New-York tribune., 1915-02-25
AMHERST ALUMNI
CHEER WHITMAN
Governor Greeted with
Shout and Song at the
Annual Banquet.
ROBERT LANSING
AMONG SPEAKERS
State Department Official De-
clares Diplomatic Service
Needs Trained Men.


Oh, Lord Georrsv A~hsrr vos q soldte-
And he came from Goro. tbs sea-
To the Frenchmen aud the Trdto-s ~ dsd,f
IN n, Utid, "o'h Of fh., ,c,ra eountr-s.
It vas the salute Of soms 300 alumni
of Amherst to Governor Whitman,
class Of 90.
Cheer upon cheer followed, the men
rising by classes. The Governor stood
for several minutes waiting for the
tumult TO subside. He had 10 raise
his hand to stop it and get something
10 eat. Never before have 50 many
alumni of the New England college sat
down together as gathered at the Hotel
Biltmore last night for the joint an
nual banquet of the alumni council Of
Amherst College and the Amherst As
sociatior OF New York.
With renewed vim the Sir Godfrey
song rolled out when Collin Arm
strong, toastmaster, read letter from
the present Lord Godfrey, whose home
is at Montreal, Seven Oaks, Kent.
Lord Godfrey said that his son had
Just got his commission at the age OF
eighteen with the Coldstream Guards.
Although Sir Godfrey didn't say IL
the diners got the notion that the sub
altern's mind was made up that he
wouldn't do a thing" to certain ad-
versaries who were neither Indians
nor Frenchmen.
81 was president Of my class in Am
herst," declared Governor Whitman
when his turn came to speak, "and II
was the greatest honor / ever had. |
consider it the greatest honor any man
could have"
Governor Whitman found his theme
In a newspaper clipping which quoted
President Hadley of Yale as asserting
that a man in politics had the choice
of two things. He could do the right
thing by getting out or he could do the
wrong thing by staying in.
81 don't know that President Hadley
ever said that" said the Governor, but
if he did he's mistaken. During the
five years | was District Attorney Of
New York County indicted more than
one hundred young men into office.
The record Of that office disproves the
statement attributed to President Had
ley. >,
"There Is not money enough in all
the world to buy one of those men in
the Criminal Courts Building. In
fifteen years in public Office have seen
q good many men fired for doing wrong.
but have yet to see the man fired who
did right"
Robert Lansing, counsellor Of the
Department OF State, declared himself
opposed to the plan of including am
bassadors and ministers in the civil
service. Some of the very men who
favored the scheme would never have
got their diplomatic Offices under the
system, Mr. Lansing said.
"The trouble is," he asserted, that
they, as we'll as other advocates OF the
system, start out on wrong premises.
Chief of these is, think, the idea that
an ambassador or minister never acts
independently and that his only duty is
to repeat words put in his mouth by
the Department of State-that he has
no more initiative than q consular Of
fcer.
"If that were true a permanent Dip
lomatic corps would be just the thing.
But it is a fallacy. Successful diplo-
macy to-day requires individual ini-
tiative and sound judgment, as it al
ways has. II Is the man Of force, Of
personality. OF originality, who be-
comes distinguished in the diplomatic
service.
"On men Of that character the sue
cess Of the administrations foreign pol
ices depends. They must also be men
who comprehend those policies. who are
in hearty sympathy with them and who
are enthusiastic and untiring in carry
ing them out. Now, that goes a good
deal beyond merely obeyng orders"
IL would be most unwise, Mr.. Lam
sing declared, to restrict the power of
the President in choosing his diplo-
matte representatives.
There were more cheers when the
alumni caught sight of the Rev. DR..
F. f. Tower, '66. DR.. Tower caught for
Amherst in the first game Of int.rcol-
legiate baseball ever played. II was on
July /, 1859, and Amherst beat Will
iams-71 to SO.
Frank J. Goodnow, president Of Johns
Hopkins, shared with Governor Whit
man and Mr.. Lansing the honor Of
being guests Of the evening. Others at
the speakers table were the Rev. DR..
George Harris, president emeritus; AL
exander Meiklejohn, president of the
college; VI. Pansretoff, Bulgarian Min
ister; DR.. George W. Kirchwey, DR..
Talcott Williams, Harlon Stone, Hud-
son Maxim, Major j. Stanley Moore,
Colonel John A. Sleicher, Professor A..
F.. Grosvenor, the Rev. DR.. Dennis
Workman, Robert A. Woods and Isaac