Page images
PDF
EPUB

turer of reapers or the British manufacturer of reapers, and to connect up an agent over there with the exporter over here. That is very commendable and most useful. But it does not touch the big questions in foreign commerce and the big questions in international relations.

The basis of all our international relations, as I see it, is the economic cause; back of every political movement the world over is an economic question or consideration. If we could keep our State Department promptly and continuously informed of what is going on in both the economic and political fields the world over and could interpret political movements in the light of their economic setting or basis and could then bring that coordinated knowledge to bear upon the questions with which it is necessary to deal in our relations with other Governments and also utilize it in the formation of wise international policies for the promotion and protection of our own interests abroad, I believe we could do for this country something which we have never done in the past, are not able to do now, which, if not done in the future, may have an adverse effect of a very serious nature in the course of the next 25 or 50 years, and it is in terms of 25 and 50 years rather than in terms of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 years that, in my opinion, we ought to be thinking.

and

Mr. TEMPLE. Would not that really produce great results in five or ten years?

Mr. ČARR. I believe it would produce great results in five or ten years. But it is impossible to say what results it would produce in 25 or 50 years. We are dealing at the present time with enormous forces in the world, and we are dealing with them in a very unintel ligent manner. We are not looking at them as a business man would look at forces entering into the operation and planning of a great business. We have no adequate organization either here or abroad to carry on our foreign relations in the far-sighted intelligent way that they ought to be carried on. We are looking at foreign rela tions and foreign trade for the most part in terms of individual cases rather than in terms of policies and principles which, once adopted and maintained, would automatically dispose of many les ser questions of diplomacy and trade for a considerable period. We ought to be looking at diplomatic and commercial relations from the standpoint of what they are going to be in this country in 25 or 50 years, and I believe the extent to which we do that kind of work is going to determine some time in the future just how suc cessful this country will be in avoiding future conflict with other

nations.

Mr. BEGG. Is the Secretary of Commerce or the Department of Commerce doing any of that work now?

Mr. CARR. The Secretary of Commerce is doing what I first spoke of, and a very commendable work, in gathering information and distributing it among business men. But it is not within the func tion of the Secretary of Commerce or any domestic department to do the thing which I am talking of just now.

Mr. BEGG. Could you not supply the Department of Commerce with that particular economic information about these other coun tries? The thought I have is that if the Department of State under takes that will not there be a duplication of work, unless there is some restriction on the Department of Commerce?

Mr. CARR. Absolutely not, because the Department of Commerce is a domestic department for the promotion of trade, by gathering concrete economic facts and placing them in the possession of the business man on which he can form his impressions about entering foreign fields to sell his products, and many other things of a similar character. The Secretary of Commerce is not dealing with diplomatic policies or great commercial policies, because those things have to be dealt with in the department of foreign affairs or the State Department.

The Secretary of State ought to be able not only to have his own force in the field and be thoroughly informed, but ought to be able to focus in his department everything in every other department which has any possible relation to foreign affairs, so that when the State Department speaks at a foreign capital its statements may be received with the full knowledge that it is speaking for all branches of the Government of the United States and not for any one branch. (Thereupon the committee adjourned to meet Monday, January 12, 1920, at 10 o'clock a. m.)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Monday, January 12, 1920.

The committee this day met, Hon. John J. Rogers, presiding. Mr. ROGERS. At the last hearing, on Saturday, the last item we had up for consideration was that at the bottom of page 8 and at the top of page 9 relating to the transportation of diplomatic and consular officers in going to and returning from their posts.

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO.

On pages 9, 10, and 11, down to the item on page 11 for the International Boundary Commission between the United States and Mexico, the only item of any especial importance is that at the top of page 10 relating to emergencies arising in the Diplomatic and Consular Service, which the Secretary of State discussed when he was here a week ago. Perhaps it will save time if the committee will ask you questions about any of the items down to the bottom of page 11, in which they are interested, rather than ask you to make a general statement in connection with any of those items.

