New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-17
A DIPLOMAT OF PEACE.

A DIPLOMAT OF PEACE.
1t was the happy lot Of Whitelaw
Reid to be a diplomat Of peace. This
was true Of both his editorial and his
ambassadOrial labors. and it was true
partly because Of circumstance, but also
and largely because of personal choice
and determination He displayed this
quality early in his career in relation
10 the nations domestic affairs. Be
fore and during the Civil War he was
one of the most vigorous and reSolnte
supporters Of the Union cause, but I'M
mediately upon It's close he was equally
earnest in advocating the establish
ment Of peace in a reunion OF hearts
as well as a mere political reunion OF
states. This course he pursued through
out his career. sometimes at the rlsK
Of mourning mfavOrable criticism ana
even Of alternating partisan friendships
but always unbesitatingly. as the per
Torrance of a duty which was 10 De
done without stopping 10 count tue
cost.
He went as Minister to France at
I time when that country was in high
" sensitive II not an irritable nloou
toward America az well as other lands'
! and he sought what he felt 10 be mere
iustice. but what FTenchmen widely
regarded as an extraordinary conces-
sion scarcely compatible with their ma
tional policy and public interests. by
virtne OF a fine blending or tact ana
persistence he completely won MS
noiDt. and ne retired from his MN
istry with personal popularity III
France surpassed by that OF no o'ne'
1 American envoy since Franklins tllhe'
and with a great and enduring acceN
( sion Of friendship and good VIII De'
tween the two nations Again ID the
NEGOTIATIONS at the end of the Spanish
! War he was ineXorable in his lhSIst
! ence that this country should ho'
merely reap the full benefits Dut
sbould assume the full Responsibilities
Of that conflict; yet he was also lore
most in exhibiting practical masi'd-
nimitv which largely spared to span
/ ish prjde the sting Of defeat ana WHICH
onened the way for renewed friend
shin. When at last he went as AN
hoesodor IN the Court Of ST. JameSS'
while he found Anglo-Amencah rei'-
tions amicable he also found some OIL
tho oldest and most veXatous cohtro-
,.orsios hotween the nations still I'M
settled. He succeeded In e1ectlng the
settlement Of the last Of them OF
terms eminenuy satisfactory 10 Ms
own country: and at the same time ne
drew the bonds OF friendship between
u,o two nations closer than they had
ever been.
He pursued the same policy III the u"
less important diplomacy of editorsllp'
He made The Tribune 50 yigorohSi!
notriotic as 10 incur from some the un'
thinking reproach OF "Jingoism anu
"imnerialism." Yet at the same ume
he displayed temperance ana cour
tnsv in the treatment of foreign alial'S
which led equally unthinking critics IT
the opposite extreme TO char2e MN
with too greatly favoring other couh-
! +-;os Tn the unpleasant Venezuela In
cident under President CleVeiahd iie
sunported the administration as loyailE
I os tbough il had been Of his own pollt-
;coI faith. vet he earnestly and inces-
sanity counselled the pacihc poiicF
which ultimately resulted In the com-
nlete triumph Of the American coh'eh-
lion. When the Alaska boundary as
,uta arose acutely for final disposition
he infiexibly maintained the fll AMER
loan claim. which was in the end con-
frmed. but he did so without the least
impairment Of the cordial relations
with Great Britain which he was NJ
that very time promoting. Be1ore the
snanish War his influence was 1S
etronc for the maintenance Of peace
rs il was later for vigorous prosecu-
tion of the war, and still later for an
honorable and generous restoration OF
peace.
un was q lover and a promoter OF
! peace. but it was Of the peace oe-
scribed in the lines which he was roma
Of quoting
not like a mourner bowed
For honor lost and dear ones wasted
But proud. to meet a people proud
with eyes that tell Of triumph tasted
In his diplomacy he was intensely
and aggresslyely American. but 1t was
with an Americanlsm neither compia-
cent under "a certain cOndescension
I'm foreigners" nor Illuminating with
the fustian Of. Jefferson Brick. He
was impatient Of the later boastngs OF
"wOrld power" holding that we had
never been anything less since we be-
came nation. But his conception OF
the United States as world power
was an adaptation Of Huxley's SUI
preme conception Of enlightened man
bood-a nation that respected others
as ii did itself.
.--------~----~----