president of the United States shall, from time to time, order or instruct.

(Sect. 2.) And be it further enacted, That there shall be in the said department an inferior officer, to be appointed by the said principal officer, and to be employed therein as he shall deem proper, and to be called the chief clerk in the department of foreign affairs; and who, whenever the said principal offices shall be removed from office by the president of the United States, or in any other case of vacancy, shall, during such vacancy, have the charge and custody of all records, books, and papers, appertaining to the said department.

(Sect. 3.) And be it further enacted, That the said principal officer, and every other person to be appointed or employed, in the said department, shall, before he enters on the execution of his office or employment, take an oath or affirmation, well and faithfully to execute the trust committed to him.

(Sect. 4.) And be it further enacted, That the secretary for the department of foreign affairs, to be appointed in consequence of this act, shall, forthwith after his appointment, be entitled to have the custody and charge of all records, books, and papers, in the office of secretary for the department of foreign affairs, heretofore established by the United States in congress assembled,

(Approved, July 27, 1789.)

Before the final passage of this Act, but after it had passed the House, Vining, of Delaware, mapped out what were to be the functions of the Home Department, which should be separate from the Foreign Department. His resolutions, as introduced in the House, read:

*** That an Executive department ought to be established, and to be denominated the Home department; the head of which to be called the Secretary of the United States for the Home Department; whose duty it shall be to correspond with the several States, and to see to the execution of the laws of the Union; to keep the great seal, and affix the same to all public papers, when it is necessary; to keep the lesser seal, and to affix it to commissions, &c.; to make out commissions, and enregister the same; to keep authentic copies of all public acts, &c.; and transmit the same to the several States; to procure the acts of the several States, and report on the same when contrary to the laws of the United States; to take into his custody the archives of the late Congress; to report to the President plans for the protection and improvement of manufactures, agriculture, and commerce; to obtain a geographical account of the several States, their rivers, towns, roads, &c. ; to report what post roads shall be established; to receive

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and record the census; to receive reports respecting the Western territory; to receive the models and specimens presented by inventors and authors; to enter all books for which patents are granted; to issue patents, &c.; and, in general, to do and attend to all such matters and things as he may be directed to do by the President.*

The proposition met with little favor. Benson, of New York, thought "the less the government corresponded with particular states the better;" and White, of North Carolina, gave it as his opinion that correspondence with States was the business of the Chief Executive, and it belonged to the judiciary to see that the laws were executed. The great seal might be kept by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and the lesser seal also. Commissions should be made out by the departments under which the appointees were to serve. The public acts could be sent to the Executives of the States by the officers of Congress. Post roads properly belonged

*Annals of Congress, I, 666.

†There was no lesser seal, nor was one ever authorized.

under the supervision of the Postmaster-General, and it was hardly necessary to establish a great department for the purpose of receiving the models, specimens, and books presented by inventors and authors.

To this Vining replied that the duties mentioned in his resolutions were necessary, but that they were foreign to each of the departments projected. He thought they could best be performed by a confidential officer under the President.

As soon as the resolutions had been defeated, Theodore Sedgwick, of Connecticut, moved

That a committee be appointed to bring in a bill supplementary to the act for establishing the Department of Foreign Affairs, declaring that department to be hereafter denominated -, and that the principal officer in that department shall have custody of the records and seal of the United States, and that such bill do contain a provision for the fees of office to be taken for copies of records, and further provision for the due publication of the acts of Congress, and such other matters relating to the premises,

as the Committee shall deem necessary to be reported to this House.

This motion was also lost, but July 31 Sedgwick introduced a bill "to provide for the safe keeping of the acts, records, and great seal of the United States, for the publication, preservation, and authentication of the acts of Congress &c," which was read the third time and passed August 27. It was reported to the Senate the next day, referred to a committee composed of Rufus King, William Patterson, and George Read, concurred in with slight amendments September 7, reported back to the House and agreed to the following day.§ The President signed it the 15th. This was the bill establishing the Department of State. It read as follows:

An act to provide for the safe keeping of the acts, records, and seal, of the United States, and for other purposes. (Sect. 1.) Be it enacted by the senate and house of repre

*Annals of Congress, I, 674 et seq.

†U. S. Senate MS. archives.

Annals of Congress, I, 73, 74, 75.

2 Ibid., 886.