THE FOREIGN OFFICE.

Mataura Ensign, 26 January 1912, Page 2

THE FOREIGN OFFICE.

ART OF HIGH DIPLOMACY.

KEEPING THE PEACE,

During the past three or four months, ' since the Morocco crisis became acute, /the clerks in the Foreign Office, who usually are known as armchair Civil [Servants, from the easy character of ! their duties, have been working a good deal harder than most clerks, even in the busiest offices in the city (stated a recent London paper). Since about the middle of July last the Foreign Office staff has been working day and night. The staff has been divided into two divisions for day and night work, but the ordinary Foreign Office staff, large as it is—for it is one of the most heavily-staffed branches of the Civil Service—was not sufficiently large to deal with the tremendous exHra pressure of work brought about by the critical diplomatic situation that arose over Morocco, and still exists, in consequence of the outbreak of war between Italy and Turkey. Clerks had, indeed, to be drafted from the Treasury and Home Office to assist the "Foreign Office staff in their work. _ Throughout the day and night lengthy cable messages keep pouring into the Foreign Office. Those messages come from all quarters of Europe —from Secret Service agents, from our various diplomatic representatives abroad, and from the great financial magnates, who exercise such a powerful influence on the course of European politics.

In addition to these correspondents, the Foreign Office officials have been for months past in continual communication with the Admiralty, the War Office and our Naval and Military Intelligence Departments in different parts of the world. It must be borne in mind that directly a diplomatic situation becomes at all critical, preparatisns have to be made for war. These preparations are carried on as quietly and as secretly as possible; but whilst politely-worded messages are passing between the representatives of two Governments each is secretly organising as rapidly as it can all its fighting forces, and preparing for that sudden break-off of diplomatic negotiations which may always occur at any moment when once a diplomatic situation becomes in the least acute.

Holding the Lines. The telegraphic messages to the Foreign Office are transcribed on long slips of blue paper, known among Foreign Office clerks as "spools." All the messages are, of course, in cipher. They are deciphered and written out in longhand by a special staff of clerks, who, in performing this duty, see all that is going on behind the scenes.

The deciphering staff work in a large room, which is rigidly guarded, and no one—not even a Foreign Office official —can enter it without a permit from the Foreign Secretary or Permanent Secretary. As the despatches are deciphered they are taken to the Pormanent Secretary, who lays them at the earliest possible moment before the Foreign Secretary. The telephone has greatly expedited, if it has not simplified, the work of diplomatic negotiations. During the last few months, on several days when the diplomatic situation was specially acute —notably on the memorable day when the King put off his departure from London for Goodwood, and when Europe was on the very verge of war—the four telephone lines between London and Paris were monopolised by the Foreign Office for the greater part of the day.

'As a matter of fact, only one line was required by the Foreign Office, another being requisitioned by the French Ambassador in London, but the other two lines were deliberately held up by tho authorities in order to guard against any attempt in London or Paris at "tapping" tho lines while. these critical conversations were in progress.

One of the busiest officials at the

Foreign Office, when diplomatic negotiations are in progress, is the Superintendent of the Treaty Department. He is assisted by five staff officers and a registrar.

Whilst diplomatic conversations are in progress, the treaties made between this country and the various Powers concerned in the conversations, or likely to be concerned, have to be looked up, and the Foreign Secretary has to be kept daily informed of how far the points in dispute are affected by the treaties.

In the Treaty Department in the ! Foreign Office is a copy of every European treaty, and the department may have to make extracts from perhaps a hundred different treaties for the information of the Foreign Secretary when he is carrying on "a •conversation" on merely one point in the matter in dispute. The precis writers at the Foreign Office during the progress of important diplomatic negotiations are worked tremendously hard. Each precis writer might have from twenty to fifty thousand words of cabled and written despatches every morning to deal with, which would have to be cut down to about three or four thousand, words. The precis of the despatches Must embody with absolute accuracy what is officially called the "main intent" of the despatches, and precis copies must he delivered to the Permanent Secretary two hours after the original documents have been handed to the precis writer.

The Silver Greyhound'. At the end of the day, and sometimes twice a day during the hours of critical diplomatic conversations, the King is communicated with by the Foreign Secretary. If His Majesty is out of London, either in the country or abroad, a King's messenger is despatched from the Foreign Office with the Foreign Secretary's report. It may, however, always be taken that if the King remains abroad, or even out of London, during a diplomatic crisis, it has not reached the stage which in diplomatic language is called "acute." If you were to stand outside the Foreign Office for an hour or so any time between midnight and four or five in the morning during a diplomatic crisis, you would see many remarkable people enter and pass out; you would see some of the Secret Service agents, for example, who know more about the inner working of European polities than even the Foreign Secretary or an Ambassador. It is upon their information —secured often at the imminent risk of their lives—that the course of our policy in an international dispute may bo finally determined. It is by the information supplied by the Secret Service agents that our Government is able to see how far the Power or Powers with whom we are negotiating are "bluffing," and are able to read between the lines of a litely-worded or defiantly-framed despatch. Then the night visitors to ifche Foreign Office include men, and sometimes women, who come by stealth to sell, if they can, some secret bit of information. 'l*ll3 information may be worth thousands, more often it is not worth a farthing, ha*, it requires a veteran diplimatist to bo able to gauge the value of this sort of information. These night visitors have sometimes left the Foreign Office with a fortune in their pockets, but far more often they go empty away. Then you may see Foreign Service messengers returning, perhaps, from a rushing journey across Europe, or parting on one. Aristocratic-looking clerks in evening dress pass in and out, and in their wake follows a string of hurrying telegraph boys. Motor cars stop and set down sternfaced, tired-looking high officials, who have rushed away from some great social function to tackle again the work they must get through ere snatching a few hours' sleep. High officials from the "War Office or Admiralty arrive or take their departure, and perhaps an official arrives from Buckingham Palace with a message from' the King. '

j The Foreign Office is all alight. Each | department is full of busy, pale, wearyI looking clerks and officials; whilst the | foreign Secretary in his private office j is hard at v.ork controlling and direct--1 ing all the intricate movements in the great diplomatic contest, upon the ls- ' jue of which depends the peace of the ; world.