The San Francisco call., 1897-02-28
OUR CONSULAR SERVICE.

Prominent among the changes needed
in Government machinery TO advance
prosperity is reform in the consular SER
vice. In spite of the large number of
faults corrected by the investigation be-
gun last spring by the Secretary of State
with the $4,000 put at his disposal by
Congress for that purpose and the i'm
provement made in the method Of promo
ton by an executive order of Septembe
20. 1895, there remain many serious de-
fects that call for q remedy by new gen.
eral law revising the system.
Although it is more than a century
since the first Consuls from this country
were com missioned, there has been only
one general law passed looking to the i'm
provement OF the service, and that was as
far back as 1856. This conservatism is
not due by any means 10 the perfection
! of the old established order of things, for
again and again the evils of it have been
pointed out by capable men who have
been in the service and studied the system
thoroughly. Presidents, Secretaries OF
State and committees of both houses have
urged on Congress the necessity of max
ing changes, but so far without result.
The defects of the present regulations
are too many to be fully elaborated, but
prominent among them Is that lack OF
permanency of tenure OF office, which pre-
vents capable ana ambitious men from
seeking entry into such service, and also
prevents the Government and commerce
from getting the great advantage OF that
perfection in efficiency which comes from
long practice in special lines of work.
The sweeping extent to which this de-
feet has done mischief is shown by the
fact that since March 3, 1898, no less
than iour-hfths of the Consuls have been
removed and replaced by new men. So
great and sudden a change from trusting
to veterans to trusting to recruits would
weaken any branch of the civil service.
No matter how good the new appointees
may be they are sure to lack the power
that comes from training and gradually
acquired influence in the communities
where they are located. So large a pro-
portion of changes is strong evidence of
using the consular offices for purposes of
political rewards, and commerce and
diplomacy have been made 10 suffer be-
cause merit and experience have been
subordinated to favoritism.
The present system of fees is strongly
OppOSeu Ny ucL WIZ given the buD-
ject study, as also is the permission given
to Consuls to appoint agents to act under
them. This privilege creates a temptation
to transfer business from The main office
and thus put the Government to ad-
ditional expense. 1t is argued there
should be paid salaries adequate to induce
men of considerable capacity to engage in
consular work as n permanent career, and
make strong efforts to acquire knowledge
that would therein be of lifetime use TO
them. Some years ago it was asserted on
the floor OF the Senate that not one-tenth
of The Consuls were properly familiar with
the language, laws, geography and ma
terial resources OF the countries to which
| they were sent. AS the same laws govern
the system now as then, it is reason able to
suppose that much the same inadequacy
exists at the present time.
We may confidently look for great i'm
provement in the service rendered by this
department as a result of the incoming OF
the new administration, for Mckinley is
| pledged to select men capable of extend
ing the usefulness of our consular service.
If Congress will also do Its part by enact
ing good general law covering the de-
iects that seem admitted by the best
judges, then the new era of prosperity will
get strong propulsion from a thoroughly
invigorated method of'contact with all the
countries OF the world.