reports from consuls should first be sent to the State Department and edited by that Department before being sent to the Department of Commerce. That is the object, and this amendment was drawn in harmony with that view.

As the bill has been amended, the paragraph from which the Senator has been reading reads as follows:

And all consular officers of the United States, including consul-generals—

Mr. SPOONER. Where does the Senator read from?

Mr. NELSON. From page 5 of the new print of the bill, commencing in line 10And all consular officers of the United States, including consul-generals, consuls, and commercial agents, are hereby required, and it is made part of their duty, under the direction of the Secretary of State

The words "under the direction of the Secretary of State" have been put in. Then the clause goes on

to gather and compile, from time to time, upon the request of the Secretary of Commerce, useful and material information and statistics in respect to the commerce, industries, and markets of the countries and places to which such consular officers are accredited, and to send, under the direction of the Secretary of State

There those words have been inserted again—

reports quarterly, or oftener if required, of the information and statistics thus gathered and compiled, to the Secretary of the Department of Commerce.

The amendment now pending is supplemental to those changes. It is to provide somebody in the State Department to revise the commercial reports that come in from our consular officers and eliminate all matters of a diplomatic or quasi-diplomatic character, so as to send only commercial matter to the Department of Commerce.

Mr. SPOONER. I am obliged to the Senator for calling my attention to the amendment. I was not aware of it. It has put the language in a form which makes it altogether acceptable to me, and as the Senate has already adopted the amendment which I had marked as proper to be made in the old draft of the bill, so far as that is concerned I have nothing further to say. I think, however, that the amendment proposing an additional section may be improved upon by making it a little more elastic. It reads:

A person, to be designated by the Secetary of State, shall be appointed to formulate for the instruction of consular officers

That makes it by law the duty of this particular officer to formulate these instructions

the requests of the Secretary of Commerce, and to prepare from the dispatches of consular officers, for transmission to the Secretary of Commerce, such information as pertains to the work of the Department of Commerce; and such person shall have the rank and salary of a chief of bureau and be furnished with such clerical assistance as may be deemed necessary by the Secretary of State. Mr. NELSON. I simply suggest to the Senator that it would meet the objection by inserting there that the work shall be done "under the direction of the Secretary of State." Putting in those words will cover any objection the Senator nght have on that point-that he shall do it "under the direction of the Secretary of State."

Mr. SPOONER. I think it would be better to amend the amendment so as to provide that for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of section 5 the Secretary of State is authorized to appoint some suitable officer, who shall have the rank and salary of a chief of bureau, and be furnished with such clerical assistance as may be deemed necessary by the Secretary of State. In other words, whoever is appointed there is to work under the direction and care of the Secretary of State, and his peculiar functions ought not to be prescribed by statute. The Secretary of State might have occasion to call upon some other bureau of the Department, or some other officer, and he ought to be left free-handed. I am perfectly willing that an additional person shall be appointed, or a bureau created, but I do not like the language of the amendment prescribing by law the particular duty of this person. I suppose the Secretary of State could change the heads of the various bureaus or make a redistribution of the functions of the different bureaus, and he ought, as far as possible in that respect, to be left free, just as any Secretary should be, I think. I will draft an amendment, if the Senator is not wedded to this proposition, which will accomplish the same thing.

Mr. NELSON. NO; I am not wedded to any particular language. In view of the fact that the Senator from Maine [Mr. Hale] is not disposed to insist upon his amendment to transfer the Coast and Geodetic Survey to the Navy Department, but is content to leave it under the Treasury Department, if no Senator from the Committee on Commerce is opposed to it, I shall be disposed to acquiesce in striking the Coast and Geodetic Survey out of this bill.

Mr. HALE. Let that be done; and if there is any controversy hereafter about it, it can come up by itself.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Nelson]?

Mr. JONES, of Arkansas. What is the request?

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. To strike out the provision in relation to the Coast and Geodetic Survey.

Mr. NELSON. To leave the Coast and Geodetic Survey where it is, in the Treasury Department. We do not do anything with it.

Mr. BACON. Let the proposed amendment be stated.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment proposed by the Senator from Minnesota will be stated.

The SECRETARY. On page 3, section 4, line 11, it is proposed to strike out “and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.'

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. GALLINGER. I suggest that the word "and" be inserted after the word "Immigration."

Mr. NELSON. I will move that amendment.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment will be stated.

The SECRETARY. On page 3, section 4, line 10, after the words "Bureau of Immigration," it is proposed to insert the word "and."

