§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That a sum, not exceeding £284,780, be granted to His Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1904, for the expenses in connection with His Majesty's Embassies, Missions, and Consular Establishments abroad, and other expenditure chargeable to the Consular Vote."
§ MR. BRYCE (Aberdeen, S.)said he desired to call attention to the report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the constitution of the consular service abroad, and he desired to ask the Government what course they proposed to take in reference to the report of that Committee. The condition of the consular service had been a subject of frequent debate in the House of Commons for a long time, not only among hon. Members representing the commercial classes, but also the service Members. Great interest had also been taken in the matter by the general public. Most of them felt that the condition of the consular service was very unsatisfactory, and required to be brought up to the level of a regular branch of the service. He agreed that there were a great many aide and zealous men amongst their consuls abroad. Everyone who had travelled often had felt when he went to a foreign town and called upon His Majesty's consul that he learned more in a short conversation with the British consul than he would have found out by long observation on his own part with regard to the commercial condition of the country in which he might be tr velling. A great many of the consular reports contained information valuable to commercial men, which shed a great deal of light upon the economic conditions of the countries concerned. But having said that they must also agree that those merits were not universal, and not so general as they might be, and consequently there were 1000 real grounds for the complaints that had been made. Those complaints might be summed up under two heads. In the first place there was far too much of the element of mere patronage in appointing consuls; and in the second place far too much patronage in regard to promotion. A man was often put into the consular service without any recommendation, and it frequently happened that his progress in the service was more rapid than in the case of men of longer standing and more eminent service. He had known cases of excellent consuls who had devoted themselves with great, zeal to the duties of their office, but who had failed to receive that recognition to which they were justly entitled.
The other complaint was with regard to the necessity for special knowledge commercially amongst the consuls. Sometimes commercial men made inordinate demands upon the consuls, and they thought they ought to do nothing else but push British goods and offer unlimited hospitality to British merchants. Considering the kind of position they must occupy and the dignity which belonged to consuls as representing the Crown, it was plain that they could not expect them to devote the whole of their time to merely commercial duties. At the same time it was quite true that a great deal might be done which in times past had not been done to give the latest and the most up-to-date commercial intelligence which a man with commercial experience who knew the ropes was best able to give. Therefore, he agreed that something more ought to he done than heretofore had been done. If this work was to be done properly one of two things must happen: either they must be very carefully selected from the commercial community, or else there must be something like a prescribed course of knowledge for the consular office for which a, period of commercial training must he prescribed in order to qualify persons for these appointments. The Committee say—
In our opinion the general consular service, as it at present exists, offers no attraction to capable young men. It is not a properly constituted or graded public service, and offers no definite prospect of promotion to those who enter it, for men who are new to the service may be given appointments over the heads of others who have been there for years before them.1001 I think that presents in a summary form their condemnation of the existing system. What, therefore, was it that was wanted to create a proper consular service? In the first place it should be a regular service and an open service. It should be also recognised as a distinct branch of the public service, with its own rules, and it ought to be an open service in this sense, that there ought to be competition to secure the proper capacity and special knowledge of those who entered the service. The Committee recommended limited competition, and also that the service ought to be one in which both promotion and entrance should be by merit. He would not say that promotion ought to be always according to seniority, because while seniority ought to be regarded there ought to be a power of advancing a capable man where he had given exceptional proof of his capacity. There ought to be some proof of competence and some evidence that those appointed had the necessary capacity needed for the particular country to which they were going to be sent. Although in nineteen out of twenty cases the principal duties were commercial, they were not always commercial duties to the same extent, for at some consulates there were political duties as well. The recommendations of the Committee went a long way to meet the difficulties complained of and would carry out the amendments required. The recommendations of the Committee were—That the present system of nomination and age limits for the general consular service should be abolished; that admission into that service should be by limited competition; and that the age for admission should be from 22 to 27. These limits will enable candidates to compete who have had both a university and a commercial training. At the same time, power should be reserved to the Secretary of State to appoint any person, regardless of age limit, to one of the higher posts for which special qualifications may be required; but such appointments should be rare, as in the diplomatic service, and should only be made in exceptional circumstances, and when they are clearly in the public interest, so as to avoid lessening the attractions of the service, and blocking the promotion of deserving officers.'That was a recommendation