The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-11-06
By JOHN HARRINGTON
In lhe NV Ynth rmaa


ter that the other day n waH tho sub
Ject ~ discourse by Charles T..
HUGHES. secretary ui state.
In addressing 10 young mon who
had completed their preliminary
lrHiuiufa as Consuls Woe cuusuls and
consular agents, hr Impressed upon
them tho fact thBt"thry Wuud ht
advanced according tO fholr merits
and u1i through political prefer
ueut ilo also said that the day had
puEsod iu which consul could %.
"flambuyuut. bombusfiD or boaHnl
and that The chief requisites for su..
cess In our foreign service wrr" ah.l.
ity efficiency ana accuracy Wnl..
integrity ana SKIN were yItai, u,..
essary.
How different indeed Is tHn GONE
sui of those DAYS from 90, ffuH .1
familiar tu uF ip tradition Boo N,|uu
and ON the stage. For thp puI.U .rhl
~ ON" variety. cot the cssE.gHIuE
Kind. Wc are indebted tu ljptHuud
Hitchcock iu "ruo Yankee CONSUL
To foreign nations the consul Of tho
'nited States wa tusr gu opera
buufig character ur tlsS h, was
cheap CRATER who with ,hiIdllkv
simplicity Insisted that bee unuld rot
give the required papers tU any yes-
sol which was not duly oufJtcd by
his fdvorito ship chandler. FROM
whom hc got Dommissiuu Thou
there was the amfnblc couFul of the
maga1in" story. g purry old chan,
who made himself persona non RrUtA
with tho Arab Bhciks by giving them
10 drink brown N8zv liQuid In bot
tiea cooled I'M tho depths Of a well
aud smoked long cig3rs with them.
lis this white collar diplomacy he 80
established himself In. their good
graccH that II was an easy task for
him to rescue missionaries ltidunp-
pod and held for ransom.
An old Type Gone.
Another style OF consul, nON be-
coming obsolete. or nearly so, wus
the man of good old family and somo
wealth who lived In elegant retire-
ment at a distant port In the tropics,
became interested In social affairs,
played cricket with the British rep
reHentativp always to be found there,
aud pursued the study OF ancmones
or tr,!uhuCs or something of the
kind Sometimes he had literary as
piratiOus and ekcd out q living with
pen by Rruclng the office certain
hours OF the day and seeing 60 II that
"a. star spa nglsd Banner was prnp-
erly displayed on tho Fourth OF July.
IL recent years, however. there has
been forced upon the United states
the need for consular reform. Great
Britain. France and more recently
Germany had so trained these half
commercial, half diplomatic officers
that they hecanIa nowCra In tho ma
terial advancement OF tho nations
which they served. A Cousll who
had only The outlook uf il small town
politician was no longer available,
@h!le there arose So many complicn-
tions that men were required who
could accurately, carefully and
truthfully report on conditions. As
Mr.. Hughes no forcibly indicated.
upon the observations of these repre-
sentatives of the United states de-
pended often the policy of the coun-
try In important international af
fairs. Hence the rise OF HE Amer
lean consul, new style,
None would assert. even now, that
the consular service OF the United
states is perfect, In the words of
the stern Scotch parent, glancing
over the task performed by his son,
That and hetter will do" There are
certain weaknesses and many defects
TO be corrected perhaps. yet there Is
s;;aeh cause for sel.e..atlon when we
go back and view the pit from which
the consular service was diEged
Roosevelt Turned the ride
The first sign Of the rainbow OF
promise appeared early In this pres.
ent century In tho administration OF
Grover cleveland Then finally there
cams an act, passed IN 1906 when
Theodore Roosevelt, apostle OF civil
service reform, was president, which
placed the consular activities OF the
nation on merit basis. Elihu Root,
.Hsa.I f.st. a
the service on strictly nonpnrtisan
basis and obtained the statute on
whch Il was organized. william
Howard TAFT az president I'm 1903,
extended some OF the provisions TO
the entire diplomatic service, and In
1915, when Woodrow Wilson was I'm
the white house, the consular and
diplomatic service were brought
nearer together hy providing that
secretaries OF embassies and loga-
lions and the cousuls should be APP
pointed 20 grades instead to specific
posts,
Must Pass Rigid Test.
Under the present regulations np-
plicants for the consular service are
required to pass examinations IN In
ternational aud maritime law. polit'
iCal and commercial geography
arithmetic at least one modern lar-
EuaRe. American history ana mod
crn history. The examinations are
likely 10 continue from three TO siN
days IN all. In addition 60 the mcn-
tai tests, rigid physical examinations
are required and satisfactory owl
denCe of good moral character must
be given After the candidates nave
passed they are required 70 spend
a probationary period at the depart
mont OF state, where they are
schoolod IN certain usaEcs OF state
craft and receive final instructions
To class OF men who had just com.
pletod this period. Mr.. Hughes mad,
his observations on the consular
service OF the present day.
Under the existing laws many
competent men can be obtained foI
government work abroad That
there is still n wide range for Inn
proyement, however, is shown by the
Report on the Foreign Service" H.
sued by the national civil service
reform league, which Is still contin'
uiug lts activities In this direction
through a sneclal committee In which
nrc cooperating the national foreign
trades council and the American
manufacturers export association
Al the head OF this special committee
iS w, w Nichols,
Reforms Proposed by Exporters.