New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-05-14
TIRE DIPLOMATIC PENSION SYSTEM

The quadrennial agony is nearly over, and
the cries of the hungry will soon be hushed.
Fifty thousand cOntented mouths are stilled
by the sweets that have been crammed into
them, and the half million unsuccessful tongues
that lately wagged all over Washington IN
clamorous chorus are paralyzed, at least for a
season, with disappointment and despair The
preliminary dirty work which every new
Administration must get off its hands before
settling down to solid duties has been accom-
plisLed in q manner not calculated, on
tbe whole to excite dissatisfaction. Ac-
corling TO precedent, it had to be
done, and it has been disposed OF
without much more than ordinary indifler-
ence to the public welfare Having been
for forty years accepted as an inevitable conse-
ouence of accession to Office, no Executive
seems now disposed to dispute its necessity.
Within what reasonable limits it might be
brought, however, by Government ready to
face il as n national folly and scandal should
be faced, and how far the occasion for its per-
petual recurrence might be modified by judi
cIous legislation, are questions which present
themselves with fresh force every year.
| The evil of inOrdnate patronage and
it's indiscriminate bestowal has grown to
such dimensions that, unless presently checked
by some powerful hand, it promises to affect
the dignity and credit of the Executive Office
10 n serious extent. Sooner or latcr-and the
sooner the better, in our yiew-the cOnsdera-
ton of low to abate it must be forced upon
us. ANY effective step toward that end should
be welcomed as an advance III the direction
Of needful and wholesome reform; and, as a
first suggestion, we submit the total, absolute,
and unconditional abolition of the greatest
political sham of the day, and the dlretul
spring Of more disgraceful wrangles than can
he traced to any other cause-Our present
diplomatic pension system.
What is the diplomatic system of the United
States2 What public requirement does 1t
| fnlflP What national service does it render
In what respect is it essential to the comfort,
| the dignity, or the prosperity, of the people
| In whose eyes is it anything but a mOckery
and a rcproach, excepting those of insatlate
aspirantsl 1t was founded, aud has been con-
tinucd upon the models supplied by European
| States, where ccremonious and super-formal
! methods of international intercourse are among
| lie many burdens of monarchical forms OF
government, but 1t has hardly single quality
to recommend it to Republican approval. Ii is
m impeachment, rather than an assistance to
hc free discussion of important events. This
| Government has n proposition to present to
some foreign court The Secretary of State
| tccgraphs or writes the American envoy, who
makes an appointment with the Minister OF the
| Court to which he is accredited, rccites his in
structions. receives the reply, and transmits it,
after such delay as diplomatic etiquette may
| have intcrposcd. Can anybody tell what Is
| gained by all this circumlOcuion, or produce
an argument to defend it, excepting the insult
! icieut one that il has been the undisputed Gus
tom of ages a direct message from one
! Government 10 the other would have the
! double advantage of expedition and of freedom
from the danger of accidental or other misintcr-
prctatiOn And if our embassies are superiluous
| I'M cases where ntcrcOmmuncatiOn may be de-
| sirabc, how worse than useless they appear In
! countries with which we have no relations of
| the slightest moment, and the very names of
many OF which are almost unknown to us. OF
the Gfty-odd ornamental legations and consul
atcs- general which we support mt least two
thirds are in petty nations with about rs much
claim upon our attention rs the Republic of
! Andoua or the Principally of Lichtenstcin.
| OF what earthly use to anybody but the gentle
men who are sent to fill them are the Embas-
sizes Of Comayagua, San Salvador, La Paz, Hon
oulu Assuncion Copenhagen, and a host of
Others, each of which costs the Government mt
least ten thousand dollars year in cash directly
accounted for and nobody knows how much in
| other waysl I'm certain newly opened cOun-
! tries like China and Japan, with which we
| have growing and important commercial rela-
! tons, but by which the laws and usagcs of
! the community of civilized nations are yet inn
| perfectly recognized or understood, it may he
necessary, for the protection of our interests,
! to maintain some sort of permanent and
| authorized representative of the power of the
United States but the great mass of our official
establishments abroad are nothing better than
| cxtavagant and by no means crcdtablc in
| cumbranccs. They stagnatc in time of peace,
| they are suspended in case of war, and the
only periods in which they can pretend to use
! fitness are those when international misunder-
standings occur--contingcncics that could in all
cases be more promptly met and more expc-
! ditiOusy disposed of by expert special agents
| IL has become q commonplace theory that the
mission to England is, outside of the Cabinet
| the first gift at the disposal of the Govern
mcnt but up to the outbreak of the Rebel
lion, what was the British mission
more than a highly respectable roost for
individuals supposed TO have deserved
well of their party, and to have plenty of
money of their own to spend, to perch drOw-
silly upon for a few years before being dispatched
! to political OblyOnl 1t will presently be held
| by gentleman of ability, who will doubtless
represent us with all propriety and discretion,
and one, we may hope who has too much good