which he thought would generally commend itself to the Committee. Where the ordinary rules were passed over under the power reserved to the Secretary of State to 1002 appoint a person regardless of age limit, a memorandum or some other official note should be made of the fact, which could, if necessary, be reported to Parliament, regarding the special services and stating the grounds on which the appointment had been made. He thought that would prevent any abuse of the power. The Committee went on to discuss the way in which this should be secured. They state:—In view of this fact, the Committee consider that the interest s of British trade abroad would be advanced if consuls had a business training which would quality them to forward and safeguard, and, at the same time, incline them to sympathise with the interests of British merchants. Consular officers must, indeed, have the qualifications necessary to enable them to discharge efficiently their other consular duties, but the Committee believe the latter qualifications to be in no way incompatible with the former. On the contrary, they think that a business training of a few years will be of material assistance to these officers in performing their duties generally. The Committee suggest that great advantage would result if young men trained in commercial houses for four or five years could be induced to enter the consular service.Those were valuable suggestions, which showed that the Committee recognised the wishes of the commercial community. He saw, however, a difficulty in giving effect to the proposal for four or five years' training in commercial houses, because it was clear that those who entered in an ordinary way might not in the course of four or five years, or at the age the Committee specified, have got to a sufficiently high position in that par titular house to be able to acquire the kind of knowledge of commerce which a consul ought to possess. He thought that point required some little further consideration. They wanted men not only familiar with the ordinary routine of commercial business, but they should be in a position in commercial houses to obtain experience of the larger questions of commerce, and the theory of commercial operations, and they should have a pretty wide experience of the way foreign business was done. A mere experience in a commercial house extending over four or five years would not give the practical knowledge which the Committee desired. The Committee recommended also—That a proportion of the nominations for the suggested limited competition should be given to young men who have received a good commercial training. The applicants should be 1003 required to satisfy the Secretary of State before they receive nominations that they have had a liberal education: that they have had a commercial training of four or live years, and that they are in other respects from their previous history likely to be qualified and suitable for the consular service.The Committee proceeded to discuss the subjects of examination and the important question of salaries. He noticed that the salaries showed a slight increase on the total expense, but that was not a matter which need deter the House from adopting the recommendations of the Commission. Although one was loth in these days to make any suggestions except in the interests of economy, he thought they might, with great advantage, increase the number of their consuls. It had been a great advantage in the case of the appointment of the new commercial attachés, whose range of operations were wider than the commercial consuls, who travelled about through the countries, and were able to present reports upon the commercial conditions of the country, which were of more use to commercial men at home than a report from any particular place. He believed that the result would amply justify the expense, and he thought they might with advantage appoint more consuls in places where they had none at present. The Committee recommended that the system of obtaining unpaid consuls in many large cities should be maintained. Those who disparaged unpaid consuls did not know what was the alternative. If they had paid consuls in all these places they would add very greatly to the cost the country would be put to. If they had no unpaid consuls they would lose the services of a number of capable men who possessed knowledge of the commercial conditions of the country, and who were able to give valuable information. Therefore, he believed that where considerations of economy made it impossible to establish paid consuls they ought to endeavour to find competent men and retain the unpaid consuls. He had touched only the outlines of this subject, but he hoped the recommendations of the Committee would induce the Foreign Office to take some action in regard to this Report. He asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he might entertain the hope that the Foreign Office, recognising the importance of the subject, would deal with the matter promptly and in 1004 accordance with the suggestions the Committee had made.
§ SIR ALBERT ROLLIT (Islington, S.)said he thought the Committee generally would concur in the remarks made by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Aberdeen. He did not remember whether the right hon. Gentleman was at the Foreign Office during Lord Rosebery's administration, but he thought credit should be given to Lord Rosebery for the revised consular instructions drawn up at that time, which had been a great improvement, and had contributed very much to the more efficient administration of the consular service. It would be greatly to the commercial advantage of the country if more adequate remuneration were given to the consuls, and if their numbers were increased. He did not think there was any Vote in the Estimates which demanded more careful consideration than this one. There was a general decrease in the Vote, but there were some increases, of which he did not complain. There was an increase of £3,000 in the salaries, and he thought that whatever might be said about salaries generally, and the opportunity of getting with advantage unpaid services., in many cases the remuneration of their consuls was absolutely inadequate, and this did not con tribute to the proper performance of the very responsible duties committed to a consul.