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. SPOONER. I will move an amendment to the amendment of the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Lodge]. In line 2, after the word "formulate," I move to insert the words "under his direction;" so as to read:

A person, to be designated by the Secretary of State, shall be appointed to formulate, under his direction, for the instruction of consular officers, etc.

Mr. NELSON. That is perfectly satisfactory to me.

Mr. SPOONER. "To formulate" is very different from "to formulate under his direction."

Mr. NELSON. That amendment makes the language in harmony with the other provisions of the bill.

Mr. PETTUS. As to the amendment offered by the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Lodge], he took great pains to prepare it, and as the bill is going over, I suggest that this amendment also go over with it.

Mr. NELSON. I have been hoping to get a vote on the bill to-day.

Mr. HALE. The Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Lodge] and I are in entire accord; and if he had not offered the amendment I should have done so. I have no idea that the Senator from Massachusetts, if here, would object to the proposed change. It is in line with what he and I had in view.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment proposed by the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. Spooner] to the amendment of the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Lodge] will be stated.

The SECRETARY. It is proposed to amend the amendment of Mr. Lodge in line 2, after the word "formulate," by inserting the words "under his direction." The amendment to the amendment was agreed to.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there are no further amendments, the bill will be reported to the Senate as amended.

Mr. BACON. Mr. President, I trust the Senator from Minnesota will not ask the Senate to vote upon this bill to-day. It is certainly a very important and far-reaching measure, one which the Senate would doubtless like to see in print and be given an opportunity to examine critically before passing upon it. It is a bill which creates a most important department of the Government, and I trust it may be found consistent with the wishes of the Senator that it may be put in print as it has been amended and go over until some future time.

Mr. NELSON. I appeal to the Senator from Georgia to allow us to take the vote on the bill to-day. I want to say to the Senator-I know he is disposed to do what is fair-that there have been no material amendments made to the bill to-day. I can explain them all in the bill as printed. One amendment has been dropped out about the Patent Office. That was agreed to the other day. We have dropped out the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and there has been a change in phraseology, suggested by the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. Spooner], to avoid any possibility of any of the employees in the Bureau being transferred or continuing them in office

outside of their present status. Then there has been a slight amendment made to the amendment of the Senator from Massachusetts, which relates simply to consular reports. The Senator from Georgia will be doing me a great favor if he will allow the vote on the bill to be taken to-day. I appeal to him for this reason: I should have no objection to its going over, but the Senator is familiar with the proceedings in the Senate. The Philippine tariff bill will be called up to-morrow; it will lead to a great deal of discussion. And there are other important matters coming up which will also lead to a great deal of debate. So if this bill is now to go over its passage may be very much delayed.

Mr. CLAY. Mr. President, I will state to my colleague, with the permission of the Senator from Minnesota, that I think this bill has been most maturely considered by the Commerce Committee, and by the subcommittee, and the amendments which have been adopted have been practically unanimously agreed to. I believe that my colleague, on a few minutes' investigation, will agree that the vote shall be taken on the bill to-day. I do not believe that anything can be lost by it. There has been practically no opposition to this bill in the Commerce Committee. In fact, I believe that the members of the Commerce Committee, with one or two exceptions, who were not present, voted for the passage of the bill. For my part, I have considered it maturely. I am in favor of the passage of the measure, and certainly it has commended itself to my favorable consideration. It provides for reports as to foreign markets and other matters, which doubtless will be of great benefit to the people of the United States. So I hope the Senator from Minnesota will be permitted to get a vote on the bill to-day, Mr. President.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the amendment submitted by the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Lodge], as amended on motion of the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. Spooner].

The amendment as amended was agreed to.

Mr. BACON. Mr. President, the distinguished Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Nelson], and my no less distinguished colleague [Mr. Clay], it seems to me urge, without any very great reason for it, the immediate consideration of this bill with reference to its passage. The Senator from Minnesota appeals to me as a personal favor. Why, Mr, President, this is not a personal matter; this is not a matter which relates to the Senator personally in any way, nor to his section or State, and therefore there is no ground upon which a personal appeal can be made. Nor, Mr. President, is there any suggestion of a reason which makes it imperative that this bill should be disposed of to-day. If there is practically no opposition to the bill, there is certainly no reason why there should be an apprehension of undue delay hereafter.

I think in a matter of this kind it is due to the Senate that such a bill, before it is put on its passage, should be in print, so that we may all see it and read it. I expect to vote for the bill, but at the same time I want to have an opportunity to examine it as it now stands. Some of these amendments have been made verbally. A number of amendments were made on the motion of the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Lodge] the other day, not one of which was reduced to writing, but made verbally from his seat. They ought to be in print.

