Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-25
WAS NOT PUBLISHED
Secretary Gresham's Opinion in Re-
gard to the German Embargo.
He SENT IT TO NEWSPAPERS DIRECT
The Washington Correspondents
Were Entirely Ignored BY Him.
CONSIDERED SUSPICIOUS

The State Department generally has
little difficulty in obtaining publishers for
the information which it voluntarily fur
nishes, and 1t rarely has to complain be-
cause documents which it supplies do not
reach the public. But a curious fact has
recently been brought to the attention Of
the department as to the independence or
lack Of awe and Difference or whatever
the missing quality may be, which induced
the publishers of several prominent news
papers in a western city to withhold from
publication document which may yet be
Of Importance in connection with the Ger
man embargo of American meat products
The State Department people are not yet
clear how 1t all came about.
Sent His Opinion Direct.
1t appears that Secretary Gresham, for
purposes Of his own, desired to have his
views. as given to the President. made
known to the western public, where the
Secretary of State has been rather sharply
criticised because of the German embargo.
The State Department. accordingly, sent
copy or this opinion to the leading west
ern newspapers, ignoring the representa-
ttves of those newspapers in this city. Sec
rotary Gresham had undoubtedly, expected
that this opinion would be printed as JUS
tif1cation, In part, of his course, and to re-
ieve him of some Of tho sharp criticisms
which are now current, and to which he ia
particularly sensitive. But 1t has hap
pened that not one Of the newspapers, be-
longing to any party, to which this opin-
ion of the Secretary of State was sent d.
rectly by Judge Gresham himself has az
yet printed the document. The Secretary
OF State recently asked a friend, promi-
nent in public life, who has had much more
experience with the conduct Of public at
fairs than Secretary Gresham himself has
mad. why IT Is that none of the newspapers
to which the Secretary of State sent this
opinion In justification Of himself and to
indicate the policy Of the administration,
had printed the opinion referred to. This
gentleman replied:
Washington Representatives Ignored.
You have made q serious mistake in
ignoring the representatives in this city of
the very newspapers to which you sent
that opinion. You pursued the same
course that you would have done had you
sent your communications to the German
government directly to Berlin, without
communicating with the German ambassa-
dor here. You have chosen to ignore the
representatives of the great newspapers
These gentlemen are here to represent
their newspapers. and the publishers and
editors rely upon their judgment. They
are here to put their visa on Washington
matter, and upon their opinion the pub
fishers depend. The matter which you
have sent entered their office under what
the newspaper would consider probably as
suspicious circumstances. The opinion
came to them without being properly au-
thenticated by their resident agents here.
The newspapers feel that they are indie
pendent i'll their sphere, and none of them
appear to consider themselves under any
obligations to the administration. One Of
the leading representatives of a prominent
paper said only today that no function
whatever Is left to the Cleveland admins
tration for the remainder of it's term, but
that of the veto power. Few newspapers
indeed. are disposed to defend the admins
trations foreign policy. Most of them
have announced that they have found that
policy utterly indefensible, and they are
not rushing into print to publish unauthen-
ticated matter which may have reached
them from the State Department without
having been first submitted to their repre-
sentatives in Washington"