these respective departments.
It is a matter of interest, but somewhat foreign to the topics we have in hand, to note how, as an extra- constitutional body, it has grown into recognized exist- ence and prominence as a part of the executive branch of the government. It appears that Washington began his administration by observing the practice, apparently marked out in the Constitution, of calling upon the heads of departments for written opinions, but he not infrequently called them together for consultation. The same practice was observed under John Adams; but in Jefferson's time the Cabinet assumed more the definite shape now given to it. There is no obligation resting upon the President under the laws of Congress, as we have seen there is none under the Constitution, to consult or be governed by the opinions of his depart-
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ment chiefs. For instance, the act creating the De- partment of Foreign Affairs (State) provides in express terms that the secretary "shall conduct the business of the department in such manner as the President of the United States shall from time to time order or instruct." It is stated, upon the authority of one of its members, that Mr. Jefferson did not ask the advice of his Cabinet in the most important event of his ad- ministration the purchase of Louisiana; Mr. Lincoln made the final decision respecting his proclamation of emancipation without consulting his Cabinet; l and Mr. McKinley is understood to have resolved upon the annexation of Hawaii contrary to the views of his Sec- retary of State.
Although the head of the State Department is in a certain sense the mere clerk of the President, it has been asserted that his position is of such importance that he is one of six men, who, through constitutional forms, constitute a nearly irresponsible despotism, the other five being the President, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Speaker of the House, and the chairmen of the two important committees of the two houses of Congress. 2 This is an exaggerated figure of speech, but there is no doubt the Secretary of State occupies a position whereby, through his own hasty or intem- perate action, or that of his agents abroad, he could involve the country in complications which might seri- ously jeopardize its interests or its honor, or even em- broil it in war. Fortunately, the care with which the
1 6 Nicolay and Hay's Lincoln, 405.
2 Schuyler's American Diplomacy, 4.
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office has been filled has not exposed the country to any such peril. Washington called to the place as first secretary Thomas Jefferson, who stood in the first rank of our Revolutionary statesmen. For three successive terms the Secretary of State succeeded to the Presi- dency. John Quincy Adams and Lincoln appointed their party rivals to the post. The selection of his Secretary of State is the first duty of every newly elected President, and is made with more care than that of any other officer. Six Secretaries of State have been elected President, and in the list appear, be- sides, the illustrious names of John Marshall, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, William L. Marcy, Lewis Cass, William H. Seward, and James G. Elaine.
While the Secretary of State cannot, as understood in Europe, be termed the Prime Minister, in a certain sense he is the head of the Cabinet. By law he suc- ceeds to the Presidency on the death or disability of the President and Vice-President; he sits at the right of the President at the Cabinet table, and is given pre- cedence over his colleagues on all occasions of cere- mony. The secretary also holds very intimate relations with the President, owing to the important and often delicate character of his duties, and the work of no member of the Cabinet is more closely scrutinized by his chief. Such has been the case since the organiza- tion of the government, as will be seen from the follow- ing extracts from notes of Secretary Jefferson to Presi- dent Washington :
" Mr. Jefferson has the honor of enclosing for the
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perusal of the President rough drafts of the letters he supposes proper to send to the court of France on the present occasion. He will have that of waiting on him in person immediately to make any changes in them that the President will be so good as to direct, and to communicate to him the letters just received from Mr. Short [charge d'affaires to France]. " April 5, 1790, a quarter before one." *
And, again : " He sends some letters for the Presi- dent's perusal, praying him to alter freely anything in them which he thinks may need it."
The duties of the Department of State are not con- fined exclusively to the business of the foreign rela- tions of the government, and this was much more the case in past years. For a considerable period this de- partment had charge of patents, copyrights, the census, the affairs of the Territories, pardons, and the prepara- tion and publication of the "Official Register," or "Blue Book; " but from time to time these have been trans- ferred to other departments. Among the present duties of the Department of State not directly relating to foreign affairs is that of receiving and publishing the laws of Congress. The acts when engrossed and signed are deposited in this department, and from these certi- fied copies are made when required; and under its supervision they are published. This department like- wise acts as the medium of the President's communica- tion and correspondence with the governors of States. The Secretary of State also attests the issuance of all presidential proclamations.
1 Department of State : Its History and Functions, 65.
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The Department of State is made by law the cus- todian of what is known as " the Great Seal of the United States." Each department and various other branches of the public service have been authorized by law to use a special seal in the course of their business; but the Great Seal is only affixed to the commissions of cabinet, diplomatic, and consular officers, to ceremoni- ous communications from the President to foreign gov- ernments, to all treaties and formal agreements of the President with foreign powers, to exequaturs, to war- rants of extradition of criminals surrendered to foreign governments, and to the commissions of civil officers appointed by the President not by law authorized to bear some other seal. This seal has been guarded with jealous care, it having been in the charge of a single custodian (who has recently died) for more than forty years. By the provisions of the law of Congress enacted in 1789, it cannot be affixed to any commission or docu- ment until the same has been first signed by the Presi- dent of the United States, nor without the specially signed warrant of the President in each particular case. 1
One of the effects of the reorganization of the gov-
1 1 U. S. Stat. at Large, 68. The following is an extract from the Act of June 20, 1782, of the Continental Congress, establishing the Great Seal:
"The device for an armorial achievement and reverse of the Great Seal for the United States in Congress assembled, is as follows :
" Anns : Pale ways of thirteen pieces, argent and gules; a chief, azure; the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed proper, holding in his dexter talon an olive branch, and in his sinister a bundle of thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his beak a scroll, inscribed with this motto, ' E Pluribus Unum.'
"For the Crest: Over the head of the eagle, which appears above the escutcheon, a glory, or, breaking through a cloud, proper, and sur-
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eminent under the Constitution, clothing the executive with abundant power to enforce its international obliga- tions and to conduct its diplomatic intercourse, was to greatly enlarge the importance and usefulness of the Department of State. But from the beginning up to the present it has been one of the smallest of the de- partments in its official force, and least expensive in its cost to the government. The force of the department at the time of the adoption of the Constitution was the secretary, the chief clerk, and three subordinates, at a total cost of $6500. During the first Congress the salary of the Secretary of
