defense of suits relating to patents in the Court of Claims. Copyrights and trade-marks are also handled. No oral or informal opinions are rendered. Formal opinions or decisions in writing are rendered only when directed by the Secretary of the Navy, and such opinions or decisions are the basis of official action by any bureau or office or officer of the Navy Department or Marine Corps only after the approval of such opinion or decision by the Secretary of the Navy. HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS The Major General Commandant of the Marine Corps, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, is charged with and responsible for the procurement, discharge, education, training, discipline, and distribution of officers and enlisted personnel of the Marine Corps, including the Marine Corps Reserve, and the administration and general efficiency of the Marine Corps and of the Marine Corps Reserve. The headquarters is organized as the office of the Major General Commandant and three staff departments. In the office of the Major General Commandant The director of operations and training has cognizance of military intelligence, education, operations, training, matériel and aviation. The director of personnel has supervision over assignments and complements of officers and enlisted men, also recruiting. The director of Marine Corps Reserve has supervision over the procurement, training, organization, promotion, and distribution of officers and enlisted men of the Marine Corps Reserve. The adjutant and inspector has general supervision of claims of officers and enlisted men, courts martial, courts of inquiry, investigations, etc.; historical archives; inspections; post exchanges; appointment, examination, promotion, reduction, and retirement of commissioned and warrant officers; military records; discharges, promotion, and reduction of noncommissioned officers; casualties; insignia. The paymaster has supervision of questions relating to pay, allowances, bonus, gratuities, mileage, travel expenses, allotments, insurance, etc., to officers and enlisted men; deficiency and other estimates for pay, etc. The quartermaster has supervision of matters relating to the purchase of military supplies for the Marine Corps, including subsistence, construction material, and labor; pays all expenses of the corps except those pertaining to paymaster's department; has jurisdiction over quarters, barracks, and other public buildings provided for officers and enlisted men, and repairs, alterations, and improvements thereto; vehicles for the transportation of troops and supplies; public animals and their equipment; furnishes means of transportation for movement of troops; prints and issues blank forms for the Marine Corps. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR The Secretary of the Interior is charged with the supervision of public business relating to the General Land Office, Bureau of Reclamation, Geological Survey, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Education, National Park Service, Bureau of Mines, Division of Grazing Control, Division of Investigations, and Division of Territories and Island Possessions (see Executive order of May 29, 1934), the United States Housing_Authority (act of Sept. 1, 1937, Public, No. 412, 75th Cong.), the Bonneville Project (act of Aug. 20, 1937, Public, No. 329, 75th Cong.), the Commission to investigate the financial, economic, and other conditions of the various United States and Indian reclamation projects (act of Aug. 21, 1937, Public, No. 331, 75th Cong.), and certain hospitals and eleemosynary institutions in the District of Columbia. By authority of the President, the Secretary of the Interior has general supervision over the Government railroad in the Territory of Alaska. He exercises certain powers and duties in relation to the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii. Executive order of February 27, 1931, placed the administration of the government of the Virgin Islands under his supervision. Executive order of May 29, 1934, transferred to the Department of the Interior all functions of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, Department of War, pertaining to or connected with the administration of the government of Puerto Rico. Executive order of November 14, 1936, placed the administrative acts of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration under the control and super vision of the Secretary of the Interior, and he was appointed Administrator by Executive Order No. 7689, dated August 12, 1937. He was designated custodian of the records and files of the United States Fuel Administration and the Bituminous Coal Commission by Executive orders of July 22, 1919, March 24, 1920, and June 16, 1920, and those of the United States Coal Commission by Executive order of September 13, 1923. Executive order of April 17, 1934, transferred the functions of the United States Geographic Board to the Department of the Interior. The Secretary of the Interior is charged with the adjustment of claims filed under the War Minerals Relief Act (sec. 5, act of Mar. 2, 1919, 40 Stat. 1274) for losses incurred in producing or preparing to produce manganese, chrome, pyrites, or tungsten during the war, and with the supervision of all matters pertaining to the Alaska Road Commission. The Bureau of Mines was transferred from the Department of Commerce to the Department of the Interior by direction of the President in Executive order of February 22, 1934. The act of April 26, 1937 (Public, No. 48, 75th Cong.), established in the Department of the Interior a National Bituminous Coal Commission to regulate interstate commerce in bituminous