Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-01-30
DIPLOMATIC AGENTS.
According to Treaty Arrangements They
Are Divided Into Four Glasses.

According Treaty Arrangements They
Are Divided Into Four Classes.
Under rules formally agreed upon by
the Powers OF Europe. at the Interna-
tional Congresses of Vienna and AK la
Chapelle theld in the curly part of the
present century,. and adopted by the
Government of the United States. diplo-
matte agents are divided into four
classes: % ambassadors, legates or
nuncios: t3l ENJOYS, ministers or other
persons accredited to sovereigns; 90
ministers resident; and a. charges
d'affaires accredited to ministers for
foreign affairs. Ambassadors, legateS
and nuncios possess what is styled the
Representative" character. They are
supposed to represent the person of the
Prince by whom they are sent, and as
such to he entitled to hold direct per-
sonal audience with the sovereign to
whom they are accredited. Our Govern
ment neither sends nor receives diplo-
mats of this grade. Legates and nunciOs
represent the Pope, with whom we have
no political relations and who, therefore.
has no agent at Washington: and as we
have not seen fit to attach the title of
Ambassador to any of the representatives
sent out by us, we have been hOnOred
with no ambassadors from other states.
In point of fact, this representa- tive dis
tinction is of little practical value so far
as it confers the privilege of direct APP
proach to the throne, for diplomatic
business is transacted nowadays through
the Foreign Office of every leading gov
eminent. and not through personal au-
diences with the sovereign head. Still,
it humoTS the vanity of a diplomat to be
called Ambassador; the title gives him
precedence on ceremonial occasions, and
at some capitals it gives him precedence
in securing audience with the Minister
for Foreign Affairs. The United States.
in its treatment of the diplomatic corps
al Washington, disregardS the question of
title in matters of business. The ministers
take rank in the diplomatic body accord
ing to the order in which they arrive at
the seat of Government and present
their credentials, and as to interviews
with the Secretary of State they are adj
mitted in the audience-room in the
order in which they reach the depart
ment and present their cards on
ssDiplomatic Day" A similar rule as
to audiences is recognized at st. Peters
burg. Berlin and elsewhere. but the fact
that il IS not universally observed places
our representatives occasionally at
disadvantage. In some countries a Min
lister of the United States may wait for
hours in the anti-room of the Foreign
Office to gain an interview on some
state matter of the liveliest Importance;
and at the very last moment, when
those outranking him in title have
come and gone and he is about to
take his turn. the representative of
some insignificant Asiatic power. who
has just arrived with no other object
perhaps than to exchange few idle
words with the Minister of Foreign Al
fairs. goes in ahead. simply because he
is styled Ambassadors" and the repre-
sentative of the greatAmerican Republic
NAV have the door of the audience
room closed in his face for the day.