117627 OF THE UNITED STATES. ITS HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS By: WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF STATE 1893 PREFATORY LETTER. To SEVELLON A. BROWN, Esq., Chief Clerk and Representative of the Department of State, Government Board of Managers, World's Columbian Exposition. Sir: In compliance with your instructions, I have the honor to transmit an account of the Department of State, its history and functions. As far as it has been possible to do so, the sources of information used have been the archives of the Department itself. These are, unfortunately, not complete in many instances, and this has rendered it difficult to present as perfect a picture of the development of the Department machinery as might be wished. The object sought is to give, as briefly and accurately as possible, the history of the formation of the Department, and to show what its duties are and what they have been. Everything relating to the diplomatic history of the Government has been carefully excluded, as a part of the general history of the United States. It is believed that this is the first effort to present an account of the actual development of one of the Executive Depart ments. It would be strange if, in a novel work of this kind, there should not be errors. The early records of the Government are nearly all unprinted, and those which it is desirable to use are only to be found after careful and laborious searching. Some are thus apt to be overlooked; but every effort has been made to discover everything of importance. Some apology may be necessary for the long citations of laws; but this is done in order to allow the story to be told, so far as possible, in the language of others. I have received assistance generally from the officers and clerks in the Department, and it would be unfair to name a few where so many have cooperated. |