Diplomat Files His Complaints In One-Volume Suggestion Box

The life of a career diplomat in the United States Foreign Service varies from chasing llamas across the barren hills of Turkestan to arranging intrigues in the smoke-filled backrooms of Communist capitals. For most, the excitement and variety of the work constitute its prime reward, and Henry Serrano Villard, a career diplomat for fifty years, would agree. But the niggardly budget of the State Department has not kept up with rising costs around the world, and the U.S. diplomat consequently has been exposed to severe indignities. Villard has collected all the gripes of his fifty years in the Service in his new book, Affairs at State, which becomes one huge suggestion box.

Villard nobly does battle with the paper windmills of State Department bureaacracy. He talks of the rigid hierarchy of command, of the mounds of messages and memos which float around Foggy Bottom in ever-increasing amounts, and of the extremely compartmentalized nature of modern decision-making. With nostalgia he recalls the days before 1947, when policy was formed at the top in an atmosphere of pipes and good cigars, and when "Discussions were unruffled, wide-ranging, and unhampered by squads of technicians and specialists."

Dampened Incentives

Affairs at State also deals with the low pay-scale which, Mr. Villard believes, causes many able, would-be diplomats to choose a career elsewhere. He cites the institution of lateral appointments which seriously dampens the incentive of those hoping to move up the ladder. Finally, and pointedly, he describes the insufficient housing allowance provided for U.S. representatives abroad and the total lack of such allowance for Foreign Service personnel temporarily stationed at home.

In a particularly interesting chapter entitled "Let Them Eat Crumbs," Villard tells of the astonishingly low entertainment allowances which Congress grants to American Embassies. Those who conceivt of diplomatic life as brimming with extravagance should read his description of "bargain-basement tactics" which "hold back on appetizers" and "water down the drinks." Apparently guests at a Russian reception can always expect their fill of caviar and vodka, while American Embassies are likely to serve hot dogs and beer. Mr. Villard believes we may lose the cold-cut war.

Rank Weeds Pruned

The book is written with a marvelous consistency of style--the same phrases appear over and over. Things are constantly "flowering up," the "rank weeds of bureaucracy" are pruned, and the fight is constantly being waged at the "grass roots." Mr. Villard also believes in the personal touch: he includes a detailed and scathing biographical sketch of John J. Rooney, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on State Department Appropriations, who opposes the use of the "proper lubricant" in diplomatic affairs.

Affairs at State does not make encouraging reading for anyone interested in the U.S. Foreign Service, especially for anyone interested in a lifetime career in the Service. But the casual reader should soon some to an understanding of precisely why American diplomacy today so often tends towards the abysmal.