The Washington herald., 1908-05-17
MoberIy Bell In Charpe.

bnbcFtE nell IN Charge.
During the greater part Of these event.
ful seven years. the correspondent and
representative OF the Times in Egvpt wa.
Moberly Bell. and the so fatefuI DIS.
patches were penned by his hand. Few
people possessed a closer ana more fnff.
mate acquaintance with Egypt then Bell
For he was born there. as the son of Ar
English merchant at Alexandra. was
brought up, and was engaged in busi.
ness himself there; was LED by his friend
ship with Sir John Scott the then core
spondent Of the Times, TO assist him in
MS work, and when Sir John was com
PEELED 70 leave for India. rather suddenly
10 take his place on the bench Of the Sp-
preme Court of Bombay. Moberlv Rail
was requested by the Times IN assume
chafge Of its representation in Egypt
Afst OF ali temporarily, and very shortly
atterward permanently. The atmoSnbere
and surroundings Of the I,evant and q,
the Orient In general are held to HIM,
the moral sense Of even the most hisb
prlncipied men of the Western races VET
beH' by common consent, remained Who'll
~ unaHected thereby, and with upnarai
leied and innumerable opportunities 11a-es
~ MS grasp as correspondent of the
Times TO amass fortune by colorine his
dispatches, even ever so little. for the
benent Of financial or political interests
ne carried himself so that at Cairo ana
IN Alexandra, where no ones character
Is wholly secure from slander no breath
OF suspicion was ever directed seainst
his absolute integrity and singIe-minded
service TO the Times. The only apnarenf
effect of his birth and education in the
Levant was to be found IN the facf that
ne possessed an infinitely superior knowl-
edge and insight into the character ana
train Of thought of the natives to that
acquired by the English and other Euro
pean officials sent out 10 Investigate and
70 report for the information Of their re-
spective governments about conditions in
the Land of the Nile. 1t was his master
ful grasp Of the situation. bis complete
understanding of the policy and Of the
aims Of the Lsndon Times. and his
wholly honest and loyal devotion to the
service of that paper, deaf to all the
temptations by which he was on every
side envlr0ned that red 10 his appoint
ment as manager OF the Times on the re-
tirement Of my old friend John Macdon-
aid. The memoirs Of John Delane con-
vey some idea of the exceptionally high
standing Of the men selected by the
Times to represent 1t abroad.
That from all of its splendid army Of
correspondents the paper should nave
chosen Moberly Bell to assume its man
agement constitutes an eloquent tribute
to his ability. While some of the innova-
tons which he has introduced during the
last eighteen years have excited criticism
II is only necessary TO compare a copy
of the Times of to-day with one Of two
decades ago. in order to appreciate the
exceedingly advantageous reforms which
he has introduced. without sacrificing the
prestige of the paper as the great na-
tional organ of the British empire. Those
however. who took exception to his meth
ods have had their criticisms silenced by
the mastery manner in which, at a mo-
ment when, recently, the Thunderer. ow-
ing to qGarrels among shareholders.
seemed to be about to pass into hands
that would have proved a death blow to
its prestige and to its pre-eminence he
succeeded in rescuing It for the Walter
dynasty. Just as John Delane did IN some
what similar circumstances seventy years
ago. and with the help Of purely English
backing, of an imperialist char
aeter. has now placed It on an absolutely
secure financial basis.
toopyrisAt 1908. by the Brentwood Companyl