courses on South America and the Far East, it would be found that fully as many more of the universities are actually giving sufficient courses in their several departments of English, modern languages, history, economics, commerce, political science (including international law and diplomacy), to provide useful training for foreign service. However, the want of systematic purpose in these opportunities led the recent Conference of Teachers of International Law and Related Subjects to adopt the following as resolution number fourteen:

Resolved, That the Conference recommends the establishment and encouragement in collegiate institutions of specialized courses in preparation for the diplomatic and consular service.

It is then pertinent to inquire why so little direct effort has been made to equip young men for life careers in the diplomatic and consular services. Causes are various and are cumulative in their effect. It has already been shown that the present limited use of qualifying examinations rests solely upon executive orders and not upon statutory enactment. Such executive orders give no sufficient guarantee that a policy of appointment and promotion upon examination and merit, apart from partisan influence, will be followed in good faith. Many public men, and organizations such as the National Business League of America, have pointed out that until Congress enacts adequate laws for a merit system of examination, appointment and promotion in the foreign service, there will be little inducement for young men to seek special training for life careers in this field. Recent advices from men of broad experience in the diplomatic service, as well as from university professors in charge of courses which would give preparation for such service, show that young men are being actually deterred by this cause from training for this career. "Another deterrent to attendance on such a course," writes an experienced diplomat, "is that the student who stands highest or passes the State Department examination is not sure of an appointment to the service. Political or personal influence too often controls the selection by the President and Secretary of State." Other men of high standing in our diplomatic service of whom inquiry has been made likewise express regret that uncertainties of appointment and tenure of office discourage able and ambitious young men from training for this service. One pointedly adds: "The sweeping changes

made by the present administration in diplomatic appointments have been a severe blow to university work along these lines."

A professor in a large institution gives his opinion that "as long as the diplomatic service is regarded as fair game for the politicians and our consular service is not put on a definite basis by Congress but depends on the personal opinion of the President, there will never be more than a small handful of students who care to avail themselves of such a course as we now offer." Another professor believes "that the present attitude of the Democratic administration towards the posts in the diplomatic service has tended to discourage a number of the men interest has been smothered by the actual conditions of the service." In short, there is clear need for a wisely framed system under an act of Congress providing, first, that men who are deficient in training and personal qualifications shall be ineligible for appointment in the foreign service, and second, that retention and promotion shall depend only upon considerations of efficiency and not upon partisan influence.

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While the maintenance of "a fair field and no favors" may seem to require the continuance of some form of public examinations, why may there not be direct recognition of certificates for high attainments in university training courses for public service? A plan of this kind was embodied in a bill introduced in the recent session of Congress. The proposition implies a simple extension of the principle often followed when graduates of reputable law schools are admitted to the bar without the usual examinations, or when the diplomas of standard medical schools are made a legal basis for granting licenses to physicians and surgeons. A precedent also was recently established by the West Point authorities when they provided that candidates having proper credentials from standard institutions may be exempted from the usual mental examinations for entrance as cadets. Probably a score of the State universities, and about half as many privately endowed institutions, are now equipped to give adequate instruction in subjects required for training for the foreign service. The acceptance of their certificates under reasonable regulations would give a great stimulus to ambitious young men to take real training for diplomatic and consular careers. There would then be no need to choose between the acceptance of men of little or no training and the creation of a new government school of

diplomacy-the latter suggested by the analogy of our military and naval academies.

The small number of positions and the low salaries of the places which young men may hope to obtain through training for foreign service would, even under favorable circumstances, constitute causes for their further discouragement. Entrance to positions as consular assistants and to the two lowest consular ranks (the eighth and ninth) may be had, under terms of executive orders, by those who, having been designated for possible appointments, successfully pass the stated examinations. But there are only thirty consular assistants, who begin on salaries of $1,000 and may rise to a maximum of $1,800 after four years. Then there are only forty-five consuls of the ninth class, in which the salary is $2,000, and sixty consuls of the eighth class with salaries of $2,500. Appointments as vice consuls, deputy consuls, consular agents, and clerks, are made without the requirement of examinations. Nevertheless, if promotions to higher consular positions were made only as rewards for the most efficient work in the lower ranks, capable and ambitious young men would find the service attractive.

