Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-03-06

N N ~ foreign mission,
and the politicians seem to look upon
the diplomatic appointments as the best
offices in the gilt of the administration.
This is great mistake. have at
different times visited every legation in
Europe and Asia, and have come into
contact with more than one hundred
American consus in all parts of the
world. The most OF them were dis
satisfied with their positions, and all
complained of big expenses and small
salaries. There is scarcely an office in
the gift OF the State Department which
pays enough TO allow its occupant to live
up to his station and entertain as he
sending rich men to the courts OF Lon
don, Paris, Berlin and 81, Petersburg is
because by means Of their private for
tunes they can keep up the style which
the American minister should maintain
order to be Of value at these courts.
These ministers get the highest salaries
paid to any OF our diplomats. They re-
reive $I7 500 year each. Their ex'
penses, however. are often twice or
thrice this amount. Whitelaw Reid
paid, tits said, s27, 900 year house rent
while he was minister to Paris, and his
entertainments must have cost him as
much more. Our present minister to
France, Mr.. Eustis, pays $4,000 year
Tor his house, and his necessary ex.
penses, as given in an itemized state
ment not long ago, were $4,000 year
! visited Paris when Levi 2. Morton was
our minister there. He paid more than
twice his salary to keep up his establish
meut. Governor Moves OF Ohio when
he was minister to France was too poor
to maintain the dignity OF the place out
OF his own pocket. He was helped by
having a rich secretary OF legation. This
was Representative Hit OF Illinois, who
scent, / have been told, as much as
$50, 900 year in entertaining.
THE BERLIN MISSION.
Another costly foreign place is Berlin.
Our minister there ought to keep up an
equal STYLE with the ministers from other
countries. He cannot do SO on much
less than $40, 600 year. The British
minister at Berlin gets 1880 year,
and has palace furnished by his govern
ment and a big allowance for entertain
ing. The British legation building at
Paris is five times as big as that OF the
British legation at Washington, and
England's German minister gets s4S, 900
ayear and 100000 additional Tor enter
tanning. Our minister to Berlin is am
told, worth $40, 600 less today than he
was when Cleveland appointed him
American ambassador to Germany, 1t
is said that he failed in some OF his
diplomatic negotiations from lack OF
money for entertaining, and that his
necessities at one time were such that
he seriously thought OF sending in his
resignation. / visited William Walter
Phelps a lew years ago, when he was our
minister TO Germany. He was, YOU
know, a man OF large fortune, and he
spent money freely. When he got 10
Berlin he could find no house suitable
for the American legation. An indepen-
dent establishment costs grea deal in
that city. Many oil the fashionable peo-
pie live in flats, and only the richest can
afford houses There were lew houses
for rent in the diplomatic locality. Mr..
Phelps picked out the building he want.
ed and then sent his agents 10 buy out
the tenants. He ousted the store
keepers from the ground floor. He
bought up the leases OF the fashionable
people who were living above, and then
having released the whole building, he
turned an army OF carpenters ana ma
sons into II and had it remodeled to suit
himself. His home was perhaps the
hnest any American foreign minister has
ever had. II contained among other
rooms eight large parloIs, which cou d
be thrown into one, and was so large
that minister Phelps could have enter
tanned the whole OF the German court
had he wished to do so. Still his SER
vices to the United States were such that
our government could have well afforded
to have allowed him enough money for
several such houses. His entertainments
brought him into the closest relations
with the g. rmans. He was popular
with both Bismarck and the young em-
p ror, and W en- he tried to get anything
done for America he succeeded
Another efficient minister was Oscar
Straus, who represented US at Constant
nople dlring Cleveland'5 first admins
tration. Mr.. Straus spent at least $40, 600
year more than his salary. He had
the closest relations with the sultan and
his court, and he was able to settle any
trouble conc arning America to our adj
vantage in very Snort order.
HOW OUR MINISTER'S LIVE.
Few people have any idea of the ex.