Mr. SPOONER. The bill has been reprinted.

Mr. BACON. That may be true; but the bill as it now stands has not been printed. Mr. NELSON. Will the Senator allow me a word?

Mr. BACON. Certainly.

Mr. NELSON. The amendments of the Senator from Massachusetts, except the one amendment acted upon to-day, are incorporated in the bill as it was reprinted. I want to say further to the Senator that the bill has been under consideration on three different days, and the amendments which to-day have been made to the bill are simple amendments. I think the Senator can see the force of them at a glance. I hope he will agree that the vote may be taken to-day.

Mr. BACON. Mr. President, I do not oppose a vote at this time for the purpose of antagonizing the bill. I repeat I expect to vote for it, but at the same time I desire to have the opportunity to see the bill as it will be when put upon its passage.

Mr. NELSON. Will the Senator agree that we may take a vote on the bill to-morrow at 2 o'clock?

Mr. BACON. I am perfectly willing that the Senate should agree to that. I do not know whether my special agreement would be of any advantage, but, if the Senator so desires, I have no objection to the Senator having an agreement of the Senate to that effect, if he can get it.

Mr. VEST. I should like to ask the Senator in charge of the bill what was done in relation to the Coast and Geodetic Survey?

Mr. NELSON. That was dropped out of the bill.
Mr. VEST. And left in the Treasury Department?
Mr. NELSON. Yes; left in the Treasury Department.

Mr. VEST. What was done with reference to the Patent Office?

Mr. NELSON. That was dropped out, and the Patent Office is to be kept where it is, in the Interior Department.

Mr. COCKRELL. What about the Census Office?

Mr. NELSON. That is left in the bill.

Mr. VEST. Mr. President, the other day-I could not hear distinctly on account of the talk that was going on all around me here-but in a colloquy which took place between the senior Senator from Maine [Mr. Hale] and the Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Nelson] I understand there was some sort of an agreement that the Coast and Geodetic Survey should be transferred to the Navy Department. It seems now, however, as I am informed by the senior Senator from Maine, there was some sort of an agreement or understanding that it should be only left in the Treasury Department, where it is now.

I want to state this-and I have a right under the rules to state it-in the Committee on Commerce, from which the bill came, I voted for the bill with some reluctance, because, as a general proposition, I am opposed to multiplying offices. I reluctantly agreed to vote for it, because I remember a remark made at one time by Ben Hardin, of Kentucky, in my boyhood, in regard to offices, which I have never forgotten. He said, "If you want to have more martins, put up more martin boxes." The proposition he was discussing was in regard to making the judiciary in Kentucky elective in the constitution of 1849. When you create more offices you will always, as a matter of course, find people to fill them.

There are occasions in which it is absolutely necessary to furnish instrumentalities for the business of the Government. We have arrived at a stage where it is absolutely necessary, in my opinion, to increase the departments. Let me say, as a corollary to that proposition, it is necessary to build new edifices for the accommodation of the departments. We pay now annually over $180,000 rent in this city for houses and rooms which are occupied by the departments. When we are selling our bonds at 2 per cent interest, we pay these enormous rents directly in the teeth of all correct business principles.

I think there ought to be two more departments of the Government. We ought to have a Department of Commerce. In my judgment it is absolutely necessary. But when it comes to the question as to where the Coast and Geodetic Survey ought to be, I am unequivocally opposed to recognizing that it is now in the proper Department. The Treasury Department in its special functions has no more to do with the Coast and Geodetic Survey than a steamer on the ocean has to do with the planting of a field of corn.

This Bureau ought to be taken out of the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department now, as every Senator knows, is overloaded to the verge of absurdity. The Interior Department, although we took one great bureau from it-that of Agriculture is now four departments in one, and the want of accommodation in the way of room for these departments has become so apparent that no Senator here will rise and say that the accommodations of the officers of the Government in those departments are decent or comfortable.

If any Senator will point out to me how the Coast and Geodetic Survey is in any way cognate or appropriate in the Treasury Department, I shall be very much obliged to him. I understand the proposition now is to put it in the Navy Department. It seems to me the Navy Department is large enough now. We hear continued complaints that the building in which it is located is insufficient for the accommodation of the service. Then why should this Bureau, not connected with the Navy, not necessary to the functions of the Navy, be taken from the Department of the Treasury and put in that of the Navy?

I do protest againt the putting of the Coast and Geodetic Survey with the financial department of the Government or putting it with that of the Navy.

