board is carried on under the direction of the Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers. The War Department has fixed the organization of the board as follows: The senior officer on duty, to be designated as the president, shall have general charge of the operations of the board, and shall approve and certify, on behalf of the board, all vouchers and expenditures.

The engineer officer shall supervise the work of construction in the field, as provided in the act of Congress creating the board.

The third officer shall, upon designation by the Secretary of War, as provided in the law as amended, act as disbursing officer of the board.

COMMISSION ON NAVY YARDS AND NAVAL STATIONS.

Appointed by direction of the President to carry out provisions of the act of Congress approved August 29, 1916, relative to the establishment of navy yards, naval stations, and submarine and aviation bases.

NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS.

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was appointed by the President, pursuant to act of Congress approved March 3, 1915 (naval appropriations act, public No. 273, Sixty-third Congress). Its membership consists of two officers of the Army, two officers of the Navy, a representative each of the Smithsonian Institution, the United States Weather Bureau, and the United States Bureau of Standards, together with five additional persons acquainted with the needs of aeronautical science, or skilled in aeronautical engineering or its allied sciences. All the members, as such, serve without compensation.

The duties of the committee, as provided by Congress, are to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution, and to determine the problems which should be experimentally attacked, and to discuss their solution and their application to practical questions.

Under the rules and regulations formulated by the committee and approved by the President, technical subcommittees have been established whose general duties are to aid in determining the problems in their respective branches of the aeronautical field to be scientifically attacked, bringing to bear the knowledge derived from experimental investigations conducted in all parts of the world, and to endeavor to coordinate the research and experimental work involved in the study of the problems agreed upon. These subcommittees are composed in part of specially appointed representatives of the Army and Navy air service.

By virtue of the character of its membership, including as it does the heads of the Army and Navy Air Services, the committee also serves in an advisory capacity for the determination of questions of general policy in aeronautical matters.

In addition to the functions specifically defined for the various subcommittees the general functions of the advisory committee may be stated as follows:

First. Under the law the committee holds itself at the service of any department or agency of the Government interested in aeronautics for the furnishing of information or assistance in regard to scientific or technical matters relating to aeronautics, and in particular for the investigation and study of problems in this field with a view to their practical solution.

Second. The committee may also exercise its functions for any individual, firm, association, or corporation within the United States, provided that such individual, firm, association, or corporation defray the actual cost involved.

Third. The committee institutes research, investigation, and study of the problems which, in the judgment of its members or of the members of its various subcommittees, are needful and timely for the advance of the science and art of aeronautics in its various branches.

Fourth. The committee keeps itself advised of the progress made in research and experimental work in aeronautics in all parts of the world, particularly in England, France, and Italy, and will extend its efforts to the securing of information from Germany and Austria.

Fifth. The information thus gathered is brought to the attention of the various subcommittees for consideration in connection with the preparation of programs for research and experimental work in this country. This information is also made available promptly to the military and naval air services and other branches of the Government, university laboratories, and aircraft manufacturers interested in the study of specific problems.

Sixth. The committee holds itself at the service of the President, the Congress, and the executive departments of the Government for the consideration of special problems which may be referred to it, such as rules for international air navigation, American representation at meetings of the International Aircraft Standards Commission, advanced education in aeronautical engineering, method of regulation and development of civil aerial transport, etc.

The committee has established an office of aeronautical intelligence, which serves as the depository and distributing agency of the scientific and technical data on aeronautics collected by the committee from governmental and private agencies in this country and abroad, and maintains an office in Paris to collect and exchange scientific and technical data on aeronautics in France, England, and Italy.

The committee directly conducts scientific research and experiment in aeronautics at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, at Langley Field, Va., a section of the field having been set aside by the War Department for the committee's use. UNITED STATES BOARD OF MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION.

(Created by act of Congress approved July 15, 1913.)

The purpose for which the Board of Mediation and Conciliation was established is to settle by mediation, conciliation, and arbitration controversies concerning wages, hours of labor, or conditions of employment that may arise between common carriers engaged in interstate transportation and their employees engaged in train operation or train service.

