OCR Text |
Show CIVTL SERVICE DIPLOMATS. At tho instauee of Secretary Knox, President Taft has issued an order ox-teudihp ox-teudihp lo the diplomatic service the gcucral principles embodied in-the civil service act of January 10. l'SSli, and especially tho provisions of Section 175:1 of that act, which authorizes the President Presi-dent to prescribe such regulation? as may best promote the efficiency of the service, for the admission of persons into' it, and having examinations to ascertain as-certain the fitness of applicants. The executive order making the, transfer trans-fer directs as to the procedure, which applicants ap-plicants must pursue, and rcq'uircs that an efficiency record of every ofliucr in tho diplomatic service must be kept, and no- promotions made except upon well established efficiency as shown by this record. In gcucral the usual rules govcrniup examinations, promotions, etc., arc made applicable to- the diplomatic dip-lomatic service according to the extension ex-tension provided for in the Presidential order. . Probably ihose who wish to have mere scholars. and linguists in the diplomatic dip-lomatic service will be -well pleased with this order; and when the service is packcrHfull. of thoc who have -won their- places by clerical' examination's, thgre willjjc very .few prai'ljcal men in that service. The clTort to create special classes of officials and to con-fiuc con-fiuc officialdom to 'those classes, ruling out the masses of the people, is making mak-ing rapid progress iu this country, with the result that after a while we. shall be a bureaucratic people, ruled as firmly firm-ly by tho occupauts of tho Government bureaus and protected officialdom as tho people arc- in Russia or China. The glory of the diplomatic and consular con-sular service of the United States has boon that practical men, men of affairs, af-fairs, held the positions, and the results achieved by them hnvc been tho admiration ad-miration of Great Britain and Germany, from whence complaints have often come of the effectiveness of the American Ameri-can service as compared .with their own. However, we may soon expect to got on even :i more bureaucratic' basis than those monarchies are. and with us it will bo oven harder lo pet out of bureaucratic sway than with them. |