ing among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with labor in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word, and especially upon its relations to capital, the hours of labor, the earnings of laboring men and women, and the means of promoting their material, social, intellectual, and moral prosperity.

It is especially charged to investigate the causes of and facts relating to all controversies and disputes between employers and employees as they may occur, and which may happen to interfere with the welfare of the people of the several States.

LIGHT-HOUSE BOARD.

The Light-House Board has charge, under the superintendence of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, of all administrative duties relating to the construction and maintenance of lighthouses, light vessels, light-house depots, beacons, fog signals, buoys, and their appendages, and has charge of all records and property appertaining to the Light-House Establishment.

BUREAU OF THE CENSUS.

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The Bureau of the Census is charged with the duty of taking the periodical censuses of the United States and of collecting such special statistics as are required by Congress, including the collection in 1905 of the statistics of manufacturing establishments conducted under the factory system, and the collection annually of statistics births and deaths in registration areas, statistics of the cotton production of the country as returned by the ginners, and (by transfer from the Bureau of Labor) statistics of cities of 30,000 or more inhabitants. Under the proclamation of the President dated September 30, 1902, the Bureau is charged with the compilation and tabulation of the returns of the Philippine census, taken as of March 2, 1903, under the direction of the Philippine Commission.

COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY.

The Coast and Geodetic Survey is charged with the survey of the coasts of the United States and coasts under the jurisdiction thereof and the publication of charts covering said coasts. This includes base measure, triangulation, topography, and hydro

graphy along said coasts; the survey of rivers to the head of tide-water or ship navigation; deep sea soundings, temperature, and current observations along said coasts and throughout the Gulf and Japan streams; magnetic observations and researches, and the publication of maps showing the variations of terrestrial magnetism; gravity research; determination of heights; the determination of geographic positions by astronomic observations for latitude, longitude, and azimuth, and by triangulation, to furnish reference points for State surveys. The results obtained are published in annual reports, with professional papers and discussions of results as appendices; charts upon various scales, including sailing charts, general charts of the coast, and harbor charts; tide tables issued annually, in advance; Coast Pilots, with sailing directions covering the navigable waters; Notices to Mariners, issued monthly and containing current information necessary for safe navigation; catalogues of charts and publications, and such other special publications as may be required to carry out the organic law governing the Survey.

BUREAU OF STATISTICS.

The Bureau of Statistics collects and publishes the statistics of our foreign commerce, embracing tables showing the imports and exports, respectively, by countries and customs districts; the transit trade inward and outward by countries and by customs districts; imported commodities warehoused, withdrawn from, and remaining in warehouse; the imports of merchandise entered for consumption, showing quantity, value, rates of duty, and amounts of duty collected on each article or class of articles; the inward and outward movement of tonnage in our foreign trade and the countries whence entered and for which cleared, distinguishing the nationalities of the foreign vessels. The Bureau also collects and publishes information in regard to the leading commercial movements in our internal commerce, among which are the commerce of the Great Lakes; the commercial movements in our internal commerce, among which are the commerce of the Great Lakes; the commercial movements at interior centers, at Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific seaports; shipments of coal and coke; ocean freight rates,

etc. The Bureau also publishes daily and monthly the reports received from United States consuls and special reports on various subjects supplied by consuls on special request; also, annually, the declared exports from foreign countries to the United States furnished by consuls, and the annual report laid before Congress entitled "Commercial Relations of the United States."

STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE.

The Steamboat-Inspection Service is charged with the duty of inspecting steam vessels, the licensing of the officers of vessels, and the administration of the laws relating to such vessels and their officers for the protection of life and property.

The Supervising Inspector-General and the supervising inspectors constitute a board that meets annually at Washington, and establishes regulations for carrying out the provisions of the steamboat-inspection laws.

BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

The work of the Bureau of Fisheries comprises (1) the propagation of useful food fishes, including lobsters, oysters, and other shellfish, and their distribution to suitable waters; (2) the inquiry into the causes of decrease of food fishes in the lakes, rivers, and coast waters of the United States, the study of the waters of the coast and interior in the interest of fish-culture, and the investigation of the fishing grounds of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts, with the view of determining their food resources and the development of the commercial fisheries; (3) the collection and compilation of the statistics of the fisheries and the study of their methods and relations.

