South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-04-28
CONSULAR SERVICE IS
MOVABLE IN NEW LAWS
Diplomatic Appointments Gov
erned Largely from eff
cheney Records"
BY Victor Elliott.

WASHINGTON, April Coon
gress recently changed the United
States consular service from a fixed 10
a movable force The following para
graph from the new law is self-ex-
planatory:
That hereafter all appointments of
secretaries in the diplomatic service
and of consular generally shall be by
commission TO the offices of secretary
of embassy or legation, consul general,
or consul. and not by commission to
any particular post, and that such Of
fees shall be assigned TO posts and
transferred from one post TO another
by order of the president, as the in
terests Of the service may require
Heretofore when the state depart
ment wanted to advance a mans sal
airy for especially good work done, ii
had 10 get the president TO appoint
the senate 20 confirm the appointment.
Today men are transferred from
post TO post without having TO secure
senatorial confirmation.
When, however. a man is promoted
from one grade to another higher, his
new appointment has to be confirmed
by the senate By the recent act of
put on the same basis with regard
to promotion as the military service.
In the military service seniority is a
factor. In the consular service pro-
motions are entirely q matter of per-
sOnal efficiency, seniority being dis
regarded.
Have Efficiency Records.
They have a personal efficiency Pee
ord in the state department. When
a m MI =.
details of his personal history, his
qualifications as developed by exami-
nations, are typewriter at the top of
a sheet which is placed in a binder.
If he handles "a situation" well, the
fact is entered on the sheet If a
minister or an ambassador commendS
him to the department for something
he has done, down that goes. Does
he write a report that evOkes just
criticism? If so, that fact is also noted.
In the scheme of the consular ser
vice there are five inspectors, one for
each of the arbitrary divisions into
which the department divides the
world: North America, South America,
the far east, the near east, and Africa
and Europe.
Each inspector must inspect all the
consulates I'm his jurisdiction at least
once every two years.
He reports on the consul or consul
general in charge, his ability, his
standing in the community, his meth
DDS of work, the personal of his office
and all the multitude of things by
which efficiency is tested.
All this, in brief form, is written
down on the officers record, and put
away in the binder mentioned in the
foregoing. Most of the entries, how
ever are not from inspectors reports.
This war put strain on the consular
service such as it never before had to
sustain How the service was able to
stand that strain, the excellent work it
did in assisting marooned Americans
in the war zone its many notable in
stances of personal self-sacrifce in
acting as Uncle Sans agents on the
ground are all matters of very recent
history.
Pages in the efficiency record book
were filled with chronicles of COM
mendable efforts, the use or remark
able powers of initiative, of real dip
lomacy, of common sense and sincere
patriotism.