XXII. REGULATIONS CONCERNING PRECEDENCE OF DIPLOMATIC AGENTS

The rules on this subject which have been prescribed by the Department are the same as those contained in the seven rules of the Congress of Vienna, found in the protocol of the session of March 9, 1815, and in the supplementary or eighth rule of the Congress of Aix la Chapelle of November 21, 1818. They are as follows:

ARTICLE 1. Diplomatic agents are divided into three classes: That of ambassadors, legates, or nuncios; that of envoys, ministers, or other persons accredited to sovereigns; that of chargés d'affaires accredited to ministers for foreign affairs.

ART. 2. Ambassadors, legates, or nuncios only have the representative character.

ART. 3. Diplomatic agents on an extraordinary mission have not, on that account, any superiority of rank.

ART. 4. Diplomatic agents shall take precedence in their respective classes according to the date of the official notification of their arrival. The present regulation shall not cause any innovation with regard to the representative of the Pope.

ART. 5. A uniform mode shall be determined in each State for the reception of diplomatic agents of each class.

ART. 6. Relations of consanguinity or of family alliance between courts confer. no precedence on their diplomatic agents. The same rule also applies to political alliances.

ART. 7. In acts or treaties between several powers which grant alternate precedence, the order which is to be observed in the signatures shall be decided by lot between the ministers. ART. 8. It is agreed that ministers resident accredited to them shall form, with respect to their precedence, an intermediate class between ministers of the second class and chargés d'affaires.

These rules have been formally or tacitly accepted by all governments except the Ottoman Porte, which divides diplomatic representatives into three classes only-ambassadors, ministers, and chargés d'affaires.

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XXIII. ORGANIZATION OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE

The diplomatic and consular branches of the Foreign Service constitute the field force for the conduct of the foreign relations of the United States. The work of the two branches is in many respects closely allied. The diplomatic branch is charged with the conduct of official intercourse between the Government of the United States and the other governments of the world. It is composed of fifty-three diplomatic missions, known as embassies or legations, according to their importance, situated at the capitals of as many foreign countries. Each mission consists of an ambassador, minister, or chargé d'affaires, and one or more secretaries with such clerks, translators, and other employees as may be provided. It is the duty of a mission, in addition to serving as the official channel of communication between our Government and the government to which it is accredited, to protect the lives and property of American citizens, to observe and report to the Secretary of State upon political and other conditions in the country of its residence, and, in conjunction with the consular branch, to safeguard and promote the general and commercial interests of the United States and of individual citizens.

The consular branch shares with the diplomatic branch the duty of protecting the lives and property of American citizens abroad; both are actively concerned with safeguarding and promoting the general and commercial interests of the Nation and of individual Americans, and they collaborate in observing and reporting upon conditions in the countries of their residence. In these fields of common endeavor the work of the two branches is coordinated in each country. Consuls deal with matters involving relations with local authorities, while the diplomatic mission deals with those requiring contact with the central authorities. The diplomatic mission is concerned, primarily, but by no means exclusively, with political affairs. Consuls perform important administrative functions in enforcing and assisting in the enforcement of American laws affecting American citizens residing or traveling abroad, or aliens abroad in their relations to the United States, its citizens and laws. It is also an important and vital function of consular officers to make economic investigations and reports. They protect American citizens and their interests in foreign lands and assist individual American exporters in the extension of their foreign trade.

The duties of officers in both the diplomatic and consular branches of the Foreign Service place special requirements upon them in the way of character and ability. To the individuals who can meet these requirements the career offers, on the other hand, unusual advantages.

The officers of the Foreign Service occupy abroad positions of dignity and consequence. Diplomatic officers are accorded by international law, in the countries of their residence, full immunity from local jurisdiction and enjoy important special privileges. Consular officers have, by treaty and usage and under the law of nations, the privileges and immunities necessary to the accomplishment of their functions.

Diplomatic officers are frequently the guardians of the most vital interests of the United States; grave fiscal and administrative responsibilities rest upon consular officers.