In any case where an interruption of traffic is imminent and fraught with serious detriment to the public interest, the Board of Mediation and Conciliation may, if in its judgment such action seems desirable, proffer its services to the respective parties to the controversy.

Whenever a controversy concerning wages, hours of labor, or conditions of employment arises between such railroads and such employees, interrupting or threatening to interrupt the operation of trains to the serious detriment of the public interest, upon the request of either party the Board of Mediation is required to use its best efforts, by mediation and conciliation, to bring about an agreement. If such efforts to bring about an amicable adjustment through mediation and conciliation are unsuccessful, the board endeavors to induce the parties to submit their controversy to arbitration, and, if successful, makes the necessary arrangements for such arbitration. The board is an independent office, not connected with any department.

THE INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION.

The International Joint Commission was created by treaty with Great Britain, and has jurisdiction over all cases involving the use or obstruction or diversion of waters forming the international boundary or crossing the boundary between the United States and Canada. In addition, under Article IX of the treaty, any questions or matters of difference arising between the high contracting parties involving the rights, obligations, or interests of the United States or of the Dominion of Canada, either in relation to each other or to their respective inhabitants, may be referred to the commission for report thereon, by either Government or by the joint action of the two Governments. Under Article X of the treaty similar matters of difference between the two Governments may be referred to the commission for determination by the joint action of the two Governments.

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY COMMISSION, UNITED STATES
AND CANADA.

For defining and marking boundary between United States and Canada, except on Great Lakes and St.
Lawrence River.

This commission was authorized by conventions or treaties between the United States and Great Britain, as follows:

1. Southeastern Alaska, or the boundary between Alaska and British Columbia. Length, 862 miles.

Article VI of the convention between the United States and Great Britain, providing for the settlement of questions between the two countries with respect to the boundary line between the Territory of Alaska and the British possessions in North America, signed at Washington January 24, 1903, stipulated that when the high contracting parties shall have received the decision of the tribunal upon the questions

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submitted as provided in the foregoing articles, which decision shall be final and binding upon all parties, they will at once appoint, each on its own behalf, one or more scientific experts, who shall with all convenient speed proceed to lay down the boundary line in conformity with such decision.

2. The boundary between Alaska and Canada, along the one hundred and fortyfirst meridian. Length, 625 miles.

The convention between the United States and Great Britain providing for the surveying and marking out upon the ground of the one hundred and forty-first degree of west longitude where said meridian forms the boundary line between Alaska and the British possessions in North America, signed at Washington April 21, 1906, stipulated that each Government shall appoint one commissioner, with whom may be associated such surveyors, astronomers, and other assistants as each Government may elect, who shall locate the boundary line, erect the necessary boundary marks, make the necessary surveys, and file duplicate records with their respective Governments. 3. The United States and Canada boundary from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, with the exception of the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes. Length, 2,647 miles. Articles I, II, III, V, VI, VII, and VIII of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, entitled "Canadian International Boundary," signed at Washington April 11, 1908, stipulated that each of the high contracting parties shall appoint without delay an expert geographer or surveyor as commissioner, and the commissioner so appointed shall jointly execute the necessary surveys, repair existing boundary marks, erect additional boundary marks, and lay down the boundary line in accordance with the existing treaties upon quadruplicate sets of accurate modern charts, prepared or adopted by them for that purpose, and that said charts so marked shall be filed with each Government, and said commissioners shall also prepare, in duplicate, and file with each Government a joint report or reports, describing in detail the course of the boundary so marked by them, and the character and location of the several monuments and boundary marks and ranges marking it.

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO.

The International Boundary Commission was created by treaty of March 1, 1889, with Mexico, consisting of one American and one Mexican commissioner, and a consulting engineer and secretary of each section. By the terms of the treaty, it has exclusive jurisdiction of all differences or questions that may arise on that portion of the boundary formed by the Rio Grande and Colorado Rivers (about 1,400 miles), either growing out of changes in the bed or works constructed in said rivers or any other cause affecting the boundary. If both commissioners shall agree to a decision, their judgment shall be binding on both Governments unless one of them shall disapprove it within one month from the date it shall have been pronounced. THE UNITED STATES SECTION OF THE INTER-AMERICAN HIGH COMMISSION.

