Foreign Office

“ Know, however, that in that venerable pile in Downing Street called the Foreign Office, there is a strange, mysterious sentiment,—partly tradition, partly prejudice, partly toadyism,—which bands together all within its walls, from the whiskered porter at the door to the essenced Minister in his bureau, into one intellectual conglomerate, that judges of every man in 'the Line'—as they call diplomacy—with one accord. By that curious tribunal, which hears no evidence, nor ever utters a sentence, each man's merits are weighed ”

“ The Foreign Office is alive to the necessity of reform, and the speeches made in the House of Commons on 3ist July 1918 show the lines on which reform ought to proceed. The details there discussed must be left for treatment in the Press; and it is perhaps not too much to say that the essence of reform lies as much in a change of attitude and of temper in the diplomatic personnel as in the introduction of up-to-date machinery. No public service has undergone so little change in recent years as the Foreign Office. ”

“ The French Foreign Office, wishful to allay the anger of the Parisian mob clamouring for war with England, secured this admirable couple and sent them round the town. You cannot be amused at a thing, and at the same time want to kill it. The French nation saw the English citizen and citizeness—no caricature, but the living reality—and their indignation exploded in laughter. The success of the stratagem prompted them later on to offer their services to the German Government, with the beneficial results that we all know. ”

“ Both in committee and on report the estimates for the separate departments are taken in succession, In committee there is usually a considerable debate on the Foreign Office estimates, and confidential communications are made by the Imperial Chancellor, or more usually the Foreign Secretary, and if necessary by Foreign Office officials, On report also there is often a fairly long debate on the Foreign Office estimates, in which the Imperial Chancellor generally takes part. Foreign questions appear to be seldom raised on the third reading of the estimates. ”

“ It is no secret at the Foreign Office that their Lordships have for some time been uneasy at the turn events are taking in the East. They have endeavoured to disguise from each other their perturbed feelings. ”

“ Your Majesty need therefore be under no apprehension that Mr Layard or anybody else, who might in the House of Commons hold the office of Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, would appear to the world as the organ or representative of the Foreign Policy of your Majesty's Government. With respect to giving Mr Layard any other office of the same kind, there is none other in which he could be placed without putting into the Foreign Office somebody far less fit for it, and putting Mr Layard into some office for which he is far less fit. ”

“ A community of 60,000,000 people should be adequately represented in its intercourse with foreign nations.
A project for the reorganization of the consular service and for recasting the scheme of extraterritorial jurisdiction is now before you. If the limits of a short session will not allow of its full consideration, I trust that you will not fail to make suitable provision for the present needs of the service.
It has been customary to define in the appropriation acts the rank of each diplomatic office to which a salary is attached. ”

“ All letters to sovereign powers, letters of credence, plans of treaties, conventions, manifestoes, instructions, passports, safe conducts, and other acts of Congress relative to the Department of Foreign Affairs, when the substance thereof shall have been previously agreed to in Congress, shall be reduced to form in the office of Foreign Affairs, and submitted to the opinion of Congress ”

“ That the correspondence and communications with the Ministers, Consuls, and Agents of the United States in foreign countries, and with the Ministers and other officers of foreign powers with Congress, be carried on through the office of foreign affairs by the said Secretary, who is also empowered to correspond with all other persons from whom he may expect to receive useful information relative to his department ”

“ Departments and agencies outside of the Executive Office of the President shall raise only matters of national defense or foreign relations in the course of the Presidential review established by this Order. ”

“ The Foreign Operations Administration, including the office of Director of the Foreign Operations Administration but excluding all other offices of, and all agencies and positions of, the Foreign Operations Administration, and excluding also all functions transferred by the provisions of this order, is hereby abolished. ”

“ We have a Cabinet composed of men of great individual capacity; a Cabinet, too, including no less than five Gentlemen who have filled the office of Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and who may, therefore, be presumed to understand even the sometimes concealed meaning of diplomatic phraseology. ”

“ The functionaries and the young men who are sent on foreign missions also fulfil the same critical office, and this is an additional reason why the Government is so wise in maintaining these missions. ”

“ With the exception of half a dozen people of large estates, and particularly the very generous and hospitable General V—ss, all the parties, entertainments, balls, concerts, etc. are given by the corps diplomatique, or by the gentlemen holding [Pg 259] office, among whom some of the secretaries are particularly remarkable for their unostentatious civility to strangers. The company, again, is principally composed of persons connected with the government, of senators, members of the House, and foreign diplomatic agents ”

“ The Confederation, established for the more easy transition to a permanent system, included almost as its corner-stone a Department of Foreign Affairs. The duties of the Secretary were confined to the performance of the specific acts authorized by Congress, at that time at once the executive and the legislative power,—and consisted chiefly in the preservation of the papers and records of the office, and conducting the correspondence with ministers and agents abroad ”

“ The reports of diplomatic and consular officers in relation to the development of our foreign commerce have furnished many facts that have proved of public interest and have stimulated to practical exertion the enterprise of our people. ”

