The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-04-23

out Is limited to the time required Tor max
ing the direct transit. When Mr.. PIERCE
wat appointed. only sixty days remained
before the time when his resignation would
have to be written. on account Of the change
OF Administration. Just one-half OF this
time was used by him In waiting for the
departure OF the Fuerst Bismarck on her
Mediterranean excursion. on which some oil
Mr.. PIERoE's Minneapolis friends had ar
ranged to go. Even technically, Mr.. PIERCE
Is entitled to pay for his first thirty days In
Office only II every one OF those thirty days
was actually and necessarily occupied In
receiving his instructions" To suppose
That the State Department required thirty
days to Instruct q diplomat who wa to re-
sign Immediately upon reaching his post, Is
too ridiculous for discussion.
The statement that Minister PIERCE
reached Lisbon in forty-one days ts sus-
ceptible Of two interpretations. Ii he
means forty-one days from the date OF his
appointment. he has counted wrong. He
was confirmed on Jan. G. Forty.one days
after that date he was Just landing at
Genoa. with all Italy before him. II he
means ~forty-one days in addition TO his
thirty days for receiving Instructions. and
reckons from his date Of sailing, that
would bring him to Lisbon on March II.
As q matter OF fact. he reached Lisbon on
Marchs. four days after the expiration OF the
term OF the President who appointed him.
The time allowed him bylaw was lifetime re-
CURED for the direct transit from New York
to Lisbon. That Is ten days: eight days to
Gibraltar and forty-elght hours thence
to Lisbon. This was his legal allowance,
and no more. He exceeded 1t by many
days; and when he draws his salary for
those days In excess OF 1t. he draws salary
in violation Of the law.
The Minister'S prctence that the cholera
Mt Marseilles delayed his arrival Mt Lisbon
and sent him into Italy to walt until the
scare was over" is pretty impudent hum
bug. He was at Gibraltar. with a clean bill
OF health. on Feb. IL. Marseilles aud the
cholera were nearly n thousand miles away
from his line OF direct transit. He could
have reached Lisbon on Feb. IA. or the 18th
by a slow train. But GILBERT ALLARoUND
was bound for sunny Italy. and he longed
To gaze upon the Coliseum and to listen to
the song Of the gay Venetian gondolier.
The Minister informs Mr.. BENNETT that
1.-THE further charge that he gave a Lisbon
date to his letter to the Minneapolis Tribune.
for the purpose OF deceiving the State De-
partment. Is ridiculous" This does not
answer the facts. AS soon as public atten-
ton had been directed to the Minister'S
surprising itinerary. his letters to his news
paper ceased to be dated from various Italian
cities and were printed as II postmarked
Lisbon. One letter. for example. was dated
as IL from Lisbon IN March 6. when PIERCE
could not by any human possibility have
reached his post. The date line on that
letter was false: it was "A fabrication in
tended to deceive.
That Minister PIERCE has now resigned.
that he wants to come home. and that lie
confesses to Mr.. BENNETT that "he has
been paid more than he earned" are cir
cumstances which serve to emphasize the
real purpose OF his appointment. He had
never been to Europe. He wanted to ac-
company his Minneapolis friends in their
to the Mediterranean. 1t seemed
to him a great thing to go abroad with the
prestige OF a diplomatic officer Of the United
States and under pay from the United
States Government; and with BENJAMIN
HARR1soN's consent and cooperation hc
made use Of the Department Of State. just
as another citizen. with q finer sense OF
the relations between public office and
private advantage. would have made use
OF Mr.. Cooks tourist Agency. In this
way tho taxpayers Of the United States
were compelled to contribute to tho
Hon. GnDERT A. PIERCE's travelling |
expenses. That there was the slightest
necessity for the appointment Of any Min
to Portugal for tho two months before
the incoming OF the new Administration.
nobody is fool enough to suppose. That
Minister PIERCE has rendered any diplo-
matte service to the United States. in re-
turn for his salary. we do not believe. We
have paid attention to his case. not on ac-
OF any interest friendly or hostile. in
him as an individual or in his movements
as a traveller. but because his appointment
and his behavior illustrate one OF the most
shameful abuses OF our diplomatic system.
We cheerfully apologize to the itinerant
Minister to Portugal for having been so
and SO impoIlte as to call him q
junketudinous old editor.