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that Senator Lodge intends to attach his reform bill at the present session of Congress to an appropriation bill for the consular and diplomatic service and thus to press its passage. We certainly wish him success, but that success, I regret to say, is at least very doubtful. He will certainly find great obstacles in his path, and we have to contemplate the chance of defeat.
But if this effort, and other efforts to obtain the desired legislation should fail, must we therefore despair of accomplishing the reform of the consular service? By no means, for the principal part of that reform, the introduction of the competitive merit system for the filling of consular offices, can be compassed without any legislation by Congress. It is simply in the hand of the President alone. He can say: “The Constitution confers upon me the power and the duty to nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint consuls. The business of nominating—of selecting suitable persons for examination—rests with me. I consider it my duty to select for nomination the fittest persons I can find. According to my experience, the best available means to ascertain the fitness of candidates, and, as a general rule, to discover the fittest, is the open competitive examination. I, therefore, for my own guidance and convenience, to aid me in the performance of my duty to select the fittest persons for nomination, order that applicants for consular positions go before an examining board, designated by me, to be examined in competition with others, and that the examining board certify to me the three, or five (as the case may be) candidates who have passed the examination with the highest credit; and from the list so certified to me I shall select the person to be nominated. I shall also make my selections for nomination for the higher consular offices to be filled, from the incumbents of consulates of a lower grade by way of promotion.”
If the President does this there will be no constitutional question as to an encroachment upon his powers, for he does it of his own free will. It will be his way of exercising his powers and of performing his duties. This action will stand above all constitutional cavil. It is true, the President can only nominate, and his nominations will be subject to confirmation by the Senate. It may be said that many Senators, perhaps a majority of them, may dislike this method of mak-
