The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-15

President Roosevelt Expresses His
Views Upon United States
Consular Service.
CONVENTION IN SESSION
REFORM DISCUSSED BY sEcRE
TARY ROOT.

Washington, March 14.-At the con-
sular reform convention today Secre-
tary Root spoke in favor of an i'm
proved consular service. The conven-
ton adopted resolutions fully APPROX
ing the bull introduced by Senator
Lodge The resolutions conclude by ex-
pressing regret that one of the most
vital provisions of that bill has been
removed from it," and ask that the
provision authorizing the president to
transfer consuls from one point to an
other In the same grade be reincOrpor-
ated in the bill.
The following have been added to the
executive committee: r. w. Gates, Los
Angeles; Horace Mcclure, Seattle; Jo-
Seph t Stearns, Richmond; Isador
Strauss, New York, and Francis B.
LOOMS, Cincinnati.
A publicity and promotion commit
tee was decided upon. 1t was also de-
cided to invite every commercial body
! in the United States to become a mem
Der, and where there is no such organ
ization in any congressional district
some prominent individual in the dis
trict will be designated as a member.
Called at White House.
The delegates called in a body this
afternoon at the White House The
Il need hardly say that our one
chance for getting the consular service
put on a. really effective basis lies with
just such organizations as this. We IN
Washington must rely upon you TO
make our people-pre-emine d
business peOple-appTeciate that the
consular service should be in it's es-
sence part of the general scheme of
business development of the country.
Il have not, 1 am sorry to say, been
/ able to persuade people thus to look
/ upon such a question as the SantO Do
| m1ngo treaty, which is a purely non
/ partisan measure, for if it was treated
/ as it should be, purely on it's merits
| there would not be one shade of OppO-
/ sitiOn to or criticism of it. But while
we have not yet been successful in
| getting the work of the department
| looked upon quite in the non-partisan
/ spirit that should be our national at
titude in foreign affairs, and have not
been successful in getting the consular
service make by law what we strive to
have it m6de-an absolutely non-par-
tisan service-still we have made a GER
tain amount of progress and with the
help of you and those like you, we shall
be able to make a great deal more
progress.
Qualification Lacking.
''One point let me dwell on You
cannot expect to get permanently good
service when that service is unattrac-
tive and i'll protected. We have had a
great deal of difficulty with our con-
sular service in China. 1t came partly
because men were appointed for poIit-
zeal reasons with scant regard to their
qualifications, and partly because
men found themselves in remote east
ern ports where there was not much
that made life attractive. where there
was very little supervision over them
and yet great temptation. We all know
that under such conditions 1t is neceS-
sarily difficult to secure honest and eff
cient service. A pretty thorough clean
up there is needed. But we cannot keep
the service as high as it should be kept
unless we have adequate salaries.
Remember that the dearest kind of
public servant is a servant who is paid
so cheapIy that he must render cheap
service. Also I feel most strongly that
in the consular service, which stands
entirely apart from the diplomatic
service proper, entrance should be
made by law into the lower grades and
that the higher grades should be filed
by a gradual process of wedding out
and promotion; remembering, gentle
men, that the wedding out process must
not be interfered with. 1t is not any
too easy to get rid of a kindly-natured
elderly incompetent at best, and if you
add to the difficulty by law, he then
permanently stays. Make the entrance
to the service as far as possible nom
partisan and make it at the lowest
grades, so that desirable positions shall
come TO those who have rendered good
and faithful service in the lower grades,
and see that those entering the lower
grades shall feel that if they do well
they have a long and worthy career
ahead of them"