these functions of government, and the methods of administration have not changed materially since the early days of the republic. The rules and practices that govern our diplomatic and consular corps are found in the various works on international law, and these cover even minute matters of form and routine; but there has gradually grown up an American construction of international law. What this construction is may be found in the volumes known as Foreign Relations, which have been regularly issued by the government since 1870, and which were issued before that, from 1861 to 1868, under the title Diplomatic Correspondence. Previous to 1861, the foreign correspondence was printed in separate reports to Congress. In these volumes the instructions of the Secretary of State to our ministers abroad, and their dispatches, and the notes exchanged between the Secretary of State and foreign · ministers accredited to this country, are given in part. Of our diplomatic missions to some fifty countries, a few are under ambassadors, but most are under envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary. At each of these missions there are counselors, or secretaries, or both, at some there are commercial, military, and naval attachés, and in China and Japan there are student interpreters. He must The duties of a diplomatic representative are many and varied. guard American rights and see that they are not infringed upon, and give information to foreigners concerning American institutions, laws, and customs; he is the medium through whom Americans meet foreigners for official or business reasons. His most important function is the presentation to the foreign government near which he is residing of the official views of this government, and the conveyance to this government of official messages from the foreign government. He must keep his government advised of the progress of events in the country where he lives. He is supposed to be always acting under the instructions of the State Department. A diplomat is the agent of his government to a foreign government, but a consul is his government's agent only in the district in which his consulate is situated. It is the special function of consuls to promote American commerce and watch over commercial interests. But, besides this, they take charge of the estates of American citizens who die abroad without legal representatives, care for stranded American seamen, certify to the correctness of the values of merchandise exported to the United States, aid in the enforcement of the immigration laws, and give advice and protection to American citizens. The granting of passports to American citizens for their protection in traveling abroad was a function which fell to the government under the general provisions of international law as soon as there was competent authority for the purpose. During the World War it became necessary for all travelers to be provided with passports, and in order that officials might be assured of the validity of the passports the visé system was resorted to; that is to say, it was required that each passport should be shown to a consul, who, after he had seen it and found it to be valid, indorsed it with a statement to that effect. The system has been used, not only to prevent the entrance into the United States of alien enemies, but of anarchists and others opposed to the government. Every alien, before proceeding to the United States, must go to the nearest American consul to have his passport viséed. After the Armistice, the United States was looked upon as a fertile field for the activities of revolutionists and fanatics, who wished to create political and social unrest. In 1920 there was a wave of emigration toward this country, and it was the consul's duty to refuse visas to wouldbe immigrants who are inadmissible. When there is a war, in which the United States is neutral, the American embassies and legations usually take charge of interests of countries whose representation has been withdrawn as enemies. As soon as the World War was declared in Europe, the State Department was asked by the several belligerent governments to take charge of their interests in those countries with which they were at war. Thus, a part of the American Embassy at London was the German section, comprising a number of clerks who attended to the numerous requests for aid which came from 'Germans and German interests in Great Britain. Similar functions for the British were performed at the Embassy at Berlin, and the practice became general at American offices throughout the world. In some places the American representative was the representative also of five other nations. These duties continued until the United States ceased to be a neutral power. Included in the protection of foreign interests was the inspection of camps occupied by prisoners of war. As long as the United States was a neutral power, the preservation of neutrality and neutral rights required extraordinary vigilance. As an incident, in managing this feature, a neutrality board was formed, comprising a representative of the Department, an Army officer, Navy officer, and a specialist in international law. This board met regularly and considered cases concerning neutrality, which the Secretary of State placed before it, and reported its findings and recommendations. After the United States itself became a belligerent, the Department gave its full assistance in the prosecution of the war, and at the same time preparations were made for the peace negotiations; a large office force was established in New York, which worked under the general supervision of the department. The first duty of the department and its agents, in time of foreign war, is to protect American citizens in countries at war. 4. Distribution of Duties I. Secretary of State The Secretary of State is in general charge of the Department, and as a member of the President's Cabinet is the latter's adviser in foreign affairs. He is the medium of correspondence between the President and the chief executives of the several states of the Union. He countersigns and affixes the seal of the United States upon treaties and executive proclamations, to various commissions, and to warrants for the extradition of fugitives from justice. He publishes the laws and resolutions of Congress, amendments to the Constitution, and proclamations declaring the admission of new states to the Union. 29 II. Undersecretary of State 13 The Undersecretary of State is the principal assistant of the Secretary of State in the discharge of his various functions, aiding in the formulation and execution of the foreign policies of the government, in the reception of representatives of foreign governments, etc. In matters which do not require the personal attention of the Secretary of State, he acts for the Secretary of State; and in the absence of the Secretary of State, he becomes the Acting Secretary of State. The Undersecretary of State is charged with the general direction of the work of the Department of State and of the foreign service, and is chairman of the Foreign Service Personnel Board. The following geographical divisions are under the Undersecretary in a limited sense: (a) Division of Latin-American Affairs.-General supervision, under the Secretaries, of relations, diplomatic and consular, political and economic, with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, Uruguay, and Venezuela. (b) Division of Western European Affairs.-General supervision under the Secretaries, of relations, diplomatic and consular, political and economic, with Austria, Belgium, British Empire (Canada, the Union of South Africa, British colonies or protectorates not elsewhere enumerated, and, in conjunction with the Far Eastern Division, Australia, New Zealand, India, and other British or European possessions in the Far East), Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France (Morocco), Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liberia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. (c) Division of Near Eastern Affairs.