=The Department of State.=--At the head of the department of state is the secretary of state, who is the ranking member of the cabinet and the first in line for the presidency in case of the death or removal of both President and Vice President. He sits at the right hand of the President at cabinet meetings and is given precedence over his colleagues on occasions of ceremony. There are also three assistant secretaries in the department, and a counselor, who advises the President and Secretary of State in regard to questions of international law. The duties of the secretary of state fall into three groups: first, he is the custodian of the great seal and of the archives of the United States. In this capacity he receives the acts and resolutions of Congress, publishes them in certain papers, and preserves the originals. Under this head also fall the duties of countersigning proclamations and important commissions of the President and of attaching thereto the great seal. In the second place, the secretary of state is the organ of communication between the national government and the state governments. Thus an application from the governor of a state for troops to suppress domestic violence, or a request for the extradition of a criminal who has taken refuge in a foreign country, is made through the secretary of state. In the third place, the secretary of state is the organ of communication between the United States and foreign powers, that is, he is the minister of foreign affairs. He carries on all correspondence with foreign governments, negotiates treaties, countersigns warrants for the extradition of fugitives from the justice of foreign countries, issues passports to American citizens wishing to travel abroad, and grants exequaturs to foreign consuls in the United States.