The United States section of the International High Commission received legal recognition in an act approved February 7, 1916. It consists of the nine representatives of the United States on the commission. There are corresponding sections in the Republics of Central and South America and the West Indies. The commission was organized on the recommendation of the First Pan American Financial Conference, held in Washington May 24-29, 1915. It aims to bring about substantial uniformity and a more liberal spirit in the commercial law and administrative regulations in the American Republics and more stable financial relations between Latin America and the United States, and, in general, to carry out the recommendations of the First and Second Pan American Financial Conferences. Its work is directed by a central executive council, at present composed of the chairman, vice chairman, and secretary of the United States section (the Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. John Bassett Moore, and Hon. L. S. Rowe). The first meeting of the entire commission was held at Buenos Aires April 3-12, 1916.

By virtue of the act of February 7, 1916, the Secretary of the Treasury is ex officio chairman of the United States section. The office of the secretary general of the United States section is in the Treasury Building at Washington.

The Second Pan American Financial Conference recommended that the name of the commission be amended so as to read "Inter-American High Commission." This was made effective July 1, 1920, so far as the United States was concerned, by act of Congress.

FEDERAL POWER COMMISSION.

The act of Congress approved June 10, 1920 (41 Stat., 1063), entitled the Federal water power act, created the Federal Power Commission, to be composed of the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture. The operations of the commission are conducted under the supervision of an executive secretary, assisted by an engineer officer detailed from the United States Engineer Corps and by other individuals assigned to the work of the commission by the Departments of War, Interior, and Agriculture.

The commission has general administrative control over all power sites on the navigable waters and on the public lands and reservations of the United States, and over the location, design, construction, maintenance, and operation of power projects upon such sites, an investigation being required in the case of every application to determine whether the project proposed is best adapted to a comprehensive scheme of development of the water resources of the region, not only for power development, but also for such related uses as irrigation, navigation, flood control, and water supply. The act requires that there shall be sufficient inspection and supervision of project works to assure their adequate maintenance and efficient operation, and that the commission shall ascertain the amounts necessary to be set aside to cover depreciation and to make necessary renewals and replacements. The act requires the establishment by the commission of a system of public-utility accounting, to be made applicable to all licensees, with provisions for determining and reporting cost of projects, for creation and disposition of depreciation and amortization reserves, for allocation of earnings to project and other property, and for all the other items which enter into modern utility accounting practice. The commission is charged with the duty of regulating rates, service, and securities in intrastate business wherever the several States have not provided agencies for undertaking such duties themselves and in interstate business whenever the individual States have not the power to act or can not agree.

The commission is required to classify some 2,500,000 acres of public land within power reserves; to determine the value of power available at Government dams, and the advisability of its development for public purposes; and to fix annual rental charges for reimbursing the costs of administration and for recompensing the United States for the use of its lands and other property.

In cases where a licensee makes use of a headwater improvement, the commission determines the proper share of the annual costs to be paid by the licensee benefited; and when any project already constructed is brought under license, the commission determines its fair value.

The commission is authorized to conduct general investigations of power resources and of their relation to interstate and foreign commerce, cooperating with State and National Governments in its investigations, and to publish the results of its work in special and annual reports; and it is required to make certain special investigations and report thereon to Congress.

UNITED STATES GEOGRAPHIC BOARD.

By Executive order of August 10, 1906, the official title of the United States Board on Geographic Names was changed to United States Geographic Board and its duties enlarged.

The board passes on all unsettled questions concerning geographic names which arise in the departments, as well as determines, changes, and fixes place names within the United States and its insular possessions, and all names suggested by any officer of the Government shall be referred to the board before publication. The decisions of the board are to be accepted by all the departments of the Government as standard authority.

