The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-11-13
CHANGING DIPLOMATIC METHODS.

RUDINI, the italian premier, has pro-
NOTED Baron FAvA, who was the Italian min
lister TO this country during the Malta
troubles at New Orleans, to the rank of
plenipotentiary of the first class. This
was perhaps intended to show the United
States that the Italian government had
lost no confidence in FAvA-a sort of d.
piomatic way OF making mouths at u.s. But
the public generally are losing faith in the
whole system Of foreign representation,
and, with the exception of consuls and
commercial agents, are getting ready to do
away with it, The change may come grad
ually, but the enovy extraordinary, with his
pompous and costly retinue, must event
ually 'go.'
At the lord mayors banquet in London a
few nights ago, the Marquis of SALISBURY
said, in substance, that the warfare of
nations is changing into an industrial COM
petition, its prize being the markets of the
various countries. The truth Of this is
illustrated by the financial and commercial
connections in the Central and South Amer
lean states. But with the facilities afforded
by the telegraph, tie ocean greyhounds"
pienipoten tiary has become the meres.
figure head, except, as in the case of EGAN,
when he becomes the stumbling block to
peaceable relations. There is no bust
ness between nations now transacted
by the diplomatic representative, that can
not be dispatched with greater accuracy
and facility by direct correspondence.
Few of our American ministers to Euro
pean or other foreign courts have been able
to escape one degree or another of toady-
ism. The modern diplomat is usually some
rich snob who can afford 10 spend several
times the amount of his salary in the en-
| tertainment of court favorites or in show :
ing American tourists how far up he
stands in the precincts of royalty. He
dimes and is dlned. Occasionally he re-
ceives cablegram signed by the surname Of
the secretary of state, telling him to leave
with the secretary of foreign affairs note
assuring said secretary of his most distin-
guished consideration. But there is
nothing, we repeat, that may not be- COM
municated without an intermediary. The
whole business is puerile and ridiculous.
For the second or third class missions
impecunious editors or authors are picked
out from the friends of influential senator's,
and these, having nothing else to do, devote
their time to writing letters
to their journals or making books
of travel-which possess the merit,
at any rate, of contributing to the public
enlightenment. But, like the bigger tribe,
they live in an artificial atmosphere and are
usually, If anything, more the rep resenta-
tives OF the countries to which they are
accredited than of their own.
The HERALD does not mean to disparage
the dignity of character nor the eminent
impress upon international laws and trea-
ties of many American representatives
abroad i'll past times. Some of the most
noted of our statesmen are connected in
history and revering memory by such SER
vice. But even if the generation of those
men had survived the trend of modern poll
tics In the United States, the environments,
conditions and circumstances have greatly
changed.