The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1907-09-27
IT'S NOT AN EASY JOB

Washington, September 23.-One
of the latest unofficial departments
maintained by Uncle Sam has be-
come known as the diplomat fac
tory" 1t is situated down in the
basement of the State Department
and the chief engineer of the works
is John Ball Osborne, head of the
Bureau of Trade Relations. His task
is the taking of raw, young consuls
and transforming them into finished
products. 1t Is not an easy job, this;
for aver the crude material is diff
ficult to obtain.
In the old DAYS consuis went to
their posts with the vaguest ideas of
what their duties were to be. Ever
since the establishment of the service
it has been customary to give the
new appOintees q period of thirty
days before leaving the United States
and officers have spent the time in
closing up their private affairs, call
ing on the state department only to
draw their pay for the month and OBJ
tain their credentials.
All that is changed now. The
consular bureau has begun to edu-
cate the new consuls. A room has
been fitted in the building occupied
by the State Department and in ex-
act facsimile of an American con-
sulate. Instead of loafing for 80
days before speeding abroad, the new
appointees are compelled to report
every day at the headquarters and
spend a certain number of hours in
the transaction of business. This
business practically includes every
thing that is likely to arise in the
course of the consuls term abroad.
Here is where John Hall Osborne
shines. He takes the newcomers,
drills them in the fundamentals of
the diplomatic game, shows them the
proper methods for the advancement
of American commerce and gener-
ally puts them through a course of
sprouts" in preparation for their
duties. MI. Osborne is an old and
experienced hand at the game of di-
plomacy and his method of trans
forming academic young men into
seasoned diplomats in the course of
almost a single week has won him
the admiration Of the administra-
ton.
So successful has he been, that the
government has permitted Mr.. Os-
borne to broaden his field of useful
Ness. With the opening of the years
%ork in the College of the Political
Sciences of the George Washington
university next week, Mr.. Osborne
will be found teaching the young as
pirants for diplomatic honors the
right way of representing Uncle Sam
abroad. Secretary Root is a firm i'd
mirer and supporter of the local uni
@ersity, and permission was given
Mr.. Osborne to join the faculty of.
the institution largely because two
Of the thirteen young men who pass.
ed the examination last month for
admission to the service were grad
yates from the school. That the ex-
eiininations were difficult is proved
by the fact that 5S endeavored to
meet the requirements.
The value of this method of in
ss.ructing the candidates before the
actual examination tests obvious.
The men come to the trial provided
with just exactly the knowledge they
will require. and in this way there
is no waste of mental or technical
energy. ThE..ra is a decided hd-
vantage, also, in educating candi-
dates in the national capital, where
they have the benefit OF all tho
knowledge contained in the govern
ment archives and the advice of gov
eminent experts.
The consular service is probably
the most important problem the
State Department has to face at the
present time.