Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-08
ASSISTING COMMERCE
MORE AND BETTER INFCRMA-
TON IN CONSULAR REPORTS.
New Plan Suggests Cooperation Be
tween Diplomatic and Consul
lar Representatives.

The Department Of State has taken an
OTHER step for the Improvement of the valu-
| able service of furnishing the business COM
munity, through the medium of consular
reports, with fresh and reliable information
as to trade and industry in foreign coun-
tries. The publicat ton of these reports in
| monthly form was begun in $780, but 1t was
not until January, 1898, that the department
evolved the plan of making them immed-
| ately available to the business community.
| The publication of the reports in daily form
was then begun, for the benefit Of the
various interests requiring prompt, up-to-
date information, viz, the newspaper press,
| trade bodies, manufacturers exporting and
importing firms, transportation companies,
etc The Consular Daily" was new de-
parture in official publications, and still
continues to be unique and far in advance,
| in point of pronptitude, of any similar We
| eign governments.
Its success was immediate and very
! marked, not only in the public recognition
of its practical value to the business world,
but also In it's stimulating effect upon
| our consular officers by creating among
| them a spirit of emulation in the work of
| supplying our home industries with timely
| information and suggestions to how to
reach and to sell goods in foreign markets
| and with prompt notice of new inventions,
| new processes of manufacture, etc. The
I State Department continued to publish the
I consular reports until July l, 1903, when, In
accordance with provisions of the act Gre
ating the Department of Commerce and
Labor, the publication and distribution were
transferred to the new department. The
work of collecting the reports through
| the consuls however, was reserved by the
act to the tate Department, which, acting
| in cooperation with the Department OF
! Commerce and Labor, instructs the con-
Sus, receives and reyiSeS their reports, and
| then transmits them for publication or such
other use by the Department of Commerce
and Labor as the latter may decide.
Diplomats to Help.
In other words the Department of State
| now confires itself to the direction and bet
| terment of the machinery for collecting in
| formation from abroad, leaving to the De-
partment of Commerce and Labor the
proper presentation of it to the public.
For some years. the diplomatic officers
ambassadors, ministers and secretaries of
embassies and legations have shown in
creasing interest and zeal in supplementing
the work of the consular service by reports
upon commercial and industrial subjects,
and the step just taken by the State De-
partment is in the direction of utilizing and
developing that spirit, with the view to
| making the diplomatic corps a systematic
and efficient auxiliary for promoting United
States industry and widening the channels
for our export trade. The action of the de-
partment is tentative as yet, and takes the
form of an instruction from Acting Secre-
tary LOOMS to the diplomatic officers call
ing Tor reports as to the feasibility of the
plan The instruction says:
Il have the honor to request that you
will cause to be prepared at your earliest
convenience, for the information of this
department, a memorandum upon the capa-
bilties of the diplomatic service for the
promotion of trade interests in the
country, or countries. to which you are ac-
redited. The department is prompted in
making this inquiry by two considerations
which have been impressed upon it, in the
course of years.in the collection of CONNER
cial and industrial data for publication in
the consular reports.
The first of these considerations is that
our embassies and legations as shown by
their frequent efforts to assist the spread
| of trade intelligence among our people,
would seem to need only definite plan of
| action and proper instruments, to become
powerful auxiliares in the great and con-
stantly growing work of equipping our man
ufacturerS and exporters for effective COM
petition in the worlds commerce. The sec
ond consideration is the Limitation upon the
| consular service in its lack of diplomatic
status, in obtaining official Information at
| first hands. Such information can be Sc
| cured by a consular officer only through the
| co-operation of our diplomatic agents, or
| by courtesy of an official of the country in
| which he is located Moreover, consul
| general in the capital city of country may
| be and usually is, a local officer, whose Ju-
| risdiction and influence do not extend be-
| yond a particular district.
|