coal, and for other purposes. As Administrator for the Petroleum Industry, the Secretary of the Interior functions through the Petroleum Conservation Division. By Executive Order No. 6979, dated February 28, 1935, the President designated the Secretary of the Interior as his agent to execute all powers and functions vested in him by the act of February 22, 1935 (Public, No. 14, 74th Cong.), known as the Connally Oil Act. For the purpose of administering this act, the Secretary established Federal Tender Board No. 1 and Federal Petroleum Agency No. 1 for the east Texas oil field. By Executive Order No. 6198, dated July 8, 1933, the Secretary was designated Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works to administer title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act, which includes Public Works projects. He is a member also of the District of Columbia Permanent System of Highways Commission under act of Congress approved March 2, 1893 (27 Stat. 532), and of the Smithsonian Institution under act of March 12, 1894 (28 Stat. 41). Executive order of June 10, 1933, transferred the functions and personnel of the following agencies to the Department of the Interior: Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission, Public Buildings Commission, Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, National Memorial Commission, Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway Commission, and the Federal Board for Vocational Education. Secretary Ickes is a member of the following bodies: National Forest Reservation Commission, member. National Resources Committee, chairman. National Emergency Council, member. Virgin Islands Co., member, board of directors. Advisory Council for the Government of the Virgin Islands, member. United States Council of National Defense, member. Howard University, patron ex officio. Planning Committee on Mineral Policy, member. National Power Policy Committee, chairman. Interdepartmental Loan Committee, member. District of Columbia Permanent System of Highways Commission, member. Capital Auditorium Commission, chairman. National Archives Council, member. San Francisco Exposition, member. Committee on National Land Problems, member. President's Committee for a Federal Buildings Program in the District of UNDER SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR The position of Under Secretary was established by the act of May 9, 1935 (Public, No. 53, 74th Cong.). This official assists the Secretary in administrative matters of the Department and in his absence serves as Acting Secretary. FIRST ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR The First Assistant Secretary has general supervision over matters concerning the General Land Office, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Mines, the Division of Grazing, and the United States Board on Geographical Names. His duties relate to the administration and enforcement of the laws enacted by Congress affecting these activities. He also considers proposed legislation relating to matters under his supervision. Duties in connection with the affairs of other bureaus are assigned to him from time to time. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR The Assistant Secretary has general supervision over all matters concerning the Office of Indian Affairs, Office of Education, National Park Service, St. Elizabeths Hospital, Freedmen's Hospital, Howard University, Columbia Institution for the Deaf, the Division of Territories and Island Possessions; admission, disbarment, and restoration of attorneys and agents to practice before the Department and bureaus thereof. The Assistant Secretary also has jurisdiction of matters of a miscellaneous character, such as the approval of the pay roll of the Secretary's Office and the signing of contracts under the contingent and stationery appropriations, etc. He also considers proposed legislation pertaining to matters under his supervision. Duties in connection with the affairs of other bureaus are assigned to him from time to time. CHIEF CLERK As the chief executive officer of the Department and the administrative head of certain divisions of the Office of the Secretary, the Chief Clerk has supervision over the clerks and other employees of the Department, enforces the general regulations of the Department, and has administrative supervision of the buildings occupied by the Department. Has general supervision of expenditures for printing and binding, contingent, and other departmental appropriations, including stationery and postage on mail addressed to postal-union countries. Handles contracts and miscellaneous correspondence relating to St. Elizabeths Hospital, Freedmen's Hospital, and Howard University; estimates for and admissions to Columbia Institution for the Deaf; the admission of attorneys and agents to practice and disbarments from practice; is contact officer for the Department in matters relating to the Division of Disbursements, Treasury Department, the General Accounting Office, and the National Emergency Council; handles various other miscellaneous matters of the Secretary's Office not otherwise assigned; is delegated by the Secretary to sign a portion of the official papers and documents ordinarily signed by the Assistant Secretary during the latter's absence. COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE The Commissioner of the General Land Office is charged with the survey, management, and disposition of the public lands, the adjudication of claims relating thereto, the granting of railroad and other rights-of-way, easements, the issuance of patents for lands, and with furnishing certified copies of land patents and of