[Illustration: Barking dog on a chain standing between man and money bag]
Q. “Will you please distinguish again between Consular Clerks and Clerks at Consulate”?
A. “Certainly; Consular Clerks are not stationed at consulates at all. They are specialists who work upon some task assigned by the State Department. Such a one may specialize upon a certain line of textile fabrics in all its degrees of quality and the methods employed in its manufacture. Another may become an expert authority on chemicals or iron and steel products, etc. Clerks at Consulate are, as you may suppose, those engaged in ordinary clerical duties at the consulates.”
Q. “Do you think that the present movement in favor of consular reform has any partisan purpose”?
A. “Not at all. The last two administrations, i. e., Cleveland’s and McKinley’s, have done more for this cause, perhaps, than all the others put together. Moreover, the time just now is ripe for this reform and Congressmen should be more than ever awake to the necessity of it, irrespective of party”.
Q. “How about that school for consuls and diplomats, Professor? It seems to me that however desirable it may be, it is hardly feasible for partisan reasons.”
A. “That, of course, is the stock objection to such a proposition. Yet I fail to see why such a school might not be put into the hands of a non-partisan board—say the second and third Assistant Secretaries of State, who do not change with the administration as a rule. And we might add to these the Civil Service Commissioners, or any other competent men, provided they are not to be meddled with on the score of partisanship. Partisanship does not enter into the management of West Point or Annapolis to any noticeable extent, nor does it prevent our numerous State universities from being as well managed as other institutions of learning.”
Q. “But why not leave all this to the institutions already established?”
A. “Well, perhaps as good a reason as any is that none of them are in Washington. The government has here its great scientific museum, the Smithsonian Institute; also its historical museum, various experiment stations, and above all, perhaps, its Congressional Library and collections of State papers and archives. Besides, diplomacy should be learned from diplomats in active service—men acquainted with their occupation both past and present, European and American. Such a school need not be continuous, perhaps, or conducted as many months of the year as other schools, its chief purpose being to satisfy the exigencies of the Government, rather than to furnish a liberal education”.