CONSULAR OFFICIALS

Evening Star, Issue 21012, 28 January 1932, Page 9

CONSULAR OFFICIALS

AUSTRALIA AND AMERICA Pres* Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. . NEW YORK, January 26. American and British officials here and in Washington have expressed complete surprise at the publication in Australia of a report that a new Australian Consul-General has been appointed to the United States. 1 Mr D. M. Dow, who acts as official secretary for Australia in New York, said: “I have no information, and 1 have never heard a word of it.” The British Consul, at New York (Mr Ronald Campbell) said: “I have not heard anything. It would, however, be an interesting development.” The British Embassy and the State Department both said they “ know nothing about the Australian ConsulGeneral.” It is an open secret that from the very opening of the New York office every incumbent has intimated to the Australian Government the anomaly of his position here. Having no diplomatic standing, the commissioners are unable to communicate directly with the State Department, although their duties are much more considerable than those of trade representatives. While the appointment of a consular official would command the recognisance of the State Department, it is a question whether the work of the office is sufficiently consular to necessitate the appointment of a Consul-General.