimates, however, since 1921 have been transmitted to Congress by the Director of the Budget for the President of the United States.

The first building of the Treasury Department situated at this location east of the White House was a small wooden structure, called the State and Treasury Departments Building. It was built at the time the seat of government was established in the District of Columbia in 1800 and comprised 30 rooms. This original building was burned by the British during the invasion of Washington in 1814. A second building was erected. This was destroyed by fire in 1833. In 1836 Congress authorized the erection of “a fireproof building of such dimensions as may be required for the present and future accommodations.” Also the material for the building was to be similar to that used for the Capitol and the White House. The architect was Mr. Robert Mills, who at the same time was designing the Patent Office Building and later won the competition for the design of the Washington Monument. When it came to the question of location of the new building, it is said that President Andrew Jackson, becoming impatient at the delay, said “Here, right here, is where I want the corner stone laid.” Thus the building stands where it is to-day. In 1839 the department was installed in the unfinished building.

The Treasury Building consists of a 4-story rectangle around a large central court; this court is divided by a corridor of offices. On the west the building faces the beautiful White House Grounds, its north side is on Pennsylvania Avenue, its east front runs along Fifteenth Street, and its south side overlooks a half-mile stretch of park leading down to the Potomac River.

The building completed in 1842 included only the middle portion of the present east wing and the central corridor and offices. The south wing was completed in 1861, the west wing in 1864, and the north wing in 1869. It is an imposing granite structure. In design it is pure Grecian, furnishing what is claimed to be one of the finest examples of this style of architecture in Washington, if not in the entire country. There are great pediments on the north, south, and west sides. Monolithic columns of the Ionic order adorning the façades are the distinguishing feature of the building architecturally. There are 72 of these columns, each 36 feet in height, 30 being set to form an unbroken colonnade 341 feet long on the east front. Most of the granite used was brought to Washington in sailing vessels from Maine. The building has 488 rooms and cost over $6,000,000.

The department long ago outgrew the building. The personnel in Washington now numbers more than 22,000, with some 26 main bureaus and divisions. At present Department of the Treasury bureaus occupy, in addition to the main building, 9 entire buildings and part of 6 other buildings owned by the Government and 5 rented quarters. The Treasury Annex is an imposing building, designed by Cass Gilbert, across Pennsylvania Avenue on the north. Congress has authorized its extension to H Street.

The Department of the Treasury is the central agency through which the Federal Government conducts its financial affairs. Generally speaking, it receives and has custody of all funds paid to the Government and disburses all moneys of the Government. At the head of the department are the Secretary of the Treasury, the Under Secretary of the Treasury, and three Assistant Secretaries of the Treasury, whose offices are all located in the main building.

The receipts of the Government come chiefly from internal-revenue collections and customs duties. The Bureau of Internal Revenue administers and enforces the internal-revenue laws and collects all internal-revenue taxes. The personnel of this bureau has been brought together and now occupies a beautiful new building recently completed as part of the development along the Mall. Import duties or customs are collected by the Bureau of Customs.

Disbursements of Government funds can be made only on the authorization of Congress. When any payment is authorized, a warrant signed by the Secretary of the Treasury and countersigned by the Comptroller General of the United States is drawn. Upon this authority payment is made. The division of bookkeeping and warrants, under the general supervision of the commissioner of accounts and deposits, keeps complete records of all appropriation accounts as well as of public moneys covered into the Treasury and of warrants authorizing disbursements.

The Treasurer of the United States is charged with responsibility for the actual receipt and disbursement of all public moneys that may be deposited in the United States Treasury and in all other depositaries authorized to receive deposits of Government funds for credit in the account of the Treasurer of the United States. He has also many other fiscal duties.

The public-debt service handles the records and operations pertaining to the issue and retirement of the public debt and the interest payments thereon, under the supervision of the commissioner of the public debt.

The Bureau of the Mint manufactures the coin circulating medium of the country. It maintains mints at Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Denver for the coinage of money, as well as assay offices in New York and elsewhere. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Washington engraves and prints notes, bonds, securities, stamps, checks, etc.

The Comptroller of the Currency is charged under the law with the supervision of national banks.