The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-12

circular setting forth infinitely and un-
mistakenly that there were no such
estates anywhere In Holland, and that at
tenpts to locate them were so much lost
time. Yet in the face of all this a woman
went all the way from California to T1ol-
land to claim an estate-and the inoffen-
sive, most polite secretary of the con-
sulate had a long and very bad quarter
of an hour OF 1T because he knew that /
the Dutch heirs were already in possess
sion. But about the most amusing APP
peal was that Of woman living in
America who had for years contributed to
the support Of a Dutch relative and his |
family providing he never came to |
America, which he had recently threat
ened to do. She set forth carefully what |
good workman he was when sober and
implored the United States consul to see
that he was kept in Holland. And yet, no
matter how absurd these matters may
seem on their face, they are Cooked into
and settled in one way or another where
they can be settled at all.
The State Department Wants to Know"
| And then, the variety Of subjects that
have to be covered in consular reports!I
Truly, the life of consul who loves his
work, who works for works sake, and
with the determination to do things
thoroly, Is anything but one of ease The
state department has an Unsuitable attack
of want to know" 1t wants to know
about automobiles in Europe, stored goods
as collateral for loans, silver and plated
ware in foreign countries, foreign trade
In cooking stoves, trusts and trade COM
binations, foreign markets and foreign
coal, merchant marine; even the history
| Of kindergarten work in Europe is one of
the subjects in which it takes official
interest
/ All Of these take time and patience to
prepare and time is generally allowed for
their preparation, but sometimes there
are hurry calls" for reports for some
special purpose that cannot walt.
4 The thorogoing consul generally has
Ieven the material wanted in these hurry
1 calls" for he makes it his business to
+ learn all the distinctive features of the
city and county to which he Is assigned
i Such call was made this spring for
data concerning river and harbor i'm
provements-not a small matter in place
like Holland, where waterways are SO nu-
merous, and where they may be said to
be all improvements. Again, an Ameri-
can writer known the world over, asked
for information for a feature story he
wanted to write. Mr.. Hill opened UP the
treasure house Of his information and
gave him material it had taken the office
four years to accumulate.
For the past few months-quite a year,
= in fact-Mr. Hill has been collecting mat
Y ter regarding the diamond industry, a
u subject that is very near to the Dutch
commercial heart these days, when Ant
7 werp Is trying to wrest the trade from
: Amsterdam. He has a great pile Of notes
: and clippings, referring to various pha SEES
of the industry; he has pictures gathered
! from various sources, all sort of reports
OF mines He has consulted diamond ex-
;. perts on both sides of the water and is
leaving no stone unturned to get at all
the facts. Referring to this report he
, SAID: L am going to take my time to
write 1t, and make it thoro When IT
: Is written, I want it to be good for if
Eteen years."
Reports Are Extensively Quoted
], AS the report of September, 1902, by
: Ethe minister for foreign affairs of Para
quay quoted most extensively from a re-
port Mr. Hill made on Paraguay in 1889
+ his thoroness may be said to have it's re.
! ward. That his Dutch reports are equally
, valuable Is shown by the fact that there
is hardly report of his made since he
went to Amsterdam which has not beer
translated and printed in Dutch publica.
: lions, either in part or as a whole.
Mr.. Hill Is veteran in the service
having entered it in 1887, and has served
> almost continuously ever since. The frs
fourteen years We're spent in variou:
places in South America, where he helC
all of the best places in that part of the
: world and two Of the very worst place.
: IN the entire consular service. In 1899 hi
went to Amsterdam, recognized as one O.
the most important of consular posts
: rms long experience has made him "a.
: m1liar with the service from alpha II
" omega, and his record justif1es the faitl
, of the American people in the belief tina
their system of education. in addition t,
!, their own racial abilities, create men VIII,
= are, generally speaking, fitted to under
take with dignity almost any office pu
: upon them. 1t happened while I was i,
5 Amsterdam that there was a discussion
: as to the need Of creating regular con
9 sular service In place Of the present sys
r tenn, which can hardly be dignif1ed b,
: the name Of service. One or two VIII
thought they knew the personnel Of for
t eign services and the general ability ais
e of American consuls were inclined to com
s pare the two to the disadvantage of tn
: Americans. It was a delight to a goo,
IL American to hear what Mr. Hill said i,
9 reply:
h The Personnel Of the Service.
n AT any given time" he said, with tn
n quiet emphasis that means so much wifi
S him., mo matter what the motive OF tn
: appointment the personnel of the con
: sular service of the United States has bee,
: far above mediocrity, and has possesse,
e personal talents Of great variety, Will
d the Integrity Of the incumbents has bee,
it as high as that Of any similar body. Tn
: prevailing idea in the United States
: that European methods fill their service
e with experts In the social and politica
: sciences. That is not so. During my ex
l. perience have known personally ruff
;e a number of consuls and ministers O
other countries, and as call the roll
IS have never known a single man VIII
ir had any reputation as a publicist inter
m national lawyer or as an expert stats
. tician: The Europeans may have bee
Is better linguists, which people who's
al knowledge is very superficial regard a
n. important, but which is not really {
tr much account. Better linguists-men VIII
I'd can speak four or five languages-can b
q picked up In any international center fc
$500 year. A working knowledge of tn
language Of the country where one is sta
toned is desirable, Of course, but it
not VITAL Mae Harris Arson.