Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1907-08-08


ships for the asking; but you need to
go to school to capture one these
| days. Just at present the demand for
men qualified to enter the consular
service of the United Saes exceeds
the supply. State department examin-
ations held recently were taken by
50 candidates, representing appointees
eager, if passed, to go to different
| posts scattred all over the world
This number, however, does not by
any means represent the actual
needs of the service, in which the
wedding process is now more marked
than ever before. Political influence
becomes less and less a feature of
consular credentials, The element of
personal worth increases under this
administration.
To help along the movement for
better prepared copsuls the state
department, by authority of Score.
tary Root has just granted permission
! to John Ball Osborne, chief of the
| bureau of trade relations of the
state department, to accept a position
on the faculty of the college of 20.
iitical sciences connected with the
George Washington University. Mr..
Osborne will henceforth be lecturer
| on the consular service.
This appointment is particularly
! important in view of the fact that at
the present time the chief function of
our consuls abroad is to foster Ameri.
can commerce. Originally the main OBJ.
Ject OF the service was to protect Amer.
can shipping, which century or
more ago played a prominent part
IN our foreign trade. But while the
American merchantmen has almost
disappeared from the seven seas, our
/ foreign commerce increases year by
year, Mr., Osborne is one of the
younger men in important govern
mental posts. a graduate of Yale In
the class of SO, who served his ap-
premiership as United States consul
at Client, Belgium. from 1889 to
1895 and who was joint secretary of
| the reciprocity commission between
1897 and 1905.
Mr.. Osborne's connection with the
college of political sciences rein.
! forces the idea which for many wears
has prevailed among students of the
/ consular service that sooner or later
the political science department of
George Washington University will
be officially recognized as a school of
/ diplomacy and examinations now held
! at the offices the state department
Will be held at the university Hon.
John Barrett, formerly United States
/ minister to Siam, and now at the
head of the international bureau OF
American republics, gave consider
able prominence to this idea soon ar.
ter this school was established He
advocated, in effect, the abolition of
the state department sysem of exam
nations and the substitution of al
least a threemontn's course at George
Washington University which was
then known In the educational world
as Columbian University. The state
department examinations continue,
but 1t is wellknown here that the
college of political sciences is as VET
the only SHOOT in the United States
for those intending to take up a diplo.
matte career and that the gradu.
ates of this school, political influence
aside, stand the best chance of secur.
ing the most attractive posts of the
service.
There has been a great deal OF
criticism on the consular service
founded OH no better observation
! IMAM that OF the woman who on re-
turning from Europe complained I'm n
letter which she sent to a New York
newspaper that the American consul
at some third rate town I'm Europe was
not scholar and gentleman. "Why"
she asked, cannot all our consular
positions be filled by men of the Sir
Julian Pauncefote type?" 1t EVIL.
IDENTIFY never occurred to the fair
critic that men fit to to ambassador
are not likely to be holding down
$1,000 year jobs in some town that
has seen better DAYS.
however, thefe was abundant
cause for much of the criticism pass.
ed upon the service but the times
have changed with them. Today It
takes man with a pretty fair knowl.
edge of several important subjects to
qualify for the service. The candl.
dates that took the examination lust
finished at the state department had
to pass in French, German or Span.
ish; on the natural. industrial and
commercial resources OF the United
States; political economy: Internal.
lonal maritime and commercial law;
American history; government and
It's different institutions: political
and commercial geography: arithme.
TIC, and the history Of Europe, South
America and the far east since 1850.
The examination was conducted
under the personal supervision OF
Chief Examiner Keegan Of the civil
service commission. The percentage
required 10 pass was 50. which is ten
points higher than that usually re-
quired In competitive examinations
Tor government positions MANY ~