New-York tribune., 1909-02-28
Foreign Resorts.

,ective. once dubbed and damned American nos
pitaIity as "inexorable.'' There is something l''4
short Of inexorable in our treatment OF Ailii
Ambassadors We are positively brutal III oui
kindness. We do not. of course. mean 10 oe' o'
that does not alter the fact that we are. iii'
it rather aggravates it. Our inhumanlty Is di '
more pitess for being unconscious, ana tle
chances of reformation are all the remote De-
cause we are blandly unaware that reforHla'iOii
Is needed. We ought to make a dlsulic0ioh' oi'U
we do make a distinction between the AlHe4 10 a.
and other ambassadors. II would be against the
grain OF nature II did not But the questioN
60 whether we do not commit the worst crime
against hospitality by being too hosptaoie' Wiis'
we do not ask too much OF our guest anu 49,
him too hard-whether. in short there - Ho'
something adamantine in the attentions we shower
upon him think there undoubtedly Is we never
really give the poor moments res'
Throughout his stay among US We presume lnoiui
nately on his acquaintance with Engllsh AAe1e
must 1 have often thought, be times wheh we
force him TO wish he spoke Basque and basque
onIv and did not 1.-The faith ana morals hold that
Milton held" So might he live among us ana
possess his soul in quetude-a dipomatlst ana h''
A public character
But as it is no sooner has he arrived in London
than the bombardment begins. 1 must admit at
once that it is most vigorously replied to. Eng
land and the American Ambassador set 10 loflh-
with to see which entertain the other the most
Chambers Of Commerce swoop down upon shim ana
The Omar Khayyarr Club points an invitation at
his head, demanding unconditional surrender Ihe
Dante Society insists his escortng its rrerlpers
through the Internal regions. The Wordsworth 30
ciety the Browning Society the Boz Cluo, the eir
Walter Scott Club-al press their claims Inc BIT
ningham and Midland Institute insdiously elects
him as It's annual president, and exacts by way ol
tribute an address on Benjamin Franklin Inc
Edinburgh Philosophical Institution bestoWs the
same honor for the price OF paper on ADrahil
And PapS 1u
knowing that he is American, and therefore IN
terested in education. play upon his weakness ana
lure him into distributing their prizes Fohtlcdi
leagues expect him tell them all ABOUT the
United States Supreme Court. The historic. Wy
Companies never once let go of him. He is stand
ing feature on the toast list of the GuldhaH pau
ouet Charitable and philanthropic socletles p4I-
ste him reIentlessly. Workingnen's Institutes
shameIessly trading on his democratic synll4'
hid for an evenings loan of his presence and voice
Libraries refuse be opened except by MIN ne %
the obvious man TO uDveil a bust OF Burhe--o =
memorial window to John Harvard. No dinner no
occasion or gathering of any kind IS compete VIII
out him. He is launched in short on a fult ude Oh
oratory from Lands End to John o Groat > un
placid forgetfulness that he may &1ter an nave
business of his own his country TO at'eIu to''
and gathering, as he sweeps along, the PRESIDENCY
Of innunnerable societies. we turn MIN 4h'0 " 0Oe
Of lecturer to the nation.
Things indeed will soon, as have hlhleu' coi,io ~
to such a pass that American ArlpassauOr VIZ
is
the whole Of American history and the whole OF
t-nyIsb u,erature nor a wit orator, VIII
be considered failure and disappointment III
aKine Mr. Wh.telaw Reds successor al tlls mo
ment frantically preparing himself Tor the ray
rerAadine all the standard authors he has forgot
ten composing character sketches by the oushel
NJ famous Americans. working up Local coIor'
and debating not less than one occasional au-
dress" a day. Only by thus arming hlmselt oeIore-
hand Will he be able, when he has settled do"h
n frpA M L
Feel a blush Of national contriton running through
me at the thought of all the speeches We nave
extorted from Mr.. Whitelaw Reid IN the last lour
wears all the functions at which his presence mas
been insisted upon all the addresses we nave InAue
him deliver all the monuments he has oeen una
HE 10 get out of unveiling, all the societies OF
which the presidency has been thrust upon MIN -
However there the thing is. and there 1t VIII
probably remain. Our only defence is that II 10
partly Americas own fault She should not seno
ms such charming cultivated good natured men,
every one of them triply armed with the capacty
10 meet the demands made upon him ana Set
s,,t nose an American Ambassador really dOes MS
hest work BY submitting TO these incessant drafts
unon his good nature Somebody once described
the English Embassy at Washington as very
pleasant post socially, but not requiring any great
talents politically. Times have changed since tleh
and in many ways the office OF British represeH-
tstiye to the United States is now the most exact
ing in the service But what was said Of the BRIT
tsh Embassy In Washington may be applied TO the
American Embassy in London 1t is very agree
able post socially, and it requires In these days
little more than a nIodicum of diplomatic Skill ana
its occupant has the supreme advantage, nrst' OF
understanding the last least shade OF the language
of the country to which he is accredited; secondly
of preserving all the time the invaluable OUTSIDE
point of view and. thirdly, of finding. wherever he
goes the heartiest kind Of welcome, public and
private for his own sake as well as for the sake
of the country he comes from.
Mr. Choate in his farewell speech at the Man
sion House gave In admir- able language his concep-
tIon OF an American Ambassadors mission i
have endeayored," he said.- Ito make the English
people better acquainted with my own country. its
history it's institutions. It's great n1mes for the
purpose of showing them that really the difference
between an Englishman and American is only
skin deep that under different historical forms we
pursue with equal success the same great objects
OF liberty of justice and of the public welfare and
that our interests nextricably interviewer
that we would IL could, and could not II
we would escape the necessity of an abiding and
perpetual friendship" Mr.. Whitelaw Reid has
vorthily carried on the same high mission.
NEW MUNICIPAL LODGING HOUSE.
On the ground that cleanliness is next to godli-
ness and for other reasons, the new municipal