Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-06-25
State Department
A Wartime Grant
By Frederic ]. Haskin

1 "
and with the German spy system watching
and trying to hamper its every move, the
| American Department Of State is facing
| today one Of the most interesting and
| critical situations IN its history
| Since we entered the wnr the Depart
ment of State has been compelled 10
| expand To twice lts normal size In
| 1916 its personnel consisted Of 2IS;
| today IL numbers GOO But even 30. the
| size Of the personnel has not kept pace
with the Increasing volume of work
An evidence OF this is shown IN the figures
ri the department. cable dispatches
| During the first two weeks of 1914 tho
| cable communications amounted 10 2S,-
600 words During the same period Of
| 1918, over 200, 900 words were sent over
the wires to all parts Of the world.
The Department Of State first felt the
extra burdens of war when the various
European missions began TO arrive in
the United States. Missions from
England, France, Italy, Russia, JaDan,
Fclgiun and several other countries
followed each other IN rapid succession
until the department found itself enter
taining and negotiating with n whole
hoiisc-party Of European diplomats II
was the Department of State which acted
as the intermediary between the United
States Treasury and the foreign missions
IN their financial agreements
WHAT 1T DrD
The department brought the various
military experts into tVich with each
other. supervised the conference Of the
nations ms 70 naval and military require
ments. and was called into consultation
every time military and naval problems
took on n political tinge
The missions from the bellIgerents had
Just left when another set of mlssIoDs
arrived his time from thc neutrals
The State Department had 10 take mp
with them the problems Of supplies to
be exchanged The United States IS
dependent upon the ncutrals for certain
war materials. and the ncutrals arc de
pendent upon MS for food But N supply.
ing that food 10 the nentrais this nation
must pc quite sure that none II i wall
be passed on 70 the ercuy
The neutraiq gave their word that his
would not be done, but MS further
protection the War Tradc Board. m co
operation with representatives of the
Department Of State il making Inst ~
business firms in MI parts of the world for
tie purpose If investigation Any firm
with one suspicious person on ITS books
Board. whcch then refuses to license
exports consigned to this firm In this
work the American consular servIce,
under the Department of State has proved
of special value. their Investigations IN
foreign countries having disclosed several
German agents who IN the RIlse oi neil
trails. we're receiving shipments Of Amcri-
can goods The American consiils IN
neutral countries arc particularly active
in tins work of investigation.
LrAPs AvD noU~Da
-incc the departure of the missions the
new duties Of the Department Of state
have increased by leaps and bounds One
Of the most important Of these has been
the distribution of enemy shipping.
At the outbreak of the war a large number |
Of German vessels immediately took refuge |
in ports which have SINCE ceased 70 be |
neutral ports Brazil. for example, N !
declaring war on Germany came into |
possession Of large portion Of German |
tonnage The Allies wanted these ships, |
the need for ships being greater than /
anv other need of the war England has .
bought many Of them, and the nltcd I
states has bought even more
The State Department has also had - 4
match its strength against the German /
propaganda, which. IN spite Of Germany +
supposed isolation. Is being carried on IN
all quarters of the globe The efficiency
Of the department IN tins respect IS shown /
bv the long Inst OF countries winch have /
allied themselves on the side Of the | nited /
States since It entered the wAr
Then the only country IN the western
hemisphere ut war vas Canada the only
country III the Ear East, Japan Now
Cuba, Panama. Brazil China and Siam
have declared war on Germany, while
rIguay, Peru, Bolivia, Nicaragua. Hon
duras Haiti Nauto Domingo and liuate-
mala have severed relations with her
No diplomatic pressure whatever has
been brought to bear on these countries
They acted OF their own free we'll But
the American foreign service must be
gwen great deal of credit, for they were
tireiesS IN their distribution Of the Presi-
dent speeches and ia otherwise promoting
the American cauee.
The secret service work of the State
which uncovered the Zim-
merman note, the Bcrnstorf telegram
Callaux the famous Luxbure
telegrams and other important documents.
must of necessity De gwen as little pub
lefty as possible. but II is one OF the most
important branches Of the department al
present 1t needs 10 be
GERMANS EFFICIENT srIEs.
Officials Of the State Department
assert that the menace of the German spy
system has not been emphasized enough !
There are German spies, they declare.
in every port in the world waiting for an
to get into the United States.
For this reason the issuance Of passports
has been greatly restricted No one can
get into this country now without having
satisfied An extremely cautious and sus-
olcious American consul
TO aid this detective work the State
Department has built up an elaborate
,ystem of communications which keeps
American consuls IN touch with one an
other all over the world This system
existed TO some extent before the war.
out it has since been greatly expanded
The headquarters of the department at
Washington is the clearing house through
which all information is distributed
Every embassy and legation receives its
weekly review of political events, and
Zach in turn sends news to Washington
| he London office, for instance, receives |
between $4,000 and 1000 words of
every week This is supple
nented by cable service Facts from
ondon OF interest to the embassy in
3erne or the legation in peking are trans
nitted 10y wire
The duties Of the American consul
laye multiplied to such an extent that
everal OF them thave died from over