Evening star., 1939-08-06

The United States today, In the opin-
ion of State Department officials, has
entered an extremely dangerous and
delicate period in world affairs. Every
where treaties are being destroyed, arma-
ments mount, national passions are in
famed and the issue of peace or war
may hinge upon the wisdom and caution
of those who represent this country
abroad.
Therefore, the State Department finds
reason to congratulate itself that within
the past decade and half it has built
up what, in fact, amounts to a new United
States Foreign Service trained to meet
the problems of the modern world
We Americans stubbornly cherish our
popular ideas long after time has
squeezed all essence of truth from them.
street from Yonkers or Reno were
asked to sketch the outstanding char
acteristics of an American diplomat, he
probably would present a picture some
thing like this:
This composite diplomat would, above
all, be young man of wealthy family,
probably a Social Registerite; he prob
ably would be a graduate of one Of the
big Eastern universities-Yale, Harvard
or Princeton; he would be a model of
fashion, and he probably would know
much more about bridge, vintage wines
and debutantes than about, say, short
term credits, ocean-borne commerce and
the strategic Importance of Singapore.
Key Diplomats Dissent.
To all of which G. Howland Shaw,
chief of the Foreign Service Personnel
Division of the State Department, and
other department officials charged with
the responsibility of building up a mod
ernized, "streamlined" American Foreign
Service to meet the responsibilities of
American diplomacy in chaotic world,
file emphatic dissent. Rather, Mr.. Shaw
would present this picture Of the young
American Foreign Service officer In the
year 1899:
1t is more likely that his parents are
people of moderate means, or even poor,
than wealthy. The majority of Foreign
Service officers have no other incomes
than their salaries and post allowances.
He is as likely to be graduate of Mid
western university as OF Harvard.
And without sound. comprehensive
knowledge of modern economics, politics
and business, he would never have passed
the rigorous examination required for
entrance into the service. In the last
examination held for the service only %
of 456 candidates made marks sufficiently
high to qualify them.
Like most ideas that gain 4 hold on
the popular mind, the notion that typi-
cal diplomat is wealthy, gilded youth
with little knowledge of mundane af-
fairs, once had solid basis In fact Be-
fore the World War-indeed, until pas
sage of the Rogers Act in 1924-most
diplomats were recruited from the ranks
of monied young men. There were two
reasons for this: Political support was
necessary to obtain an appointment, and
this gave the sons of rich, influential
men long odds over sons Of ordinary
parents; too, the salaries paid in the
diplomatic service of those days were so
low that only men with independent in
comes could afford the cost of living
and entertaining abroad.
Ambitious but poor young men, inter-
ested in representing America abroad,
found their only opportunity in the more
prosaic consular seryice-then separate
and distinct from the diplomatic serv-
| ice-where a knowledge of business and
finance was more important than social
position and money and social demands
were fewer.
But the World War and chaotic read
justment years which followed It changed
| al this. Suddenly, the State Department