I

A GREAT deal has been heard of the way in which the foreign service has been demoralized by the present administration. It is said that under the feet of spoilsmen, lean and hungry after sixteen years in opposition, the young plant of a real diplomatic service has been bruised and withered beyond recognition. The State Department is said to be in chaos, and the effectiveness of its servants abroad to have been gravely impaired by a cynical return to the spoils system as practiced in the bad old times.

This is a serious indictment. In days gone by the diplomatic service was the one government department where appointments 'unconnected with the good of the service' mattered least. If a state chairman or provincial editor liked to accept a diplomatic post in payment of a political debt, it was all to the good from the administrative point of view. Pressure upon the domestic spoils market was relieved, and the appropriate foreign representative in Washington could always take up with the State Department any serious questions that might arise. Things now are very different. The days of economic self-sufficiency have passed. Americans can no longer 'point with

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pride' to the fact that their country is the granary of the world and therefore likely to be courted by the world. A relatively dwindling food-supply and an increasing output of manufactures due mainly to a magnificently growing industrialism and its almost inevitable concomitant, stagnation of agriculture, have absolutely altered her position. She needs each year new markets in which to sell her manufactures and to buy her supplies. Signs of the change are everywhere. One may read them in Mr. Underwood's tariff-reform law, in the new currency law, in the Panama Canal, in the new Pan-Americanism, even in the general, and especially the commercial, intelligence supplied by the average daily organs of enlightened opinion.

Nor is that all. If economic pressure is driving the United States into world-politics, world-politics is becoming each year more a matter of commerce and finance. The Anglo-German relationship which, when all is said and done, is the central factor in European affairs, the power of cosmopolitan finance in the same field, the general trend of British imperialism, the nature of the activities of the Powers in the outlying parts of the world-everything, in fact, points to the substitution of economic forces for the forces of

dynastic, racial, religious, even territorial ambitions. To this the Balkan War with its barbarous interplay of the older passions is but the exception that illustrates the rule. There can still be no questioning of the wisdom of Washington's advice about the avoidance of political entanglements with Europe; there is still much force in the prohibition opposed by the Monroe Doctrine to European political aggression in this hemisphere. No thinking American could wish to see his country interfere in the Balkan muddle. Rather to their own surprise the European Powers have recognized that they have no political interest in the Mexican muddle. But even the old saw that trade follows the flag is at a discount. Inexorable forces are making diplomacy more and more part and parcel of the game of cosmopolitan finance and trade, and in that game the United States must take an effective part if she is to enjoy the destiny that physical geography and national character have mapped out for her.

A sometimes subconscious realization of that fact, together with a genuine desire for civil-service reform, seems to be at the bottom of the criticism to which Mr. Bryan and the President have been subjected. How far is that criticism justified by the facts? In the opinion of the writer there has been a tendency toward summary over-harshness. Not even his bitterest enemy can accuse the President of provincial blindness in regard to the necessity for a forward commercial policy. Such changes in that policy as he has made or favored concern means, and not ends. A notable example of this was his withdrawal last spring from the Chinese loan consortium. Upon the main proposition that it is the duty of a modern government to help its commerce there seem to be no two opinions in Washington. That in itself is a great

deal for a party so hidebound in insular tradition as the Democrats used to be.

II

The next thing to notice is the fate of the consular service, which ought to be the closest link between traders and their government. It has been kept intact. Since March, thirty consular positions have been filled from within the service, or from a list furnished by official examiners of candidates. This is very different from what happened upon former occasions, when a change in administration has meant a change in party. To go back no further than President Cleveland's second administration, one finds that within a period of ten months, 30 out of a total of 35 consuls general, 133 out of a total of 183 consuls of the first class, besides the great majority of minor officials, were superseded by hastily selected Democrats. A similar course was followed by Mr. McKinley. Of the 272 consuls above the $1,000 grade whom he found in office, 238 were dismissed.

