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836 THE LEADER. [No. 439, August 21. lft...
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BRITISH CONSULS AND BRITISH COMMERCE. Th...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Position Oe The Derbtite Administration....
which , though vehemently resisted by 1 he Liberal opposition was supported only by one section oi" the Government , the other , including some men of forelitost mark and merit , refusing open ]} ' to lend it their sanction or approval . If this be done in the green tree , what may be looked for in the dry ? If in the first exultation of ministerial safety for the rest of the Parliamentary year , the gentlemen now holding office could mot be brought to act in consort even so far as to save appearances at ; Westminster , what will happen after they have had twelve months of
official impunity , arid a whole long vacation's habit of acting , talking , and thinking , every man as lie listetu . ? If on a minor electoral question like that of paying travelling expenses . Lord . Derby and his associates cannot agree , what are we to look for when they come to deal with the reconstruction of our entire representative system ? We confess frankly we do not expect to see tl \ e Liberal minority give way ; neither do we expect to see the more dogged and fanatical members of the majority abandon their conscientious scruples . We believe Lord Chelmsford , Mr . Walpole , and Mr .
Henley to be upright obstinate men , as worthy individuals in private life , as they are wilful and unwise in the conduct of public affairs . Lucky is it for the administration to which they belong that none of them can in any sense be considered as essential to its existence . The Chancellor , it is even said , now that his ambition has been gratified by having occupied the "Woolsack , and attained the honours of the peerage , desires to descend if opportunity serves to the safer and more lucrative dignity of Chief Justice or Chief Baron . The precedent has been illustriously set by Lord liyniliurst , who after holding the Great Seal from , 1827 to" 1830 , accepted the office of Chief Baron of the Exchequer , and continued to
discharge its judicial duties from that year until the end of 1834 . The President of the Board of Trade is a rhan not insensible to the distinctions and advantages of office ; but he has always been what is called stiff-necked in his adherence to the old Quarter Sessions school of Toryism . In his party he has _ always been accused of being a grumbler . Neither Sir j . Pakington on education , nor Lord Stanley on church rate , nor Sir Pitzroy Kelly on law reform , could ever get any help 7 from the veteran member for Oxfordshire . He is heartily persuaded that the great duty of a constitutional
statesman in these days is to stand fast , " hold hard , " and not to submit to be bullied into going ahead in any direction . Mr . Henley had got so thoroughly out of humour " at the yielding and trimming of his colleagues towards the close of the session , that , before it had actually terminated , he rushed out of town and betook himself to the quiet of a German watering-place , far from faithlessness and compromise . We should not be at all surprised to hear any fine evening that Mr . Henley had resigned : and we mean no disrespect or disparagement when we say that we do not think his withdrawal from the Cabinet would iV ? 1
JH . « £ u . !~ . l . -L ^ ^ U j _ 1 _ •» *"_ . TTT 1 t diminish its chances of longevity . Mr . Walpole has also shown strong disinclination to go cordially onwards in the liberalising path which other members of the administration indicate a readiness to pursue . We regret this for we believe the Home Secretary to be an extremely useful as well as an amiable and upright man . His family traditions do sot lead him to espouse the unpopular side ; and the judicial character of mind ougbt not to permit his adoption of violent opinions . Office , it is well known , is acceptable to him , inasmuch as he
abandoned his practice at the Equity bar in 1852 to become Secretary of State under Lord Derby in Ins short-lived administration of that year , and the etiquette of the profession does not permit a privy counsellor to go back to the bar . Still we incline very much to the suspicion that Mr . Walpole does not feel very happy or contented in his present distinguished position ; and that he , too , would rather retire than become a party to any very decided measure of progress . Were auoli defections to occur , from what quarter would the vacant p laces be supplied ? A little time may throw additional light upon the matter .
836 The Leader. [No. 439, August 21. Lft...
836 THE LEADER . [ No . 439 , August 21 . lftsa
British Consuls And British Commerce. Th...
BRITISH CONSULS AND BRITISH COMMERCE . Thb Select Committee on the Consular Service and Appointments , moved for and obtained by Mr . Slonokton Milnes last session , has published a report of its proceedings , and the result of its deliberations is the suggestion of an entirely new
organisation of the consular service . It is not without e ; ood reason that the committee has come to the conclusions upon which this important suggestion has been based . The consular service has long been in a most unsatisfactory state , incompetent , in . fact , to discharge with anything like proper efficiency the grave duties which pertain to it . Strange as it may appear , the fact seems to be that the importance of the consular service has hitherto net been thoroughly understood ; the system , therefore , which controls it has remained so long unmodified amid multiplied changes of circumstances immediately affecting it , that it has ceased to be equal to the requirements of the present time . A glance at the chief duties of the consul , as laid down under the present system , will show something of the importance of his post . The office of consul originated with one of the
great Italian trading cities in the twelfth century ; its commercial character is , therefore , marked from the very first . In later times , a gradual modification has tak . cn place in the character of the consular duties , the consul being required , under certain circumstances , to take the place of the diplomatist . His first duty , however , is still to watch over the commercial interests of the state or country by which he is appointed , more particularly to see that the letter of all treaties be observed . He is to
protect the subjects of the country for which he is acting from any kind of oppression by the foreigners with whom he is residing ; and , on the other hand , he is to use active endeavours to prevent them from carrying on any contraband trade , or committing any violation of the laws of the country with which they are dealing . To this end , he must be acquainted not only with the laws of the particular country , but with the law of nationsy and be must have a ready knowledge of all the commercial arrangements that have been entered into between the two countries , the tariffs of duties on all articles of import and export . His knowledge in these respects , indeed , must be multifarious . He has also a world of
