Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-30
SCHOOLS FOR CONSULS
Assistant Secretary Hunting
ton Wilson in Charge.
ASPIRANTS LEARN DUTIES
Officials Must Be Well Equipped Be.
fore Going Abroad.
INSTRUCTION IS PRACTICAL
Candidates Must First Pass Exam
ination, Both Oral and Written.
Chance Of Appointment.
INSTRUCTION IS PRACTICAL
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

Herald.
Since Secretary Root came into office a
school has been established in the De-
partment of State under the direction of
huntington Wilson, third assistant secre-
tary. Mr.. Wilson is a good schoolmaster
| and takes a deep interest in his work.
This particular school is based upon the
| theory that the members of the consular
corps of the United States ought to know
now TO perform their duties before they
are sent to the posts to which they have
been appointed. Secretary Root has given
the consular service a thorough overhaul
ing, just as he did with the army when he
was Secretary of War, and although it is
not so large an institution, or so pre-
tentious as the war college which Mr..
Root established to teach officers of the
army their business, the school for con-
suls is just as important in it's way, and
is intended to accomplish similar pur-
pose.
Until recently the consular service was
in measure an asylum for unfortunate
politicians, a convenience for influential
people who desired to live abroad and
means of paying the political debts of
members Of the Senate and the House of
Representatives. Every American has rea-
son to be proud Of the record of our con-
sular corps in the past. 1t has been not
only efficient, but quite as good as that
Of any other country, although the ap
pointees, as rule, have been inexperi-
enced men, and have usually been ap-
pointed for personal and political reasons
To make the service more efficient. to
place 1t upon a higher grade, to enhance
its usefulness to the manufacturing and
commercial interests of the country, Sec
rotary Root has now fixed it upon a per-
manent basis. Hereafter all appointments
will be made to the lowest of nine classes,
and vacancies will be filled by promotion
from class to class, according to the mer-
its of the men.
Must Learn Duties First.
Before any one can be appointed even to
the ninth class he must submit to an ex-
animation to demonstrate his qualifications
and after he has passed the examination
he must go to school until he learns how
to perform the duties required of a con-
sui. Hitherto Q consul has been sent to
his post without instruction and has been
dependent upon the clerk or the vice con-
sui left over by his predecessor, or has
been allowed to learn by experience. That
hit-or-miss sort of training involves con-
siderable risk. as any one would naturally
infer, but hereafter every consul goes
to his post with fair knowledge of what
Is expected of him, and that knowledge is
acquired at the consular school.
The consular school is on the second
floor of the State Department building,
across the hall from the consular bureau.
1t is fitted up like the Office of a consul
with all the blanks and forms used in the
transaction of consular business and is in
charge of Mr.. Augustus E. Ingram, who
has been in the service for several years
and has held several important posts. Mr..
Ingram's assignment is not permanent.
Some experienced officer will be designated
from time to time to act as pedagogue
and carry on the drilling Of new men who
have shown the proper capacity.
Practical Instruction.
When 1 asked Mr. Wilson, the third as
sistant secretary of state, who has gen.
eral charge, what sort of work his school
was doing, he said
1.-The instruction is practical and relates
to the regular business of consulate, SO
that when a man leaves here with a COM
mission in his pocket for Europe or South
America he does not go green, as was
formerly the case-dependent for his edu-
cation upon some vice consul or clerk In
the consulate. whose experience Is limited
to that particular place, and who is often
foreigner ignorant of American COM
merce or American affairs. The men under
instruction in the school draft dispatches
and instructions which involve dealing
with actual problems of consular work
which they will have to meet later upon
their own responsibilities.
Every one of the students has pre-
viously passed an examination that had
nothing to do with the practical duties OF
consul but was intended to develop his
general information and knowledge OF
trade statistics, commercial matters, in
ternational, maritime and commercial
law. foreign languages, etc. The exam
ination is not intended to be scholastic
affair calling for exhaustive knowledge
not within reach of the ordinary man of
good ability and experience. but 1t is in
tended to make sure that each man, in
addition to ability, shall have aptitude
and experience necessary for his actual
duties, and a sufficient knowledge of mod
ern history and the things in general
which are talked about in the world. so
that he will not be placed at a disadvan-
tage in his official and social relations
with the foreign officials with whom he
will have to deal. The rest of the exam
ination is devoted chiefly to determining
his reasoning power, tact. judgment, bal
mental principles of law, political econ
omy, etc. upon which the trade and polit
ical problems he will have to deal with
are based. Young men just out of the high
school could hardly pass the examination
without some business experience or ,spe-
cial preparation. A man must have some
practical knowledge of business to pass.
First Step Necessary.
What is the first step in seeking ap-
pointment to a consulate?''
The first step is designation. A candi-
date for a position in the consular serv-