He hoped that this decrease did not mean a decrease in their mobility. On the contrary, we should encourage inquiries in the surrounding districts. He found also that there was a decrease for special missions and services of so large an amount as £9,000. These special missions, services and reports were what we wanted most, in view of what was being done by other nations. He hoped the decrease did not mean any starving of that branch in the future, and yet he was inclined to think that it might be so. He did not hesitate for a moment to say that our trade as a general rule in those districts was decreasing, and he thought that it was simply worthy of more attention than it had received. At this moment he was informed, on the best authority, that a treaty of commerce was being negotiated between Germany and 1005 Roumania. A similar treaty was negotiated a few years ago with Russia, and since then undoubtedly our trade had been materially affected. He was informed that at present there were really no adequate means at Bucharest for the purpose of looking.into these matters, and, what was still more singular, Roumania was outside the sphere of any of our commercial attacheés, so that if his information, which came from a London Chamber of Commerce, were correct, we were isolated. Special attention should be given to the negotiations proceeding with Germany. He hoped the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs would he able to give the Committee some assurance that that was being done. He expressed the hope that the noble Lord would take steps to have a special commissioner despatched in order that our commercial relations with Roumania should have the closest and most watchful attention. The right hon. Gentleman had referred to the system of appointments by patronage. That system was by no means over. He admitted that there had been considerable improvement, but the noble Lord acknowledged that colonels and others who had done good service in different parts of the Empire were recognised by consular appointments. No one objected to the recognition of their services, but he objected to their being recognised and the men remunerated at the cost of commerce. That was a most expensive mode of dealing with the subject.
The right hon. Gentleman also spoke on the question of open competition ill the Far East. He hoped that principle would be acted upon. He was sure everybody would re-echo what was as said by the right hon. Gentleman, namely, that many of our consuls rendered most able services to the country. There was, however, considerable difference in the ability which they displayed. A number of the reports simply comprised statistics which had been well known for a long period. Such reports were still far too plentiful. Why were the reports so late? He admitted that they were improving, but they came in hatches, and he thought the delay must he at home. This was the day when in commerce despatch was everything, and nothing was less acceptable than information which had already been obtained. 1006 He hoped that in future we should have, as in America, more special reports dealing with specific subjects rather than reports containing statistical information generally. The Departmental Committee which had been referred to, had taken no small pains to ascertain the facts and arrive at the right conclusions. While he thought the report by no means dealt fully with the subject and that it touched merely its fringe, there was in it a great deal of material which might be useful, and which he hoped would be applied as early as possible.
In regard to commercial training the difficulty was to get it in this country. He did not under-rate for a moment the old classical instruction and the opportunities which now existed at the Universities for obtaining a greater knowledge of science than in times past. It was not long since a don at Oxford said—"We know nothing of science here, and we do not even teach it." An improvement had taken place, but the difficulty was to know where a candidate for a consular appointment could obtain a good commercial training, so far as this country was concerned, such as could be obtained in the commercial colleges in Paris and other places. Although improvements had been introduced in the teaching of scientific engineering in connection with our colleges, even in this department we did not make any approach to what was done in other countries and in our own colony of Canada. The suggestion had been made that candidates for consular appointments should spend some time in commercial offices. He thought that would be particularly ineffective. He was very much afraid that if special ability calculated to fit a candidate for consular service were exhibited, he would discover, and his employers would discover, that a much more adequate remuneration was obtainable in those offices than in the consular service. The result would be that the second and third-rate men, instead of the very best men, would enter the service. There were certain large houses which had more or less a monopoly, who were disposed to use their own organisations for obtaining information, but in dealing with commercial matters the Government must consider the whole community, and he was quite satisfied that it was even dangerous that knowledge of the affairs 1007 of foreign countries should be in the hands of only a few houses. They should spread the information and give more opportunity to the smaller houses to take their rank among the better and higher. There was no doubt that we were behind in the matter of commercial training and languages. It was quite true that English was becoming more and more the commercial language of the world, but the want of foreign languages was a great obstacle to our trade. He thought the words "preferably French and German" were not justified. He should have been more disposed to recommend French or German, and Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. He also urged the desirability of more attention being given to the metric system of arithmetic. The greatest impetus to consular work being well done would be given by allowing our consuls a better opportunity of rising into the diplomatic service, and by making that service more commercial in character than it had been in the past.
