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The New State Department
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2017
Extract
From time to time the slow and gradual administrative evolution of the Department of State has been accelerated by relatively sweeping changes in internal structure, notably in 1909, 1922, and more recently in 1937-1939, in an adjustment to meet new conditions. The series of changes which took place between May, 1937, and February, 1939, approached the proportions of a fundamental reorganization. Singularly enough, the Department of State made no complete explanation of the new dispensation, and the changes in personnel and organization were effected quietly by a series of Departmental orders. Widely publicized schemes of administrative reorganizaton are unlikely to meet with favor in Congress and in the press.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright © American Society of International Law 1939
References
1 Code of Laws of the United States of America in force Jan. 3, 1935, Title 5, Sees. 154, 157.
2 Christian Science Monitor, May 22, 1937, p. 3, col. 7.
3 U. S. Stats, at L., 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 1937, Vol. 50, Pt. 1, p. 169, Ch. 220.
4 New York Times, May 22, 1937, p. 3, col. 1.
5 E.g., American movie film exports.
6 Cf. Memorandum of Secretary of State to Committee on Foreign Relations, Congressional Record, Vol. 81, Pt. 4, p. 3720 Google Scholar, 75th Cong., 1st Sess.
7 New York Times, May 22, 1937, p. 3, col. 1.
8 Dept. of State Press Releases, July 3, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 405, p. 3.
9 Ibid., July 24, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 408, p. 51.
10 Ibid., Aug. 21, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 412, p. 143.
11 See p. 510, infra.
12 New York Times, Aug. 18, 1937, p. 4, col. 4.
13 Dept. of State Press Releases, Oct. 2, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 418, p. 266.
14 Ibid., July 10, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 406, p. 23.
15 Ibid., July 31, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 409, p. 60.
16 See p. 509, infra.
17 Dept. of State Press Releases, July 24, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 408, p. 52.
18 Ibid., June 6, 1931, No. 88, p. 443.
19 Ibid., June 3, 1933, No. 192, p. 416.
20 Cf. American Delegations to International Conferences, Congresses and Expositions, and American Representation on International Institutions and Commissions, With Relevant Data: Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1937 (Pub. 1163), and also for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1938 (Pub. 1300)—Supt. of Docs., Washington, D. C.
21 “Results and Significance of Buenos Aires Conference,” address by Cordell Hull, Secretary of State, Feb. 25, 1937 (Pub. 989, Supt. of Docs., Washington, D. C).
22 “Eighth International Conference of American States,” statement by the Secretary of State, Dept. of State Press Releases, Jan. 14, 1939, Vol. XX, No. 485, p. 33.
23 New York Times, May 22, 1937, p. 3, col. 1.
24 Dept. of State Press Releases, Mar. 12, 1938, Vol. XVIII, No. 441, p. 303.
25 As of March 15, 1939, eight of the seventeen ambassadors were appointed from the classified service, and twelve of the 34 ministers likewise.
26 Cf. “The American Foreign Service in a Chaotic World,” address by Shaw, G. Howland, Chief, Division of Foreign Service Personnel, Mar. 12, 1938 (Dept. of State Press Releases, Mar. 12, 1938, Vol. XVIII, No. 441, p. 303 Google Scholar). In the last Foreign Service examination 482 candidates took the written tests (Sept. 12-14, 1938) and 106 took the oral tests (Jan. 9-23, 1939). Of the 106 candidates taking the oral tests, 32 were successful in the whole examination. The total number of career officers in the Foreign Service as of March 15, 1939, was 724.
27 Dept. of State Press Keleases, July 31, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 409, p. 60, Order Nos. 702 and 703.
28 New York Times, July 10, 1937, p. 14, col. 2.
29 Dept. of State Press Releases, July 24, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 408, p. 51.
30 Public No. 83, U. S. Stats., 59th Cong., 1st Sess., 1905-1906, Vol. 34, Pt. I, p. 99, Ch. 1366.
31 Hunt, Gaillard, The Department of State of the United States (Yale University Press, 1914), p. 335 Google Scholar.
32 Dept. of State Press Releases, Aug. 24, 1935, Vol. XIII, No. 308, p. 143. (Here also can be found an account of the Department’s appreciation of Mr. Carr.)
33 Ibid., July 3, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 405, p. 3.
34 Following the disappearance of Czechoslovakia as an independent state, the legation at Praha was closed on March 20, 1939, by order from Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles.
35 Dept. of State Press Releases, July 17, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 407, p. 46.
36 Ibid., July 24, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 408, p. 57.
37 Ibid., June 13, 1936, Vol. XIV, No. 350, p. 609.
38 Ibid., July 10, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 406, p. 29.
39 Code of Laws of the United States of America in force Jan. 3, 1935, Title 22, Sec. 5.
40 For typical changes consult Dept. of State Press Releases, July 17, 1937, Vol. XVII, No. 407, p. 45; Aug. 6, 1938, Vol. XIX, No. 462, p. 97; Feb. 25, 1939, Vol. XX, No. 491, p. 156.
41 Federal Register, Vol. 3, No. 139, July 19, 1938, p. 1749.
42 U. S. Stats, at L., 68th Cong., 1923-1925, Vol. 43, Pt. I, p. 140, Ch. 182; and ibid., 71st Cong., 1929-1931, Vol. 46, Pt. I, p. 1207, Ch. 276.
