, 1880-01-29
The State Department..

NtlSCN III ll.t ht. IN'A LtaN'iN"' htt" ''.f.''
who drops in at the way or navy Gcp2vt-
ment in the wing above, and ,h2n
comes to visit tn, State Department
notices the difference assoon as hc opens
the door. In toad of the clerks talking
in the corridors and people smoking or.
laughing around, he sees q messenger
who has apod Mr. Seward, late Assistant
Secretary Of State, in wearing. skull
cap; a long corridor, silent, clean and
cold There may be people going in or
out, but they 90 not make any noise,
No clerks are seen in the corridors.
Neither is n door open on either side of
the halls. Everybody is very polite.
The business of the department runs
like clock work. The clerks generally
enter its service when young men and
90 out when they die. Political inhu
ence has bat little effect in securing n
place in the State Department Very
few discharges are made, and then for
cause only. Tie clerks are selected for
adaptability and efficiency. The chief
clerk OF the department does not know
the politics OF a single man under him,
He actually goes so far as to say he
doesn't care to know Unlike other de.
bartments, the chief clelli has full
supervision Of all the employees IN the
department and its work. The present
chief clerk has been in the department
Is years. Before Mr. Fishs day the
department was run somewhat loosely.
Under Mr.. Fish it was reorgauizol, and
rules for its government made. Such
rules are generally observed few
months and then relaxed Not so in
the Department Of State. With addi-
tional regulations, where needed, they
are so much in force now that no clerk
would think Of violating them One Of
the leading features of the organization
is secrecy. No one is allowed to receive
visitors in his room, to go out during
business hours without permission, or to
visit from room to room. A daily Wis
itor to the department for more than
three years has not in that time seen
more than half dozen clerks, and
they We're out Of their rooms on bus
mess. Smoking is allowed inside the
rooms, but not in the corridors. The
stimps of tobacco or splashes Of nicotine
juice are never seen on the corridor
floors. The only individual that you
will see with regularity is the elevator
man. He never knows anything. He
doesn't even know if the Secretary has
gone up in the elevator or not. That's
the way it is all around Nobody says
anything unless it is his business to
speak. The clerks don't go trooping out
of the building at o'clock, as in other
departments. They drop out one by one
between A and 5, as they get through
their work.
The Secretary of State is, of course,
at the head of the department Ills
room is small, quiet, and handsomely
furnished He used to have the hand
soonest room Of any government official
until the magnificent one now occupied
by Secretary Thompson, was completed.
The work OF the department is arranged
most systematically. There are three
Assistant Secretaries of State. All the
countries with which we shave relations"
are divided among these three geogtaph-
icalIy. When the mail arrivesin the morn
ing it is indexed and stamped. It is
then brought to the chief clerk, Sevel-
Ion A. Brown. He reads it all over,
acts upon some of it, sends portions to
the assistant secretaries, and all letters
that are of sufficient Importance are
taken to the secretary of state. The
answers are sent back to the chief clerk,
and looked over. Those that require
the secreoary's signature, or which he
should see, are taken to him, All are
press copied before going out. These
papers are moved about in closed boxes.
Many of the most important diplomatic
dispatches are written by clerks. There
are 20 clerks in the department who
can draft dispatches in the most impor
tant diplomatic correspondence. There
Is curious fact in connection with our
diplomatic correspondence. All this
correspondence of the government is
preserved. There is a complete set of
volumes embracing it all since the foun,
dation of the government The volumes
in which they are contained are so adj
mirably arranged that within three min
utes from the request any state paper
can be laid hands on. 1t is also curious
chat the files Of the department corras