New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-05
LORD SALISBURY.
AMERICAN INTEREST IN HIM AND A BRIEF
vrrw OF FOREIGN OFFICE POLITICS.

London, May 20.
zr,o thu testimony Of transient Americans /
aro, tho conclusion that LORD Salisbury is TO
a,r-r,caps in general a much less interesting fig
r-a than ne deserves TO be. They do not allege
cha, this indifference TO the merits Of the eminent
Cor..rvative who has charge Of the destinies Of
this country springs entirely from on overwhelm-
ing regard for his INDUSTRIOUS rival heard only
-. o,b.y dav, with shock Of surprise cannot
.xnress that the majority of Americans care
Nothing about Mr.. Gladstone. The friend who
oave me this surprising intelligence is himself
Gladstonian and good one. But he said: " If
Won mention Mr.. Gladstones name to American
audience. nine out Of ten would ask Who
is he p" / think when he said that he had IN
mind an audience gathered somewhere IN the
westernmost part of the great American continent
He would not admit it. He declared his account
to be true one Of Americans in general You
sverrate" he said, So the degree Of interest and
degree Of knowledge In America about men ana
things in England. In the fringe OF Ausnt'c
States something is known about Europei In the
West we neither know care what Is done IN
the world outside of us, except so far as IL con-
Germs ourselves" This confirms my conjecture
that the carelessneSs about even Mr.. Gladstone was
confined 10 the stretch Of country lying between
the AIeghanies and the Pacific Ocean, and still
remoter region.
II however. il be true in any degree Of Mr..
Gladstone still more must II be Of Lord Sails
burv and true of him 10 some extent, Ndge,
oven on the pavements Of New-York ITSELF Yet
he il in reality so considerable and original
rersonace that 10 be ignorant of him is a mistake
and 10 misIudge him might even be misfortune
I speak of him as Prime Minister and Foreign
Secretary Of England the country with which we
have closer relations Of every kind than with any
other country in the world. Queen Victoria we
know OF her august name not even my western
friend would pretend that any large number Of his
Western fellow-couutrymen are unaware. But
the Queen is only nominally ruler of this kingdom
Her Majesty reigns. Lord Salisbury governs. lie
not only governs the British Empire. but he has
the daily charge and conduct of all the Foreign
Affairs Of the Empire among Others Of those which
concern the United States Of America. We have
TO deal with him in the most direct and constant
wav We do business with him, and great deal
Of business He has more influence than any other
living man has upon the policy of Canada, our
nearest and largest neighbor; not because he Is
Foreign Minister, but because he y Prime Minis
ter and responsible Parliament for the colonial
policy Of which Lord Knutsford is the immediate
agent In the dispute with Newfoundland It is
again Lord Salisbury who has deciding voice ;
who SAYS what England will or will not do with
reference 20 that rather vociferous possession Of
hers.
What does il really matter to whether such
a man, with such powers, be labelled with one
pertv name or another: whether he be called
Liberal or Conservative And if it matters al ALL
then It is TO be said again-apparenty ID cannot
he said too often-that in such public interests
as Americans and English have in common, the
,cb vativ iS n
the American than the English Liberal is Moth
ing is so misleading as political nomenclature.
1t is the Gladstonihn press for example, IN which
men and things American are abused most often
and most bitterly 1t is the Gladstonian upheaval
of the political fabric OF this Union which Is most
haerantay in contradiction of that same principle
Of Union which the United States fought four
wears 10 maintain. And it is in the Gladstonlan
ranks that the modern English Socialist Radical
is to be found and from him that come the attacks
on the social institutions which are most firmly
rooted and deeply respected in America those
seem m me good reasons for getting rid Of some
Of the prejudices which cling TO the name Con
sarvative We Americans are, in truth, the most
conservative people in the world, and we need hoU
~otrsa a fair hearing TO Lord Salisbury because
be FOO is conservative. II is, perhaps, a mistake
~ take sides with any political party in coun-
trv not ours with any political party, that Is, as
a marty What we in America sympathyze Win
in Europe is progress, the spread OF those IDEAS
which make for political liberty and social sta
bilitv. In no country of Europe has any poItl-
cal party a monopoly of these ideas, and certainly
not in England.
Whatever be thought Of Lord Salisbury the
Prime Minister Lord Salisbury the Foreign Min
lister has a reputation of his own. The rule Is
No politics at the Foreign Office. 1t has not
always been observed, but it is a rule. Mr.. Glad
stone did not observe it, His profound convlc-
ton of the wckedness of Lord Beaconsield reached
into the field of foreign, as well domestic af-
fairs. So. when he became Prime Minister In
1880 he set himself % far as ne could,
the work of his predecessor. There was. Of
course much that he could not reverse. Public
faith had 10 be respected. The engagements OF
ENGLAND had 10 be fulfilled Treaties had 70 be
observed. even though the hated name of Beacons-
field WAS affixed to them I'VE have no power,
said Mr. Gladstone 10 the electors Of Midlothian
in 1880, to relieve you from engagements of
honor and good faith entered into by the present
Government, through summary process"
No power Whether he had the will or not, it
is easy 70 see There was no summary process.
But there came, in the course of the next few
wears series Of acts which did in truth over.
threw much of the work which had been done
sbrcad and in the colonies by the Government
of Lord Beaconsfeld. Mr. Gladstone described
the policy which eliminated in the Treaty of
Berlin as a theatrical policy. He scoffed at it
as a series of surprises. He sneered at the false
phantoms of glory He laid down the right
principles of foreign policy, and acted on them
in his own way when the country gave him the
chance / always thought it Characteristic Of Mr..
Gladstone that when he came to construct n
platform Of foreign policy the first plank IN 1t
was good government at home and we Know
that 70 his mind good government at home means
government by Mr. Gladstone The second Of his
six PRINCIPLES was not less characteristic, 70 pre-
serve the blessings Of peace, but especially 10 the
Christian nations OF the world.
IL may be worth while 10 recall. rs basis