The morning call., 1893-04-23
A QUESTION OF PROPERTY.


The refusal of the court OF Austria to re-
ceive Max Judd as American Minister to
Vienna is natural sequel to the rejection
of Mr.. Kelley under Cleveland's first ad-
ministration. Whatever may be thought of
Mr.. Cleveland elsewhere, the Viennese.
who are among the most refined and pol
ished people in the world, must regard him
as singularlv deficient in the attributes
which constitute good breeding.
No principle of diplomatic usage is bet
ter established than that foreign envoy
must De persona grata if he is 10 be re-
ceiyed. As no gentleman is bound to re-
eeive in his drawiDg-room one whom he
despises, so no nation is required 10 accept
as a representative of a foreign country
one whom for personal reasons its rulers
do not desire 10 meet This is principle
which persons OF delicacy realize instinct
lively; and it is justified on the plainest
dictates Of common-sense. Yet with sin
gular faulty We have at regular intervals
sent to the European courts diplomats
whose very presence at those courts was a
slight Sometimes the breach of proprIety
was overlooked, probably on the theory
that Americans could not be expected to
know how to behave themselves. Thus
the court OF Spain, with n wry face, ac-
cepted Mr.. S0ule. whose utterances had
been most insulting to the Spanish royal
family. But when we tried to send TO a
court allied with Italy a gentleman who
had felt it to be his duty to denounee Victor
Emmanuel as an atheist and usurper. the
Government threw him back or our hands.
No one would have been surprised at the
British Government pursuing the same
course had we sent Mr.. Egan to London
instead of San tiago.
A newly elected President is bound by
unwritten law 10 satisfy a certain proper
ton of his friends with diplomatic Office.
He is guided in making his selection. first
by considerations of personal fitness, and
next by desire to crafty the largest ros-
sble proportion of his supporters. Thus
Mr.. Bayard was appointed 10 London be-
cause his term of service in the State De-
partment had familiarized him with foreign
affairs. while some gentleman not known to
fame was appointed to Japan to please the
veteran Democrat. Allen G. Thurman
Most of the other appointments were prob
ably dictated by corresponding reasons
Either the man himself was conspicuously
fit or his appointment gratifed powerful
political leaders, whom it was deemed
polite TO cOneiliate.
But another consideration should have
had equal weight No man should be sent
abroad who is not likely to be welcome at
the court to which he is accredited, simply
for the reasons that if he is not welcome his
residence near that court will not be pleas
ant. and his usefulness to his country will
be nil. If there is any object in keeping up
the diplomatic service it is in order that the
II 4
courts some one who can explain accidents
calling for explanation, and can smooth
over the asperities which arise in the tur-
MOL Of national intercourse. II the man
sent is personally offensive to the Govern
ment to which he is sent, it is obvious that
he can accomplish neither object His ex-
plantations will make matters worse, and
instead of smoothing difficulties he will
aggrayate them. We have had in this coun-
Try many examples of the mischief which
an unwelcome foreign envoy can do. Every
one remembers the story of N. Catacazy {;
If Washington had been man of less firm
ness. Genet would have embroled us in
war at a time when the nation required
peace; there is no question but the intense
bitterness of our antipathy to England
after the rebellion was aggravated by the
dispatches of Lord Lyons.
In most European cOun tries revolutionary
movements are chronic and ardent young
men often take part liz them. When they
are crushed the defeated leaders not I'M
frequently find refuge in this country,
where sometimes they rise to political
prominence. These persons not unnatur-
ally cherish longing to revisit their old
home under new auspices and to exult over
their former oppressOrs. There is perhaps
nothing wrong in this. But the qualification
of their desire is to sacrifice the interests of
the country to their own glorifcaton IL
the United States should send revolution
ist to Germany, or Fenian to England, or
a nihilist TO Russia. it would probably be
gratifying to the nihilist or the Fenian, or
the revOlutionist. but it would be an insult
to the power to which the envoy was &C.
credited.
The whole business Is governed by the
simple rule that we must do as we would be
done by. The late Mr.. Benjamin of Lonis-
lana, who was memberof JEFF Davis Cabi-
net. afterward became naturalized in En- G.
land. If British Government had named
him as Minister to the United States the
President would not have received him.
We cannot expect that European powers
will be less touehy or less keen in their self
respect than we are