Measures for Progress: A History of the National Bureau of Standards

230 THE TIDE OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (1920-30)
Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce, it was predicted, would make his department
"second only to that of the Secretary of State." He did just that, and by making all
interests of commerce and industry the provitice of the Bureau, further expanded its
scope of activities and range of research.
proving its industrial processes, abolishing waste, establishing better labor
relations, and better business methods. With his knowledge, experience,
-and driving power, the "New York Times" editorialized, Hoover seemed
destined to make his office in the Cabinet "second oniy to that of the Secre-
tary of State." 29 The "Times" may have overestimated the position but it
underestimated the man.
The Department of Commerce in 1921 comprised the Bureaus of
Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Lighthouses, Navigation, the Coast and
Geodetic Survey, the Bureaus of the Census, Standards, and Fisheries, and
the Steamboat Inspection Service. In 1922 Congress was to add a Building
and Housing Division to Commerce, and in 1925 Hoover secured by Execu-
tive order the transfer from Interior of the Bureau of Mines and the Patent
"New York Times," Feb. 25, 1921, PP. 2, 10. The editorial spoke of Hoover's "dicta-
torial temper."