busimandiiig influence But even where the annoinT ment is of a direct kind , the salary given is S t Octant to support the British consul nv *^ , ^ like a fitting manner ; he is therefore permitted o add to his income by engaging in trade , ia which i ° may cither be unsuccessful , or may take such a In I position as will cause him to appear unimportant hi the eyes of other traders m the place xvlierc he ro sides , and even in tliose of . the consuls of oilier nV tions who are above the necessity of trading The disadvantages under which our consular ser vice was carried on by trading consuls , led to tlir passing of Mr . Canning ' s Act in 1825 , restraint
consuls irom engaging in any kind of trade In 186 ) 1 , however , m answer to cries for retrenchment it was determined to cheapen the consular service and three years later a select committee gave its sanction to a wide departure from the provisions of Mr . Canning's Act . Mr . Monckton Milncs's committee would go back to tlie prohibition of the Act of 1825 , and it may be taken for granted that this is the view which would have been taken by Sir Robert Peel , who , as a commercial statesman greatly resembled Mr . Canning , if he had fallen
upon the time to attend to the subject . Of course such a prohibition is not to be carried into effect without providing for the consul an increase of salary something like proportionable to the loss of his income from trading sources . The increase of his pay , however , only to the extent of a reasonable per-centage on the increase of our commerce , would not make up to the consul the di Here nee between the cost of living now -and at the time when , bis allowance was first fixed . The committee lias no hesitation in advising a considerable increase of
P . y- ¦ ; ¦ . , , ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . : ¦ .., .. . The grand object is efficiency : to secure this , the committee proposes an entire reorganisation of the service , by which it would be -raised to the rank of a profession . It is proposed that the consular service shall be divided into six classes—namely , Consuls-General , First-class Consuls , Second-class Consuls , Vice-Consuls , Consular Students , and Consular Agents . Of these classes , the fii ' th is the niost novel and important , for it is the basis upon which the consular edifice would in future be built . The consular students would be young men of fair education , who , in the first instance , would be attached to the offices of the various consuls as
ness to . perform in connexion with the arrival and departure of trading ships . He is a sort of standing counsel for the subjects of the country for which he is acting , in the event of their being accused of the commission of any offence against the laws of the foreign country , and in certain cases he is in ? vested with magisterial functions . He is in some places the sole representative of his Government , as at Jeddah ; and under such circumstances , lie is called upon to act in a double capacity , being the political as well as commercial guardian of the interests of the country he represents . To be properly qualified for the discharge of his duties , he
clerks ; they would be assisted in the study of the languages of the countries to which they were appointed , and assisted also in acquiring a knowledge of the laws and duties of the consular profession , with a view to being ultimately appointed to viceconsulates , with a prospect of subsequent promotion to the higher posts . By these means a class of men would be specially educated to discharge the duties of . the service with the highest efficiency . The consul-general , under the new system , would rise iu authority from his freer intercourse with all classes of the people with whom he would reside . Unfettered by personal interestshe would be in
should have a thorough knowledge not only of the language of the country to which he is appointed , but of the dialects of that language in common use by the lower order of inhabitants . The qualifications of a consul , it will be seen , arc of a very special kind . Under any circumstances , it is necessary that he should be a man of coinmanning influence , of unquestionable integrity , whose means obviously place him above temptation . In dealing with the peoples of the EJast , it is especially requisite that the worldly position of the consul should be such as to secure him against derogatory comparisons on that score , loss of influence being the inevitable result of all such
com-, an infinitely more advantageous position for developing the commerce of his country , which , it is to be remembered , is one of bis first duties ; while his improved knowledge and facilities for intercommunication with the authorities of the country , would enable him to carry on all ordinary diplomatic business as well as a man of higher title , or better . Tor there need be no concealment of the fact , that a consular system , such as that suggested by the committee , would to a great extent take away "the business of more formal diplomacy . No result could be more desirable ; business would
pansons . Now it is made only too clear that , under the present system , few ct our consuls come up to the requirements of the service . In the first place , it is not uncommon for the consul to be ignorant of the language of the country to which he is appointed , particularly as to tlic countries of the far East . This ignorance necessitates the eirlployment of native interpreters , who again may be \ cry imperfectly acquainted with the language of their employers . The interpreters are often Greeks—a class not too well trusted by either Mahometans or Christians . Under such circumstances , the bare discharge of a consul ' s routine duties is made difficult ,
then be conducted by skilled men of business , nistead of being thrown inlo the hands of poor lords , younger sons , and men who , having shown no capacity for business at home , are about the last mcii that we could expect to > show any particular business aptitude abroad . Such appointments as these would be prizes for which the middle class would compete , we have not the smallest doubt , with distinguished success ; and to no class could the duty of watching over the commercial interests of England in foreign lands be more safely entrusted , seeing that no class of the community lias so deep an interest
and when his diplomatic or magisterial functions are called into action , the difficulty is immeasurably increased , the danger of absolute failure being always imminent in cases where delicate handling is required . In many of the less important places abroad , the office of British consul is discharged by some foreign merchant or trader of standing , but possibly not of first-rate position ; in tho latter case there ia the double disadvantage of having the consular duties performed by a man who cannot be expected to care very wurml y for British interests , and who , moreover , is not in possession of a com
in the protection and extension of British commerce . The plan of tho committee is , indeed , in every way worthy to be carried out ; but it will bo met wit n every sort of impediment that can be thrown in its wny ' by tho vested interests of diplomacy . It is for tho friends of commercial progression to see that so fair an opportunity ia not lost . Blue-books do nothing of themselves , and Mr . Monckton Mimes s committee cannot enforce tho adoption of their
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1858, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21081858/page/12/
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