The Portland daily press., 1896-12-11

a H.
cred plan. lnvariab bly,, he cnines back
and writes book, showing that Liberia
is not sRth bad place to SO tic, bat he
never cares to return himself. The coun-
try is fever swept. There are six months
Of rain and six months of torrid sun each
wear. and the land breeZes fetch clouds
of lnaiarial poison from the deep junQles
ana swamps little way back from the
coast
TIE man first selected by President
Mckinley for diplomatic job may rer-
haps haya the privilege of choosing be-
tween London, Paris and Eerlin. The
ouestion rs to which of the three is most
desirable depends OH the taste Of the in
d;Sidual. A man like Mi. Bayard, of
Analo-Saxon origin and scholarly iucli-
narions. finds London society and the
English people much to his liking. Mr..
Eustis the present French ambassador is
a New Orlaans man. He was familiar
with the French people and accustomed
to semi French life In New Orleans.
He sueaks French, and Is as much Mt
home in Paris as in Now York. Berlin
Is more of foreign city to an American
than either Paris or LONDON, ana the
American colony in the German capital
is not SO large. The American minister
OF ST. Petersburg 10 practically Isolated
from Russian xooiety. excepting the lin
lied circle which he meets at court, and
in q nurelv official way. The Russians
keen closely TO themselves, and their nm
learnable language is a barrier. In the
court circle, of course, Frenoh and Eng
lish are generally spoken.
The diplomatic society. OF St. tetefs-
burg is of the hest and pleasantest neces-
ssriIy, and there Is always large con,
tinosnt Of visiting Europeans and
Americans. The iuties OF the American
minister are unimportant, and ccoupy q
small part of his time. He is always
treated with great deal OF consideration
because Of the sympathy which always
has existed since the foundation OF our
Government between thu Unjtett States
and Russia, sympathy largely paseu Oh
the fact that the interests OF the Two
countries are never likely to clash. home
is particularly agreeable posi-. mere
is always considerable American colony
there. composed principally of artists
and visiting Americans who come to
snend the winters. Their natural head
quarters are at the embassy OF tho " nlted
States. TIE present Ambassador Is
Wayne McVeaah.
The embassy Of Paris is generally 'oc
cnpisd BIZ q very rich man. Mr.. Eustls,
whils we'll off, is the poorest OCCUPANT on
that place in many years. HIS immeul-
ate predecessor was L. JEFFERSON o9oiiuee,
who possesses great wealth. and usad
il layishly in entertaining. Mr.. Cool
idee was the successor of Whitelaw Reid,
the son-iu-iaw of d. 0. Mills-a much
richer man than Coolidge. Mr.. Held
maintained a splendid establishments in
Paris, paying mtre than bis salary 1or
the rent If his house. His predecessor
was Levi F. Merton, who Is supposed TO
be worth about So, 200. QUO 1t is fact
that a poor man cannot well AFFORD 10
accept an Important mission aoroaa,
owing to the difficulty OF keeping up ap-
pearap ces On the pay. That our ambas-
sacor In London shonld receive only Sli. :
900 is absurd. Tho British Ambassador
in Washington gets about $40, $50 year.
incllldinp money for entertaining, WIN
q fine house thrown In.
Mr.. Cleveland has made Tecommen-
dntion to Congress to the effect that Tee
houses oc3upied by our embassies aprotah
should he owned by this Government,
ana that the American ambassadors
should not be obliged to pay their own
rent. OF course, if this advice were
afJop. ed. the Government would be under
the necessity of appropriating money to
maintain the establishments. his
would be independent OF the am assa-
doris living expenses but would amount
in effect to doubling his salary The
most important reason for Govern ment
ownership is that there may be uni
formity in the social conduct OF the mis-.
sions. AS it is now. d rich AMBASSADOR,
who can afford the luxury, hires splsa,-
did dwelling and keeps it on magh1h-
cent scale. His successor, who Is poor
and obliged to suhsist on his pay, must
move the embassy to more humble quar-
tiers with modest equipment. 10 live
Oh the salary now grantod, and support
the dignity OF the ambassadoTial rank, is
almost. if not quite, out of the. question.
In Berlin, ii our ambassador speaks
German, he finds very attractive social
life open to him. But, II Ignorant o1
the language, as our representative
there often are, he is confined to The
court and diplomatic set and to tht
American colony. There are always g
coed many Americans in Berlin, in clud-
ing !. large number of students. Ths
pYe,ent ambassador is Mr.. UhI. who wns
formerly assistant secretary of State. He
is of German extraction, and of coulst
went to Berlin exceptionally fam lila
with diplomatic usages andsautie..
Tie American ambassador in London
if he can make speeches, is always il
great demand Mt public dinners and Oh
other festive occasions. He is generally
treated as though he were an English
man OF great distinction. James Russol
Lowell was as well known in London al
in Boston, and Mr.. Bnyard has become
familiar figure in British society
Robert lincoln, on the othar hand, nc
being a speechmakef, did mt become
very conspicuous " bile minister to Eng
land.