The work of both brings them into direct contact with leaders of thought and action in the field of government, the professions, and business. In foreign eyes, they represent the United States and its institutions.

Diplomatic officers must establish and maintain in the capitals in which they reside a position befitting the commanding prestige of the United States among nations. A similar, though possibly less exigent, duty devolves upon consular officers in the communities to which they are assigned. Adaptability, balance, tact, sound judgment, rigid impartiality, and integrity, as well as thorough general education and technical proficiency, are essential factors making for success.

The Foreign Service imposes a strict discipline upon its members. They must perform without question the duties assigned to them by the Secretary of State and proceed without demur to whatever parts of the world they may be ordered. Long hours and hard work are frequently the rule. Officers are also expected to perform, and do perform, their duty without regard for discomfort or personal danger.

The reward of the Foreign Service is not a money reward. The salaries paid to officers are not comparable with the salaries attained by the conspicuously successful in business. The appeal, however, is not to those who seek only material gain. The Foreign Service offers instead the cultural advantages of foreign travel, active contact with leaders in other lands, and the opportunity of distinguished patriotic achievement. It offers the spiritual gratification to be found in the path of public service and responsibility.

REORGANIZATION OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE

The act of May 24, 1924, provides for the reorganization and improvement of the Foreign Service, for the purpose of securing benefits of economy and efficiency through a system of combined administration, and a more effective coordination of the political and economic branches of the service.

The principal advantages in the reorganization are (1) the amalgamation of the Diplomatic and Consular branches into a single Foreign Service on an interchangeable basis; (2) the adoption of a new and uniform salary scale applicable equally to officers in the Diplomatic and Consular branches, thus making unification and interchangeability possible; (3) the authorization of representation allowances, when necessary; (4) the establishment of a retirement act.

ACT OF MAY 24, 19241

[Public-No. 135-68th Congress]

An Act For the reorganization and improvement of the Foreign Service of the United States, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the Diplomatic and Consular Service of the United States shall be known as the Foreign Service of the United States.

Sec. 2. That the official designation "Foreign Service officer" as employed throughout this act shall be deemed to denote permanent officers in the Foreign Service below the grade of minister, all of whom are subject to promotion on merit, and who may be assigned to duty in either the diplomatic or the consular branch of the Foreign Service at the discretion of the President.

SEC. 3. That the officers in the Foreign Service shall hereafter be graded and classified as follows, with the salaries of each class herein affixed thereto, but not exceeding in number for each class a proportion to the total number of officers in the service represented in the following percentage limitations: Ambassadors and ministers as now or hereafter provided; Foreign Service officers as follows: Class 1, 6 per centum, $9,000; class 2, 7 per centum, $8,000; class 3, 8 per centum, $7,000; class 4, 9 per centum, $6,000; class 5, 10 per centum, $5,000; class 6, 14 per centum, $4,500; class 7, $4,000; class 8, $3,500; class 9, $3,000; unclassified, $3,000 to $1,500: Provided, That as many Foreign Service officers above class 6 as may be required for the purpose of inspection may be detailed by the Secretary of State for that purpose.

SEC. 4. That Foreign Service officers may be appointed as secretaries in the Diplomatic Service or as consular officers or both: Provided, That all such appointments shall be made by and with the advice and consent of the Senate: Provided further, That all official acts of such officers while on duty in either the diplomatic or the consular branch of the Foreign Service shall be performed under their respective commissions as secretaries or as consular officers.

SEC. 5. That hereafter appointments to the position of Foreign Service officer shall be made after examination and a suitable period of probation in an unclassified grade or, after five years of continuous service in the Department of State, by transfer therefrom under such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe: Provided, That no candidate shall be eligible for examination for Foreign Service officer who is not an American citizen: Provided further, That reinstatement of Foreign Service officers separated from the classified service by reason of appointment to some other position in the Government service may be made by Executive order of the President under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe.

All appointments of Foreign Service officers shall be by commission to a class and not by commission to any particular post, and such officers shall be assigned to posts and may be trans1Amended by act of July 3, 1926. See post, p. 262.