# U. S. Senate Speeches and Remarks of Carl Schurz/Consular System

“The Senate next proceeded to consider, as in Committee of the Whole, the bill (S. 676) to amend an act entitled 'An act to regulate the diplomatic and consular systems of the United States,' passed August 18, 1856, and for other purposes; and having been amended, it was reported to the Senate and the amendments were concurred in.” (Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, June 14, 1870, p. 811). The text of this discussion is from The Congressional Globe, 41st Congress, 2nd Session, pp. 4422-4423.
CONSULAR SYSTEM.
Mr. SCHURZ. I think there are some salaries of consuls in that part of Europe with which I am more particularly acquainted illy adjusted in this bill. For instance, there is the consulate at Copenhagen with a salary of $2,000. Now, the consulate at Copenhagen is really of very little importance, if any.
Mr. CHANDLER. I think we had better lay this bill aside, as it is evident that it cannot be passed, and proceed with some other bill.
The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator from Michigan moves to pass over the bill.
Mr. SCHURZ. If the chairman desires to do that, I have no objection.
Mr. CHANDLER. It is evident the bill cannot be passed. The Senator was not in his seat; but we have gone over the whole matter. Let me ask, has the Senator many amendments to move?
Mr. SCHURZ. I wish to make an amendment right here. It will not take me five minutes to say all I have got to say. I do not wish to make a speech on this bill.
Mr. CHANDLER. Very well; I will not make the motion now.
Mr. SCHURZ. I was just remarking that the consulate at Copenhagen is really a very small affair, if of any importance at all. The consulate was formerly at Elsinore, and was then transferred to Copenhagen. I do not remember whether the consul at Elsinore got any salary, or whether he had to live on his fees; but it was a very small consulate, and really the business has not been increased at all by transferring the consulate to Copenhagen. I move that that salary be reduced to $1,500.
Mr. SPENCER. I hope the amendment of the Senator from Missouri will not prevail. The salary of the consul at Elsinore is at present $1,500. Under this bill that consulate is abolished, and the salary of the consulate at Copenhagen is made $2,000. This change is made upon the express recommendation of the State Department, who are presumed to know more about the subject than any of the members of the Senate. At any rate, as one of the committee, I have deferred to their wishes and
views in the matter. The fees of the consulate at Copenhagen have been more than five hundred dollars per year, and consequently this change is really a saving.
My friend says that there is little or no business done at Copenhagen. In that I beg to differ with him, as I have had opportunities of knowing something about it. There is a line of steamers between Copenhagen and the United States.
Mr. SCHURZ. Projected.
Mr. SPENCER. No, sir; in operation; and the emigration from there is very large, and the tonnage from Copenhagen is also large. Large quantities of Swedish railroad iron are being shipped from there. It is the principal point from which that iron is shipped. The business is constantly increasing. The Scandinavian immigration to this country is also very large and increasing. I know of no consulate in the whole European list where the probabilities are that our trade will increase so largely as at this.
Mr. CHANDLER. I will simply say that the Secretary of State recommends the amount in the bill, and I hope it will be adhered to.
The VICE PRESIDENT. The question is on the amendment of the Senator from Missouri.
The amendment was rejected.
Mr. SCHURZ. I find in the consulates to the North German Union that while the consulate at Dresden is to receive a salary according to this bill of $2,500, the consul at Hamburg is to receive a salary of only $2,000.
Mr. SUMNER. That last ought to be corrected. He ought to have more than that.
Mr. SCHURZ. Hamburg is the principal port of Germany, and there certainly is a great deal more business at Hamburg than there is — I will not say at all the rest of these places together, but at least as much as at four or five of the places named here. I move that the salary of the consul at Hamburg be raised to $3,000 in the first place, and I shall then offer an amendment in regard to the consul at Dresden.
The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator from Missouri moves to increase the salary of the consul at Hamburg to $3,000, and he also suggests a reduction of the salary of the consul at Dresden from $2,500 to $2,000.
Mr. SCHURZ. I will say that the port of Hamburg is for Germany what the port of Liverpool is for England. It is about the same proportion, although the business is not as large.
Mr. CHANDLER. The State Department and the Committee on Commerce went over these figures very carefully, and compared the business of the different consulates with each other; but there were certain points in Germany where a large number of Americans congregate. For instance, at Dresden there is an American colony of perhaps a thousand people, who give more trouble to the consul than a large trade would.
Then, again, there are certain points in Germany from which there is a very large emigration, where there are letters constantly being received by the consul, and questions asked which he is compelled to devote most of his time to answering. I think myself that the salary of the consulate at Hamburg — I believe it is $2,000 ---
Mr. SCHURZ. It is $2,000 in the bill.
Mr. CHANDLER. I would not object to making it $2,500. I think the Senator may be right about that. Perhaps that salary ought to be raised. The receipts are much less than at Manchester or at Leeds; but I would not object to making it $2,000, if that would satisfy the Senator.
Mr. SCHURZ. I will accept that amendment.
The VICE PRESIDENT. Then there is the reduction at Dresden.