“ But Milord Hawkesbury was the Foreign Minister, and it was with him that we were obliged to do our bargaining.
"You can understand that it was no child's play. After ten years of war each nation had got hold of a great deal which had belonged to the other, or to the other's allies. What was to be given back, and what was to be kept? Is this island worth that peninsula? If we do this at Venice, will you do that at Sierra Leone? If we give up Egypt to the Sultan, will you restore the Cape of Good Hope, which you have taken from our allies the Dutch? ”

“ The diplomatic office should be conceived as having the function to represent not only the special national interest of the respective country, but also, on an equal plane, its participation in all the activities and interests which are common to the nations of the world. ”

“ In other words, I consider it is making an unwarrantable demand to expect that a representative in a foreign land should have a leading influence on the policy of the state to which he is accredited. What may be demanded of a diplomatic representative is a correct estimate of the situation. ”

“ In diplomacy, above all things, since peace and war and the welfare of nations depend upon it, the best minds, the most sagacious and instructed of public servants should be appointed to the principal foreign posts regardless of the personal affairs of the prince himself or the party attachments of the chosen ambassadors. ”

“ Diplomatic Efforts. The Secretary of State shall expeditiously pursue and direct such negotiations and diplomatic efforts with foreign governments as are necessary and appropriate to implement this order. ”

“ Should any difficulty arise with the foreign powers they represent, special Ministers would be appointed to arrange it, and meanwhile the Corps Diplomatique "give tone to society," and is a potent power—in its own estimation. ”

“ The work is an established and indispensable authority for an understanding of the diplomacy of the times of which it treats. It contains much that is of value bearing on internal politics both in Britain and in Continental States, and on the influence of the constitutional system and of domestic politics upon the conduct of foreign policy. ”

“ This foreign business of the government, now that the cable is perfected, can be carried on between our State Department and the chancellery of any government in the world. Nevertheless, I am in favor of keeping up the diplomatic service. All the old nations have various methods of rewarding distinguished public servants. The only one we have is the diplomatic service. So when I appoint a man ambassador or minister, I believe that I am giving him a decoration, and the reason I change ambassadors and ministers is that I want as many as possible to possess it. ”

“ The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, who shall chair the Foreign Affairs Council, shall contribute through his or her proposals towards the preparation of the common foreign and security policy and shall ensure implementation of the European decisions adopted by the European Council and the Council. ”

“ The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the administrative arm of the government in the execution of foreign policy directives, decrees, and decisions of the BKP and in representing the country abroad in embassies, legations, and consular offices. ”

“ If you are travelling for business, or even transacting business at home, you must have your foreign correspondents and agents; and with their aid you follow dimly the very interesting advances and experiments that are being made in your department abroad. Our Governments must pay more heavily for diplomatic and consular service. Our books and magazines make a parade of foreign phrases which have not yet become as familiar as English. ”

“ Protection against unauthorized use in a particular country depends, basically, on the national laws of that country. However, most countries do offer protection to foreign works under certain conditions, and these conditions have been greatly simplified by international copyright treaties and conventions. For further information and a list of countries that maintain copyright relations with the United States, request "International Copyright Relations of the United States." ”

“ My experience with the President and the Cabinet is, in a word, that they have no foreign policy, neither have they a system nor a fixed purpose. They regulate their foreign policy entirely in accord with the tendency of public opinion held by the political parties of the country. Their course of action in foreign matters is based entirely upon the effect to be made on the Nation, and therefore no consistency nor fixed principles are to be expected of the Administration. It is in vain to-day to persuade the Administration or to convince them of anything. ”

“ There are, however, some countries that offer little or no copyright protection to any foreign works. For current information on the requirements and protection provided by other countries, it may be advisable to consult an expert familiar with foreign copyright laws. ”

“ The Jews would form the nucleus of an industrious, orderly population, consisting of men who have been trained to live as citizens—who know the value of domestic peace assured by laws—and are not likely to become the tools of ambitious Pashas aspiring to independence. In the present temper of the Jews, a large body of immigrants might apparently be attracted to Palestine, were the Ottoman Government to enter into a definite contract with them and induce England—or a Committee of European Powers—to become guarantees for its observance. ”

“ To the extent practicable, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development will exercise functions relating to Foreign Service personnel in a manner that will assure maximum compatibility among agencies authorized by law to utilize the Foreign Service personnel system. ”

“ The legislation of the last session effected in the diplomatic and consular service certain changes and reductions which have been productive of embarrassment. The population and commercial activity of our country are steadily on the increase, and are giving rise to new, varying, and often delicate relationships with other countries. Our foreign establishment now embraces nearly double the area of operations that it occupied twenty years ago. ”

“ Following a practice which, because of reciprocal considerations, probably operates satisfactorily between foreign powers, the Governments of the world frequently tender to our officers decorations or presents upon such occasions as the first visit of a fleet to a foreign power, or the presence of individual officers representing our Government at reviews and public ceremonials, and to our diplomatic officials upon the termination of their missions, or upon occasions of rejoicing, jubilees of sovereigns, etc. ”

“ Outside Jewry, an overwhelming mass of public opinion would appear to favour Jewish administration in Palestine, not that it could ever provide a home for the millions of Jews in eastern Europe, but because it would satisfy their secular aspirations, raise their sense of dignity and self-respect, and relieve, to some extent at least, the pressure of the congested districts in which circumstances have forced them to congregate. ”