Milford chronicle., 1921-06-03
THE DUTIES OF A CONSUL

"The story was told recently of &
large manufacturer in this country
who desired certain trade information
from Australia" says the Republican
Publicity Association, through its
President, Hon. Jonathan Bourne, Jr.
"On being advised that there was a
U. S. commercial agent in that coun-
try he requested that instructions is
sue from the Department of Com
merce that the agent, if convenient,
secure this information. 1t appears,
however, that the agent was engaged
in some work for the Department
which required all his attention, so
that he was not at the time available
for this particular task. The manu-
facturer then took the matter up with
the State Department, which cabled
one of its consuls in Australia to see
what he could accomplish. Within a
very short time the information
sought was in the hands of the man
ufacturer.
"The story is related as an instance
of the value to the commerce of the
United States of wei ltrained consuls.
1t is doubtful if there is any one
class of government servants whose
duties are so multifariOus as are
those of the United States cOnsuls.
The broader his education the better
fitted the consul. In at least three sub
jects he should be specialization
merce, finance, and international law
and if he has smattering of engi-
neering, law, chemistry, racial psy-
chOlOgy, ethnOlogy, mining, lumber
ing, art, and half hundred other
subjects, none of them will come
amiss in the course of his consular
career, for scarcely a day goes by
that he does not receive from the
homeland request for some infOr-
nation, from an inquiry into market !
conditions in the locality surround
ing his post, to an account of the hab-
its and racial characteristics of the |
people. He must prepare invoices,
listen to the complaints of seafaring
men, take charge of the property of
American citizens dying in his juris-
fiction, keep informed with respect to
Ocal and national regulations and l.
avs, the sentiment of the press, and,
IN accession, keep this country infor-
ned as to any preparations which
nay be quietly made with view to
lostile action against a neighboring
ountry. And, of course, he should t
e able to speak, read and write fore !
5n languages, the more the better.
I'm these days of intense competi- f
on of all sorts, a splendid consular c
erVice is one of the greatest assets
a country. America has a service G
'day far more competent than it pos =
essed prior to the reforms drafted r
Y Root when he was Secretary of t,
tate, and adopted in 1906. There is II
i'll great room for improvement, en- II II
rged by the fact that the last Demo- =
attic Administration did nothing to
srfect the service and considerable n
demoralize it. Considering what is tt
Ipected of them, our consuls are OF
'rhaps the poorest paid of our public OF
rVants, their salaries barely sufic-
g to meet household expenses by la
e application of an economy which III III
any other walk of life would be 70
ggardly, and no provision whatever ca
ade for the time when age has de- y,
their value to the State.
1rty years a consul and declining o.
ars in poverty seems to be the pole a.
- JOC WIZ Cetu 6SJluldLS IuS value OIL OD
at single piece of information which !
2 consul in Australia gave to the n.
nerican manufacturer? Multiply it -
thousand or ten thousand, as
, aggregate value of the consular on on
vice to the State each year and err
ile still no estimate is possible the foC
tiOn is conceived. St5
1T should be part of the Republi- So
l program of reconstruction to per- ms
t our consular service. To exhibit
'simony in this direction may un
md well when the nations budget FIR
read from the political hustings, pc,
it will not read so well in the otE
ions commercial balance sheet. mil
Lde is real, trade is earnest in these M Nd
in gtimes. A program for better Del
med, better equipped consuls, bet =
paid, and as certain of retirement ooE
as any member of the profession piei
arms is program Of economy, an fac
lrance of increased sales abroad, SRI
something which comports agree Ire Ere
? with the dignity of the American 1 Sc
ple." 9TH