In the diplomatic field our national administrations have almost uniformly appointed ministers and ambassadors for party reasons, with scant regard for special training or fitness for diplomacy. President Taft, himself a Republican, following a series of Republican predecessors, made an unusual number of promotions from subordinate to the highest diplomatic positions, appointing fifteen out of the nineteen heads of legations in Latin America on the basis of meritorious service an example not likely to be followed by changing administrations in different circumstances. Under favorable construction of executive orders some sixty positions as secretary of embassy or secretary of legation, with salaries ranging from $1,200 to $3,000, are open upon examination or after meritorious service. Clerks are appointed without examinations, but twenty-six student interpreters in Turkey, China, and Japan, may be thus selected, and receive salaries starting at $1,000 and possibly reaching $1,800. Here also in the diplomatic field an effective tradition translated into a practice of filling the higher positions by promotion from lower ranks would encourage recruits, despite limits upon the number of possible appointments.

Thus far this article has discussed the equipment of a professionally trained class of public officials for foreign service. But under the political conditions of our democracy there are special reasons for making ample provision for training in this field. Senator Elihu Root has more than once stated the issue with cogency, showing that the public opinion which so profoundly affects our international relations should be based upon an intelligent understanding of international rights and duties. In a similar spirit the resolutions of the Conference of Teachers of International Law and Related Subjects included these significant clauses:

Resolved, That, as the idea of direct government by the people grows, it becomes increasingly essential to the well-being of the world that the leaders of opinion in each community be familiar with the rights and obligations of states, with respect to one another, as recognized in international law. Hence, it has become a patriotic duty, resting upon our educational institutions, to give as thorough and as extensive courses as possible in this subject.

Resolved, That it is the conviction of this Conference that the present development of higher education in the United States and the place which the United States has now assumed in the affairs of the Society of Nations justify and demand that the study of the science and historic applications of international law take its place on a plane of equality with other subjects in the curriculum of colleges and universities and that professorships or departments devoted to its study should be established in every institution of higher learning.

Resolved, That this Conference directs that a letter be sent to teachers of political science, law, history, political economy and sociology throughout the country calling attention to and emphasizing the essential and fundamental importance of a knowledge of international law on the part of students in those branches, which letter shall state the opinion of this Conference that every college of liberal arts, every graduate school and every law school, should have or make provision for courses in international law and urge that all graduate students working in the above mentioned fields be advised to include this subject in their courses of study.

Resolved, That, in recognition of the growing importance of a knowledge of international law to all persons who plan to devote themselves to the administration of justice, and who, through their professional occupation, may contribute largely to the formation of public opinion and who often will be vested with the highest offices in the State and nation, this Conference earnestly requests all law schools which now offer no instruction in international law to add to their curriculum a thorough course on that subject.

The welfare of the United States as one of the family of nations requires attention to effective training for the diplomatic and consular services. Not alone those who consciously plan to seek careers as consuls and diplomatists, but all who may be called in any degree to responsible leadership of our democracy will need to include some such training in their equipment. The more thorough it may be made, the more widely it may be diffused, the better for the peace and progress of the world. C. A. DUNIWAY.

APPENDIX

The following selections of extracts from a few letters addressed to the author of the above paper will be found to contain interesting reflections and suggestions from the several writers.

FROM JUSTICE WILLIAM R. DAY

I am in sympathy with the suggestion that a course in our State universities with a view to preparing for the consular and diplomatic service would be of great service. While the consular service is not as yet under strict civil service rules, an executive order which is enforced in the State Department requires a thorough examination for admission to office and promotion is now generally made from those who have shown aptitude in the work. This is as it should be, and the progress in this direction is not likely to be disturbed by any return to the old plan of making consular appointments solely upon the basis of political activity.

Despite the wrong method of selection, the American consular representatives have usually been efficient, showing the adaptability of the Americans to new situations and conditions. Under the present plan the service is greatly improved, and, I think, young men may well regard the consular office as opening a career likely to be permanent where efficiency is shown.

I think the course of special preparation in the State universities should at least include the requirements of the State Department, doubtless familiar to you, as to the qualifications of all applicants for admission to the service. Of course, there is no reason why the State universities should not go beyond these requirements, but so much, at any rate, they might teach to the great advantage of those seeking to enter the foreign service.

FROM HON. JOHN W. FOSTER

In the consideration of the establishment of a course of study in the university curriculum, the question arises whether the limited number