The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-03-17
OUR CONSULAR SERVICE.
ruH PAY is SMALL AND THE DUTIES
ARE MANY.

ARE MANI.
rbe omces Much Sought After-No
consuIs Resign and Few Die-The
They Receive Is Smaller Than
THAT of the Consuls of Any Other
1,,nortant Country--Some of the
srvtcex That Are Required-The
uoxement to Reform the Service.
uu.tness Interests mt the Back OF
,-other Points of the Subject
worth Thoughtful Confederation.
washington, March 13-The United
coates has something like three hundred
nd forty consular representatives, scat
..red all over the earth; and 1t is re-
.,orkable fact that, while there are more
raturalized thannative Americans amorg
,bem. there are also many who never
SOW America and cannot speak it's Ian
mage Thus it frequently happens to
Jewellers in out-of-the-way places that
thew find themselves in straits that need
+he timely services of the United States
oonsul. and they seek him-only to learn
chat he cannot be made to understand a
,yord of their case without the aid of an
Interpreter. AS a rule, however, where
,hA American consul does not know Eng
office without salary, merely for the
honor of the thing, or to advance his own
nrlvate commercial ends. The posts are
comparatively few which pay the encum-
hent nothing at all; yet, strange to say,
,bere is never any lack of applicants to
fill them.
At its very best the United States con-
sular service is poorer paid than that of
any other country in the civilized world.
For example, at the port of Valparaiso,
Chilli. the American consul receives $3.50
per annum; while the British consul gets
100000 The German consul is paid $4,000
a year; the Chinese consul $500; the
Po-tugese consul 5000; and so on, through
the various nationalities, the poorest Cf
them paying much more than stingy I'm
Gle Samuel. Besides, while foreign gov
ernments almost invariably purchase
buildings and grounds in all fields where
they maintain consular relations, so that
their wel-salaried representatives have
no rent to pay. Uncle Samuel stands pos
sessed of just six consulates-situatej at
Tahiti Tangiers, Annoy, BANGKOK, Seuo.
and Tokio-and these came into his hands
almost by accident. In the other 3S4
places. our consuls must rent what they
need for offices, and in most cases a small
sum is allowed to cover that expense. II
the consul has his family with him, he
usually applies this money to house rent,
and then sets up an office in his resi-
Cso.a 1Hy ha
imagine a greater diversity of so-called
"Consulates"- than the American service
presents, from moldy Easements to sky
scraping attics, from palatial residences
to back rooms over odoriferous shops. 1t
is pity that this important branch or
our government service is not carried on
In a manner commensurate with the dig
nifty of the greatest republic. Indeed,
travelling Americans often have cause to
blush for Uncle Samuel's RIGHTEOUSNESS,
when calling at their consulate in some
foreign land, and finding the post tenn
porarily vacant-because the salary of the
Incumbent is SO insufficient that he has
to go out and seek other employment TO
keep the wolf from snarling at his doc.
Were he paid enough to afford to atten
properly to the legitimate business OF his
office, it would keep him very busy, all
the time.
When a man receives the coveted consul
lar appointment, he is given to understand
that he represents the individuals OF
the United states, every one, and that his
business is to protect not ony their COM
mercial interests, but their lives, liberty,
comfort and property, so far as comes
under his jurisdiction. This renders him
liable to be called upon to do almost any
thing, for anybody; and when he has
been in Office a year or two, he is gener-
ally prepared to be called upon at any
hour of the day or night, for any sort OF
American ciiizen-honest or shady,
drunk or sober, descent or dfsreputahle.
Aside from these tag-end issues, he has
certain regular dties to perform, as iaid
down in the consular regulations-a large
volume, in small type; and the duties pre-
scribed are quite enough to kill time
for the most energetic men. In so-calied
heather ports, the consul is the special
protector of the missionaries whom we
mpertinently send to turn people from
the worship of their idols to our own.
Particularly in Chinese ports, our consuls
have often been called from their beds IN
the middle of the night, to run TO the &C.
lestial authorities, at the risk of their
own lives, and secure an injunction to
prevent some outrage upon the American
missionary workers. Where there is a
prison for the confinement of Americans,
the consul is the jaiier. He is also judge
and jury, and even the practical execu-
TONER of of his offending countrymen.
Besides all this, he is continually called
upon to enact the diverse roles of clergy
man and lawyer, bookkeeper, purser, pri-
vate detective and policeman. He must
try all criminal and civil cases that dome
under his jurisdiction, where the defend
ants are citizens of the United States
he performs marriage ceremonies, and
grants divorces, and probates Wills He
SHIPS home bodies of deed Americans, and
reads the burial service over those who
are Inferred in his field. He looks out
Tor mail matter to and from Americans;
investigates American shipwrecks, If his
post is on the coast helps stranded sea-
men back to the United States out of his
own pocket-running the risk of the sea-
mans claims being disallowed by the
treasury Department at Washington, in
winch event the consul will never get his
money back. He settles all disputes be-
tween marines, and has no end of trou-
ole with sea captains and sailors, the
former alleging mutiny, the latter abuse
ne must prevent paupers and Mormons
ana Chinese from emigrating to the
Chlted states, keep a sharp lookout for
choiera, yellow fever, bubonic plague,
smallpox, etc.; report promptly all i'm
Portant inventions and discoveries with
~ ms territory, and infinitely upon every
"Hppehlng which is likely to prove of