The New York herald., 1921-06-26
BRITISH DIPLOMATIC
SERVICE A MODEL
Washington Order Barring
Aliens Long Observed
by London.
OLD WAYS ABANDONED
Youths of AristOcratic
Houses or Politically
Backed Not Wanted.
ALL CANDIDATES TESTED
Examination List Small, but
Designed to Elicit Acumen
and knowledge.
ALL CANDIDATES TESTED

Special Correspondence to THE New YORK
HERALD.
| LONDON, June 15.-Considerable dis
turbance has been caused at the en-
bassy in London by the recent order
by the State Department requiring
that only Americans be employed in
diplomatic offices abroad. Coming
just at the time of the arrival Of the
new Ambassador with all the heavy
work this involved the blow tempo
rarily crippled the service severely.
Every one in the embassy, however,
believes in the real wisdom of the step
taken. What those interested in the
embassy now want is enough of an
appropriation to carry on the work
efficiently with American hands.
People in the Foreign Office in
Downing street, for instance, have
long been amazed at the trusting
simplicity with which American
diplomatic offices have confided i'm
portant and confidential work to
nationals of other countries. France,
Germany. in fact, all the old Euro
pean countries and most especially
England. have and always have had
hard and fast rules to the effect that
all work in any way confidential, in
cluding translation, must be done by
their own nationals. This is not merely
tradition or conservatism, but cold
materialism. 1t has been found to pay
in the long run.
England's Example.
Great Britain has recently reformed
its diplomatic service. and for this work
which Britain deems so important, she is
now attracting large number of candi-
dates of the highest intellectual calibre,
prize men from the universities and
clever. hard working youngsters who are
in search of a serious career rather
| than the sort of decorative post which
used to be implied in describing the
/ I.
In a recent examination two hundred
candidates presented themselves for the
prelim minary written examination. Only
twenty survived. and to fill the four
vacancies available these twenty were
put through the most grueliing sort OF
oral and personal test.
There is no need to discuss here the
possibility of information leaking from
diplomatic missionsl So long as human
ity. on the one hand. continues to plot
and plan to this end. and. on the other
hand, is weak and open to bribery and
corruption. we may expect to hear OF
such leakages but there is less likeli-
hood of its happening when those in
trusted with important missions are in
spired by patriotism. or. in other words,
moral attachment to the country they
serve. 1t is, therefore, easy to under
stand that the recruitment of a body of
men who are not only intellectually but by
character morals and temperament suit
able for the delicate and often involved
work of diplomacy is by no means an
easy task.
Apprentices in Diplomacy.
Up to 1914 entry to the British
Foreign Office and diplomatic service
was narrowed down TO a very small
either the sons of old diplomatists or
aristocrats. or often young men with
powerful political backing. They were
nominated by the official we would term
the head of the State Department. and
then they passed an examination by no
means searching. after which they be-
came attached to a mission. This was
looked upon as an apprenticeship.
They received little or no salary for
some years. so they had TO be men of
means. When their turn came they
formally entered the service and worked
more for love of their work than for
any gain they were likely to receive.
But the great European war has al
tered the whole system of recruiting.
With the growth of democracy and the
cry Of the man in the street for a share
in the handling OF the nations affairs
posts In the diplomatic service had to
be placed within the reach OF the or
binary citizens. Thus the old method
was abolished and the so called recon
struction scheme" was put into opera
tion. The difficult task OF selecting the
right men for the work falls on the Civil
Service Commission. The process is one
OF elimination by means Of series of
tests and Investigations. Any natural
born British subject IS eligible. He
must nave TtCelNtu WnOlc llfne tuuCd
ton OF high type UP to the age of IS;
he must have thorough mastery. of
French and must provide reports from
competent authorities as to health, char
actcr and suitability generally
Subjects for Test.
This is all fully Investigated and veri-
fed by the Civil Service Commission. and
IL satisfactory the candidate Is permitted
to sit for an examination to test In a
practical manner his ability. The list
Of subjects, is a small one and is not
formidable at first sight-French. Eng
lish. arithmetic and general knowledge.
But the test In English is fairly severe.
that OF French Is of very high stan
dard. including essay writing. dictation
and the spoken language. while general
knowledge" Is a comprehensive term en-
bracing history. economics, political and
social science. geography and general
o