abroad as well as drafts of his replies, and Congress continued to pass resolutions directing the policy our foreign ministers were to pursue.

Notwithstanding the lack of an Executive clothed with power to act independently in the management of foreign affairs, and the difficulties with which Congress had to contend in determining a fixed line of public policy, the results of our diplomacy during this period are remarkable. Between 1776, when independence was declared, and 1789, when the new government under the Constitution went into operation, no less than fourteen treaties were concluded between the United States and foreign governments. These treaties covered a great variety of matters and constitute in a large measure the basis of our international law. They were entered into with France, Great Britain, Morocco, the Netherlands, Prussia and Sweden, and embodied stipulations in relation to commerce, navigation, consular privileges, war, political alliance, loans, neutrality, and religious freedom.

The Constitution of the United States, adopted in 1787, makes the President Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, and empowers him, with the concurrence of the Senate, "to make treaties," and "to appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls." It also authorizes him "to receive ambassadors and other public ministers." The President is thus made. the channel of communication between the United States and foreign nations. He initiates negotiations

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and concludes treaties; and under the constitutional provision enjoining the President "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed," he is required to see that the treaties of the United States are carried out. One of the first acts of Congress after the establishment of the new government under the Constitution, was to provide the President with the necessary machinery to conduct the foreign affairs of the nation. The Act of July 27, 1789, established an Executive Department, denominated the Department of Foreign Affairs; and provided that the principal officer therein should be called the Secretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs; that he should "perform such duties as shall from time to time be enjoined on or entrusted to him by the President, relative to correspondences, commissions, or instructions to or with public ministers or consuls from the United States, or to negotiations with public ministers from foreign states or princes, or to memorials or other applications from foreign public ministers or other foreigners, or to such other matters respecting foreign affairs as the President shall assign to the Department;" also that "he shall conduct the business of the Department in such manner as the President shall direct."

The Act of September 15, 1789, made the Secretary the custodian of the seal of the United States, required him to receive and publish the laws of the United States, imposed various other domestic functions upon the Department, and changed its name to the "Department of State" and the title of the principal officer to

"Secretary of State." In the earlier years of the nation numerous other duties were added to the Department which have since been transferred to other Departments. Only those functions having some relation to foreign affairs and which still appertain to the Department of State will be considered here.

The Department of State is the legal organ of communication between this government and foreign nations. All communications from foreign governments are transmitted to the Secretary of State, either through our diplomatic representatives abroad or through the representatives of the foreign governments at Washington. The Secretary of State has the general superintendence, under the direction of the President, of our foreign relations. The office of Secretary of State is regarded as the most important place in the Cabinet. The Secretary succeeds to the Presidency upon the death or disability of the President and Vice President. He sits at the right hand of the President at the Cabinet table, and is given precedence over his colleagues on occasions of ceremony. holds very important and confidential relations with the President, and, because the latter seldom has leisure to give continuous attention to foreign affairs, the initiative in matters of foreign policy is frequently left to the Secretary.

He

Important dispatches, such as those declaring a national policy or relating to grave international differences, are prepared by the Secretary of State, or by a subordinate official under his direction, and are

made the subject of a conference with the President, and sometimes of a Cabinet discussion. On rare occasions the President himself may prepare a draft of a proposed communication, but the communication is always signed by the Secretary. Dispatches or notes embodying less important questions are generally prepared by a subordinate and submitted to the Secretary for his signature or modification.

Thanksgiving proclamations, responses to be made by the President on the presentation of foreign diplomatic representatives, and congratulatory letters signed by the President upon the official announcement of the birth of a prince or princess of a Royal family and similar occasions, are almost invariably prepared at the Department of State.

All treaties, proclamations, and other documents concerning foreign affairs, are published by the Secretary of State. Full powers, credentials, and instructions to our diplomatic agents are given by him or under his direction.

Communications from the Department to our diplomatic representatives are called "instructions." Those addressed to the Department by our representatives are termed "dispatches." Communications between the Department and representatives of foreign countries at Washington, or between our representatives and Foreign Offices abroad, are termed “notes.”

The following is an example of an "Instruction," showing the formal beginning and ending:

"No. 239.

Department of State,

Washington, June 30, 1906. Sir: The memorandum enclosed in the note from Sir Edward Grey to you of February 2, 1906, and transmitted by you on the 6th of February, has received careful consideration.

You will inform His Majesty's Government of these views and ask for such action as shall prevent any interference upon any ground by the officers of the Newfoundland Government with American fishermen when they go to exercise their treaty rights upon the Newfoundland coast during the approaching fishing

I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of the