Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-11-28

paper upon which the dispatches are
transcribed. These are. of course. an IN
ode, and not a clerk in the room mas
notion Of their inward meaning. wnen
hey are Transcribed they are sent down
20 the senior clerks room, by whom they
are decided and written out in French,
md passed on to the permanent under-
secretary. Certain of the dispatches pear
they can only be decided by the under
secretary or his private secretary; ano
20" messages are passed on by the head
of tse senior clerks room TO the under
secretary's private room undecooeu. an
%" message is always of specially prl-
vate character. and contains Information
of considerable Importance.
The clerks in the precis room are also
tremendously busy now. Here the length
ily written dispatches. arriving from Dip
lomatic agents abroad, and secret agents.
are boiled DOWN or condensed. and
copies of them are made out In french
and English. Many of these dispatches
have also to be decided, and when this
has to be done the work of writing up a
precis copy of a single dispatch may take
from four to eight hours. Hundreds or
them may have to be dealt with in the
twentyfour hours.
How They Are Disposed Of.
If Sir Edward Grey is at the foreign
office he sees all important dispatches d.
rectly they have been decided ano con-
densed. If the foreign secretary is at the
house of commons on the arrival of an
urgent dispatch he is either telephoned
for from the foreign office or the dispatch
sent to him by one of the kings house
messengers attached to the foreign Of
flee.
During a serious diplomatic situation
such as exists at the present moment. the
foreign secretary works at the foreign OF
flee for three or four hours after he
ing. He sees all the dispatches of any
Importance that have arrived during the
day and inspires the replies or personally
directs them. The king. OF course, Is
regularly informed of the state of the
diplomatic situation and the progress of
the negotiations which are taking place
between the great powers. Such informa-
ton is usually conveyed 20 hlm by the
prime minister at personal interview,
unless the king desires. As he sometimes
does to see the foreign secretary person
ally.
situation such as the present brings
a vast number of queer people about the
foreign Office-Secret service agents. spies
and men and women who have informa-
ton to sell These e~ple, for the most
part come at hight. The recognized Sc
cret service agents are seen at once by
the permanent under secretary or for
eiSn secretary. OtneTS are seen 0rSt by
an assistant under secretary, and if they
bring information of any value they are
promptly shown into the under secre-
tary's room. They are paid according to
the value of information brought
In the conduct of diplomatic negotia-
tions of the present character reliable in
formation as to the intentions and plans
Of other powers is invaluable. Every
chancellery in Europe at the present mo-
ment is anxious to obtain such informa-
ton. Very often what is offered Is USE
less, coming for the most part from
people who know little or nothing.
Separation of Grain and Chaff.
1t takes a keen and experienced diplo-
matist to sift out the little grain from
the vast quantity of chaff. Nobody save
known cranks can be ignored. The kings
foreign service messengers attached to
the foreign Office. whose duty it is to con-
vey urgent dispatches from the foreign
secretary to ambassadors and ministers
abroad, are buster now than they have
been in many years. Every day two mes
sengers leave the foreign office and two
arrive from abroad. The messengers car
ry their dispatches in leather wallet
fastened to a belt worn inside their clothes,
and they travel armed. Their duty is SIM
ply to deliver the dispatch to the ambas-
sador minister to whom 1t may be ad-
dressed and bring back the reply.
In a critical diplomatic situation a
kings messenger may have to go two or
three days without changing his clothes.
Such sleep as he may get has to be