REFORMS IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE 361 



come, as it were, the antennae of the ambassador or min 

 isteradditional eyes and ears to ascertain what is going 

 on among those most influential in public affairs. Every 

 embassy or legation thus equipped serves also as an ac 

 tual and practical training-school for the service. 



VII. I would appoint each attache from the ranks 

 of those especially recommended, and certified to in writ 

 ing by leading authorities in the department to which 

 he is expected to supply information : as, for example, for 

 military attaches, the War Department; for naval at 

 taches, the Navy Department; for financial attaches, the 

 Treasury Department; for commercial attaches, the De 

 partment of Commerce; for agricultural attaches, the 

 Department of Agriculture; but always subject to the 

 approval of the Secretary of State as regards sundry 

 qualifications hinted at above, which can better be ascer 

 tained by an interview than by an examination. 



I would have a goodly number of attaches of these 

 various sorts, and, in our more important embassies, one 

 representing each of the departments above named. 

 Every attache, if fit for his place, would be worth far more 

 than his cost to our government, for he would not only 

 add to the influence of the embassy or legation, but decid 

 edly to its efficiency. As a rule, all of them could also be 

 made of real use after the conclusion of their foreign 

 careers: some by returning to the army or navy and 

 bringing their knowledge to bear on those branches of 

 the service; some by taking duty in the various depart 

 ments at Washington, and aiding to keep our government 

 abreast of the best practice in other countries ; some by 

 becoming professors in universities and colleges, and thus 

 aiding to disseminate useful information ; some by becom 

 ing writers for the press, thus giving us, instead of loose 

 guesses and haphazard notions, information and sugges 

 tions based upon close knowledge of important problems 

 and of their solution in countries other than our own. 



From these arrangements I feel warranted in expecting 

 a very great improvement in our diplomatic service. 



