New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-13
LORD SALISBURY
H..
AS DIpLoMATIsT. AS HEAD OF THE Dh
PARTMEyT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AND AS NAN OF BUSINESS.

II in foreign affairs Mr. Gladstone be an ANA
teu Lord Salisbury certainly IL not. lie 49, "
general consent of friends and foes, an expert
enced and sdful Foreign Minister Mr. Iiad-
stones connection with diplomacy has been Incl
dental lie was never in the Foreign oiiice.
never responsible directly for the conduct OF
foreign affairs His appearances in this diibcnit
department Of business have been ftful. Ihey
began late in life. His first seasons EFFORT was
perhaps the agitation he set on foot in 1879 on
account of the Bulgarian atrocities. Lord saiis-
bury about that time or not long after WAS START
ing for Constantinople special ambassador
OF Great Britain at the Constantinople Confer
ence in the effort to set Turkey on her legs and
nrcvent the war which was not prevented.
Little more than n year after, he became
Secretary Of State for Foreign Affairs under Lord
Derby. lie went TO the Berlin Congress the same
year as Joint representative Of England with
Lord Beaconsfeld When he became Prime Min
ister in June, 1888, he became Foreign Minister
also and busy six months he had OF II; annex
ino Rurmah. and once more having on HIS hands
the eternal Eastern question; which promises 70
be even more eternal than the irish queS.ion-
Finally in 1877, having tried the late Lord IuuSs
leiQb few months, he turned him out-n was
done in q ruthless way-and took the roieisH
Office himself and has held 1t ever since con-
Jointly with the Premiership. Inc douoe "ui
den is one under which most men wonid s'assei.
but Lord Salisbury's power OF work Is great anN
he cheerfully puts heavy strain upon ~"
strength. Illness rewards HIN from uine ~ ''''S'
still the business is done.
He does the vast and evcr-growlnS pusiness
~ this huge department with curious pnhct
ualitv OF course much Of il is done Tor nm
Tho Foreign Office stat is numerous the fei
,oouent Secretaries are men OF KnowIedse anu
ability: they could not be Permanent oecie'"i'e'
if they were not; the machine wouiu ~ "
nieces Men like Sir Philip Currie and Dir lhoh-'s
Sanderson and their colleagues are part oi o''
immortal system: and the system has an eA'ehSion
which the State Department at washington -
very far from having. In Washington 700, ,nef'
are able men sngularly eo1petehO solno y, -.
Mr.. Hunter was one; the Iamehteu ME- ""H
Blaine was another; and the Department nas "
course archives records, documents, uaul'loN''
Rut I SUPPOSE it may be said thaI "nei0
in WASHINGTON one trained specialist is thought SUI
fcicnt, in London there are Dozen Inc e"eos
is that here a complicated piece of business ID pun
into the Foreign Minister'S hands In digeS'ed
and con,olete shape The work has been done lux
him and so thoroughly done that in all Ordinary
cosas no need not and does not hesitate 10 acceps
IL and act upon il. The resources OF 'he ''i'"
DEPARTMENT do not admit OF TINS Ohotousnne"'
Mich more is necessarily left to the oecre'1iS'
and much more depends on his capacity ana r"piu'
itv and knowledge. We have not. SUPPOSE
in ordinary hands twentieth part OF inc DuSlneSs
70 do and the organization of the Department ~
Washington is upon a scale suitaoie ZOE oiuinS
times. In an emergency, the chleI Oh
has TO do great deal winch 10 oi'i
of the British Foreign ONCE would soon Oe cdleu
on TO do. ,.
Mr. Rlaine's very elaborate and learned as
matches must have been, to great eN'eH'' nS
own work The array of authorities, OF prec-
oden+s Of historical illustration, and the resi-
tbeea yvonld hardly have made their appearance
90 tbev did had the Secretary been man OF less
o,rorience and of less acquaintance with dip
Io1natic history. lie may be hkeDed to General
Grant who down to the list hour OF his services
nod m uerform for himself no small part OF 'no
drudcerv which in European armies Is perIornieu
rs n matter of course by the stan. "eIeia.
Cent had as Mr. Blaine has. able men aDouo
lin some of them experts. But trained star
IN the European sense he had not, ana couio
NOT have: it did not exist. Nor IN Tie Euio-
moan sense. or 10 the European extent, ooes saoi
y diplomatic staff exist in the State Department
ot Washington. But General or MihiS'sf
ought not to have to execute, or even 10 ouPe'-
intend the execution of such tasks Inc De-
partment should grind out the griSt' aS IL "eis'
automatically, as it does here.
Yet even here, character and industry counts
+bov arc no less forces than elsewhere You
never hear of Lord Salisbury being followed
about from place TO place by twenty
soorIet disnatch boxes, the contents unread. ths
business pndone. Lord Granville acquired repu-
,ot,op for Incidence which he did not altogether
doserve He worked hard. but his habit was W
take the subjects which he thought pressing. lhess
| he would clear Oft the others waited linen No
| would attack the twenty scarlet dispatch OoAeS'
and dispose Of perhaps ten, meaning 10 uo "o
remaining ten on the morrow. but Oh the moii'"
| ten others would have arrived SO that there "ee
still twenty. and those who saw him surrouHueu
by this collection might think they were tne s@u',
| twenty. Thus it was that it came to be Saia
| of Lord Granville that he was idle. and Sunereu
| business to accumulate upon bis hands
OF Lord Salisbury no such Suspicion was
ever entertained. "A glutton 1or WORN
| that is his character with all 'hoS'
| who come in contact with him. one Oh his 00
| leagues tells an anecdOte which will serve as ven
rs twenty. At the end Of a long and harasslnS
davis work at the Foreigl Office mass OF DIS
matches and documents relating to an important
matter was brought in TO him by secretary
| There was some question as TO which of the many
| departments or permanent officials this oudge'
| should be referred. and who should make 'ns
various precis and minutes required. NO, saia
Lord Salisbury, "leave them with me ana WIZ
| take them home" He did, and astonished INV
| Department by returning them next morning WIZ
the dispatch that had to be sent all coniP"'
! and all in his own handwriting. lie must nav
sat up all night, which is nothing remarKaoe' ous
in this one night he had done the WORK u
dozen men. Not within living memory haS ~
| been Foreign Minister who knew 50 m"on u
| the business of his Department lhere are oO1-'
monty two classes of men, or two classes Vi niin1'
| to whom the transaction of such ahalrS u ooH-
mitted the man Of Details and the man u iue',
and action; he who has TO take broad Nle"S anN
decisions Of great import. Lord SALISBURY u Ov'A