The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-01-14
SPIRIT or THE PRESS.
pDrronrAb OPINIONS or rHs LEADING .1ns JoVnNAts
uPos CURRENT roPIcs---COMfLInD sa
DAY FOR The EvKEne TstEdRAPH'
The Diplomatic ana Consular service
H,,o,,a fhs NJ Y Times.

The Dinloma,ic ana Consular Service
From, he N. Y. Times.
.,oniarIv Nth China and japan, has been, on
t,a ,nhyIo hitherto a success. Yet we fear
uo. 49,, ,bis has suffered somewhat from the
nniversaI defects of our civil serVlce, anu tnaS
,osre than once broad ana auuiraole general
noliov has been defea ed or neutFshSeo oy un-
worthy representation III ,t -
fai,b Il not, of course, to be put IN ihe visits,
tan ,resan;s the dashiDg body-guard, and the
III tuo P;uo ~ nowder and pouring of cham
-. - ewbersby, 20 use the words of our
RsSnb.r,s respondent, the English Min-
jstar Sir Harry Parkes, keeps himself and his
C3overpment continually oelore the Japanese,
or,ti thew forget that there is any other
naonle. Bnt there is much that is worth think
ine about in the unhattering comparison which
fbis same correspondent makes between the
whole English diplomatic system in the East
and our own:-
.Their whole diplomatic system is excellent.
Their consuls are educated men, have been
student interpreters, and will be, eventually,
ministers and am bassadors. They are well
paid and sure OF their position Tor lie; OT our
who have visited foreign ports know very well
what it amounts 20. OF three important poin's
in the East, the United States is represented in
ore by a Frencnman, with most iutolerable
brCgue and "a most despicable salary, and in
IL. ether two by Germans--all excellent men,
but not the ones TO represent Americans
s5road."
It is only just to acknowledge that our
q lomstic and consular service during the
10 eight years has been in general great
.ayrovement on that of the eight years pre-
ing. At one time it was found, according
! statement made in Congress, that not one
ur foreign ministers, and hardly one even
, ur foreign consuls, could speak any Ian
e. re but his own; that the backwoods had
~ ished forth good share of our represent
. On in maritime ports; and that the whole
ign service had been turned into means
rewarding party devotion-and was only
q, and nothing more.
we have advanced from that low standard,
..icularly in the case of ministers TO leading
srs, yet there is still chance for improve
:. OF course, in well-trained compsti-
civil service lies the hope OF permanent
o.. Hence; but, as that is a growth OF years,
q. ! mediate remedy must consist in wise
sol ion of the most competent men, making
80 ,)sed party claims secondary considera-
+ Assiduous shouldering of a torch
rgh political canvass has its good points,
20 has assiduous rallying of voters on
ION day; but these exercises do not of
3selves fit men for diplomatic or consular
~. Nor is it, we submit, an sllsuficient
I'D for a foreign appointment that a youth
:. IS 20 SOW his wild oats; or is troublesome
:, IS friends; or wishes to study his profess
s'"u IN Europe; or wants to take peep at
,igu picture galleries. or is tired of Ame-
1ica; or that, being incompetent himself, he is
commended by somebody else who IS COM
letynt, and deserves political reward; or that
he withdrew from the contest over political
nomination at home in favor OF somebody else.
In short, one of the easiest ways of enumerat-
ing what are not qualifications to foreign SER
vice is to make a list of those which have
been most efficient in times gone by. We
must change all that, ii We would be vel
served in foreign capitals and ports.