New-York tribune., 1907-09-07
SCHOOL FOR CONSULS.
Men Unftted for Posts No Longer
Sent Ont.

Washington. Aug 1O.-Consulships for the ask
ing, but you need to go TO school to capture one
these days Just at present the demand 1oI men men
qualified to enter the consular service of the Onteu
States exceeds the supply. State Department ex-
aminaton held recently were taken by tlrty
| candidates representing appointees eager, II
passed, go different posts scattered all over
the world This number, however. does NOT hy any
means represent the actual neecS OF Tue seifiNV,
In which the wedding process is now more marked
than ever before. Political influence becomes less
and less feature of consular credentials The ele-
nent OF personal worth increases under inns ao-
To help along the movement for better prepared
consls the State Department by authority or Sec
retary Root has lust granted permission TO John
Ball Osborne. chief of the bureau of trade reia-
tions of State Department, to accept a posluon
on the faculty College of Political Sciences
connected with George Washington University.
Mr.. Osborne viii henceforth be lecturer on lne
consular service. He is one OF the younger men ~
important government posts. graduate OF 1aie
in the class OF 50, who served his apprehlicesliLp
as United States consul at Ghent. Beiglurs' rom
/ 1889 to 1895. and who joint secretary of the
Reciprocity Commission between 1897 and 1905
Mr. Osborne's connection with the College OF
Political Sciences reinforces the idea which for
many years has prevailed among students OF the
ao-,s,,ar service that sooner or later the political
science department of George Washington UniVer-
sty will be officially recognized as a school or
diplomacy and examinations now held at the oftces
of the State Department will be held at the UNI
veFsity.
/ It takes man with d pretty fair knowledge of
several important subjects to quality 1or the ser
vice to-day. The candidates that TOOK the exam
ination Just finished at the State Department hao
to pass in French German or Spanish; on the nat
ural. industrial and commercial resources OF the
Tinted States political economy; international,
maritime and commercial law; American history;
government and its different institutions poluca4
and commercial geography; arithmetic and The his
tory of Europe. South America and the Far East
since 1850
The examination was conducted under the per
sonal supervision OF Chief Examiner Keegan of
! the Civil Service Commission The percentage re-
quired 10 pass So which is ten points higher
than that usually required in competitive 'exami-
nations for government positions Many OF The
candidates young business men 1t has been
found on the whole, that some or the most sue
cessful applicants for consUships have come from
the ranks of journalists. In the old days the ser
vice had strong attractions for young men OF
literary bend who desired to polish their style IN
Europe Hawthorne, HOwells and Bret Harte were
in the service for a while and during their terms
! found abundant time TO follow their literary pro-
clivities.
Times. in many ways. have changed since the
consular service conducted the principle
so boldly enuncated by President Jackson-''To
the victors belong the spoiIs." In the early days
of the Republic the only consuls under salary
those assigned to the several posts in the Barbary
States, the northern coast of Africa Such other
consuls the President fl appoint with
the advice ana consent OF the Senate received fees
or commissions AS late 1853 there only
ten posts in the consular service whose occupants
received annual salaries-namely the three in the
Barbary States. three China and the
( suates at London. Alexandria, Beirut and Smyrna.
/ The fees however received at other posts were
sometimes substantial and attractive The
suar post at Liverpool for example, to which Ma
thaniel Hawthorne was appointed by President
! a.
a year. Nowadays, all OF the several positions in
/ the service have fixed salaries
! The first attempt 10 systematic the service
made by Congress in 1855. James g. Blaine a
conspicuous champion Of consular reform. The
practice of examining candidates for posts OF any
/ Importance began under President Cleveland
Later, largely through the efforts OF Secretary Hay
this practice still further extended during the
first administration Of President Roosevelt. To-day
under Secretary Root the purpose of the State
Department, which since the beginning has
/ trolIed the consular service, is make the,
amnations more searching than ever. and in this
way TO enhance the effectiveness of the service.
| AT first the examination probationary period
was supposed to last from two weeks month
The candidate reported at the office of Of the
assistant secretaries Of state showed his notice of
appointment, received a copy Of the Service Man
uaI and If the in charge happened not TO be
! in good hurnor asked a lot of grammar school
questions Sometimes the appointee straight
to his post without bothering about these formali-
ties, paying his own way, of course. as all consuls
do Thus it came about that good many unfit
men still got into the service. But nowadays there
is no escape from the examinations, during which
the appearance and character of the candidate
studied as carefully his intellectual capacity
the of the service is being raised
rapidly
! Although the consular and diplomatic service is
not vet on a permanent basis, the organized school
of diplomacy under the auspices of George Wash
ington University has been in existence since
1895 1t was opened in the presence of President
Mckinley and a large gathering of American and
for Gig DIPLOMATS under the name of the School OF
! C,ornnaratiye q Jurisprudence and Diplomacy. This
was the first school political science in the New
! World. Since 1898 this preparatory school for dip
lomats has been greatly enlarged and strengthened.
11paa fc College