BUREAU OF NAVIGATION.

The Bureau of Navigation is charged with general superintendence of the commercial marine and merchant seamen of the United States, except so far as supervision is lodged with other officers of the Government. It is specially charged with the decision of all questions relating to the issue of registers, enrollments, and licenses of vessels and the filing of those documents, with the supervision of laws relating to the admeasurement, letters, and numbers of vessels, and

BUREAU OF STANDARDS.

The functions of the Bureau of Standards are as follows: The custody of the standards; the comparison of the standards used in scientific investigations, engineering, manufacturing, commerce,, and educational institutions with the standards adopted or recognized by the Government; the construction, when necessary, of standards, their multiples and subdivisions; the testing and calibration of standard measuring apparatus; the solution of problems which arise in connection with standards; the determination of physical constants and properties of materials, when such data are of great importance to scientific or manufacturing interests and are not to be obtained of sufficient accuracy elsewhere. The Bureau is authorized to exercise its functions for the Government of the United States, for any State or municipal government within the United States, or for any scientific society, educational institution, firm, corporation, or individual within the United States engaged in manufacturing or other pursuits requiring the use of standards or standard measuring instruments. For all comparisons, calibrations, tests, or investigations, except those performed for the Government of the United States or State governments, a reasonable fee will be charged:

There are four classes of mail matter:

First-Class Matter-All written matter, such as letters, postal cards,

post cards" and all matter in writing, whether pen-written or typewritten, and all matter sealed from inspection, constitutes "First-class Matter," and is mailable at two cents an ounce, or fraction thereof. Letters, etc., may be sent to Canada, Cuba, the Canal Zone" at Panama, Guam, Tutuila (Samoa), Shanghai (China), Mexico, Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines. Postal cards are one cent each. Local or drop "letters are two cents an ounce or fraction thereof, when mailed at letter carrier offices, or at offices where Rural Delivery Service has been established, addressed to patrons thereof who may be served by rural carriers, and one cent for each ounce or fraction thereof at offices where free delivery by carrier is not established or at rural-delivery offices when addressed to patrons who cannot be served by the carriers.

Note There is no "drop" rate on third or fourth-class matter: the postage on which is uniform whether addressed for local delivery or transmission in the mails.

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The following articles are included in first-class matter: Assessment notices, autograph albums, blank books, with written entries, bank checks, blank forms filled out in writing, receipts, visiting cards bearing written name, communications entirely print with the exception of name of sender, diplomas, drawings or plans containing written words, letters or figures, envelopes bearing written addresses, imitations or reproductions of hand or typewritten matter not mailed at the postoffice in a minimum number of twenty perfectly identical copies to separate addresses, legal and

other blanks, old letters sent singly or in bulk, all sealed matter, stenographic or shorthand notes, and unsealed written communications.

Second -Class Matter-This division includes newspapers and other periodicals, which are issued as often as four times a year. The rate of postage on second-class matter when sent by the publisher thereof and from the office of publication to subscribers or as sample copies, or when sent from a news agency to actual subscribers or to other news agents for sale. is one cent a pound or fraction thereof, except when deposited in a letter carrier office for delivery by letter carriers, or mailed free within the county of publication. Publishers to obtain this rate must have their periodicals entered at their local post-office.

Third-Class Tatter-Embraces all printed matter generally. The rate of postage is one cent for each two ounces or fractional part thereof sent to a single address, to be fully prepaid by ordinary postage stamps affixed thereto. The following named articles are among those subject to third-class rate of postage: Almanacs, printed architectural designs, blueprints, books (printed), bulbs, calendars printed on paper, cards printed on paper, Christmas cards, catalogues, check and receipt books (blank), circulars, press clippings, school copy books, printed engravings, samples of grain, imitation of hand or typewritten matter when mailed at the post office window in a minimum number of twenty identical copies separately addressed, printed labels, legal blanks, lithographs, maps, music books, photographs, plants, printed tags, roots, seeds, sheet music.

Fourth Class Matter Embraces merchandise, samples, and in general all articles not included in the first,