The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-08-18
is RADICAL
I'm FOREIGN POLICY

house of Parliament" as Lord Strick-
land. title. however, which was not
recognized or confirmed aftor the Res
toration by Charles II Agnes Strick-
.ena, the authoress, and Sir Gerald
strickland, Governor OF New South
Wales, fgure on the roster OF this an
cient family, which for nearly q thou
SAND years has borno as Its crest a bird
which is described In old heraldic
phraseology as "a turkey cock in It's
pride'-a house settled in westmor-
lana and Yorkshire long before the
Norman Conquest.
Lewis Harcourt, Secretary of State
Tor the Colonies In the Asquith admin
istration. and through marriage n
nephew OF the late j. Pierpont Morgan
might have been President of Vene-
zuela to-day had It not been for what
ne was pleased to describe In the House
or commons the other day as tho fas-
tidiousness OF ono of his ancestors
me latter secured from James / n
royal grant of all that territory in
south America now known as Vene-
zuela, and sailed from Bristol to take
possession thereof. Ho had shipped
several barrels Of nne ale on board for
his consumption during the trip A
rev days out he found that for some
reason or other the ale had gono
wrong. second and third barrel, on
being tapped. proved equally unsatis-
factory. Sooner than being reduced to
drink spoiled ale. or. worse still. mere
water during his voyage to South
America he turned back In order to
obtain fresh supply OF beer OF moro
certain quality. We died shortly after
reaching Bristol and his heirs allowed
the concession to lapse, being unwiu-
ing to undertake the risk of tho ven
ture.
The tiny republic of San Marino with
It's thirty-two square miles of area in
Italy. and It's 10000 citizens-the Oldest
republic in tho world. having been In
existence for over 1000 yenrs-has be-
come involved In full-fedged war
with the holy seat. 1t provoked hos
tilities by enacting n law recently con-
hscating all ecclesiastical property
within It's borders. in defiance of tho
stipulations of It's treaty and concordat
with the papacy. The latter has do
clincd to recognize tho laws, and has
threatened the members of tho San
Marino government with excommuni-
cation and tho entire territory Of the
republic with pontincal ban and inter
dict IL any attempt is made to enforce
the spollatory laws
The fact OF the matter Is that tho
small republic is In financial Difficult
ties. having been deprived. by the pro-
test Of the Italian government of tta
V.
tho lottery. and tho sale of titles Of
nobility and of orders OF knighthood.
The sale of these titles wns, until a
Few years ago. carried on openly, de-
liberately and avowedly, the dignities
on sale comprising everything from
dukedoms and princedoms down to
hereditary knighthoods and decora-
tons. San Marino was the only gov
eminent to carry on this trade. with n
fixed tariff rate for each title, and there
are large number of individuals, in
Guiding many Americans. Mailing from
the northern and southern portion of
this hemisphere, who are parading
around with nobiliary honors obtained
by means of purchase from the repub-
lie of San Marino.
Tho revenue thus obtained was very
large. and n portion of il was devoted
to tho maintenance OF the local hos
pital. homo for the destitute aged and
founding asylum. the inscription over
the gates being to the effect that 1t was
an Offering OF human vanity to hu-
man weakness"
According to tradition. the republic
was founded by Saint AIarimus during
the persecution of the Christians under
Emperor Diocletian. The monastery OF
San Marino dates back to the seventh
century, and In the dungeons of the
castle the famous impostor Cagliostro
breathed his last In 1895.
Copyright, 1913. by the Brentwood
Company