43 Executive order amending the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States (E.O. No. 7968) can be found in the Federal Register, Vol. III, No. 175, Sept. 8, 1938, p. 2185. This executive order amende the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States by prescribing a Chapter V, Foreign Service Accounts, which cancels Sees. XIII-9 to XIII-17, inc., and Ch. XX of the former Instructions to Diplomatic Officers of the United States (Pt. I) and Sec. XXIV-461, and Arts. XXV, XXVI, XXVII of the former Consular Regulations of the United States (Pt. II). Other typical orders are: E.O. No. 8036 in the Federal Register, Vol. IV, No. 13, Jan. 20, 1939, p. 377; E.O. Nos. 8076, 8077, 8078 in the Federal Register, Vol. IV, No. 67, April 7, 1939, p. 1473; E.O. No. 8084 in the Federal Register, Vol. IV, No. 71, April 13, 1939, p. 1595.
44 Dept. of State Press Releases, May 22, 1937, Vol. XVI, No. 399, p. 355.
45 The states are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela.
46 Dept. of State Press Releases, Oct. 8, 1938, Vol. XIX, No. 471, p. 253.
47 Ibid., Dec. 24, 1938, Vol. XIX, No. 482, p. 480.
48 Ibid., Mar. 18, 1939, Vol. XX, No. 494, p. 216.
49 Ibid., June 19, 1937, Vol. XVI, No. 403, pp. 442, 443.
50 See p. 603, supra.
51 Iceland has since been given separate recognition in the Division of European Affairs. Austria is no longer listed separately. Cf. Register of the Department of State, Oct. 1, 1938.
52 Register of the Department of State, Oct. 1, 1937, p. 11.
53 Dept. of State Press Releases, June 19, 1937, Vol. XVI, No. 403, p. 443.
54 Ethiopia is no longer specifically listed.
55 Burma has since been given separate recognition in the Division of Near Eastern Affairs. Algeria has been taken out of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs. Since Algeria is a Department of France it can be handled through the Division of European Affairs. (Courtesy of Mr. E. Wilder Spaulding, Assistant Chief, Division of Research and Publication.)
56 Dept. of State Press Releases, July 30, 1938, Vol. XIX, No. 461, p. 66.
57 Dept. of State Press Releases, July 30, 1938, Vol. XIX, No. 461, p. 63.
58 Ibid., Nov. 12, 1938, Vol. XIX, No. 476, p. 320.
59 U. S. Treaty Series, No. 928.
60 Dept. of State Press Releases, Aug. 6, 1938, Vol. XIX, No. 462, p. 96.
61 See, for example, the final recording of Delaware’s action on the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments (Department of State Press Releases XII, April 13, 1935, p. 228) and the studies of the first ten amendments in Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts: Le Duc, Thomas H., Connecticut and the First Ten Amendments to the Federal Constitution (Sen. Doc. No. 96, 75th Cong., 1st Sess.); Bland, Julia M., Georgia and the Federal Constitution (Dept. of State Pub. No. 1078); Myers, Denys P., Massachusetts and the First Ten Amendments to the Constitution (Sen. Doc. No. 181, 74th Cong., 2nd Sess.).
62 This required the revision and completion by photostatic copies of the treaty files of the Department. See, for example, instances of completion by facsimile, Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America, II, 41, 47, 56, 89, 95, 101, 111, 122, 160, 268, 338, 429, 455, 591, 613, 661; III, 313, 416, 477, 715; IV, 334-35; V, 599,1065. (Courtesy of Denys P. Myers, in Research Director, World Peace Foundation.)
63 “Progress of the State Department’s Publication Program,” address by Cyril Wynne, Chief, Division of Research and Publication, Department of State, Dec. 29, 1938 (Pub. 1280, Supt. of Docs., Washington, D. C).
64 Dept. of State Press Releases, Aug. 20, 1938, Vol. XIX, No. 464, p. 127.
65 “Department of State and American Merchant Marine,” address by George S. Messer• smith, Assistant Secretary of State, Sept. 20, 1938 (Pub. 1237, Supt. of Docs., Washington, D. C).
66 The writer acknowledges his indebtedness to Mr.Frank, Lawrence C., in Chief of the Division of Accounts.Google Scholar
67 Dept. of State Press Releases, Feb. 18, 1939, Vol. XX, No. 490, p. 142.
68 Ibid., Sept. 21, 1935, Vol. XIII, No. 312, p. 211.
69 Excerpts from President Roosevelt’s message to Congress on May 9, 1939: “By this transfer and consolidation there will be a single foreign service in the Department of State, but this does not mean that the interests of the commercial and agricultural communities are to be neglected, for it is a part of the plan that representatives of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Commerce shall be placed on the board of foreign service personnel, and that specific investigations relating to commerce and agriculture shall be initiated directly by the Secretaries of these two departments, who will receive directly the results of investigations in their own fields,” . . . “The plan specifically leaves undisturbed the relationships of the Department of Commerce and of the Department of Agriculture with the commercial and agricultural communities. What it does do is to consolidate the foreign services into one foreign service in the Department of State, where it ought to be, with the resulting advantages of economy, efficiency, better functional grouping, elimination of overlapping and duplication of effort, and greater service to our commercial and agricultural interests.” . . . “This commission (Foreign Service Buildings Commission) is advisory to the administrative work of the Department of State and should no longer have the status of an independent establishment.”
70 The appropriation for the fiscal year 1939 is $15,686,350.00, a reduction of $990,952.20 from the appropriation for 1938. Cf. The Budget of the United States Government for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 1940, p. A 64 (U. S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, D. C).