Debauches of this kind were in accord with the precedents of a century. The original consular act of 1792 did little except breed abuses. Whereas, by the early nineteenth century, most countries had their salaried consular services, American consuls, 'with very few exceptions, were commission merchants, anxious, like all other merchants, to increase their business. In many, perhaps the greater number of cases, the place is sought chiefly for the advantage and influence it will give to extend the commercial affairs of the officer.' (Report of Secretary of State Livingston to President Jackson.)

Neither President Jackson nor succeeding presidents or congresses were able to do much to correct this evil. There were some attempts at legisla

tion. Executive orders were promulgated, but without much effect.

Until 1906 there were wholesale changes in the service with each administration. Favorites of presidents had almost Verrine opportunities of enrichment in places like London; minor party hacks were sent with their families for a few years' sojourn abroad at the country's expense; and the work of fostering export trade and so on went usually by default. By 1905, however, public opinion had been aroused as to the necessity for a competent service. Mr. Root as Secretary of State drafted a comprehensive bill to classify and grade the consular service, to apply civil-service principles to the selection, appointment, and promotion of officers; and to provide, among other things, a system for the regular inspection of consulates. The measure was strongly supported by public opinion; but Congress was loath to part with one of its finest spoils preserves, and the law as finally enacted did not contain the provision regulating the selection, appointment, and promotion of officers.

Mr. Root was not to be beaten. By his advice, Mr. Roosevelt issued in 1906 an executive order which applied the principle of the civil service to all grades, created a board of examiners, and defined the system under which the service was to be made perma

nent.

An executive order can easily be reversed. It is known that much pressure was put upon President Wilson to reverse that of Mr. Roosevelt. That he should have withstood in this respect the clamor of political henchmen is a signal example of political courage, and one that should count for much in any effort that is made to apportion the blame for such spoils-mongering as the Democrats have been guilty of. So should the intelligent care with

which Mr. Redfield, the Secretary of Commerce, has approached the question of the promotion of foreign trade. In an address delivered last April before the Cotton Manufacturers' Association, he outlined what he believed to be a serviceable policy.

'We have,' he said, 'the consular service scattered all over the earth, and greatly improved in the last few years in its efficiency. Every one who has read the Daily Consular and Trade Reports knows that they have practical value. For long I have been accustomed to look them over frequently and make extracts from them for use in my business. It is remarkable that this work should be so well done, and that it should be increasing in its practical value, when we consider how many other matters the consuls have under their care. . . . They must report upon the political affairs in the regions in which they reside, having thus important work of a national rather than a commercial character. They have to do with disputes between masters and seamen, and the relief of sailors in distress. They authenticate and legalize documents, grant various certificates, and deal with the registry of births, marriages, and deaths. They administer oaths and take testimony; act as protectors, and in some cases as guardians, of Americans; and even perform the duties of arbitrators, or in certain cases exercise a judicial authority. They assist to protect our people from the introduction of diseases, through their reports on sanitary conditions of vessels and ports; and they take a practical part in the enforcement of the pure-food law and of the customs laws by their care for merchandise about to be imported into this country. There are in addition certain special duties performed at particular points.

"The wonder is that amid these cares

the consuls are doing such excellent service as all who are familiar with their work are glad to recognize them as performing.

'In addition to the limitations which their numerous duties place upon the consuls, they are also limited by the fact that their jurisdiction - or perhaps we would better say their opportunity is strictly local. They are not supposed to travel in the countries where they live. Their outlook is in a large measure confined to the things which happen at, or near, or within the influence of, their place of residence....

'As opposed to this local and almost stationary force, the Department of Commerce, through its Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, is represented by what are known as commercial agents. These are men who are always on the move. They do not deal with localities at all, and only in a limited sense with countries. Their duties commonly involve the investigation of one or more subjects, looked at in a general or international way rather than as confined to the limits of any one nation. Here we have the entire absence of the local view, or even of the national view; for the scope of these agents is such that their inquiries are supposed to include the whole world, so far as it relates to the development of the subjects they have in hand.