records, plats, and papers on file in his Office. In national forests he executes all laws relating to surveying, protecting, locating, appropriating, entering, reconveying, or patenting of public lands, and to the granting of rights-of-way amounting to easements. COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS The Commissioner of Indian Affairs has, under direction of the Secretary of the Interior, management of all Indian affairs and of all matters arising out of Indian relations. This includes the economic development of the Indian, both tribally and as an individual; the organization of Indian tribes, including credit organizations; Indian education in boarding schools, day schools, and community centers operated by the Government, and in public schools and other nongovernmental institutions; the health, medical, and sanitation activities; the land program, involving land acquisition and adjustment, tribal enrollment, land sales, and contracts; forestry, involving forest management, fire protection, grazing; the furtherance of an agricultural extension program; irrigation, both construction and maintenance and operation; the construction and upkeep of buildings at field units, and the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges on Indian lands; Indian emergency conservation work and other emergency activities; also the health and educational program for the natives of Alaska. INDIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS BOARD The Indian Arts and Crafts Board was created by the act of Congress approved August 27, 1935, and is composed of five members appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. Executive officers and other personnel are employed by the Board. The function of the Board is "to promote the economic welfare of the Indian tribes and the Indian wards of the Government through the development of Indian arts and crafts and the expansion of the market for the products of Indian art and craftsmanship." Broad powers are given the Board in the execution of this function, among which are the powers to engage in marketing and technical research, to engage in experimentation, to correlate activities of various governmental and private agencies in the field, to create Government trade-marks of genuineness and quality for Indian products, to establish standards and regulations for the use of such trade-marks, to license groups or individuals to use them, and to charge a fee for their use. COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION The Commissioner of Education has charge of the Office of Education, which collects statistics and general information showing the condition and progress of education in the United States and all foreign countries; advises State, county, and local school officers as to the administration and improvement of schools; issues annually a report, a number of bulletins, and miscellaneous publications; issues biennially a survey of education; and administers the endowment fund for the support of colleges for the benefit of agriculture and mechanic arts and the acts relating to cooperation with the States and Territories for the promotion of vocational education and rehabilitation. He is required to make an inspection of Howard University, Washington, D. C., at least once each year, and submit a report to Congress thereon. The Commissioner is a member of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, of the Commission on Licensure to Practice the Healing Art in the District of Columbia, and of the executive committee of the National Youth Administration. The Federal Board for Vocational Education was created by act of Congress approved February 23, 1917 (Smith-Hughes Act). This act makes continuing appropriations to be expended in the States under State plans for the promotion of vocational education. For the fiscal year 1917-18 the amount appropriated was $1,860,000, and the appropriation increased each year until in 1925-26 it reached $7,367,000, which sum was provided annually thereafter. An act approved February 5, 1929, (George-Reed Act) authorized an additional appropriation of $250,000 for agriculture and $250,000 for home economics for the fiscal year 1930, and for each year thereafter, for 4 years, a sum exceeding by $250,000 the appropriation of the preceding year for the promotion of vocational education in each of these two fields. This act expired on June 30, 1934, but an act approved May 21, 1934, (George-Ellzey Act) authorized an appropriation of $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1935, 1936, and 1937 for the further development of vocational education to be used in equal amounts for instruction in agricultural subjects, home economics subjects, and trade and industrial education subjects. The George-Ellzey Act expired June 30, 1937, but an act approved June 8, 1936 (George-Deen Act) authorized an appropriation of $14,483,000 for the further development of vocational education in the States and Territories; $12,000,000 of which is to be used in equal amounts for vocational education in agriculture, trade, and industry, and home economics; $1,200,000 for vocational education in the distributive occupations; and $1,000,000 for the training of teachers of distributive occupational subjects. The money appropriated under these acts is to be allotted to the States on the basis of rural, farm, non-farm, urban, or total population as designated in the acts, for the promotion of vocational education in agriculture, trades and industries, home economics, and the distributed occupations, and for the preparation of teachers of vocational subjects. Utilization of allotments under the first three acts is authorized