The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-07
C0NSULS OF GOOD CALDER.
CONSUL GENERAL AIORss COMPLI-
MENTS OUR SERVICE.

The officials Compare FRVOrRbly In
Every Way With Those of other
Nations-MOst of the Wholesale
DenunciatiOn of the Service Comes
From Those who Know the Least
About 1.-THE Duties of Amcricnn
Consuls More ArduOus Than Those
of the COnsuIs of other Nations.
How the Service Can he Greatly
Improved.
Paris, June 6,-Samuel e. Morss, who
has just completed a service of about four
years as United States consul general at
Paris, was asked to give his impressions
of the consular service of the United
States, to say how. in his opinion, 1t COM
pared with that of other leading CONNER
cal nations, such as Great Britain, France
and Germany and what measures were in
his judgment desirable for its improve
ment
1T would be difficult" replied Mr..
Morss, ito answer very satisfactorily
these questions within the limits of an or
binary newspaper article The subject is
a very large one, and / should have con-
siderable time and space to discuss it cd
equately Since l entered the consular
service of the United States, in the sum-
mer of 1898, have studied It's practical
operations pretty closely, and have avail
cd myself of such opportunities
as presented themselves to COM
pare it with that of other coun-
tries. While / am free to confess that
our consular service is not in all respects
what it ought to be, and that there is great
room for improvement in many ways, It
is stil my deliberate opinion that meas
ured by the results accomplished it is at
least the equal of that of any other con-
sular service in the world. Important
! British journals have often compared the
! work Of American and English consuls to
J the disadvantage of the latter. In Ger
man official document recently communi-
| Gated to me by Consul General De Kay
| of Berlin, a high compliment is paid to
| our service, coupled with an expression
| of surprise, entirely natural, that such
| good results should be produced in view
| of the manner in which the consular Of
| ficials are selected, Similar testimony has
| been repeated by organizations of French
| public opinion, and In discussions Of the
| French parliament. The fact Is that most
| Of the wholesale denunciation directed at
| our consular service comes from those
/ who know least about il. It Is sometimes
4 the product of honest ignorance, and
sometimes, l fear, of pure cussedness.
| "A comparison of the consular regula-
| tiOns of France, Germany, Great Britain
| and the United States will show that the
| duties imposed on American consuls are
more arduous and more varied than those
imposed on consuls of other countries.
The revenue from the fees of the GER
tihcates of invoices and other official serv-
ices, all of which pass into the treasury
! of the United States, practically maintains
| our consular service. The consular serV-
ice of other countries Is not, on the CON
! trary, self-supportng, but Is maintained
in whole or in a large part at the ex-
pense Of the Taxpayers, therefore the
| leading commercial nations other
than the United States maintain
a larger and better paid personnel at their
important consulates than we do. For
instance al the British consulate general
In New York which Is not charged with
any labor in connection with the certif-
cation Of invoices, there are a consul gem
era, consul and two vice-consuls, in ad-
dition TO an ample clerical force. At each
Of the American consulates of the United
States In Paris and London there are a
consul general, a vice consul general and
a deputy consul general The two latter
are underpaid, aud the work which de-
wolves upon them in connection with in
voices alone is sufficient, II carefully and
thoroughly done, to occupy all their work
ing hours. II the present system Of con
sular Authorization of invoices is to be
perpetuated, and l think 1t is. at least,
questionable whether IL ought to be, con-
gress should provide a much larger stan
at our leading consulates.
1t Is conceded by those qualified Ia
judge all over Europe that the CONNER
cial and other reports Of American con-
suls compare very favorabiy, to say the
least, with the reports made by the con-
suls Of other countries. The service can
and ought to be very greatly improved
The present system, or lack Of system, OF
selecting consular officers, should be
changed. Selections should be made with
a view TO the character and qualifications
Of the appointee rather than on political
matters There should be greater per
mancnce Of tenure, and a system Of pro-
motion or preferment should be adopted
! which should operate as a constant IN
centve 70 subordinate consular oGiccrs "a
render the best service Of which they arc
capable.
Il make the broad assertion that the
consuls Of the United States in Europe
as general rule, and making due allow.
ance for exceptional cases. will compare
very favOrably In point OF character and
capabiity with their colleagues OF other
nations.
| various measures have been proposed
In congress for the reorganization Of our
consular service. some Of which contain
much merit. In my opinion, as already
intimated. the service should be put upon
a different basis Where practicable, the
appolntees 20 consular offices should bo
familiar with the language OF the country
to which they are accredited. and should
have some knowledge OF It's manners and
customs and especially Of it's business
methods. Unofficial fees should be abol.
ished and salaries eorrespondingly in.
creased. The personnel OF the leading Of.
ices should be materially augmented. A
system OF frequent and rigid inspection oi
consulates should be established, TO be
conducted by consul generals
To your question about the diplomatic
service, I can only reply that / believe
that Il would be a wise policy for the
United States 70 acquire suitable and per.
manont quarters for our embassies and
legations In all the important capitals
Every great power except the United
States owns is embassy buildings IN Paris
and other leading capitals. fn those build
ings. with few exceptions, the consulates
are also located. and the arrangement Is In