The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-27

z 1928 Eight enth street, WASH
~ inston' stands in a group OF
substantial homes, n great.
G!gnined red brick house with
,rpusing entrance and with Virginia
crc,per rambling over its walls.
pagond.ly across the street from
q is the Austro-lIungarian Embassy,
which extends through a flatiron
slapcd block to Connecticut avenue, on
N opposite side Of which avenue is
the British Embassy. Within a stones
throw are half a dozen more embassies
anC legations.
This Eighteenth street house Of red
brick may be said to be the present
home Of American diplomacy. The
owner of the house and an occupant
thereof is John W. Foster. sometimes
called the old fox of American
,u'umaCy" and once Secretary of State
tf the United States. He has served
r. coua:ry many times abroad as
Ambassador and Minister and as a
member Of international commissions.
HIS services as a dip,omatist n in
ternatiOnal lawyer hay been en-
floyed at various times by China,
Mexico. Great Britain and several
other nations.
Also an occupant of the house is
Mr.. Fosters s1n-in-law, Robert Lam
sing. the new Secretary of State. whose
appointment to the portfolio on
Wednesday. after serving as Secre-
tary ad interim since June ., came
as the climax in IA rise to distinction in
recent months that has no parallel in
American diplomacy.
Mr.. Foster is a Republican,; Mr..
Lansing is a Democrat. But internal
tio,al relations are things above
domestic partisan politics. Diplomacy
Is a profession that is apart from local
political considerations. Mr.. Lansing
r. / trained diplomatist and his sud
den rise admittedly is due to his ability
IN his profession. His relationship with
Mr.. Foster-Gen. Foster, to give him
the name by which he is best known
IN Washington-may explain where he
Got the foundation OF his training.
Gen. Foster is now in his eightieth
year. He knows courts and chancel-
ferries, European and Asiatic. as IL has
been given to few Americans to know
IlfAhs eehe hS seas
been on terms of intimacy with the
great figures that have made history.
First a soldier-he won the Colonelcy
Of his Indiana regiment by brilliant
fighting at Shiloh-he next turned to
law and politics. He was chairman of
the Republican State central committee
Of the Hoosier State in 1872. And all
this led him to diplomacy.
Forty years ago he went as Minister
20 Mexico, where he served for seven
wears. Next he was Minister to Rus
sIa, and after that Minister to Spain.
In the meantime he had been called
on 20 negotiate as plenipotentiary
reciprocity treaties with various ma
tons.
President Harrison called him to he
Secretary of State in 1892. When the
tribunal was assembled at Paris to
adiys.ca:e tho difficulty that had arisen
among the nations because the United
States and Russia had asserted that
Beflng Sea was a closed sea it was
Gen. Foster who was found there In
charge Of the American case.
At the conclusion of the Chinese
japanese War the Emperor of China
engaged Ten. fosteT 10 participate III
the peace negotiations with Japan as
the representative of China. Again in
1907 China sent him to represent 1t al
the second Hague conference.
In the meantime he had served on
the Anglo-Canadian commission. and
in his practice as an international
lawyer his services had been retained
In many international disputes by
various nations. He was in charge Of
the American case before the Alaska
boundary tribunal of 1908, which was
the last diplomatic service he rendered
e. his own country.
With such a man as a fat~her-in-lav
and mentor, Is it strange that Mr.
Lansing. possessing as he does wide
knowledge, long experience and GER
tain qualities Of mind and character
that make for success in diplomacy
quite aside from other aids. has, wher
opportunity offered, risen high?
Able tutoring alone OF course can
not guarantee success in any profess
sion, diplomacy, perhaps, least OF all