EMERGENCY FUND.

Mr. HOUGHTON. Information has been given the committee in regard to the item on page 10 for $700,000?

Mr. ROGERS. The Secretary of State testified about that.

Mr. NEWTON. Were there any figures given showing how that was expended?

Mr. ROGERS. That was very fully discussed in the testimony given by the Secretary of State. In substance, he called attention to the fact that this was the secret fund of the State Department and he suggested that an arrangement could be made by which a subcommittee of this committee could examine the vouchers that make up the expenditures.

Mr. DICKINSON. I think the committee should have some knowledge of the unexpended balance at the end of the fiscal year.

Mr. ROGERS. Of course, they could not have knowledge of the balance at the end of the fiscal year 1920 at this time.

Mr. DICKINSON. I mean the previous years.

Mr. ROGERS. The unexpended balance here mentioned is the balance for the fiscal year 1919.

Mr. DICKINSON. Can you give any estimate of that?

STATEMENT OF MR. WILBUR J. CARR, DIRECTOR OF THE CONSULAR SERVICE—Continued.

Mr. CARR. The Secretary of State made a statement before the committee that he doubted whether there would be any balance left. It is quite impossible to say at the present time whether there will be any balance left, because no one knows exactly what drafts will be made upon this fund. The balance now remaining is about $380,000, and there are a number of large drafts which will be made against it before June 30, 1920.

Mr. HOUGHTON. Is this fund larger than it used to be?

Mr. CARR. It is very much larger than it used to be before the war. Before the war it carried from $90,000 to $100,000.

Mr. HOUGHTON. Is there a tendency to put the amount back to that sum?

Mr. CARR. There has been no tendency so far because of conditions abroad which the Department of State has had to meet.

Mr. HOUGHTON. That can be regarded as an emergency item, then? Mr. CARR. Yes. I would not in any circumstances advise the curtailment of that fund at the present time because I do not think we can see clearly enough into the future to safely reduce the fund. That is the only fund which the President and the Secretary of State have for making certain kinds of investigations, which are provided for nowhere else, that is for work of an essentially confidential character.

Mr. NEWTON. I notice it provides in lines 6 and 7 for an appropriation "To meet the necessary expenses attendant upon the execution of the neutrality act."

Mr. CARR. Precisely.

Mr. NEWTON. There will be no expenditures made for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of that act, will there?

Mr. CARR. There are always some expenditures made to carry out the provisions of the neutrality act at all times. We can never count upon other Governments remaining entirely peaceful or the absence of conditions which require the United States to enforce its neutrality statutes and make investigation into the facts before doing so. We have certain neutral obligations, and we pay the expenses connected with the execution of the neutrality act out of this particular fund. It has been notably so along the Mexican border when Mexico has been in a turbulent state; we have had neutral obligations to meet under our laws, and the expenditures have come out of this fund.

STEAM LAUNCH FOR EMBASSY AT CONSTANTINOPLE.

Mr. DICKINSON. I am curious to know something about the item on lines 9 and 10 of page 9, for the hiring of a steam launch for the use of the embassy at Constantinople, for which you are asking $1,800.

Mr. CARR. Absolutely not, because the Department of Commerce is a domestic department for the promotion of trade, by gathering concrete economic facts and placing them in the possession of the business man on which he can form his impressions about entering foreign fields to sell his products, and many other things of a similar character. The Secretary of Commerce is not dealing with diplomatic policies or great commercial policies, because those things have to be dealt with in the department of foreign affairs or the State Department.

The Secretary of State ought to be able not only to have his own force in the field and be thoroughly informed, but ought to be able to focus in his department everything in every other department which has any possible relation to foreign affairs, so that when the State Department speaks at a foreign capital its statements may be received with the full knowledge that it is speaking for all branches of the Government of the United States and not for any one branch. (Thereupon the committee adjourned to meet Monday, January 12, 1920, at 10 o'clock a. m.)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Monday, January 12, 1920.

