The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-09
DIPLOMATIC.

| am as piea!sed as most people to
sfs psomineri virEiniaHS appointed 70
ever. inform me II there is to-day any
real need for ambassadors anywhere?
None whatever The practice Of send
ing cnvoys for particular occasions was
Il necessary one when communication
between nations was. by physical cir
Cu!nstauCcS. confined To messengers
The practice by which each nation had
- resident representative at The court
OF every other nation was n good one
SO long as international comununIca-
ton WAS slow and The maintenance OF
one man OF Judgment ana his necessary
suite was cheaper to the taXpaycr than
the cost OF OFT repeated embassies. But
to-day the whole scheme is a dis
credited farce. II is one of the many
now fallen into abuse, and II illustrates
how difficult II is Tor the privileged
classes TO consent to any blocking Of
their way TO the hard-earncd dollar Of
the common people. There IL ever a
great demand for Investment which
shall bc az the same time perfectly
safe and highly profitable, and wc
had once supposed that these Charac-
tcristics In their finest flower were to
be found only in that insidious hnan-
cial proposition so often insinuated into
the ear OF youth, heads. ] Win; tails.
YOU lose" .ut II is not 1T ali clear
that the worlds diplomatic service does
because it is perfectly certain thar no
ambassador nor minister to foreign
court mas ever In any lalr sense armed
one dollar of his pay since the days OF
instant communication bctwccn gov
ernments themselves by telegram. If
the holders OF the purse. the people,
who, as in Kipling's stanzas, pay and
pay and pay" could read the cable
Erams-couched. Of course. In the dip
lomatc ciphcr-which swell the bur
extent OF some ten thousand dollars Il
month for telegraph tolls. our part
promptly cease. Bales of these pre-
cious documents. might be peruscd
without disc ,r ntught Of greater
at Paris that he is not allowed to spit
til the English amba ssador is done or
party Willie went to was not so
classy" as Sans
There is excellent commercial reason
for the maintenance of consular SER
vice. There is now absolutely none of
any sort for the maintenance of a dip
lomatic corps. For years every clause
OF scrutiny and alteration by the de-
Lucrative assembly or the home min
lstry OF every. country involved. and
n Hay Pauncefote treaty is to-day no
more the work of the men who sign it
than II is the work of tho men who
make the ink with which it is written.
And in some conspicuous case about
the best apology which American high
signatories could plead is that they
had no part i'm the making Of their own
treaty except the aiiiXinG or their high
sign"
All questions like this may seem to
10 complicated. but they are not really
So Statesmen" retain their fat and
Juggling jobs largely by the solemnity
OF their warming, ne manus viola ssct
dona Minervac. that hands profane
touch not the arcana OF the political
gods. But there is ever one test sim
pie to be applied. and ii involves the
sole person who is entitled TO the faint
est consideration. BY this the efficiency
OF every act of every government may
be tried and II is this question. does
the taxpayer. the causa sine qua non,
the man whose labor pays for every
stitch In every garment worn by every
Official In every government, docs he
get n fair return for his money? SO
long M he does. we have all Mr. Roosc-
velts approval for 4 square deal. The
instant that he does not some one is re-
sponsible for the squandcrng by pif-
fling idiocy or intentional theft: and the
matter OF the propriety OF n diplomatic
corps. like every other such matter.
may be settled by tho one question
does 1t pay the man who pays for IL?