TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1. Introduction.... 2. General description of the service, its organization and duties.. 1. Creation of the service.... 2. Duties of the service.. 3. Organization of the service.. 4. Appropriation for the service.. 3. Critical consideration of the service and its activities. 1. Special character of the service... 2. Military character of the service.. 4. Consideration of the duties of the service in detail. 5. Duties of the service as specifically required by law. 6. Conclusion... EXHIBITS. Page. 269 270 270 270 271 271 271 271 273 275 282 283 Department to the Navy Department. 1B. History, organization, and activities of the Revenue-Cutter Service 3B. Compilation of the laws relating to the Revenue-Cutter Service 285 299 349 4B. Regulations and general orders of the service (included by reference only, as they are readily available in printed form).. 368 5B. Report of the Secretary of the Treasury for the fiscal year 1910 regarding the Revenue-Cutter Service. 368 6B. Letter of the Secretary of the Treasury giving a statement of the expenditures of the service, fiscal year 1910... 371 7B. Extract from the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1912 making appropriations for the service.. 371 8B. Summary of expenditures of the Revenue-Cutter Service for the fiscal year 1911 (furnished to the Commission on Economy and Efficiency by the Secretary of the Treasury)... 9B. Bibliography of the Revenue-Cutter Service 268 372 373 REVENUE-CUTTER SERVICE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY. NOVEMBER 17, 1911. The PRESIDENT: The Commission on Economy and Efficiency has the honor to submit the following report in reference to the Revenue-Cutter Service of the Department of the Treasury. Its recommendation in respect to this service is that it be abolished and that the duties now being performed by it be distributed among other existing organizations of the Government. INTRODUCTION. In the consideration which the commission has given to the organization and activities of the services of the Government having to do with maritime affairs special attention has been given to the Revenue-Cutter Service. After a careful study of the work now being performed by this service the commission is convinced that the service has not a single duty or function that can not be performed by some other existing service, and be performed by the latter at much smaller expense on its part. The commission therefore recommends that the Revenue-Cutter Service as a separate branch of the Government be abolished, and that the duties now being performed and the equipment used by it so far as this may be necessary be distributed among other branches of the Government.1 The maintenance of this service at the present time involves an expenditure of approximately two and a half million dollars annually. The commission believes that its abolition as a separately organized branch will result in a direct saving of a large part of this sum; and that, after the work of distributing the duties now being performed by the service among other branches of the Government service is definitely accomplished, the net saving to the Government will be at least $1,000,000 annually. This economy, it believes, will be effected not at the expense of efficiency, but that, on the contrary, all the duties now being performed by the service will be equally, if not more efficiently, discharged by other services. The importance of the issue makes it desirable that a full statement of the facts regarding this service be set forth, with the considerations that led the commission to reach its conclusion on the subject. The effort has been made therefore to compile, and to 1 This recommendation is made at this time for the purpose of laying this important matter before the President at the earliest possible date. The commission believes that before any definite decision is reached the Department of the Treasury, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of Commerce and Labor-the three departments whose interests are most affected by the recommendation-should be furnished with copies of this report, in order that their comments on the facts stated and the conclusions reached may be secured. It is possible that such comments may result in a modification of the recommendation here made. In a way, therefore, the present report must be considered as raising an important issue in definite form and as the statement of the views of the commission as the result of its independent Inquiry. present in exhibits to this report, the detailed data regarding the history, organization, and activities, and legal powers and duties of the service, and to reproduce in full all official documents which throw light upon the questions to be considered. Care has been taken to include a full statement of the efforts that were put forth for nearly a century looking to the transfer of the Revenue-Cutter Service from the Treasury Department to the Navy Department. Although these efforts were directed to the accomplishment of a purpose differing materially from the present recommendations of the commission, many of the arguments advanced in favor of and against such transfer have a direct bearing upon the issue now raised. The commission appreciates that, had it been possible for it to do the work, an intensive investigation of the manner in which the service at the present time conducts its affairs would have been of value in itself, and also would have thrown additional light on the subject of the general status or necessity for the existence of the service. It must be borne in mind, however, that the question raised by the commission's recommendation is not whether the Revenue-Cutter Service is or is not being efficiently operated. It is assumed that it is. The question is a much larger one, namely, whether such a service should be maintained at all as a separately organized branch of the Government. It is believed that the material here assembled furnishes sufficient data for an intelligent consideration of this question. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICE.-ITS ORGANIZATION AND DUTIES. The exhibits to this report give an account, in detail, of the history, organization, and activities of the Revenue-Cutter Service, and it is necessary, therefore, to state here only a few facts of general importance. CREATION OF THE SERVICE. The establishment of a Revenue-Cutter Service was urged by Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, in a report to the House of Representatives, dated April 22, 1790. This recommendation was acted upon by Congress and the service was definitely created by act of August 4, 1790. Although Mr. Hamilton had recommended that the officers of the service "be commissioned officers of the Navy," it was provided in the act of August 4, 1790, that they should "be deemed officers of the customs. Since its creation the service has been under the Department of the Treasury. DUTIES OF THE SERVICE. Established as a coast patrol to prevent smuggling and assist in the enforcement of the customs laws, the service has had duties successively added until at the present time the duties relate to almost all marine matters over which the Government exercises jurisdiction. The following is an enumeration of the duties as stated in the Official Regulations and in reports made by the service to the commission: 1. Protection of the customs revenue. 