The committee this day met, Hon. John J. Rogers, presiding. Mr. ROGERS. At the last hearing, on Saturday, the last item we had up for consideration was that at the bottom of page 8 and at the top of page 9 relating to the transportation of diplomatic and consular officers in going to and returning from their posts.

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO.

On pages 9, 10, and 11, down to the item on page 11 for the International Boundary Commission between the United States and Mexico, the only item of any especial importance is that at the top of page 10 relating to emergencies arising in the Diplomatic and Consular Service, which the Secretary of State discussed when he was here a week ago. Perhaps it will save time if the committee will ask you questions about any of the items down to the bottom of page 11, in which they are interested, rather than ask you to make a general statement in connection with any of those items.

EMERGENCY FUND.

Mr. HOUGHTON. Information has been given the committee in regard to the item on page 10 for $700,000?

Mr. ROGERS. The Secretary of State testified about that.

Mr. NEWTON. Were there any figures given showing how that was expended?

Mr. ROGERS. That was very fully discussed in the testimony given by the Secretary of State. In substance, he called attention to the fact that this was the secret fund of the State Department and he suggested that an arrangement could be made by which a subcommittee of this committee could examine the vouchers that make up the expenditures.

Mr. DICKINSON. I think the committee should have some knowledge of the unexpended balance at the end of the fiscal year.

Mr. ROGERS. Of course, they could not have knowledge of the balance at the end of the fiscal year 1920 at this time.

Mr. DICKINSON. I mean the previous years.

Mr. ROGERS. The unexpended balance here mentioned is the balance for the fiscal year 1919.

Mr. DICKINSON. Can you give any estimate of that?

STATEMENT OF MR. WILBUR J. CARR, DIRECTOR OF THE CONSULAR SERVICE-Continued.

Mr. CARR. The Secretary of State made a statement before the committee that he doubted whether there would be any balance left. It is quite impossible to say at the present time whether there will be any balance left, because no one knows exactly what drafts will be made upon this fund. The balance now remaining is about $380,000, and there are a number of large drafts which will be made. against it before June 30, 1920.

Mr. HOUGHTON. Is this fund larger than it used to be?

Mr. CARR. It is very much larger than it used to be before the war. Before the war it carried from $90,000 to $100,000.

Mr. HOUGHTON. Is there a tendency to put the amount back to that sum?

Mr. CARR. There has been no tendency so far because of conditions abroad which the Department of State has had to meet.

Mr. HOUGHTON. That can be regarded as an emergency item, then? Mr. CARR. Yes. I would not in any circumstances advise the curtailment of that fund at the present time because I do not think we can see clearly enough into the future to safely reduce the fund. That is the only fund which the President and the Secretary of State have for making certain kinds of investigations, which are provided for nowhere else, that is for work of an essentially confidential character.

Mr. NEWTON. I notice it provides in lines 6 and 7 for an appropriation "To meet the necessary expenses attendant upon the execution of the neutrality act."

Mr. CARR. Precisely.

Mr. NEWTON. There will be no expenditures made for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of that act, will there?

Mr. CARR. There are always some expenditures made to carry out the provisions of the neutrality act at all times. We can never count upon other Governments remaining entirely peaceful or the absence of conditions which require the United States to enforce its neutrality statutes and make investigation into the facts before doing so. We have certain neutral obligations, and we pay the expenses connected with the execution of the neutrality act out of this particular fund. It has been notably so along the Mexican border when Mexico has been in a turbulent state; we have had neutral obligations to meet under our laws, and the expenditures have come out of this fund.

STEAM LAUNCH FOR EMBASSY AT CONSTANTINOPLE.

Mr. DICKINSON. I am curious to know something about the item on lines 9 and 10 of page 9, for the hiring of a steam launch for the use of the embassy at Constantinople, for which you are asking $1,800.

« PreviousContinue »