'It will doubtless be evident to you that between these two functions, the general one and the particular one, there is a third function which remains unfilled, and it is concerning that that I desire to speak now. Perhaps the best means of describing the commercial gap is to suggest how it seems possible to fill it.

'In our leading embassies are officers of the Army and Navy, called military and naval attachés. They are accredited by the Department of State to the

respective nations, and their purpose is the study of the conditions in other nations within the lines of their professions. Would it not be possible to add what we may call a commercial attaché in, say, six or seven of our embassies? Let us suppose that this commercial attaché was a well-equipped man of business, who had no duties save that of studying carefully industrial and commercial subjects in the country to which he was accredited. He would be free from the office and local duties of the consul. He would not be limited to any locality. His scope would be as wide as that of the nation in which he resided. He would have nothing to do with diplomatic affairs. His service would be continuously and only that of studying carefully the commercial development and progress of the people among whom he lived. He could be an efficient factor in making clear to them American commercial and industrial interests, and in likewise making plain to us the similar interests in his foreign field. . . . For example, what clearer way could there be to learn of certain phases of South American commerce than to know thoroughly well how the great nations of Europe were dealing with that commerce?

'If I grasp at all clearly the possible functions of the supposed officer whose duties I am discussing, he would be able to coördinate the work that the consuls now do, and make a unified whole out of what is now necessarily a group of unrelated parts. Such an officer would be in touch with the various consuls in the ports of the nation where he lived replacing them, but as supporting and correlating them. In like manner the work of the commercial agents would be supplemented and unified by such an organization, and the result would seem to be probable that we

not as

should get no longer only monographs on special themes, and reports from diverse localities; but while these continue, we should also get the mature and well-digested results of a continued study which would take all these into account.'

There can be no doubt that as reorganized in recent years the consular service has been a great help to American exporters. It contrasts very favorably to-day with the English service, and bears comparison with Germany's infinitely more competent organization. Its general and special reports are disseminated daily among the business men of the country; its officers abroad are gradually evolving systematized plans for bringing foreign purchasers into closer contact with American firms. It has been estimated officially that in 1910 and 1911 the total export business that could be traced directly to the work of the Department of State amounted to over $100,000,000.

Though Mr. Redfield's plan for commercial attachés is still in the air, this administration has already been responsible for various executive improvements in the same direction. The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of Commerce has opened an office in the Custom-house, New York, and will shortly open offices in Chicago, New Orleans, and San Francisco, to assist merchants and manufacturers in the development of foreign trade. Arrangements have been made for consuls on leave to visit these offices and to place their special knowledge at the disposal of local business men. Recently in New York the representatives of twenty-two houses interested in a particular field called upon the consul at the local office of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce.

Another of Mr. Redfield's innova

tions is that the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce shall send its commercial agents, on their return to America, to trade conferences or conventions.

III

Thus in one very important direction the indictment that the administration has debauched the foreign service falls to the ground. There remains the diplomatic branch - the State Department at home and its foreign agencies in the shape of embassies and legations abroad. It must be admitted at once that nothing has been done for its betterment, and that a good deal has been done toward its deterioration. But here again it is unfair to do as most critics have done, and to ignore the traditions and precedents with which the President had to contend. There is a tendency to attack him for having allowed the sudden demoralization of a service, the effectiveness of which was as firmly rooted in history as, say, the British or French services. It need hardly be said that that is not the case. The American diplomatic body never got a fair start. All the traditions of its management make for incompetency. At its inception it was handicapped by a legislature as jealous of its prerogatives as it was careless of external relations. It was some years before the Congress of the Confederation even created a foreign department; and, after the adoption of the Constitution, the department soon lost its never very effective entity in the Department of State, at the head of which was a minister combining in one personality the usually distinct functions of Chancellor and Foreign Minister. In the words of Jefferson, the department embraced 'the whole domestic administration (war and finance excepted).' Even the mint was for a time under its management.