§ MR. PARTINGTON (Derbyshire, High Peak)asked whether any of the £2,500 which was spent in collecting commercial intelligence was expended in obtaining information on the fiscal reform. The system of appointing commercial attaches should be reformed. Although a great deal was said about foreign competition and the loss of foreign markets to us, the system of appointing these attachés remained a farce. One of our commercial attachés had to look after France, Belgium and Switzerland. He was also secretary to an embassy, and a director of the Suez Canal. Another represented Germany, Denmark, Holland, Norway and Sweden, and although they hand one for Turkey, there was no commercial attacheé for either the United States or Russia. They had five commercial agents over the whole world—one of them at Moscow, another in Central America, and another at Vladivostock. The population of the last mentioned place was only about 22,000, and the imports were chiefly for the Russian military and the Manchurian railways. What was the good of having a commercial attacheé in that part of the world What commercial training had these attachés? If this country desired to hold its own against foreign competi- 1008 tion it should pay attention to these questions.
§ Sir HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)said that they were greatly indebted to Lord Lansdowne for appointing a Committee on the consular service, and he hoped that the Government would see their way to adopt that Committee's very excellent report at a very early period. The attractions for entering the consular service were not excessive, and might have to be increased. In regard to the large number of foreigners who held consular posts under His Majesty's Government, he knew that many of them showed great zeal in the service, but undoubtedly, where it was possible, British subjects should always be appointed. He endorsed what had been said by the hon. Member for Islington as to the great deficiencies in the system of commercial education in this country. A great necessity existed for commercial colleges, and he had always thought that the Imperial Institute should have been changed into something of the sort. If anything in that direction could be done under the auspices of the Government Are was sure it would be money well expended and cheerfully voted by every representative of a commercial constituency in the House.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMOND (Clare, E.)said he desired to ask the noble Lord the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affair's, whether he could give him some information as to the retirement from the consular service of Mr. Joseph H. Longford, formerly consul at Nagasaki, Japan. This gentleman, he thought, had been treated with very great injustice in view of his long service in the consular work of the Empire. Mr. Longford had been vice-consul at Tokio, then he was transferred to Formosa, and afterwards was appointed to Nagasaki. After thirty-two years' continuous service he was advised by his medical attendant that if he were to retain his hi alt h it was absolutely necessary to have a change of climate. Mr. Longford returned to England on leave some time ago, and was given to understand that, in view of the state of his health and the advice of his medical 1009 man, he would be transferred to a consular post in the United States or some other portion of the world where the climate would suit him. It was said that Lord Salisbury himself held out very strong hopes to Mr. Longford that he would receive a consular post in Boston, or elsewhere, when a vacancy occurred However, in spite of his 32 years' distinguished and laborious service in the Far East, he was suddenly ordered to return to Nagasaki, or leave the service. He had a number of extract: front The Times and other leading journals, spread over a long series of years, speaking in high praise with reference to the work performed by Mr. Longford. He had also a number of expressions of opinion from leading statesmen connected with foreign and colonial affairs, setting forth that Mr. Longford had performed his ditties with the greatest possible effectiveness, and with great advantage to his country. For instance, The Times of May 19th, 1896, referring to one of Mr. Longford's reports said it, was a model of what such a document ought to be. Not a single coin plaint had ever been made against this gentleman. He was greatly afraid hat some influences of not quite a fair nature had been at work in reference to Mr. Longford. In the first place he was an Irishman, and there were those who said that had something to do with the fact that he had been hardily treated. He had an account of a conversation which took place between the Secretary of Legation and a very distinguished American gentleman, the President of the University of South Dakota. In the course of that conversation it was stated that Mr. Longford wa snot an old man; that he entered the service as a student interpreter at the age of 19; that he had served for 32 years faithfully, honourably, and usefully, and that then he was suddenly retired without any option, except to return to Nagasaki. The Secretary of the Legation at Tokio said to the professor— "How can he hope to rise in the service when he is no' a patriotic Englishman? Now they could not all be patriotic Englishmen; they coda not id come from Birmingham. This Secretary o Legation said of Mr. Longford that he was a Home Ruler, and that no Home Ruler could 1010 be a patriotic Englishman. It was under these circumstances that Mr. Longford was retired. He presumed that Mr. Longford enjoyed a pension after his 32 years service; but it was not a question of pension, but a question of a grievous wrong being done to a distinguished servant. He asked the noble Lord to look into this ease, and see if anything could be done to lessen the harshness of the treatment Mr. Longford had received. All that could be said against him was that he was an Irishman, and a Home Ruler. The best servants in the diplomatic service had been Irishmen, and the next thing they might be told would be that no man could get on in the service unless he cursed the memory of Cobden, and became a rampant protectionist.
