The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-08
MEN WHO HAVE BEEN CONSULS I'm
FOREIGN LANDS FOR MANY
YEARS.
CONSUL sPRAGUE THE DEAN.
U0Us SERVICE UNDER UNCLE
SAM
HIS SEMI-CENTENNIAL IN 1898.
Has Been Stationed at Gibraltar
Location of Other Old
Timers.

Timers.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6.-As soon as
the election is over many of the men
who have been most active in the
campaign will begin to study the con-
sular and diplomatic list with view
to picking out a good place. They
will take into consideration three
things-the geographical location of the
post selected, the salary attached to it
and the length of time the present In
cumbent has been there. Wherever the
ambitious one sees a date later than
March 4, 1898, after a mans name he
will place a check mark against IT.
Any man appointed by the Cleveland
administration will be considered fair
game by the office seeker.
OF course, If Mr. Bryan should be
elected, many of the appointees OF Mr.
Cleveland vii put in a claim for re-
tention on the ground that they were
free silver men" in years gone by.
Ii they prove their title clear, they will
stand a good chance of being kept in
place.
But the men who are most likely to
remain in the consular service after
March 4 next are the men who have
held office for more than eight years.
When an incoming administration has
left man undisturbed in possession
of a consular Office or has promoted
him to better place, it is safe to say
he possesses some business quality
which makes him valuable TO the serv-
81 az
consuls now in office. Their expert
ence ranges from forty-eight years
down.
The banner consul is Horatio j.
Sprague. He was made United States
consul at Gibraltar on May II, 1S48, and
he has held the position continuously
since. Administrations have come in
and gone out, parties have sprung INTO
being and other parties have died, but
Horatio j. Sprague has never given up
/ his Office. His salary now is 81, 500 a
year, and the fees Of his office are a
little more than 5000 a year. Consul
Sprague was born in Gibraltar, but
he was appointed from Massachusetts
Consul Sprague's service has been
continuous. There is another consul
who looks back to an introduction to
l.
Sprague's, but the years he has served
are not so many. William S. Camp
bell, of New York, was appointed con-
sui at Rotterdam by Tyler 20 days
after he had taken the oath as presi-
dent, April q, 1S41. He held the place
until July 20, 1861, when he retired
from the public service, but on the 22d
of the following January, President
Lincoln made him consul at Dresden.
That position he filled until Aug 81,
1859, when he retired again to private
life. Not quite "a years Iater-June
%, 1S9S-President Cleveland appointed
him consul at Newcastle, where he now
draws a salary of $150O a year
Another veteran of the service is Fob
ert S. Chiffon, the commercial agent at
Goderich, in Canada. Occasionally you
will see in the news paragraphs some
thing about Robert Chiffon of the state
department. Only recently he went
abroad on a mission CONNECTED with
reforms in some Of the consulates This
is the son Of Robert j. Chiffon, of God
erich, and he has been connected with
the state department as clerk, as chief
clerk and as bureau chief for many
years. During the Harrison admin
stfation he was private secretary to
the vice president, and very efficient,
ohiging and popular private secretary
he was. The elder Chiffon has been in
the public service since 1852. On Jan.
1, of that year he was made clerk in
the state department. He was made
commissioner of immigration Oct. 16,
1866, returned to a clerkship in the
state department July l, 1858, was ap-
pointed consul at Clifton Feb. 2, 1871,
was transferred thence to Fort Erie,
and in 1882 was put at his present post
of duty. He draws a salary of $500
year, which is not much in view of
his As years OF public service.
Charles C. Green is the next veteran
consul. He was appointed acting vice
consul at Coquimbo in Chill SeIE. Z,
1859, by the minister to that country.
Nine months later he was made consul
at Coquimbo, and he remained there I'M
til 1873, when he resigned. Nearly 20
years later President Harrison-Dec. g.,
lS62-made him consul at Autofagasta,
in Chill, where his compensation is a
small amount of fees annually
Most of these veteran consuls are
stationed at places where the fees are
incOnSiderable, and, in most cases. they
are men who are engaged in business.
Some Of them are natives of the land
to whose government they are ac-
credited. The consulship carries dig
nifty and some privileges, and it helps
trade. For this reason these men
serve Many Of them receive no COM
pensation or at the most So or $40 a
year. NO one Will De a1nD1t1OuS TO sup
plant them. I think the post of agent
at Buen Ayre, in the West Indies.
which has been held sipce 1876 by
Lodewyk C. Boye, for example, is per-
fectly safe. Mynheer Boye's fees last
year were dollars and cents This
was just the amount of the compen-
sation of Joao ]. Nunes. who has been
agent at Bravo, on the Cape Verde
islands, since 1862. Ernesto Canut. our
agent at Palma. Majorca, in Spain.
was more fortunate. He has served
the United States for 26 years at that
post, and his fees last year amounted
to $3.50 for official and $3.50 for no
tarial work. Cirilo Molina, who has
been our consul at Carthagena, Spain,
since 1862, took in $4S.75 in official and
81 so in notarial fees last year.
Just q Of our consular officers and
agents have served 25 years or more
continuously at one place. They are:
CONSULS.
Horatio j. Sprague, Gibraltar, May IL,
1S4S
Crib Molina, Carthagena, Nov. IS. 1862.
Benjamin D. Manton, Colonia, Uruguay,
Nov. 5, 1863.
Gerhard Gade, Christiania, Norway, June
%, 1862
AGENTS.
Gustave Schoeller, Brunn, Austria, Nov. Is.
1868.