The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-09
AN INDIANA Diplomatic
TRAIT AND Characteristics OF
THE HON. JOHN w. FOSTER.
Minister and Mr.. "TOm-
redy"-UniversaI Postal Congress-
The Ex-Statesmnn Out of Job.

w 4O.Ns 011S os-OliS NAADSC NfNO
know Col. John w. Foster well can be made
to understand why Presidents and other
rulers of the world get stuck on him.
to use a familiar vulgarism. The colonel
is not a striking personality. physically con-
sidered. He is a slender man, of barely
ordinary height. with a long, white beard
concealing u lean, cadaverous face; a man
ner quiet and apparently unobtrusive, al
most shrinkingly so, yet always in the very
foreground of affairs in which he has a
concern; necessarily active, tireiess and
framed of steel springs; seemingly nervous,
yet cold and composed as an icicle. His
eyes are the remarkably distinguishing
feature Of his p~hysiognomy. They are not
large, and they are set closely together,
but are bright as diamonds. Craft, courage
and high intelligence are reflected there. 1t
is by scrutiny of those eyes that the stu
dent of faces and character first obtains
an inkling of the hidden forces that have
put this strange man to the front and kept
him there-I say strange, for there is not
a more inscrutable parsonage on the stage
of public affairs to-day than is this same
Colonel Foster.
He was discovered and put on the path
that has made him famous by the late
Senator o. p. Morton along about 1872. Col.
Foster had commanded a regiment in the
war Of the rebellion and at it's close had
drifted into the newspaper business, choos-
ing Evansville, Ind, as the field of his
operations. One day Senator Morton made
him chairman of the Republican state CEN
trail committee. The party leaders in the
State didn't have a very high opinion of
Colonel Foster, and some of them went to
Senator Morton and put the question to
him bluntly, What op earth induced you
to put the management of this campaign
land an important one it was) into Fosters
hands?"
Il put him at the head of the committee
because l consider him to be the very best
man in Indiana as a political manager" re-
piled the old war Governor, and then he
continued in explanation: Il have known
Foster intimately for years, and we nave
had many dealings together. l never COM
missioned him to do a thing that he didn't
do it. Other men came to me with excuses
and apologies as to why they hadn't or
couldn't do this thing or that thing. Foster
never did that in all the years have Known
And he has been getting there ever
since Morton gave him that friendly shove.
From the conduct of a state political cam
paign into a higher field of diplomacy was
for Colonel Foster an easy and natural as
cent. Service at the capitals. of many coun-
tries gave him opportunity for the acquisi-
ton of an immense store of inside lnforma-
ton, and when he finally graduated as
secretary of state he was recognized as a
master of international law. Contact with
the kings of diplomacy and with the az
fairs of many governments had given MIN
a personal understanding of the inside re-
lationships between countries such as it is
rarely the fortune of men In this hurry
burly, age TO ENJOY. Great HatIois ar n1Tw
limit of his stage. With a fortune OF $,O0,-
900 or $4,000, 900, a luxurious home IN WASH
ington. and a practice that yields MINI
princely revenue, it is small wonder that hA
refused to succumb to the solicitations %
the President to go into exile at the Turkish
capital and spend four of his few remain
ing years amid unpleasant surroundings IN
ceaseless assault against a solid rubber wall
of Oriental diplomatic inertia. The peace
and safety of millions of Armenian Chris
tians was the agency by which II was
sought to entice him to that held, but TINS
was one Of those cases that struck him as
peculiarly hopeless. Labor without results
is not to the liking of Col. John w. Foster,
and he resisted opportunities. He was will
ing to surrender the chance of winning the
gratitude of the Christian world to some
one whose enthusiasm would not be damp
ened by a foreknowledge BOUNDED on ex-
perience) that the work would not be at
tended by tangible results. Professor An
. However, the administration is not going
to be deprived altogether of the services or
Colonel Foster. He is to be a sort of dip
lomatic general counsel for the White
House-a trusted friend upon whom the
President can call when in need of advice
or on special matters. by way
of compensation he will be given such en-
ployment as was conferred upon him in
connection with the settlement OF the Be-
ring sea sealing controversy, and as special
representative of the President in negotia-
tions, etc. No man. in the United States
has a more remarkable career than Colonel
Foster-from an editorial desk in an interior
city to the position of the Leading interna-
tional lawyer of the world-an In less than
twenty-five yearS-and worth millions.
The complaint is often made that lack OF
respect for position is one of the glaring
defects of modern American character.
Familiarity" freshness" 'irreverence,"
''disrespect,' 'hippancy'' and ~''newness'
are some of the terms used to describe the
prevailing American weakness for Identify
ing public men by abbreviations of their
Christian names, by nicknames.
and of referring to them with
chumlike familiarity. ''Whiskers'' PETER,
Uncle Joe" Cannon, Bill (Sena-
tori Chandler, BILLY Mason, and tom,
(Senator) Carter, suggest themselves among
hundreds as names more familiar to the
general public by their popular sobriquets
than by their proper designations. yet who
would think Of addressing any one of the
gentlemen personally except in respectful
terms? A story illustrative Of the extent
to which this habit of familiarity prevails
is told on the Brazilian minister. The dip-
Iomat named is, unfortunately, blind, and
his daily papers are read to him by a secre-
tary, so that he is obliged TO form his inn
pressions entirely by sound. The other
IlSHl he Sdl dL a. CluO uiliiltt ny lit SAlt VI
a ~well-knOwn correspondent and In the
course of an hours conversation he re-
peated the name of Mr.. ''Tomredy" at least
half a dozen times. 1t was some little time
before it dawned upon the correspondents
mind that the minister meant Speaker Reed.
Senior Salvador de Mendonca had never seen
the name in print and never heard 1T pro-
nounced in any other way than '"romredy,'
and although an extremely punctilious gem
tleman he fell into what would have been
to him an objectionable error If he could
have known of 1t. Speaker Reed sat near
him and enjoyed the incident immensely.
The postal authorities of many of the
strongest commercial nations of the old
world have been trying for years to induce
this country to join them in the adoption
Of a uniform money-order system. The
matter will be agitated again among the
delegates to the Universal Postal Congress.
now in session In this city. but with small
prospect of anything being done. The diff
ficulty is in finding a plan that will fit the
widely differing conditions existing here
and on the other side of the Atlantic. Our
laws governing the of money
through the mails are more stringent than
are the laws of most European nations.
The postal authorities of the United States
feel that it would be unsafe to relax exist
ing laws, and as the old world govern
ments are unwilling TO tighten the screws
on their home regulations, II has been
found impossible to get together on a COM
mon basis. The underlying reasons for the
failure to agree on a uniform mOney-Order
system may be found in the fact that pun
ishment for infractions of the law involv-
swift and certain In European countries
than IL Ia here, and that in consequence II