The Washington herald., 1913-11-02

The Premiership. OF course. is the most
desirable place in the Cabinet. That is
why Mr.. Bryan chose 1t. But 1t is safe
to say he is sorry that, while he was
about II. he didn't take another job.
1t is not that the Job in itself is not
an agreeable one. but IT does not fit the
statsman from Nebraska for a cent He
says as much. quite frankly, himself.
The diplomats, with whom It is his busi-
ness to deal, annoy him. They are the
kind Of people who make him tired. On
the other hand, he strikes them (viewing
him through their supercilious monocies)
as an altogether astonishing person-too
unconventional and all that sort OF thing.
don't you know, to be the head Of the
foreign office Of a great nation.
And then there are the ''precedents.
Mr.. Bryan says that he did not know
there were so many Of them in the
world He cannot turn around without
coming I'D against one. And they beat
him every time. Mr. Bryan once de-
clared that. compared with himself, the
mule was an irresolute and vacillating
animal. He stands four-square against
the world; but the precedents of the
State Department are too strong for him.
Every now and then in the past 1t has
happened that a Secretary of State has
come into ONCE with lot Of brand-new
ideas, and has tried to carry them into
effect. But invariably he has found him
self tied hand and foot; the ideas have
been put away in pigeonholes, because
there was nothing else to do with them.
a.. I..fa
II is an accepted doctrine In the
Foreign Once" that no Secretary shall
be allowed to continue to imagine that
he is bigger than the department
Mr.. Bryan has been trained In the law.
What he knows Is the lex scripta. He
has never been taught to respect unwrit-
ten law. But the law Of nations, with
which he is now obliged to deal, is just
that kind. 1t Is not written code at all.
but merely usage. Precedents furnish its
only authority, and therefore are all i'm
portant. The department Is STEPPED in
them.
Mr.. Bryan and OHicial Style.
The Nebraskan is a literary man. But
his personal influence will not modify In
the slightest degree the literary style OF
the Department OF State, as expressed in
dispatches and other official communica-
since the early beginnings of the govern
ment. A glance over the volumes of
Foreign Relations published annually,
will show that the style Of the most re-
cent Secretaries has not differed from
that of Edward Livingston. nor their
policy. either. Since the earliest days of
the republic the department has pursued
one course, out of which II cannot be
diverted by any human power.
~.
table desk in the middle of a large oblong
room. the windows of which look out
upon n beautiful view Of the White Lot
formerly part of the White House
grounds, but now a carefully kept green
lawn and the Washington Monument be-
yond. 1t is n cheerful apartment fur
nished with hospitable leather-covered
chairs and sofas.
An atmosphere of dignified leisure has
always enveloped the Department of
State. Nobody there seems ever to be in
a hurry. There is no occasion TO be. It
is not as IL the employees were obliged to
hustle in order to hold on to their Jobs
Mr. Blaine. when he was Secretary, spoke
of an ''amiable tradition which forbade
the dismissal OF anybody employed in the
foreign Office" This tradition. which
has all Of the irresistible force OF prece-
dent, still governs. But such traditions
Bryan.
Previous Secretaries have found the
Job easy as well as agreeable There
have been plenty OF underlings to carry
on the work of the department, and all
that was absolutely required of them
was a signature to a document now and
then. When there was no Secretary on
hand, 1t did not matter; the office got
along just as well without him. But Mr..
He is busy every minute Of the day.
With him it is constitutional: alone on n
desert island. he would be overwhelmed
with affairs. So beset with business is
he that IL is almost impossible for any
body except a politician of prominence
to obtain an audience.
The FriIIs of Diplomacy.
II Mr.. Bryan had his way. he would
do away with the "friIls'' Of the diplomat
ic service 1t is pretty nearly all frills,
to tell the truth. For its existence in
these days is perpetuated rather by tradi-
ton than by necessity. The diplomat
has become a parsonage almost purely
ornamental. His responsibility has been
reduced to next to nothing. He has
no latitude worth mentioning for indivi-
dual action, and he never does anything
of real Importance on his Own respon-
sibihty.
You sec, it is like this Up to recent
times, dispatches passing between the
Department of State and our diplomatic
representatives abroad had to be sent
by ship. Settlement Of international
complications under such circumstances
was laboriously slow, and the RESPONSE
bility resting upon ENJOYS, as well as the
latitude of action allowed them, was
necessarily great But today the tele-
graph makes it possible for Mr.. Bryan to
converse almost at a moments notice
with his agents in all the countries of
the world, who are as immediately under
his orders and control as II they occu-
pied SO many desks in the great Office