Evening star., 1944-04-30
BY Joseph H. Baird.

oSoSk Sk1A a. De%A4 a.
Centuries ago a wise old Roman,
Pubilius Syrus, coined the maxim
I'VE should provide in peace what we
need in war" Today the State De-
partment is reversing his dictum. 1t is
attempting to provide-or at least plan
In time of war what the Nation will
surely need in days of peace: A modern
iZed, enlarged, efficient and thoroughly
democratic foreign service.
At the risk of triteness, 1t is worth
driving home the fact that the inter-
national connections and responsibilities
of the United States after the present
war, even if the country should swing
back toward isolation" will be multi
piled far beyond anything we conceived
in the 1930s Our far-f1ung business
and commercial ties and military re-
sponsibilities will make that true, even
If the nation should shun all forms OF
foreign political collaboration. So the
need for an enlarged corps of compe-
tent diplomats, consuls, trade experts
and agricultural and other specialists
will be great.
That is the viewpoint of G. Howland
Shaw Assistant Secretary of State, in
charge of departmental and Foreign
Service administration and personnel.
Sitting in his office in the gray-stone
State Department building on Pennsyl-
vania avenue. overlooking the White
House lawn, Mr. Shaw is busy these days
with plans to shape up a modern,
the defeat of the Axis releases the
needed manpower from the Army and
Navy.
New School of Diplomacy.
Mr.. Shaw, himself veteran Foreign
Service officer who spent many years as
an envoy of the United States in Eu-
rope and the Near East, has some very
precise ideas about the kind of men who
should represent this country abroad
after the war The sort of Foreign Serv-
ice officer he envisages as ideal fer the
needs of America is a very different
creature from the naughty, unrealistic
young men who frequent the memories
of Henry White and Margot Asquith.
This typical diplomat might be grad
uate of Harvard, Yale or Princeton,
but the chances are just as good that
he will come from Iowa State, Oregon
or Georgia Tech. His father might be
a broker or railroad executive, but the
probabilities will be as great that he Is
an insurance salesman or small-town
merchant He may use broad "A" if
,Neln pIyf Dc
as likely to speak with a southern or
western drawl.
This trend toward democracy in what
was once too-esoteric realm is moth
ing new for it has been going on for
more than a decade. But, according to
Mr.. Shaw, it will be accentuated in the
postwar Foreign Service.
Up From the Ranks.
The State Department is fully aware
of the fact that after this war there may
be a sharp swing toward the left in the
governments of Europe and Asia. It Is
more than likely that the, premiers,
foreign ministers and other officials with
whom American diplomats will carry on
their daily business will not be aristo-
Gratis or even men of much culture
Many of them will have come up from
the ranks of labor Some will prob
ably be professional revolutionaries, like
Stain.
The Foreign Service must have, Mr.,
Shaw is convinced, men who can speak
the language and understand the
thoughts of this new world In other
words. the ideal postwar diplomat must
be as ready to deal with a Bella Kun as
an Anthony Eden.
This trend toward a more thoroughly
"Americanized" foreign service, as noted
earlier. has been going on quietly for
a long time. 1t had its start in the
Rogers Act of 1924, which combined
the old diplomatic and consular corps
once strictly separate-into the United
States foreign service and provided a
schedule of salaries and allowances, in
creasing with seniority, sufficient tc
free officers of the old necessity of hav-
ing an Independent income or Of marry
ing a wealthy woman.
Pink Tea Diplomats.
OF course, the old contingent Of what
members of Congress used to call ''pinl
tea diplomats" did not die out over
night. But Mr.. Shaw cites figures tina
show rather conclusively that even be
fore the present war the young bloot
coming into the service was broadl
representative Of the whole country.
OF the last three groups of III mel
who entered the foreign service, h
from the Middle West, l6 from NeN
England 80 from the Middle Atlanti
States and 16 from the South
Their educational backgrounds WEI
Just as varied, for the group came tror
more than Sc colleges and universitie
Half of them received their secondar
educations in public high schools. Or
prepared for his examination by study
ing IN the public library at night viii
he worked on the assembly line OF a
automobile factory during the day
support himself.
The fathers of these new officers a.
cording to the State Department re-
ords, followed such diverse occupation
as railroad conductor. minister OF r.
Ngion. scnoolmaster, banker, jeWele
laborer, LAWYER, sales manager, Gle
and physician.
Il