Mr. CHANDLER. I think Dresden ought to remain as it is. That is my opinion. I
spent some days at Dresden, and I am perfectly satisfied that the American consul at Dresden has a harder time than almost any other consul abroad.
Mr. SCHURZ. He has a great many ladies to take care of, I know. [Laughter.]
Mr. CHANDLER. And sometimes they are very troublesome. [Laughter.]
Mr. SCHURZ. But the commercial business is really of very little importance.
Mr. CHANDLER. I will agree to $2,500 as the salary of the consul at Hamburg, if that will satisfy the Senator; but I would rather not reduce the salary of the consul at Dresden.
The VICE PRESIDENT. If there be no objection the amendment of the Senator from Missouri in regard to the consulate at Hamburg will be regarded as agreed to.
Mr. SCHURZ. I wish to observe as to Hamburg that the consul at Hamburg has really to do the same business which is performed by two consuls, one at Bremen and one at another port. Now I move that the salary of the consul at Dresden be reduced to $2,000.
The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator from Missouri moves to reduce the salary of the consul at Dresden from $2,500 to $2,000.
The amendment was rejected.
Mr. SCHURZ. I wish to offer another amendment, and I desire the attention of the Senator from Michigan to it. On the same page of the bill there are three consulates, Ludwigshafen, Carlsruhe, and Darmstadt, which are almost within stone's throw of one another. Formerly, I understand, there was only one consulate in the place of these three, and I think that at the present moment two of them could very well be dispensed with. Ludwigshafen is opposite Manheim in Bavaria; Carlsruhe is the capital of Baden; and Darmstadt is the capital of the little duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. But, as I said before, these three places are in a cluster, close together. I would move that the appropriations for consulates at Ludwigshafen and Darmstadt be stricken out and the salary of the consulate at Carlsruhe be raised to $1,500. I first move that the consulate at Ludwigshafen be stricken out.
Mr. CHANDLER. All I know is that the State Department recommended these figures. I know nothing about the subject. It may be precisely as the Senator understands it; but I really have no information about it. I will look, however, to see what the receipts are at Carlsruhe and the other points.
Mr. SCHURZ. The Senator has traveled in that region, I suppose, and he must know that those three cities are very close together.
Mr. CHANDLER. The receipts at Darmstadt are greater than they are at Carlsruhe, where the Senator desires to retain the consulate.
Mr. SCHURZ. I will state to the Senator that I had a conversation with the Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Davis, about this subject, and he said, inasmuch as there had formerly been only one consulate in the place of these three, he thought it would not be inconvenient in any way to have two of them struck out, and he did not care which.
Mr. CHANDLER. I have no information except what I have received from the Secretary of State. If the Senator has any more recent information, he can present it to the Senate. Of course I cannot say whether it is or is not so.
The VICE PRESIDENT. The question is on the amendment of the Senator from Missouri, to strike out the appropriation for the consulate at Ludwigshafen.
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. SCHURZ. I now move to strike out the appropriation for the consulate at Darmstadt on page 7, line one hundred and forty-three.
The VICE PRESIDENT. The head line “Hesse-Darmstadt” should also be included in the motion.
Mr. SCHURZ. Yes, sir.
Mr. CHANDLER. I notice that at Ludwigshafen there was received but a very small amount in fees, while Darmstadt indicates a considerable amount of business. I think the Senator had better permit the bill to remain as it is, with the one already stricken out. The receipts at Hesse-Darmstadt last year were $2,676 50. It is perfectly evident that we must have a consul there.
Mr. SCHURZ. How much was received at Carlsruhe?
Mr. CHANDLER. I will give the Senator the figures. We are evidently making a mistake here. The receipts there were $898 50, while the receipts at Hesse-Darmstadt were $2,676 50. We shall evidently make a mistake if we go on hastily without information on this matter. It is perfectly evident from the receipts last year that Hesse-Darmstadt ought not to be stricken out.
Mr. SUMNER. Is not Hesse-Darmstadt the center of a great wine district?
Mr. SCHURZ. The facts of the case are these: formerly all the business that is now transacted at Hesse-Darmstadt was transacted at another point. I think Hesse-Darmstadt is the center of a great wine district; but if we preserve the consulate at Carlsruhe we accommodate a large tract of country, from which there has been lately a great deal of immigration coming to this country.
Mr. CHANDLER. The Senator will see that the receipts at Carlsruhe were less than one third of the receipts from Darmstadt. If any one of these consulates is to be abolished we should abolish the one at Carlsruhe because the receipts there were only $898 50. If it is deemed best to abolish one of them, I should say abolish the consulate at Carlsruhe. I think, on the whole, the Senator from Missouri had better withdraw his last amendment, and let the consulate that is stricken out remain stricken out. I think he had better allow these other consulates to remain as they are.
Mr. SCHURZ. My understanding is that formerly there was a consular agency, under the consul at Frankfort, at Hesse-Darmstadt, and that all of the Hesse-Darmstadt business was done by the Frankfort consulate. I ask the Senator from Michigan if that is not his information also?
Mr. CHANDLER. Very likely; I presume that is so.
Mr. SCHURZ. Still I will not insist on that amendment.
The VICE PRESIDENT. The amendment is withdrawn.