In the popular thought Uncle Sam is ourselves at our best; or rather he is ourselves gathered up into one body, one agency, one force. Uncle Sam stamps his initials on the public buildings, the camps, the stores, the guns, the ships, the uniforms, the army wagons, and the army mules. Uncle Sam carries the mails, prints the greenbacks, sends the seeds, digs the canals, lays the taxes, enlists the soldiers, fights the war and makes the peace. Uncle Sam is the national Santa Claus, the trimmer of America’s Christmas tree, the free mail-order establishment, the ready subscriber to all good causes. In a way, Uncle Sam means the Government of the United States--more accurately he stands for the human side of the Government, interested in the people, eager that they should be happy, warding off dangers immediate and far away. Uncle Sam rocked the cradle of the republic and watches over it with pride, just as the wealthy and generous uncle in ordinary family life looks after a high-spirited bouncing niece. [Illustration: WEATHER KIOSK OF U. S. WEATHER BUREAU A miniature observatory for the man of the street] To come down to more precise and commonplace terms, what does the great Government of the United States, centered in Washington, do for the people of the United States? The moment we attempt to make a list of his benefits we discover that they outrun the capacity of any human comparison. The United States Government is more like a telephone exchange, with direct wires to every hamlet and household. It is like a vast school with many class rooms in which are taught various branches of the same subject, namely how to make the United States citizens happier, better and more prosperous. Out of the many radiations from this central influence, let us select a few of those in which the benevolent side of our Government is more clearly presented. For instance, let us see what the Government does for such matters as education, labor, agriculture, commerce, and the carrying of intelligence, for the defense of the community, and protection of free institutions here and elsewhere in the world. [Illustration: BUREAU OF STANDARDS, WASHINGTON, D. C. Administration Building in the center This Bureau is the custodian of official standards of weights and measures and also a national physical laboratory conducting a variety of investigations for the benefit of manufacturers and others] _Uncle Sam’s Schools_