Department of Commerce and Labor
- noun
- /dɪˈpɑrtmənt əv ˈkɑːmɜrs ənd ˈleɪbər/
- Formal
:
Departamento de Comercio y Trabajo
- Dorene Askin, a historian for the California Department of Parks and Recreation, described it as "crowded and unsanitary," while a contemporary inspector for the Department of Commerce and Labor reported that it was a "death trap."
Examples
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The concern with controlling immigration found institutional support in 1906, with the creation of the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization in the Department of Commerce and Labor.
Academic text (2001) -
By 1903, the Bureau had become a centralized and powerful agency and was transferred to its parent department, the newly created Department of Commerce and Labor.
Academic text (1999) -
In 1903, the USFC was renamed the Bureau of Fisheries under the Department of Commerce and Labor and remained in the Department of Commerce after 1911.
Academic text (1994) -
The law unified naturalization procedures and fees nationwide and put them under the supervision of the newly founded Division of Naturalization under the auspices of the (renamed) Federal Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, part of the Department of Commerce and Labor.
Academic text (2001) -
The Department of Commerce and Labor was established in 1903 to oversee economic and labor issues in the United States.
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In 1913, the Department of Commerce and Labor was divided into two separate agencies to focus on commerce and labor independently.
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The Department of Commerce and Labor played a key role in shaping U.S. economic policy during the early 20th century.
Surface Forms
Morphology
department + of + Commerce + and + Labor
The phrase is fully compositional: 'department' (an organizational unit) + 'of' + 'Commerce' and 'Labor' clearly indicates a governmental unit responsible for trade and worker affairs, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the core meaning. The precise historical fact that it was a former department split in 1913 is not derivable from the words, but the referential/organizational meaning is transparently built from the parts.
Etymology
Department of Commerce and Labor was a single U.S. government office set up to handle both business (Commerce) and workers (Labor) under one roof. Because the two jobs were so different, it was 'split' in 1913 into separate departments, so today the name refers to that old, combined department.
