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MORE CONSULS NEEDED FOR OUR MERCHANT MARINE Our merchant marine is rapidly outgrowing our consular service according to Edward N Hurley chairman of the United States Shipping Board who urges that steps be taken immediately to provide facilities abroad for handling the millions of tons of shipping which will be afloat under the American flag in peaceful trade when the war is over Mr Hurley lias made a study of this subject in connec ¬ tion with the development of the American merchant marine and lays the facts before the nation so that intelligent public opinion may guide Congress when appropriations for the consular service are made next winter winterA A story is told by an American consul who served recently at a Spanish port One of his agents from another port visited him himHave Have you ever cleared a shin flying the Ameri ¬ can flag asked the consul of the agent agentXo Xo I havent was the reply and if a ship hail to be cleared I wouldnt know how to do it itAt At Queenstown Ireland one of the greatest ports of call in the world no vessel flying the American flag iias touched there in more than nine years until early In 1915 when war and shipping shortage began to take American vessels overseas Tliisis true of many other great ports abroad and illus ¬ trates the shipping decadence which is now being remedied remediedUncle Uncle Sam expects to have 25000000 tons of merchant shipping within two years Every ton that can be delivered now goes into the service to France If peace came tomorrow and our present tonnage were scattered over the world trade routes the consular service would be inadequate to handle our ships There would simply not be enough men in the consulates and they would also work against handicaps of obsolete shipping regu ¬ lations and in many cases lack of experience experienceThere There is no question about the high character of our consular service said Mr Hurley We have some splendid officials abroad men who Avork for Uncle Sam at salaries far below what they might secure tomorrow by leaving the service and entering private employ There are not chough of them and they are not justly compensated Several consuls have died or broken down in harness the past year under strain of overwork imposed upon them by war conditions conditionsWe We need more consuls and larger consular staffs We need them today to carry on the increased burden of work If we do not provide them today and prepare for the great growth in our merchant marine and trade after the war I fear that we shall suffer a serious breakdown The Department of State lias work for fully fifty additional men right now and if Congress authorized such an ex ¬ tension of service would find the men and send them abroad immediately Unless Congress meets this war emergency both the Department of State and the United States Shaping Board face the danger of public criticism for inadequate service when peace comes These departments will really be blameless but criticism will fall upon them nevertheless neverthelessThere There are nearly 100 pages in the United States consular regulations dealing with shipping matters the clearing of ships flying the America flag the protection of American seamen and own ¬ ers the settling of disputes and the like Many of these regulations are based on old treaties Many of them are obsolete There are differences between treaties witii various countries Our con ¬ suls often lack authority to handle matters in ¬ volving the interests of our sailors and ship own ¬ ers These regulations are complicated chiefly be ctuisc we have had little commerce in American ships Many of them were excellent in the days of our sailing shins when they were established But before we ran operate u modern merchant marine we must revise standardize and simplify this whole mass of regulations and bring them up to the efficiency of other nations practice practiceForeign Foreign trade in American ships will mean better senice to our customers abroad than we have ever rendered in the past It must be tin American manufacturers aim to take care of his customers in Latin America as well as he does of customers at home We cant get the trade ana hold it unless we give American senice A very large part of this senice will depend upon United States consuls They will have to handle n great increase in business connected with American shipments and American ships They will Also Ins called upon by our manufacturers for information concerning other countries The time to provide for tliis senice is now while we are building the sUps We must have more men and they should be adequately paid Consular service calls for a man with college education plus business experi ¬ ence plus facility in dealing with people plus acquaintance with one or more foreign languages plus technical knowledge of consular duties We have been asking the man of that caliber to pass a stiff examination before entering the service and then sending him down to countries like Brazil where living is more costly than in New York end expecting him to maintain i family and a good position and the national dignity on a small salary We are paying shipbuilders better wages than some of our consular employees nowadays and I consider it one of the finest evidences of patriotism that our consuls have stuck to their posts and died in harness during these war times vlicn by merely resigning and accepting private positions they could have secured salaries several times as large as those Uncle Sam pays I cer ¬ tainly hope that this real emergency will be made clear to Congress and action taken soon soonWe We might look to Great Britain for an exam ¬ ple of straight thinking and enterprise in this matter For despite more than four years strug ¬ gle for her national life the right little tight little island has kept her industries alive given the best possible service to her customers all over the world helped us move our troops to France Mid feed them and arranged an orderly schcinu of reconstruction after the war botli at home and abroad Her consular service lias been en ¬ larged and will play a large part in repairing the waste of war when peace conies British consuls make British shipping what it is to i great ex ¬ tent and I trust that we will take steps to back our ships with more consular experts