2. Cooperation with the Navy. 3. Enforcement of laws pertaining to the quarantine. 4. Suppression of the slave trade. 5. Enforcement of the neutrality laws. 6. Protection of merchant vessels from piratical attacks and suppression of piracy. 7. Protection of the timber reserves of the United States against depredations. 8. Assistance of vessels in distress. 9. Prevention of the violation of the immigration laws as provided in section 2163, Revised Statutes. 10. Protection of seal fisheries and sea-otter hunting grounds in Alaska. 11. Suppression of illegal traffic in firearms, ammunition, and spirits in Alaska. 12. Cooperation with the Life-Saving Service. (a) Superintendence of the construction of life-saving stations. (b) Inspection, instruction, and drilling of crews of life-saving stations. 13. Enforcement of certain laws relating to fisheries. 14. Enforcement of certain laws relating to the anchorage of vessels. 15. Regulation and policing regattas and marine parades. 16. Protection of game in Alaska. 17. Destruction of derelicts at sea. 18. Enforcement of laws regarding motor boats. 19. Enforcement of the navigation and other laws governing merchant vessels. 20. Suppression of mutinies on board merchant vessels. 21. Protection of wrecked property. 22. Establishment and maintenance of a refuge station at or near Point Barrow, Alaska. ORGANIZATION OF THE SERVICE. For the performance of these duties the service now has 1. An administrative office at Washington. 2. Four supervision districts with headquarters at (1) New York, (2) New Orleans, (3) San Francisco, and (4) Port Townsend. 3. A department of construction and repairs at Baltimore, Md. 4. A depot at Arundel Cove, Md. 5. A general store at San Francisco, Cal. 6. Twenty-six cruising cutters. 7. Sixteen harbor cutters, consisting of nine tugs and seven launches. 8. A school of instruction at New London, Conn., to which is attached the practice cutter Itasca. APPROPRIATION FOR THE SERVICE. The appropriations for the support of the service for the fiscal year 1911 amounted to $2,463,000. CRITICAL CONSIDERATION OF THE SERVICE AND ITS ACTIVITIES. In subsequent pages there will be found a critical consideration of each duty of the service with a view of determining its character and to make clear that it can be effectively performed by other services at less cost than is entailed in its performance by the RevenueCutter Service. Two general features of the service, the existence of which vitally affects the whole problem, should receive consideration at this point. They are 1. The special character of the service as one assisting other services to discharge their functions instead of having a special field of activities of its own; and 2. The organization and conduct of the service on a strictly military basis. SPECIAL CHARACTER OF THE SERVICE. No one can study the operations of this service without being impressed by the fact that it has no distinct field of activities of its own, but its duties consist almost exclusively in assisting other 37542°-H. Doc. 670, 62-2-18 branches of the Government to perform their work. This was not a fact when the service was first created. On the termination of the War of the Revolution, when the country returned to a peace basis, the Continental Navy was disbanded. No new navy was created to take the place of the Continental Navy, and the country was without a marine force for the performance of military duties. The prevention of smuggling in cargo then constituted the most important feature of the rigid enforcement of the customs system. At the time of the creation of the service there was a real necessity, therefore, for one that would perform the distinct function of a coast patrol. With the development of a strong navy, and the practical cessation of smuggling in cargo, this primary function of the service has constantly dwindled in relative importance until it constitutes but a small part of the total activities of the service. On the other hand, the activities of the Government in relation to maritime affairs have constantly increased, and special services, such as the Bureau of Navigation, Steamboat-Inspection Service, Bureau of Lighthouses, the Life-Saving Service, etc., have been established for their performance. In connection with many of these services the RevenueCutter Service has undertaken to perform certain duties or to render certain assistance, so that now 20 or more heads are required in order to enumerate the different classes of duties assigned to or performed by it. It is this characteristic of the Revenue-Cutter Service that makes the problem of its organization, activities, and status a special one. The problem presented is whether these varied duties, now being discharged by it for the benefit of other services, can not be performed more efficiently by those other services themselves. In considering this problem, due regard should be given to the fact that only in part does the existence of this service relieve the other services which are added from themselves taking action along the same lines that are followed in the work done for them by the RevenueCutter Service. Thus, for example, notwithstanding the fact that the Revenue-Cutter Service in performing one of its duties makes use of its cutters for boarding vessels in order to enforce the navigation laws, provision is also made by law for the maintenance and operation of other vessels by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for this purpose. Following is the section of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for 1912 regarding this subject: Enforcement of navigation laws: To enable the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to provide and operate such motor boats and employ thereon such persons as may be necessary for the enforcement, under his direction by customs officers, of the laws relating to the navigation and inspection of vessels, boarding of vessels, and counting of passengers on excursion boats, fifteen thousand dollars. The result of thus making use of two or more services for the performance of the same function, is failure to locate definitely responsibility, increased complexities in administering affairs, overlapping, duplication, and other evils which are usually present when two services work in the same field. The fact that most of the services aided by the Revenue-Cutter Service are compelled to maintain an administrative machinery for doing much of the same class of work now performed for them by the Revenue-Cutter Service, shows conclusively that the abolition of the Revenue Cutter Service will not require the creation of new services to |