Show ASSISTANCE OF AMERICAN CONSULS Consul Isaac Isnac A Manning of La Lo Guaira Venezuela writes in Trade and Consular Reports as follows concerning an article recently pub pub r in a l m Sloan n trade journal criticising the consular service of the U sited States The article under onder consideration complained that a representative of an American manufacturing concern had called on a consul to obtain the address of a firm in the city where the consul was sta stationed stationed st and also to obtain information as to the firms financial stand standing standing standing ing The representative states that the consul did not know of the firm and that his answers were unsatisfactory and incomplete One firm or even many more in a port might be unknown to a consular officer and the financial standing of a firm might legitimately be be beyond beyond beyond yond his knowledge Collecting such information is more legitimately the work of commercial agencies and banks If consuls are able to give American merchants in a general way such information as will call their attention to the trado trade opportunities and requirements of a district give a list of houses of generally good reputation with whom business may possibly be done and gather such details of trade as asare asare asare are to be had commercial interests should not complain if a consular officer does not enter into the exact financial standing and commer commercial commercial commercial cial history of each particular firm in the city where he is located The consular regulation covering the situation is as follows Consular officers are forbidden to allow i the use of their names as references for business or other enterprises and they are not authorized au authorized authorized to report to private inquiries concerning the financial stand standing standing standing ing or commercial repute of business men lien or houses in their districts They may however refer such inquiries to banks or other business agencies if any that can answer them or they may quote the ratings of local business agencies As another reason of complaint the article stated that certain foreign consuls have better general information in regard to firms in their districts than American consuls have Such information is obtained largely through the merchants and shippers of the foreign consuls own country resident in his district who are constantly in touch with the consuls s and have valuable information In many foreign cities there are no American merchants and shippers and the American consuls must depend for knowledge on local banks and agencies It is unfair to t select ono one case whether the consul is right or wrong and draw the conclusion that the consular service is at fault The American consuls are glad to t receive calls from com corn commercial commercial mercial travelers and to be of every overy possible assistance indeed one complaint which consuls make from time to time is that many Amer American American American ican commercial travelers do not avail themselves of what assist assistance assistance assistance ance the consul can give them and ond is eager to give |