The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-07
Our Ambassadors in Trouble.


Our ambassadors are disturbed by
/ serious trouble. IL is a financial trouble.
[ Since they have been raised TO their pres
+ ent dignity they cannot make the SHOW
/ that other ambassadors DO on the salaries
they receive They each get $3.50 a
I year. and they declare that it costs them
double. and in some Instances more than
double that sum TO live ana keep up aD-
pearances.
Ambassador Eustis. for instance. who is
our ambassador 10 France. has furnished
a statement to the state department that
his actual expenses are more than double
his salary Here are some of his figures
For house rent, $1,000; for coach and
livery 5000, for diplomatic dinners and
entertainments. 5000: for one ball
year. 5000; for entertaining American
naval officers. 5000; for attending state
department functions, SlO00 AMI for Of
fetal presentations 1900 The foregoing
expenses foot up s27, ooo. II to this sum are
added other necessary expenses IL Will be
apparent that Ambassador Eustis cannot
keep pace with the ambassadors fin Paris,
If any. less than $1,000 year
1t is announced that Ambassador Breck-
inr.dge at ST. Petersburg and Ambassador
Runyon az Berlin have threatened to re
sign if their salaries are not raised. In
fact, there is a pretty wcI authenticated
report that all of our ambassadors have
threatened TO strike and come home if
congress doesn't increase their pay Evil
IDENTIFY congress didn't realize that it was
opening the way for increasing the bur
dens Of the government when il made am
bassadors of our ministers to England,
France, Russia, Germany and Italy 1t
intended to give them only additional
rank and had no purpose of increasing
their salaries. 1t legslated without know
ing that the additional rank would require
greater expenditures. In other words. it
acted without the fun knowledge of all
the facts.
Doubtless II would be difficult 10 make
some of the congressman understand why
it costs an ambassador more than it costs
a minister to live in Europe. and to others
Of them the present salary seems
to be an enormous one, but
they will have to understand that it costs
more to maintain the establishment of an
ambassador than to maintain that of
minister or else this country viii have TO be
represented at the capitals of the first
class powers of Europe by rich men only.
Poor men cannot afford TO pay from 500
600 to $4,000 a year for the honor of being
an ambassador. An ambassador who does
not maintain an establishment In keeping
with his position and do his fun share of
entertaining, quickly losses his influence.
and is Of no practical use to his country.
1t is probable that congress would re-
spond to the appeal of the ambassadors if
it were not for the fact that the United
States judges, from the supreme court
Justices down to and in Guiding the dis
trict court judges, are calling for an in
crease of pay. They say that they are not
as well paid as judges of some of the state
courts and they think their salaries should
be doubled. Any attempt to increase the
pay of ambassadors would have to be con
sidered in connection with a proposition
to increase the compensation of Judges
and if the salaries of judges should be
doubled the probabilities are that CON
gressmen would also demand an increase
of pay. 1t looks. therefore, as if the rails
ing of ministers to the rank of ambassa-
doris would eventually saddle a pretty
heavy burden upon the people.