Evening star., 1924-04-06
COMBINED FOREIGN.
SERVICE TO GET 0. K.
Diplomatic and Consular
Measure Expected to Pass
House This Week.
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

Coordination, reorganization and
classification of the diplomatic and con-
sular services into a single foreign
service of the United States" with
retirement annuities, is provided for
in bill sponsored by Representative
John J. Rogers of Massachusetts,,
which is expected to pass the House
early this week.
House leaders have arranged to ex-
pedite it's passage SO as to permit
action by the Senate at this session.
This is the most important and
beneficial step ever taken to place
the foreign service of the nation on
an efficiency basis, those who have
been in closest touch with the State
Department have assured Congress. It
will be of inestimable advantage to
the commercial as well as diplomatic
interests of Americans
The Rogers bill has the. strong sup
port of President Coolidge and the
State Department
1t will emphasize the Importance of
merit and experience rather than pos
session of private fortune in selec-
tion of emissaries to foreign govern
ments.
This measure was passed by the
House during the last Congress, but
was caught in the usual eleventh
hour jam in the Senate.
Appropriation Increase.
The burden upon the Treasury for
ne
State, of the diplomatic service and
of the consular service for the last
fiscal year was s454,o0o The Rogers
bill would increase this amount by
about s345,000 annually. A 16-inch
gun, which is now being set on its
emplacements in defense of the Pan
anna canal coast, complete, will cost
$45o,000. First-class instrumental
ties in our diplomatic and CONNER
cial foreign relations are just as i'm
portant as in our defensive and mill
tary relations The cost of this one
big gun in comparison with the cost
of an up-to-date foreign service, fit
ted to cope with eventualities, illus
trates the relatively small outlay
necessary to give this country a proud
standing among the nations of the
world in the field of diplomacy.
Hitherto the diplomatic side of the
foreign service and the consular side
have occupied separate. watertight,
compartments. There has been a
minimum of contact, and practically
no personal exchange. Yet in our
modern world, almost every interna-
tional question is partly diplomatic
and partly commercial. Take such
questions as tariffs, coal, seals, oil
and a score of others, and you have a
mixed question involving national
policies, diplomatic negotiations and
commerce. The more business a man
knows, the better diplomat he will
be and the more international poll
cies he knows the better consul he
will be. On. the other hand, a poor
consul may quite conceivably make
an excellent diplomat, and. converse
Iy, a poor diplomat make an excellent
consul.
Interchange Of Personnel.
The Rogers bill authorizes for the
first time free interchange between
the two sides of the service as the
interests Of the United States may
dictate. A young man Of twenty-five
seeks to embark upon a diplomatic
career. He has just been graduated
from college and passAs an excellent
examination for the diplomatic corps.
There can be no sounder practical
education for such young man than
to turn him for a few years into a
consulate, where for the first time he
will learn business methods and
where he will learn that worthwhile
foreign service is not exclusively an
opportunity to shine in society.
He will be a better man, a better
American and a better foreign serv-
ice officer all his life, because of the
background of his experience in
consulate. The provision for inter-
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