Mr. BACON. I have not participated in the debate, although I have given attention to what has been said by the Senator in charge of the bill and by those more directly connected with it as members of the committee. I should like to know upon what theory the Census Bureau is to be put into the Department of Commerce. If it relates to it in any manner I confess my inability to see where that relationship is found, and I should like for the distinguished Senator from Minnesota to tell us upon what theory it has been deemed proper that a Department of Commerce should have charge of a census bureau.

Mr. NELSON. I think the Senator from Georgia was not in the Chamber or he would not have asked this question, for I covered that ground in my general remarks upon the bill.

On looking over the statistical work of our different departments we find it seattered. There is in the Department of State a statistical department, called the Department of Foreign Commerce, which compiles statistics from our consular

reports. Then there is in the Treasury Department a statistical bureau, and the Senator from Georgia is familiar with that.

The Census Office is wholly a statistical office, gathering and compiling vital statistics and statistics as to our commerce, our manufactures, our shipping, and everything that pertains to the industrial development of this country. It occurred to the committee, as it has to me, that there is a great deal of duplication in the statistical work, and that it would be better to get the statistical work all grouped in one department, to wit, the Department of Commerce, which relates to commerce and to our industrial development, manufacturing, shipping, and fishing interests. By getting the statistical bureaus together by and by some Secretary of the Department of Commerce, after having observed the workings of the different bureaus, will be able to prepare and formulate a plan or programme for a future Congress by which the statistical work can be done under one head and as one work, so that when we come to look up statistical matters we can find them in one publication.

In the Department of Labor, which is to be transferred to this new Department, there is a good deal of statistical work, and we have in the Agricultural Department a statistical division. Now, if we group all the statistical work together under one executive head, whether in the State Department, the Treasury Department, the Department of Labor, or the Census Office, we can by and by so adjust matters relating to statistics as to have our statistics taken as an entirety and to have our statistical work furnished us in one compilation. Then, when we come to look up foreign commerce, we shall not have to look to the State Department for the publication. When we come to look up other statistical matters, we shall not have to look to the Treasury Department. When we come to look up the matter of vital statistics and labor statistics and other commercial and industrial statistics, we shall not have to look to the Census and Labor bureaus. I think if my friend from Georgia were at the head of the new Department-and I should be glad to see a man of such ability at its head-one of the first things he would consider would be the work of these different statistical divisions, and he would endeavor to see if it were not possible to formulate some plan or programme by which they could work in harmony and in entirety, so as to give to Congress the results in one compilation and one publication instead of in a variety of publications.

Mr. BACON. I simply desire to ask the distinguished Senator whether the programme which he has outlined is one in anticipation in its completeness, or whether this bill endeavors to complete it? In other words, does this bill provide for the transfer to this particular Department of these various statistical divisions of the Departments of the Government, or will the State Department still have its statistical bureau and the Treasury Department still have its?

Mr. NELSON. No; they are transferred. The Bureau of Foreign Commerce in the State Department, the Bureau of Statistics in the Treasury Department, and the Census Office are transferred to this new Department, but we could not at this stage formulate any plan for united and harmonious work. That can only be done, or the programme for it outlined, when the three statistical bureaus or divisions are grouped together under one head and in one department, where their workings and their work can be considered and plans outlined for harmonious and united work.

I have no plan in view, and at this stage it seemed to me that all we could do was to transfer these Bureaus at this time and group them under one executive head, and then let the future decide whether we could not get the statistical work into one harmonious whole, to the advantage of the Government in the matter of expense and the advantage of the Government and ourselves in the matter of securing information. Mr. BACON. I desire to say, in justice to myself, that the Senator has made a very clear statement and has suggested to me a reason which had not occurred to me before. I think it is highly proper that the statistical bureaus should, to some extent or to a very great extent, be put under one general control. Whether that control ought to be under the Department of Commerce or under some other Department—the Department of the Interior, for instance-I do not think makes any material difference, except so far as practicable to equalize the labors of the different great Departments of the Government.

Mr. CLAY. Mr. President, in appealing a while ago to my colleague to permit a vote on this bill to-day I thought he was in thorough sympathy with the bill and that he had considered it maturely. I did not know that he wanted more time to look into it.

Now, I agree with what the Senator from Missouri has said. I was a member of the subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce, which made a favorable report on the bill. If Senators will examine the Congressional Record, they will find that when the Department of Agriculture was established members of the Senate stated on the floor that it would be an unnecessary expense, but I doubt if there could be obtained a single vote in this body to-day to repeal the law creating that Department.