THE COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS.

By act approved May 17, 1910, Congress created as a permanent body the national Commission of Fine Arts. The commission is "composed of seven well-qualified judges of the fine arts," who are appointed by the President and serve for a period of four years each, and until their successors are appointed and qualified.

Under the provisions of this organic act Congress directs that "It shall be the duty of the commission to advise upon the location of statues, fountains, and monuments in the public squares, streets, and parks in the District of Columbia, and upon the selection of models for statues, fountains, and monuments erected under the authority

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of the United States and upon the selection of the artists for the execution of same. It shall be the duty of the officer charged by law to determine such questions in each case to call for such advice. The foregoing provisions of this act shall not apply to the Capitol Building of the United States and the building of the Library of Congress. The commission shall also advise generally upon questions of art when required to do so by the President or by any committee of either House of Congress."

By Executive order dated October 25, 1910, the President directed that "Plans for no public building to be erected in the District of Columbia for the General Government shall be hereafter finally approved by the officer duly authorized until after such officer shall have submitted the plans to the Commission of Fine Arts created under the act of Congress of May 17, 1910, for its comment and advice.'

On February 2, 1912, the President directed the commission to advise the officer in charge of public buildings and grounds in regard to the improvement of any of the grounds in the city of Washington under his charge whenever such advice is asked for by that officer. That officer now uniformly consults the commission regarding details of the development of all the parks and reservations under his control.

On November 28, 1913, the President issued the following Executive order: "It is hereby ordered that whenever new structures are to be erected in the District of Columbia under the direction of the Federal Government which affect in any important way the appearance of the city, or whenever questions involving matters of art and with which the Federal Government is concerned are to be determined, final action shall not be taken until such plans and questions have been submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts designated under the act of Congress of May 17, 1910, for comment and advice."

In order that the development of the District of Columbia may proceed harmoniously both under Federal and District jurisdictions, the President has requested the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia to consult the Commission of Fine Arts on matters of art falling under their jurisdiction and control.

The duties of the commission, therefore, now embrace advising upon the location of statues, fountains, and monuments in the public squares, streets, and parks in the District of Columbia; upon the selection of models for statues, fountains, and monuments erected under the authority of the United States, and the selection of the artists for their execution; upon the plans and designs for public structures and parks in the District of Columbia, as well as upon all questions involving matters of art with which the Federal Government is concerned. In addition, the commission advises upon general questions of art whenever requested to do so by the President or any committee of Congress.

Congress has stipulated in many recent enactments that the plans for certain designated buildings, monuments, etc., must be approved by the commission before they can be accepted by the Government.

COURT OF CLAIMS OF THE UNITED STATES.

This court was established by act of Congress February 24, 1855 (10 Stat. L., 612). It has general jurisdiction (36 Stat. L., 1135) of all "claims founded upon the Constitution of the United States or any law of Congress, except for pensions, or upon any regulations of an executive department, or upon any contract, express or implied, with the Government of the United States, or for damages, liquidated or unliquidated, in cases not sounding in tort, in respect of which claims the party would be entitled to redress against the United States, either in a court of law, equity, or admiralty, if the United States were suable, except claims growing out of the late Civil War and commonly known as war claims," and certain rejected claims.

It has jurisdiction also of claims of like character which may be referred to it by the head of any executive department involving controverted questions of fact or law. In all the above-mentioned cases the court, when it finds for the claimant, may enter judgment against the United States, payable out of the Public Treasury. An appeal, only upon questions of law, lies to the Supreme Court on the part of the defendants in all cases and on the part of the claimants when the amount in controversy exceeds $3,000. The findings of fact by the Court of Claims are final and not subject to review by the Supreme Court.

It also has jurisdiction of the claims of disbursing officers of the United States for relief from responsibility for losses of Government funds and property by capture or otherwise, without negligence, while in the line of duty.

There is a statute of limitations which prevents parties from bringing actions on their own motion beyond six years after the cause of action accrued, but the departments may refer claims at any time if they were pending therein within the six years.