Evening star., 1920-02-05
LORD DGREYS WORDS
ARE D|SPLEAS|NG
TO HEPRES|DENT.
MIR. Wilson Resents British
Interference; Was Not
Consulted.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE,

! Consulted.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
President Wilson resents British
interference in the domestic affairs
of the United States, and while in the
interest of good relations and the
passage of the treaty no formal in
cident has as yet been made of Lord
Greys letter. there is no question of
the displeasure of the incumbent of
the White House.
1t has lately become known that
while the letter of Lord Grey had
pleased the republican leaders. it had
offended the friends of President
Wilson and strengthened the hand
of the 'irreconcilables" in the Senate.
who were thankful for the phrase, "a
plunge into the unknown" contrib
uted by the distinguished British en-
voy AS a comment on the league of
nations. But 1T was not evident until
two days more passed that the sus-
picion of White House resentment
against the Grey letter was well
founded
The confirmation came in one of
those subtle ways which President
Wilson has of expressing his thoughts
by implication. The Presidents sec
retary permitted the correspondents
to quote his answer to question they
had asked him concerning a report
that the President had been consulted
by Lord Grey before publishing his
famous letter in the London Times
commenting on the conflict between
the executive and legislative branches
of our government. The answer was
an emphatic statement that the Presi-
dent had not been consulted.
Could Have Written to President.
To the criticism that President Will
son was inaccessible and could not be
| seen by Lord Grey. it was, moreover.
officially stated that matters of this
kind could be put in writing and
that 1t was customary for diplomats
to communicate by written rather
than by oral correspondence. In fact,
ambassadors or ministers rarely see
the President, and do most of their
business by informal note or memo
randum There were plenty of ways
by which Lord Grey might have
reached the President, and, moreover.
/ the Secretary of State was ready at
all times to talk with the British en-
voy, and did, in fact, receive him and
communicate in writing to President
Wilson exactly what Lord Grey said
on each occasion
But the point of the White House
announcement seems to be that
British ambassador to the United
States, who still holds that rank. so
far as the United States is officially
advised, but who is absent from MS
post, has expressed himself quite
fully on American domestic analrs at
a moment of intense feeling between
rival political branches of the Ameri-
can government.
Grover Cleveland Quoted.
Lord Grey is at home and probably
has not intended to return to the
United States anyway. so there is no
question that he felt himself about to
be relieved of official duties and free
to speak, but it was being recalled
Cleveland said in his annual message
to Congress in December. 1888. when.
referring to the dismissal of Lord
Sackville, the British minister to the
United States, he said:
THE correspondence in relation TO
this incident will in due course be
laid before you and will disclose the
objectionable conduct of the official
referred to in his interference by ad-
vice and counsel with the suffrages
of American citizens in the very crisis
of the presidential election then near
at hand and also in his subsequent
public declaration to justify his ac-
tions, superadding impugnment of the
Executive and the Senate of the
United States in connection with i'm
portant questions now pending be
iween the two governments. The Of
fense thus committed was most grave.
involving disastrous possibilities to
the good relations of the United
States and Great Britain. constitut-
ing a gross breach of diplomatic priv
ilege and an invasion or the purely
domestic affairs and essential SOW
ereignty of the government to which
the envoy was accredited"
Mr.. Cleveland said he had instruct
ed the Secretary of State to decline
ito further recognize the diplomatic
n ho 70
it his imperative duty to obtain
with as little delay as possible a new
personal channel of diplomatic inter-
course in this country with the gov
ernment of Great Britain"
The incident arose over the pnbiica.
ancestry of a letter asking the British
advice as to which party
to support in the presidential election
and which candidate would help the
"motherland" most in the future.
The British ambassador answered the
letter and while it was apparently ia
vorable to Mr.. Cleveland's own can
didacy, it was used when publlshed
by anti-British elements, to show that
Grover Cleveland and the British gov
ernment were working too closely to-
gether Anyway. that notion was
promptly dissipated when Mr.. Cleve-
land sent Lord Sackville home.
Grey Case Not Unlike.
The political circumstances in con-
nection with the Lord Grey incident
are not altogether dissimilar. The
Irish in America have been accusing
the President of foisting a British
Wilson league of nation on the United |
States. They have been appealing \
to Senator Lodge to nullify article y,
because they alleged it might some
day interfere with revolutionary !,
movement by Ireland against Great
Britain. |
To the extent that Lord Grey's letter |
the hand of the republic |
ans and made them bestir themselves |
when an American President could not |
move the treaty out OF its deadlock |
there were democrats of Irish proclivi- |
ties getting ready to taunt the repub- |
licans with the cry that Lord Grey's |
seemed more preferable to
them than that of President Wilson.
We have not heard the end of the |
Lord Grey incident. Great Britain will
krow both. through the press. and |