BUREAU OF AMERICAN REPUBLICS, INTERNATIONAL. 



87 



the use of local names in some of the countries 

 that are entirely unknown in other countries in 

 which the same language is spoken; and, as a 

 consequence, it was not acceptable to them. 



Of the nations that entered into the agreement 

 to form the union, the Argentine Republic noti- 

 fied the State Department in a communication 

 through its minister of its withdrawal under 

 date of March 2, 1892, and shortly afterward 

 Colombia also notified the department of its in- 

 tention to withdraw after paying its quota to 

 June 30, 1893. Chile and the Dominican Repub- 

 lic had neither ratified the recommendation con- 

 stituting the union nor declared their intention 

 of entering it, but in March, 1892, the Dominican 

 Government announced its desire to enter the 

 union and authorized its representative to pay 

 the amount of its annual assessment. The an- 

 nual report of the director of the bureau for 1893 

 shows that the Argentine Republic, Bolivia, Nica- 

 ragua, Paraguay, and Peru had not paid their 

 quotas, though nearly all of them promised to 

 do so. The existence of the bureau gradually 

 became so uncertain that it was finally decided by 

 the State Department to make a determined at- 

 tempt at reorganization, and an invitation was 

 extended to the accredited representatives of the 

 Latin-American republics to this country, re- 

 questing them to meet the Secretary of State for 

 the purpose of consulting in regard to the future 

 work of the bureau and enlarging its scope. 

 This meeting was held on April 1, 1896, in the 

 diplomatic room of the State Department, and 

 all the nations were represented with the excep- 

 tion of the Argentine Republic, Bolivia. Para- 

 guay, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. The 

 result of this meeting, after an animated discus- 

 sion on the part of the various representatives, 

 was the unanimous request that the Secretary 

 of State appoint a committee of 5 members to 

 act as an executive board of the bureau, to whom 

 all matters should be referred. Accordingly, this 

 committee was appointed, and at a meeting held 

 June 4 it made its report, which was adopted as 

 a basis for the government of the affairs of the 

 union, and it was ordered that the provisions 

 be put into force at once, without prejudice to 

 their being referred to the respective governments 

 represented. 



Under this new plan of organization and the 

 active interest taken in the affairs of the bureau 

 by the diplomatic representatives forming the 

 Executive Board, the bureau began a new exist- 

 ence, and its scope was much widened. An office 

 was opened in New York for soliciting business, 

 as it was decided to publish advertisements of 

 reputable firms in the Monthly Bulletin, and an 

 agent was employed for that purpose. This ac- 

 tion, however, soon brought forth a vigorous pro- 

 test from the publishers of export papers, who 

 declared that the soliciting and publishing of 

 advertisements was not within the province of an 

 official organ of the Government, and that this 

 was interfering with their legitimate business. 

 Arguments were presented by the director of the 

 bureau favoring the advertising project, but it 

 was subsequently shown that with the increased 

 business the expenses of the bureau had in- 

 creased to such an extent that it was necessary 

 to call for an appropriation of $41,972 to meet 

 the deficiency for six months ending June 30, 

 1898, which appropriation was made by the 

 United States without objection. At a meeting 

 of the Executive Board it was shown that of 

 $36,000 in advertising contracts made, 40 per 

 cent, was required to be paid to the solicitor, 

 who demanded his percentage before the bills 



against the advertisers could be collected, which 

 required an additional outlay of capital by the 

 bureau, and as a consequence it was decided to 

 terminate all existing contracts for soliciting ad- 

 vertisements and subscriptions to publications of 

 the bureau upon commissions, and to discon- 

 tinue the New York office. This action was 

 taken at a meeting held Feb. 28, 1898. The 

 previous year had seen the completion of the 

 code of commercial nomenclature in the three 

 languages proposed, and also that of a commer- 

 cial directory that cost $48,000. Through the 

 good offices of the representatives of the Latin- 

 American countries in the United States and 

 ministers accredited by the United States, the 

 bureau obtained the privilege of sending its mail- 

 matter free of postage from the governments 

 of Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Hon- 

 duras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela through their 

 respective territories. Mexico was the only coun- 

 try that had hitherto granted these privileges. 

 Soon afterward the Argentine Republic, which 

 had withdrawn from the union, announced its 

 intention to take the formal steps necessary to 

 enter it, and this announcement was shortly fol- 

 lowed by that of Chile. Colombia and Paraguay, 

 although they had not formally withdrawn from 

 the union, had failed to pay their annual assess- 

 ments, but now they paid their indebtedness, thus 

 showing their disposition to become active mem- 

 bers of the union. This was followed by Bolivia 

 and Peru granting postal franchise privileges, 

 which now made 14 of the republics granting 

 this privilege, including our islands and Canada. 

 The second International Conference, held in 

 Mexico in 1901-'02, fully recognized the impor- 

 tance of the bureau to all the republics; and the 

 Mexican Government assigned two rooms adjoin- 

 ing the conference hall for its use and the in- 

 stallation of a reference library. With the view 

 of rendering the bureau still more useful to all 

 the countries represented in its administration 

 and making it still more valuable in establish- 

 ing and maintaining closer relations between 

 them, the conference adopted a plan of reorgan- 

 ization that is intended to increase the efficiency 

 of the bureau and enable it to discharge its 

 duties to better advantage. One of the aims in 

 the adoption of the plan was the making of the 

 management of the bureau more truly interna- 

 tional. The new regulations provide that the 

 bureau shall be under the management of a 



oveming board composed of the Secretary of 

 tate of the United States, who is to be its 

 chairman, and the diplomatic representatives in 

 Washington of all the other governments repre- 

 sented in the bureau. This governing board is 

 required to meet once a month, excepting in 

 June, July, and August of each year, and may 

 hold special meetings any time on the call of 

 the chairman, or on the request of any two 

 members. The merit system of filling places is 

 adopted, and it is provided that all applicants 

 shall be examined to determine their fitness for 

 the places for which they apply. It is required 

 that an itemized budget be prepared annually, 

 estimating the expenses of the bureau for the 

 succeeding year, and this budget is to be trans- 

 mitted to each government, together with a state- 

 ment of the amount to be paid by such govern- 

 ment on the basis of the existing apportionment 

 of the expenses, and each government is required 

 to transmit the amount of its assessment to the 

 Secretary of State of the United States six 

 months in advance. The bureau is given au- 

 thority to correspond, through the diplomatic 

 representatives of the several governments in 



