viii FOREWORD 



foundations been laid for a thorough consideration of the 

 relations of all of its parts. No comprehensive effort has 

 been made to list its multifarious activities or to group them 

 in such a way as to present a clear picture of what the govern- 

 ment is doing. Never has a complete description been given of 

 the agencies through which these activities are performed. At 

 no time has the attempt been made to study all of these activi- 

 ties and agencies with a view to the assignment of each activ- 

 ity to the agency best fitted for its performance, to the avoid- 

 ance of duplication of plant and work, to the integration of 

 all administrative agencies of the government, so far as may 

 be practicable, into a unified organization for the most effec- 

 tive and economical dispatch of public business." 



To lay the basis for such a comprehensive study of the 

 organization and operations of the national government as 

 President Taft outlines, the Institute for Government Re- 

 search has undertaken the preparation of a series of mono- 

 graphs, of which the present study is one, giving a detailed 

 description of each of the fifty or more distinct services of the 

 government. These studies are being vigorously prosecuted, 

 and it is hoped that all services of the government will be 

 covered in a comparatively brief space of time. Thereafter, 

 revisions of the monographs will be made from time to time 

 as need arises, to the end that they may, as far as is prac- 

 ticable, represent current conditions. 



These monographs are all prepared according to a uniform 

 plan. They give: first, the history of the establishment and 

 development of the service; second, its functions, described 

 not in general terms, but by detailing its specific activities; 

 third, its organization for the handling of these activities; 

 fourth, the character of its plant; fifth, a compilation of, or 

 reference to, the laws and regulations governing its opera- 

 tions; sixth, financial statements showing its appropriations, 

 expenditures and other data for a period of years; and finally, 

 a full bibliography of the sources of information, official and 

 private, bearing on the service and its operations. 



