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themselves to the broader aspects of foreign trade. They make periodical trips to the United States in order to consult with leading business men and with governmental officials regarding problems confronting the country in connection with her exporting and importing activities.

Commercial attachés must be men of good general education, who are well trained in economics and who have the business point of view; they are appointed by the Secretary of Commerce after they have successfully passed written and oral examinations. As a rule, a commercial attaché is accredited by the State Department to an embassy or legation, just as is a military or a naval attaché. The fact that commercial attachés work under the guidance of, and in close cooperation with the heads of the country's diplomatic missions is sufficient reply to those who have been expressing the fear that the activities of the attachés will run counter to the efforts of our diplomatic representatives. In answering the opponents of the institution of commercial attachés, one may also point out that it is not true that only men imbued with the ideas of the sovereignty of the State are competent to handle problems of international commercial relations in so far as these involve governmental action. The truth in the matter is that many of these problems have been made unnecessarily complex because of their being handled by men trained in politics, law and statecraft, instead of by competent business men and men trained in economics.

The district assigned to a commercial attaché is much larger than the district of a consular officer; it covers a whole country and often embraces several countries.

Trade Commissioners.-Trade commissioners are traveling investigators of the Bureau sent out for the purpose of studying and reporting upon industrial and commercial conditions in foreign countries, especially in so far as these conditions may affect the sale of some particular commodity, such as textiles, furniture, canned fruit, agricultural implements, etc. The dispatch of traveling investigators

by the Bureau of Manufactures, the predecessor of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, began about sixteen years ago. Before the inauguration of the service of commercial attachés, trade commissioners, then known as special agents, were at times intrusted with the work of preparing reports on general economic conditions of the country to which they were sent. Such cases are now less frequent.

The traveling representatives of the Bureau must be men possessing adequate technical training and personality, as well as investigating ability; they must know how to gather data how to classify and to interpret them and how to write straightforward, businesslike accounts of their work; they should also be qualified to address public gatherings, as upon the completion of an investigation, a trade commissioner is expected to visit the principal commercial centers of the United States in order to present his findings to chambers of commerce, manufacturers' associations and similar bodies. Trade commissioners are appointed on the basis of examinations which test their knowledge of commercial subjects in general and their knowledge of the special field which they are expected to cover. They are expected to be familiar with the languages of the countries to which they are sent. Trade associations often aid. the Bureau in the selection of proper men for the service.

Investigations so far conducted have included, besides studies of selling opportunities for specific goods, such subjects as credits, advertising methods, banking practice, commercial organizations.

Organization in Washington. Commodity Divisions.The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce was reorganized by Mr. Hoover in the latter part of 1921; a radical rearrangement of divisional groupings placed the service very largely on a commodity basis. The object which Mr. Hoover had in view and which he so well succeeded in accomplishing, was to bring the Bureau into better accord with

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business by making the Bureau's divisions correspond to the large industrial groups which carry on the country's productive activities. The divisions so far created comprise the following: agricultural implements, automotive, electrical equipment, foodstuffs, boots and shoes, chemical, coal, hides and leather, iron and steel, lumber, machinery, paper, petroleum, rubber products, specialties, textile. It is proposed to add many other divisions as soon as funds for that purpose become available. The chief of each commodity division is an expert in his particular line; the appointments were made after consulting the trade organizations interested in specific divisions as to their choice of the best men for the posts.

Divisional chiefs keep in close touch with the business interests they serve, so as to be thoroughly familiar with the kind of information and assistance these interests need. They give expert advice and direction to the Bureau's field workers regarding the character of investigations which may be of the greatest benefit to the branch of industry which they represent. With the assistance of a well-trained staff, they analyze, edit and disseminate the incoming material. Their information is secured from the foreign representatives of the Department of Commerce, from consular officers, as well as from various official and unofficial publications received from abroad.

As an illustration of the practical service which commodity divisions are rendering to business men, one may cite the classification of the automotive exports from the United States, which was adopted by the Automotive Division. The Division classified the exports by number, value, and countries, into three price groups for motor cars and three tonnage groups for motor trucks. This arrangement enables the Automotive Division to analyze the export figures and point out to the manufacturer the number and value of vehicles exported which are of the same classification as the ones he is producing; and when compared with the exports of competing automotive nations it forms the basis for a