The Portland daily press., 1899-10-19
GIFTS TO UNCLE SAN.
A Few ..Trfne-- which the suisan
sent in Asso. 0mw


Schawwal, in the year 1854 Of the hegira
which is the Arabian way of writing
| Dec. %, tS39--the sultnn Of Oman.
whose name was Seyyid SaOod, Bin Sui
| tan Bin Ahmed, addressed a gracious let.
ter to ''His Excellency Martin Van Blu
rem. President of the United States OF
North America" In which he informed
| the president that he had sent him by the
| royal ship Sultnnee a few trifies as a.
| token Of friendship and good feeling
These trifes consisted Of two Arabian
| horses and their groom, one bottle Of
| altar Of rose. two pieces OF gold, five
| demijohns of rosewatrr, one Persian
| carpet, one gold ornament with a silk
| tassel, four canlel's hair shawls, one gold
| mounted sword, two large pearls, one
string of $50 pearls, one gold plate, one
bottle Of diamonds, one gold snuff box
studded with precious stones and one
box Of mixed pearls and diamonds.
The ship with its precious cargo ar
rived in New York ON the I'd of May,
and the president was at once notified.
/ Under the constitution the president has
not the right to accept a personal gift
| from any foreign state or power, and
| consequently Mr.. Van Buren, was in
| dilemma. He referred the matter to the
secretary of state, and the secretary Of
state wrote to the agents of the vessel in
| New York, and they, in turn, informed
the commander of the ship that the Tresi-
dent was -ithout authority to accept the
| gifts. But I-&~ommander was not win.
ing to carry the presents back to his
| royal master, for the sultan had a way of
| cutting off the heads of his messengers
| IL they failed to deliver his presents. So
he politely but firmly insisted that they
| should be accepted.
| Fearing that this might give rise to UNI
| pleasant complications, the president
finally decided to refer the question to
congress as n last resort. Accordingly, on
| May 81 he addressed a communication to
the senate setting forth the difficulty he
| was In and asking that some action
might be taken. The matter was duly
considered by congress. and at the end of
| two months deiiberation it passed a reso-
luton authorizing the president to accept
the gifts In the name of the United
| States government and to dispose Of
such as could not conveniently be stored
In the state department. After three
months of correspondence, red tape, d.
| plomacy and legislation the sultan's
Christmas presents were finally accepted,
| and then the president was put to the
| trouble Of selling the horses, the shawls
| and the rosewater. while Uncle Sam
| was given the further trouble of finding
| suitable place to store the remaining
| gifts and was afterward put to great
| expense in capturing the thief who car
| ried off the entire collection in bag
and was only caught after long chase.
This is not the only time that Uncle
Sam has got himself into trouble by his
| popularity. For many years our consuls
and ministers in Asia and Africa had a
hard time trying to convince emperors,
sultans and kings that it was against the
| laws of our country for them to accept
the presents which these sovereigns in
sisted upon offering them to show how
much they thought Of Uncle Sam. Many
| of these offerings consisted of animals
horses, elephants, tigers and the like
| and our representatives had no end Of
| trouble In finding accommodations for
| such unwieldly and ferocious gifts. which
are ofttimes forced upon them in spite Of
/ their protests.
| OF course, Uncle Sam has received
| many presents which he has been very
| glad to accept as tokens of friendship
| and good will on the part of foreign gov
ernments. These gifts embrace a wide
variety Of objects, from a plain whales
tooth-presented by the king of the FIJI.
| tslands-to costly ornaments, handsome
pieces Of furniture and rare paintings.
The first gift received by the American
government was two paintings, oil por.
traits of Louis XVI and Marie An
toinette, presented by the king and queen
themselves soon after the close of our
| Revolutionary war.
Uncle Sam has been particularly for
thnate in the matter of vases The
French governments regard for Uncle
| Sam is embodied In some beautiful
Sevres vases OF the highest artistic beau
ty and very valuable. Among the most
| noteworthy are the two French Limoges
| vases in the National museum. They
| are each over eight feet in height, one
decorated with emblems of war and the
other with symbols of peace. Their total
cash value-if we may be allowed to
| place a money valuation on a gifts
| $17,50
| Another vase that should net be over
looked is the one awarded by the emper-
or of Germany to this country as first
| prize at the Berlin Fishery exposition in
1880. 1t Is made of silver, gold and
glass, studded with jewels and is of ex-
| quisite design and workmanship.
| On the outside of the National mu-
| scum, as though deserving of no better
| cophagus, or coffin. which was presented
by the admiring people OF Syria to Pres
| ident Jackson. "Old Hickory" did not
| appreciate the gift and swore that he
| would not be buried in it. II is, there
/ fore, not looked upon with much favor
| except by tourists. who have up to this
time Clipped off more than ten pounds Of
1t as mementos.
| Next to vases Uncle Sam is specially
| rich in swords--swords of all kinds, most
of them handsome and costly-that have
been presented by various foreign gov
ernments or their representatives. Med
| ais, too, are common form of gift. The
sultan of Turkey showed HIS good viii by
| sending us n medal in commemoration OF
the four hundredth anniversary of the
| discovery of America. 1t is an exquisite
cameo in a case of gold studded with
| diamonds.
| OF course every one Is familiar with
| the two great statues presented by the
l 80 e. H.