The men who ought to be appointed as consuls were men of a commercial training, suited by their lives and their experience to look after the commercial interests of Great Britain in all the regions of the earth. But many of the gentlemen appointed as consuls were palpably so appointed, not because they had experience or knew anything of business, but for no earthly reason except that they had simply been party hacks, had sat in this House, or had friends in the Government. They simply wanted a job with a good salary to it. Some of the consular reports made wonderful and extraordinary reading, and conveyed no other impression than that the men who wrote them were not fitted to represent this country in any part of the world. In order to show the kind of gentlemen who were appointed, and their qualifications for the office of consul, he would give two or three instances. He wished it to be distinctly understood that he was making no personal attack on these gentlemen; he had no personal animosity against them; he did not blame them for taking good appointments when they were offered. All he desired to call attention to was their lack of commercial training and general qualifications for the office. He would not therefore mention names. One gentleman was a clerk in the Foreign Office front 1857 to 1894, and his age was 54—a somewhat advanced stage in life at which to commence an entirely novel career. He had doubtless been passed over in promotion in his own department, 1011 the time of his retirement was approaching, and he was appointed Consul-General at Valparaiso. A man who had spent his life in the Foreign Office was not the man to he sent to a place like Valparaiso to watch over the commercial interests of this country. Another gentleman was chief clerk in the Treaty Department of the Foreign Office from 1856 to 1896. His duties had consisted of the keeping and examination of accounts, and matters connected with treaties, ceremonial, and passports; he had had no opportunity of acquiring any knowledge of trade and shipping, and yet he was appointed Consul-General at Havre, and afterwards at Antwerp. Another gentleman was in the diplomatic service from 1875 to 1895, and was then appointed Consul-General at Chicago, and afterwards at New Orleans, although he had absolutely no knowledge of American life, commerce, or business. Another gentleman was a knight. This time he would mention the name, as surely no knight would mind his name being given. Sir T. Smith was for many years a prominent working official of the Primrose League; he works I hard in that department, enrolling knights and dames, inaugurating habitations, unfurling flags, marching to the Albert Hall, and doing all the other things which a good Primrose Leaguer roust do or perish. All his qualifications for looking after the trade and commerce of the Empire were acquired in the habitations of the Primrose League, and he was rewarded by Lord Salisbury offering him the appointment of Consul at Samoa, and afterwards at Valparaiso. Another gentleman, Captain Talbot, was in the Army; he served in the hussars from 1860 to 1865; there was no further record of his military service, but in 1885 he was appointed Consul-General at Tahiti, then at Corunna, and flintily at Boston, one of the best and most important posts in the service. A few years in a hussar regiment was surely not sufficient recommendation or training for a man who had to meet the 'cute Yankee people of Boston. The last one he would mention was the former hon. Member for Rye. Colonel Brookfield was very popular on his own side. He went to the war in South Africa, thereby setting a good example from his own point of view, and he wrote novels. ["His brother."] If hon. Members opposite ob- 1012 jected to the statement that Colonel Brookfield wrote novels, he would withdraw the expression, and say that he betrayed literary leanings. He was not to be condemned on that account, as the Prime Minister had done the same, but these were not the qualifications necessary for the office of consul at Montevideo, to which Colonel Brookfield was appointed.
§ * MR. PIERPOINT (Warrington)said there was nothing derogatory in the assertion that Colonel Brookfield wrote a novel, but the hon. Member implied a sneer as to his capabilities to act as Consul at Montevideo, an office to which he was never appointed.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDsaid the appointment was certainly offered to Colonel Brookfield, but, of course, if the hon. Member assured him that the offer was not accepted that part of his case fell to the ground. He believed, however, that what he had stated was substantially correct.
§ * MR. PIERPOINTsaid he believed there was some formal appointment; that he was not going to Montevideo he knew to be a fact.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDsaid that in that case what the Committee would want to know from the noble Lord was whether we had a consul at Montevideo at all. Anxious as he was that our consuls should be men of business capacity, he would rather have a Volunteer officer, or even a novelist, than no one at all. He would suggest that some other method of rewarding long services in Parliament or Government offices should be invented than the appointment to consular posts. For instance, substantial salaries might be attached to the various Orders which were so much sought after, and then these might be bestowed on deserving individuals. He had no hope, however, of his advice being accepted; it never was, and the British Empire consequently suffered.
§ THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (LORD CRANBORNE, Rochester)said the hon. Gentleman had brought before the House in a humorous vein a complaint which he had 1013 heard very often before, and he thought he ought to make one or two criticisms on his methods. It was not usual, of course, to mention the names of gentlemen belonging to the consular service, and to criticise them unless they had done something worthy of blame.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDsaid he never blamed the gentlemen he had referred to for a single moment. He said no more than that their training did not fit them to be consuls.
§ LORD CRANBORNEsaid that if the hon. Gentleman had found anything worthy of blame he would have been absolutely within his right in bringing it forward. He could not, however, agree with the hon. Gentleman that the position of a Member of the House, or long service in the Foreign Office, necessarily proved that a man was unfit to be a consul but he might be relieved from defending in detail the system which existed at present, because he had been a party to drawing up a document which had been laid before Parliament, and which proposed a radical change in the method tinder which consuls were to be appointed. The hon. Gentleman referred to the case of Consul Longford, but the hon. Gentleman candidly admitted that he had not given him any notice on that subject, and, therefore, he was not prepared to answer him, but he would, of course, look into the matter, and if the hon. Gentleman put a Question down he would be glad to reply to it.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDasked if the noble Lord would be good enough to elucidate the mystery which surrounded Montevideo.
§ LORD CRANBORNEsaid that the hon. Gentleman need be under no misapprehension that this country would not be properly represented at Montevideo. [HON. MEMBERS: Are we represented?]
§ LORD CRANBORNEI am not absolutely certain whether we are at the present moment. I believe my hon. friend behind me is perfectly accurate in saving that Colonel Brookfield is not consul at Montevideo, but he is about to be consul somewhere else.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDSend me out, and I will bring back word who is there.
§ LORD CRANBORNEI should be sorry to remove the hon. Member from the House of which he is such an ornament.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDYou had me in gaol for three months.
§ LORD CRANBORNEsaid the hon. Gentleman the Member for South Islington delivered an interesting speech on the consular service, and he asked what the Foreign Office was doing to secure British interests in connection with the Roumanian tariff. That was a matter which was engaging the careful attention of the Government. They were fortunate to have at that moment in London His Majesty's Minister to Roumania, whose advice they would have the advantage of, and they would take every step in their power to arrive at a proper conclusion in the matter. He was not able at the moment to give an absolute promise that a special representative of our commercial interests would be sent to Bucharest, but the subject was engaging the serious attention of the Government. It was a little too soon for the right hon. Gentleman the Member for South Aberdeen to expect him to give a definite reply to the Question whether the Government were going to carry out the recommendations of a report which had only been laid before Parliament at the beginning of the present month, especially in view of the fact that the report entered into considerable detail which required to be considered by the Foreign Office. He himself occupied a somewhat ambiguous position as one of the joint authors of the report and also as the representative of the Foreign Office, and he could not be expected to be sufficiently disinterested to criticise a report which he himself bad signed. Ho thought, however, he might be allowed to so far depart from his official position as to say that he hoped the report would be accepted by the Foreign Office, and he had every confidence that, in a large measure, it would be.
