Evening star., 1902-03-20
ABLE CONSULS NEEDED
American Interests Demand
Competent: Agents Abroad.
TALK By MR.: F0U1KE
SERVICE HAS LONG BEEN HAM
rraaED BY POLITICS.
Iudicrous Stories Of Some of Our Con-
suls-The Present Great
Opportunity.
TALK BY Mr.. FOULKE

service commission is deeply interested in
the subject Of reform in the American con-
sular service. and has spoken publicly
OF the need for such reform on number
OF occasions. This morning he was asked
to recount for The Star the various ef-
forts at regulating the appointment of con-
suls which have been made in earlier ad-
ministrations. His reply follows:
"Our consular service has attained today
an Importance far beyond that which it
has had In any previous period In our his
tory. So long as our exports were con-
fined to few agricultural products and we
sold our manufactured goods mostly at
home the foreign consul was man of
comparatively little Importance. But We
are now entering upon new phase In our
national career We have suddenly become
the foremost productive nation in the world,
seeking markets and investments every
where.
'As Mr.. vanderlip said in his recent arti-
Gle In Scribner's. 'Industrially 1t Is no
longer the old world it is new Europe and
old America. 1t is new Europe, land OF
undeveloped possibilities. abounding In OPP
portunfty for keen captains of industry; 1t
Is mature America. the exemplar or mod
ern industrial methods. perfected mechan-
ical ideas and ripe economic policy. In
dustrially, Italy is just beginning to awak-
en-; Austria has just formulated plan for
d great network canals, has
just assumed the new position of a leader
in commercial enterprises throughout all
the world.
A Great Consular Opportunity.
'It is while these rapid changes are go
ing on that America must seize the great
est opportunity which has ever occurred In
her career, to use our special genius for or
ganiZation and invention. We are doing
good deal of this already, with our very
imperfect governmental machinery and our
more highly developed individual initiative.
Americans have been recently seeking the
old world, not merely for opportunities for
selling their finished products, but also to
measure the possibilities for new invest
mentS in European enterprises. 1t Is still
question how far we are to forestall the
energy and enterprise Of the leading
nations Of Europe, particularly England
and Germany. We have many advantages.
but we must know how to improve them.
America, the. superior efficiency Of that
labor, on account of our splendid organiza-
ton and lAbOr-saying machinery, Is so
great that the labor cost Of nearly all our
products Is far less than in Europe; but
they will soon be. Initiating us and adopt
ing our methods <AIoreover, there is talk Of
a tariff union against us. and there will
certainly be efforts upon the part Of single
governments to shut out our products.
There is opportunity for the highest kind
of ability In ur-consular service, both to
keep the advantages We have and to get
those which We do not yet possess. We
must have the quickest and most reliable
channels Of information to our oppor-
tunities everywhere. This can only be
done by a consular service which is uni
formly instructed and alert
A Rich Political Field.
what is the character Of our service at
the present time? Under the system Of po-
litical appointments 1t would seem as If 1t
were the general opinion that anybody was
fit to be a CONSUL In some places We have
men who are admirably equipped and Of
the highest natural capacity; in others We
have politicians Of the lower order, broken
down and unsuccessful professional and
business men, inval1ds. men Of moderate
means. who desire to stay abroad and edu
cate their children, and sometimes those
who are not good for anything else. and
were really sent away on that account.
Under the custom of removing consuls
every four years the term has been so short
| and the pay meager that firSt-class men
would not offer themselves except, per-
| haps, for some Of the most important
| places
| "The most ludicrous stories are told of
| the ignorance and 1nCapacity of some OF
| our cOnsuls. A few years ago one Of the
| bureaus here in Washington sent a series
| of kilograms to large number Of our for
| eign consuls asking what provision differ
| ent European governments had made for
| the adoption of electrical standards. One
would think that a consul who did not
know what electrical standard meant
| would ask somebody who did. But no: the
| answers that were received by this scien-
| tific bureau gave the tariffs of telegraph
rates. So much for the intelligence of some
of our cOnSulS.
"a few evenings since I dined with gen.
tleman who told me that he had recently
asked permission of an American consul to
have his letters forwarded to the consulate
and the answer was made. Il am not a
post Office" So much for the courtesy Of
some of ouY representa- atives.
81 have myself been present on patriotic
occasions, the Fourth Of July celebration
for instance. where the only speech which
made me blush was the speech of the
American consul. So much for the culture
of some of these officers
I'm 1890 the consular agent of Seville
thought it his duty to lombard with Pro-
testant tracts the procession of Corpus
Christi as 1t passed through the streets
He was arrested to protect him from per-
sonal violence and removed. but was after
ward actually sent back again to Seville
in q consular capacity. So much for the
tact of some Of our consular representa-
tiveS.
Small Effort to Get Good Men.
"On the other hand. many Of the very
ablest reports made on the foreign markets
are made by American consuls. These men,
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