It is especially charged with investigating the causes of and facts relating to all controversies and disputes between employers and employees. It publishes from time to time the results of elaborate investigations on various subjects relating to labor and industry, and also issues a bimonthly bulletin on special topics within the same field. _The Children's Bureau_, established in 1912, is charged with the investigation of problems relating to the welfare of children, such as the conditions of the employment of children, the causes of infant mortality, etc. In 1920 the _Women's Bureau_ was established to promote the welfare of wage-earning women. =References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 327-352. BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. xi. BRYCE, The American Commonwealth (abridged edition), ch. viii. FAIRLIE, National Administration of the U. S., ch. iv. HARRISON, This Country of Ours, chs. xi-xviii. =Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. The Congressional Directory. 2. Annual reports of the heads of department and other officials, such as the commissioner of pensions, the commissioner of the general land office, the commissioner general of immigration, the civil service commission, the interstate commerce commission, etc. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. What is the origin of the term "cabinet"? On what days are cabinet meetings now held? 2. What are the principal differences between the American cabinet and the British cabinet? 3. Do you think the members of the cabinet should be members of Congress? If not, ought they to be allowed seats in Congress without the right to vote? 4. Do you think the President ought ever to disregard the advice of his cabinet? 5. Give the names of five distinguished secretaries of state since 1789. 6. Washington's first cabinet was composed of an equal number of members from both political parties. Would it be wise to follow that practice? 7. Why is the secretary of the treasury required to make his annual reports to Congress while the other heads of departments make theirs to the President? 8. Would it be wise to elect the heads of departments of the federal government by popular vote as those of the state governments usually are? 9. Do you think the secretary of war ought to be an army officer as is the usual practice in Europe? 10. Why is the postmaster-generalship usually given to an active party manager? 11. Why is an importer ineligible under the law to appointment as secretary of the treasury? 12. Why is the department of state really misnamed? Would the title "department of foreign affairs" indicate more precisely the duties of the department? 13. What is your opinion of the movement to establish a department of public health? 14. Do you think the bureau of education should be raised to the rank of a department? [Illustration: THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT] [Illustration: THE SUPREME COURT ROOM]