Having regard to the criticisms of the consular service, it ought to be noted that the report said the country had been well served on the whole, 1015 and that there was a great deal of good in the present system. It was quite recognised by the Committee, however, that the time had come for a change, and that it was necessary to place the service on a more businesslike and more formal footing. He did not think that the reason the consular service did not attract as good men as it ought was the pay. The pay was not so very bad; but what undoubtedly did act as a deterrent was that the service did not offer any certainty of a career. A man might enter the service, and might be successful in rising in it; but again he might not; and no able young man, choosing his career for life, would embark on one in which the prospects were so uncertain as the Committee found them to be. The first thing, then, was to place the service on a regular footing, and to determine the limits of age between which consuls should be appointed, and also to determine the kind of examination they would have to pass, and the commercial training they should possess. As regarded age, it was necessary that the candidates should be young, because unless they had young men they would not get the best men. If old men were to be appointed, they would be generally men who had tried something else, and had probably failed. In order to get a service which would really deserve the confidence of Parliament they would have to take young men, and afford them an opportunity of adopting the consular service as their profession for life. As to the examination, the committee recommended that it should be competitive. There was a great deal to he said on both sides, but it was very difficult to find a substitute for a competitive examination. After very carefully considering the matter the Committee came to the conclusion that it was necessary that the element of competition should enter into the appointment; but they were unanimously opposed to open competition; and he thought the hon. Members would probably agree that they were wise in coming to that decision. In the first place, they had the precedent of the diplomatic service. In the second place, he thought when men were to be chosen to represent their country in more or less important positions abroad, that every man would not necessarily be suited for the position. It had been said, very 1016 truly, that they ought to have British subjects as consuls. He agreed. But even in the wide compass of that term "British subject," he thought there would be found certain persons who were not suited to be consular representatives. That was the reason why limited competition was adopted; and the Committee would agree that it would be easy to give other reasons why open competition should not be adopted. The question of compulsory languages had been referred to. It was agreed on all hands that French should be the first; and he confessed he was surprised that all the expert witnesses recommended German as the second. It was pointed out that Spanish was very easily acquired by anyone who had been properly educated, and especially by anyone who knew French; and that, therefore, it was not nearly so important at the beginning to know Spanish as it was to know German. Therefore German was chosen as the second language. But the most important point was the question of the commercial training of the candidates, The Committee recommended two methods—one that the candidates should have had a business experience, and the other that after their appointment they should spend some time in the Commercial Department of the Board of Trade. These recommendations had been criticised as inadequate. It was said that the candidates should acquire this qualification in commercial colleges. But the answer to that suggestion was that there were no such colleges of the kind suggested, and, therefore, the proposal was impossible. It might he asked why they did not recommend their establishment; but that would be an undue extension of their duties. They were not asked to consider the interesting and important topic of commercial education in this country. Least of all were they asked to make proposals which would throw a very heavy burden on the Treasury. So they had to take things as they found them, and they proposed the two methods he had mentioned. The right hon. Gentleman the member for South Aberdeen indicated a considerable amount of doubt as to whether they would be able to secure good candidates from business houses.
§ MR. BRYCEsaid he did not quite mean that. What he meant was that the mere fact that a man was five years 1017 in a business house did not prove that he had received the kind of commercial training that was wanted.
§ LORD CRANBORNEsaid be agreed that such a candidate might not have the commercial training that was wanted; but he would have acquired a knowledge of business, from a practical point of view, which he believed was to be acquired in no other way. The Committee felt strongly that the only way of obtaining candidates with a practical knowledge of business matters was to take men who had actually been at business. The Committee recognised that it was as important, and even more important, than any other information that a consul should possess, that he should be able to deal with commercial matters, furnish commercial information, and act as a channel for commercial intelligence. The financial conditions which were proposed really meant that the consular service provided a decent career for a young mall. It was proposed to start at £300 a year, with a possible rise to £1,200, which was not bad, provided, of course, that the consul would be assured that he would stand an equal chance upon his merits with others in the consular service, and that, without fear or favour, he might aspire to win the prizes of his profession. Lastly, he would say, that he hoped the Committee would realise that the proposal to take men from business houses was avowedly put forward as an experiment. That experiment would show whether such a system would be successful, and would command the confidence of British subjests who had businesses abroad. An hon. Gentleman criticised the unpunctuality with which consular reports were furnished. He was sorry if there was any ground for legitimate criticism in that direction, and he would look into the matter. But he should like to remind the Committee that, as a matter of fact, a consul had to depend for his information on the official sources of the country in which fie was posted; and that very often the delay was not his delay, but the delay of others in furnishing facts and figures necessary for his report. Of course they could not too roughly disturb the existing system, because there were certain vested interests which must be respected. In this matter he spoke more as a member of the Committee than as the representative of the Foreign Office. He 1018 could not enter into any engagement on the part of the Department to adopt all the recommendations of the Committee; there had not yet been time for doing that; but he was certain the Foreign Secretary would have every desire to follow the recommendations so far as he could, especially if they received on the whole the approval of the House of Commons.
§ MR. MOON (St. Pancras, N.)said he wished to direct attention to what appeared to him to be a mistaken policy in one section of the consular service, namely, the Far Eastern branch.
§ And, it being Midnight, the Chairman left the Chair to make his Report to the House.
§ Committee report Progress; to sit again upon Monday next.