upon condition that for each dollar of Federal money expended the State or local community, or both, shall expend at least an equal amount for the same purpose. Under the George-Deen Act, States and Territories participating in the grants are required to match only 50 percent of these grants for the first 5 years in which the act is operative or until June 30, 1942; this matching percentage being increased by 10 percent annually thereafter until it reaches 100 percent, beginning July 1, 1946. The duties imposed upon the Board by the National Vocational Education Act were of a twofold character: On the one hand, as representative of the Government the Federal Board cooperated with State boards for vocational education in promoting vocational education; and, on the other, as a research agency it was required to make, or cause to have made, studies, investigations, and reports to aid the States in developing their programs. As representative of the Government, it examined the plans submitted by the State boards, presenting in the case of each State the scheme of vocational education to be conducted by the State, and approved plans found to be in conformity with the provisions and purposes of the act. It ascertained annually whether the several States were using or were prepared to use the money received by them in accordance with the provisions of the statute and each year it certified to the Secretary of the Treasury the States which complied with the provisions of the act, together with the amount which each State was entitled to receive. It was expressly required to make studies, investigations, and reports dealing with occupational processes and educational requirements for workers and apprentices, and with problems of administration of vocational schools and of courses of instruction in vocational subjects, in the several fields of agricultural, trade and industrial, home economics, and commercial employment. A large part of the work of the staff members consists of advising with and rendering direct assistance to State boards for vocational education in developing more effective and efficient programs of vocational education. The Federal Board for Vocational Education was designated as the administrative agency, also, of the Civilian Vocational Rehabilitation Act, approved June 2, 1920. By this act the Federal Government agrees to cooperate with the States in rehabilitating and restoring to remunerative employment any persons disabled in industry or otherwise. Under this act the duties imposed upon the Federal Board include the making of rules and regulations appropriate for carrying out the purposes of the act; cooperation with the States in the promotion of vocational rehabilitation of disabled persons; examination of State plans and their approval, if in conformity with the provisions of the act; and cooperation in this work with public and private agencies. The Federal Board was required to ascertain annually whether the States are properly using Federal funds and certify, on or before the 1st day of January of each year, to the Secretary of the Treasury those States which have accepted and complied with the provisions of the law, designating the amount of money which each State was entitled to receive. Το aid the States, the Federal Board was authorized to make studies and investigations of the vocational rehabilitation of disabled persons and their placement in suitable or gainful occupations. Acts authorizing continuation of appropriations for this purpose were approved June 5, 1924, June 9, 1930, June 30, 1932, and June 6, 1936 (effective July 1, 1937). The Social Security Act, approved August 14, 1935, provides for a considerable increase in the funds to be paid to the States for vocational rehabilitation. An act approved March 10, 1924, extended the benefits of the Vocational Education and Rehabilitation Acts to the Territory of Hawaii and authorized annual appropriations for this purpose. An act approved February 23, 1929, extended to the District of Columbia the program for rehabilitating disabled persons. This act provided that the Board should be the active operating agency in the District. An act of March 3, 1931, extended the Vocational Education and Rehabilitation acts to the island of Puerto Rico, and authorized annual appropriations for this purpose. An act of June 20, 1936, to authorize the operation of stands in Federal buildings by blind persons, to enlarge the economic opportunities of the blind, and for other purposes. Under Executive order of June 10, 1933, the functions of the Federal Board for Vocational Education were transferred to the Department of the Interior, and the Board acts in an advisory capacity without compensation. These functions were assigned to the Commissioner of Education on October 10, 1933. Civilian Conservation Corps camp education.-On December 7, 1933, the President approved a plan for an educational program in the Civilian Conservation Corps camps. Under this plan, the Office of Education, acting in an advisory capacity to the War Department, is responsible for the selection and appointment of corps area, district, and camp educational advisers, and recommends to the Secretary of War the outlines of instruction, teaching procedures, and types of teaching material for use in the camps. DIRECTOR OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY The organic act of the Geological Survey, approved on March 3, 1879 (20 Stat. 377), established the office of Director of the Geological Survey under the Interior Department. Under this act it is provided that the Director shall have the direction of the Geological Survey, the classification of the public lands, and the |