The Savannah morning news., 1901-04-27
OUR CONSULAR CORPS
see MUCH ABUSED SERVICE NOW
IN HIGH FAVOR.
STORY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT.
cprs,DENT AND SECRETARY WELL
PLEASED.

.rarI.abIe Improvement of the
s.r,tce Has Ensued Since the Orr
inf the Late John Sherman for
,,a Immediate Publication of Con-
,,Iar RepOrts-The Activity and
,mciency of Our COnsuIs Now the
Envy and Admiration of the Older
>,tions with Their Hide Bound
systems.
wellington, April 26.-After mature de-
,o,s-,tion the President and Secretary
,I., have concluded to discourage any
,b.o. that savors of radical change in
-. american consular service as now or
u.,..7ed This will be unwelcome intelh-
,.ree to the large army of applicants for
eminent to the foreign service. The
5a.,sion of the President and the Secre-
-,rv Of state is based upon the fact that
-rit1in recent years there has been a gem
oval Improvement in the efficiency of our
oons;lar service, so much so that Eng
land and Germany are adopting Ameri-
car methods in the transaction of their
consular business.
During the past four or five years
there has ben a radical change in our
consular system and the requirements Of
orr representatives in foreign countries.
They have ben educated up to the point
that they are not sent abroad as social
ornaments or as personal favorites of
nopular politicians They have been in
structed to keep their eyes and ears
onened as to the commercial and bust
ness interests of the United States and
make frequent reports to the State De-
partment, the results of their observa-
lions The consequence has been that
American consuls instead of being mere
fgureheads in foreign countries, have de-
veloped into practical commercial agents
of the United States government.
By order of Secretary sherman.
Just before the' late John Sherman re-
tired from the Office of Secretary of
State he authorized the PRONUNCIATION of
all consular reports bearing upon COM
r1ercial interests as soon as they were re-
ceived at the department. Prior to that
time consular reports were re-
garded as state secrets, and
were not given to the public until
they had been carefully censored or I'M
til the information they contained was
too stale to be of any commercial benefit.
Under the, new system our consuls were
encouraged to be quick, alert and observ-
ing in all matters which might pertain
10 American industries and which might
be of interest of value to American in
dustries The result has been that the
State Department and the world at large
has been supplied with much valuable
information relative to the various in
dustries of this country. Acting under
instructions from the State Department
and fired with patriotic zeal, the Ameri-
can consular service is slowly but sure
Is developing into the best and most ef-
icent foreign service in existence to-
day Under the circums tances there is
10 disposition on the part of the admin
istration to make any radical changes in
the service merely to crafty the person.
a aims and ambitions of political time
servers Since it became generally under
stood throughout the service that the ten
ure Of service of an American consul de-
ponds almost entirely upon his efficiency
and the character of the information he
is able to supply to his government, there
has been a remarkable improvement all
along the line, and it is largely through
the consular reports that American in
terests have been advanced both at homo
and abroad
How the Service Has Developed.
Assistant Secretary of State Cridler,
who has been identified officially with
the consular service for a number or