-General supervision, under the Secretaries, of relations, diplomatic and consular, political and economic, with Abyssinia, Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, Hedjaz, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Persia, Rumania, Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, Syria, and Turkey. (d) Division of Mexican Affairs.-General supervision, under the Secretaries, of relations diplomatic and consular, political and economic, with Mexico. (e) Division of Eastern European Affairs.-General supervision, under the Secretaries, of matters pertaining to Russia (including Siberia), and of relations, diplomatic and consular, political and economic, with Esthonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. (f) Division of Far Eastern Affairs.-General supervision, under the secretaries, of political and economic relations with China and leased territories, Japan, Siam, the Far Eastern possessions of European countries (in conjunction with the Division of Western European Affairs), and Siberia (in conjunction with the Division of Eastern European Affairs). (g) Division of Current Information.-Preparation of news items for the press, receiving and replying to inquiries from newspaper correspondents, preparation and distribution to officials of the department of daily press summaries and special articles, furnishing them with press bulletins, copies of texts, and general information bearing upon foreign relations. 13 Departmental Order No. 321 of Feb. 21, 1905. (h) Office of Co-ordination and Review.-Reviews and dispatches correspondence, advises officers of the various departments of changes to be effected in diplomatic correspondence and address, and maintains a file of outgoing correspondence and of precedent cases for ready reference. III. Assistant Secretary 13 An Assistant Secretary is charged with economic and financial matters; communications (electrical communications, shipping, aircraft). In the absence of the Secretary of State and the Undersecretary of State, he becomes the Acting Secretary of State. He supervises : (a) The office of the Economic Adviser, who gives advice and recommendations to the department on questions of general economic policy; unifies and co-ordinates economic matters within the department; establishes and maintains liaison with the various economic bureaus in other departments; handles economic cases which have no regional character or which overlap geographica! divisions; drafts correspondence on matters falling within the following special fields: Natural resources, finance, foreign commercial policy, commercial treaties and tariffs, transportation, and communications. IV. Assistant Secretary 13 An Assistant Secretary is charged with administration of the department, administrative matters concerning international conferences and commissions, and with matters pertaining to ceremonial and protocol; is charged with the presentation to the President of ambassadors and ministers of foreign countries newly accredited to the United States; is a member of the Foreign Service Personnel Board. He supervises the following divisions of which the duties are as indicated thereunder. (a) Chief Clerk.-General supervision of the clerks and other employees of the department and of routine departmental matters; purchase of supplies; custody of the property of the department; supervision and assignment of office rooms and space; issuance of passes, when required, to persons entitled to enter the building; authentication of applications for automobile licenses of foreign. diplomatic officers residing in Washington; correspondence on departmental matters; leaves of absence and sick leave; preparation and custody of efficiency records of the department. The chief clerk signs authentications and such other papers as the Secretary of State may direct. The appointment section of his office has charge of the receipt and custody of applications for appointment in the departmental service and of the indorsements of applicants; correspondence relating thereto; preparation of nominations to the Senate of foreign service officers and other officers commissioned by the Department of State whose appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate; issuance of commissions, exequaturs, and warrants of extradition; bonding of foreign service officers and other officers accountable to the department for moneys received or expended; preparation of copy for the department register, diplomatic and consular list, and mailing list; editing, proof reading, and distribution of the same; civil service and departmental personnel matters; oaths of office; custody of the seal of 13 Departmental Order No. 321 of Feb. 21, 1905. the United States; issues requisitions on Public Printer for press work for the department. (b) Bureau of Indexes and Archives.-Recording and indexing the correspondence of the department; custody of the archives; telegraph, telephone, and cipher communications. (c) Bureau of Accounts.-Custody and disbursement of appropriations and indemnity funds; correspondence relating thereto; administrative examination of accounts. (d) Division of Foreign Service Administration.—(Divided jurisdiction between the Assistant Secretaries IV and V.) General administration of the Foreign Service, including matters of appropriations and expenditures, rentals, equipment and supplies, organizations, instruction of diplomatic and consular officers, etc. Correspondence relating to the foregoing and to customs courtesies and free entry, letters rogatory, decoration of American citizens by foreign governments, international exchange of publications, diplomatic pouch service between the United States and foreign countries, and the designation of commercial, military, and naval attachés; whereabouts and welfare of Americans abroad, shipping and seamen, settlement of estates of deceased Americans in foreign countries, consular protection of American interests and, other than commerce, the general work of consular offices, such as immigration, quarantine, notarial acts, protection of the customs revenues, etc. V. Assistant Secretary13 An Assistant Secretary directs the Consular Service and all consular activities in connection with the work of the several bureaus and divisions of the department; his office has charge of censoring, grading, and criticizing of commercial and economic reports; drafting of correspondence on consular trade assistance and reporting; distribution of commercial and economic reports to the Department of Commerce and such other government departments and organizations and nongovernment organizations as may properly receive them. Is also the budget officer of the Department of State, and is charged with the supervision of the preparation of all estimates of appropriations for the department and for the foreign service and of their presentation to Congress. Supervises the expenditures made from the appropriation for "emergencies arising in the Diplomatic and Consular Service." Is a member of the Foreign Service Personnel Board, also has jurisdiction over the (a) Visé Office.-Matters pertaining to the entry of aliens into the United States with respect to the granting or refusal of visés; correspondence on matters pertaining to visé work; examination of visé applications submitted by American consuls abroad. (b) Division of Foreign Service Administration.-(Divided jurisdiction. See IV, supra.) VI. Assistant Secretary13 An Assistant Secretary deals with special questions relating to the Far East; special questions relating to the matters relating to the Washington Conference on Limitation of Armament; passport and deportation questions. He supervises: 13 Departmental Order No. 321 of Feb. 21, 1905. |