Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1908-06-26
I'M THE CASE OF
AMBASSADOR HILL
Should American Diplomats Be
Men of Brains, or Men
of Wealth?

From the New York Evening Post, lndl
From every angle Of observation, the
m~ishandling of the case of DR.. Hill, who
was TO have been appointed ambassador
to appears most unhappy, The
vacillation of the emperor. and the BACK
ing and filling of the German foreign Of
fee. will not help the reputation OF Ger
man diplomacy for exquisite tact.
The whole Incident speaks of more than
diplomatic laundering. led up 10
the muddle is even more unpleasant than
the misunderstanding itself. Amidst all
the motives which are vaguely said TO
have actuated the German emperor, one
thing is reasonably clear; his desire was
70 nave an American ambassador who
would be able TO entertain on a mag
nifcent scale. Ambassador Tower has
done this in Berlin. In addition to being
a highly cultivated man, he Is the pos
SCISSOR of large wealth; and he and his
wife have won a great social success
Apparently the emperor has thought re-
gretfuIly of dropping down to an Ameri-
can ambassador who was merely a
| scholar, practiced in statecraft, whose
wife the kaiser would not be able
"a refer 70 as "the Moltke Of the Ger
man social season. In addition to this
local eclipse of fashionable gayety, a GER
tain rivalry between Berlin and London
has obviously figured in the case. The
American ambassador to England has
lived on a scale which would be called
princely, If any princes nowadays had
as much money to spend. Mr.. Reds
lavish hospitality at Dorchester house..
and at the large country place which he
has taken the better TO figure in the great
world. has given him fame, and has doubt
less aided him in his real work, but has
set a pace which is the envy or despair
OF other embassies. And, seemingly, the
German emperor has felt that invidious
comparisons would be made II, across the
North sea, an American ambassador
should decline the competition in social
grandeur. Hence his desire, which, In
its expression, has had such unlucky re-
suits. that a man Of large fortune should
be sent TO represent the United States in
Berlin.
These international jealousies and de-
mands of a social kind are all at the
expense Of the American diplomatic serv-
ice. We hear of no such questions of
ability to entertain gorgeously raised In
connection with the ENJOYS from any other
nation. Must we change the old deini-
ton, and make it read that an American
ambassador Is a man sent abroad TO spend
500. 600 q year for his country? The con-
trast with an earlier day seems painful.
When George Bancroft was minister to
Germany no one asked what was his year
ly outlay on cut flowers and champagne
No American d~iplomatist ever stood high
er than George p. March, for so many
years our representative in Italy; but he
was merely a scholar Of international rep
u~tation, and a delightful gentleman, who
lived on his salary. Lowelfs great sue
cess In England was won on the con-
tents rather of his head than his pocket.
Mr.. Bayard was held in high esteem in
London. though he was compelled TO live
modestly. Are such examples no longer
possible?