The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1877-10-17
INSIDE DIPLOMATIC HISTORY,

: 81 see reference in newspape
!. eulosy of Mr.. Motley to your positio
toward that officer, and the intima alto
that your action was one of the remot
causes of his death !"
f "Yes, I have read it, and it does m
great injustice. Mr.. Motley was Ger
taiply very able, very honest gentle
man, fit to hold any official position
But he knew long before lie went on
} that he would have to 60. When wa
making these nominations Mr.. Sumne
came to me and asked me to appoip
Mr.. Motley as Minister to the Court O
st. James. I told him I would and
did. Soon after Mr.. Sumner mad,
that violent speech about the Alabam,
claims, and the British Government
was greatly offended. Mr.. Sumne
was at that time chairman of the Com
mittee on Foreign Affairs.
| hoILtI AND SUMNER.
"Mr. Motley had to be instructed
The instructions were prepared YER,
carefully, and after Governor Fish ant
| had gone over them for the last time
l wrote an addendum charging him
that, above all things, he should han.
die the subject of the Alabama claim!
with the greatest delicacy. Mr.. Mot
ley, instead of obeyiug bis explicit in.
structions, deliberately fell in line
with Mr.. Summer, and thus added in.
suit to the previous injury. AS SCOT
as L heard of it went over to the State
Department and told Governor Fish to
dismiss Motley at once. I was very
angry, indeed, and I have been sorry
many time since that did not stick
to my first determination. Mr. Fish
advised delay because of Summers DO.
sltlon in the Senate and attitude on the
treaty question. We did not want to
stir him up again just tfen. We dis
patched note of severe censure to
Motley at once, and ordered him to alb
stain from any further connection with
that question. We thereupon com.
menced negotiations with tue British
Minister at Washington, aud the result
was the Joint High Commission and
the Geneva award. supposed Mr..
Motley would be manly enough to re-
sign after that snub, but lie kept on
till he was removed. Mr.. Summer
promised me that he would vote for
the treaty. But when it was first be-
fore the Senate he did all he could to
beat it.
~ must tell you an incident about
Mr. Sumner. The first time ever saw
George William Curtis he called on me
to request an behalf of number of in
fuential Republicans. the reinstate-
ment of Mr.. Sumner as Chairman of
the Committee on Foreign Affairs. /
told him that, if l should 90 to the
Senate and dictate the organization of
the committees, | would be apt Co hear
something about the fellow who made
a fortune by attending to his own bus
mess. said l should certainly sug-
gest the idea to any part of the lesisla-
tive branch that should undertake to
construct my Cabinet. I gave him
distinctly TO understand that did not
propose to interfere in the matter at
all, even by advice to personal friends
amopg the Senators, and that /
thought Mr.. Sumner had not done his
duty as chairman of the committee.
because he had hampered the business
of the State Department by pigeon
holing treaties for months. Mr.. Curtis
said that was impossible, for Mr.. Sum
ner had only short time before told
him that his successor would find a |
clean docket, and made special claims
for the execution of the work of the
committee. Knowing, as I did, the
adrOit arguments used among Mr..
Summers friends, l determined to test
the matter on clean docket. I told
Mr.. Curtis that l had proposed to
prove to him that his friend Mr.. Sum-
ner had not told him the facts and
that he had made these statements
knowing them to be falseboods. Mr..
Curtis was amazed at my offer, but l
assured him that he had been fire.
quently caught in similar representa-
tions. l told Mr.. Curtis that there
were nine or eleven treaties before
the Senate from the State Department
that had been there several mouths,
aud had been in Mr.. Summers hands,
but had never been laid before the
l wrote from the spot,
Long Branch, to the State Depart
ment, and to my own surprise there
proved to be more treaties than I had
said that had been in Mr.. Summers
own hands for longer time than l
expected. That was the clean docket.
When told Mr.. Curtis about it and
gave him the record, he was rather
He said it was remark
able. I told my object in having the
'ecord searched was to show him that