New-York tribune., 1921-03-20

Jewish kingdom. He thought it bet
ter to be Jew of the kings than
King of the Jews. So say it is bet
ter to be Tribune of Senator'S than
Senator Of the Tribune. There are
no twenty Senators who combinedly
influence public opinion to one-twen-
tieth the extent you do"
vi
THUS, at the age of fifty-two, the
scholar in politics stepped to the
fore, and Reid began his second career,
political in sense, yet in increasing
measure above and apart from the rush
and tumble Of domestic elections or
the stress Of active journalism. It was
career destined to stretch over a
period Of twenty-three years, to bring
him to death in harness, and to count
in weight of achievement for his coun-
try even more constructively than had
his more tempestuous days Of journal
ism and politics.
The average American in 1889 would
surely not have guessed that such op-
portunity for service lay overseas. 1t
was to a berth of comfort and distinc-
ton, with important business to be
done calling for tact and intelligence
that Reid went in accepting the Paris
post. But of international outlook
there was not trace in the placid
IIpifaI ta{a of kLo ~. L =
difficult to realize how fast and far
cur thoughts have travelled around the
world in the last twenty years. The
period of Reid's first diplomatic ven
ture, in Paris from 1889 to 1892, be.
longed with this ancient, isolated past
1t was far from the vacation that many
of his American friends regarded it;
plenty Of hards important work filled
the years; but to the American mind
Of the day it was as unrelated to the
real business of living and voting and
making money as an ambassadorship tc
the moon would have been.
These early diplomatic chapters form
a curious pause in Mr.. Cortissoz's
narrative. They are interesting anc
amusing; the personal relationships
are vividly sketched. But the absorb
ing sweep of the crowded years in
domestic politics is somewhat lacking
One incidental item is worth tran
scribing for it's political wisdom. Reid
is writing to his old friend Walter
Phelps at Berlin, touching the fftieth
anniversary of the founding of The
Tribune, soon to come, when it was
expected that the ]. @. A. Ward statue
of Greeley could be unveiled. Says he
Of the speech he was meditating:
81 have long thought Of taking
this or some other suitable occasion
for word on the real relations of
Greeley, Chase and Seward to the
anti-slavery movement, as compared
with the statues of the Boston senti-
mentalists Garrison and Phillips
The latter confined themselves to
denunciation and to the work which
was easiest, since all for which they
could seem really to claim author
ship was the arraying of churches
and of both political parties for a
long time against their anti-slavery
movement. The others confined
themselves to practical work, and to
political agencies. To the practical
men who did the work should go, in
my opinion, the great honor. The
brilliant takers have already had
more than they deserve, and will be
less esteemed, while the fame of the
workers will grow. To say this as
tersely and bluntly as / would like
would arouse storm of dissent Is
it true in the broadest and justest
sense, and, if true, is it wise to say
it now"
True in the broadcast and justest
sense is the general verdict of later
years, we submit.
1t was, of course, the Spanish War
SO altogether minor in military
sense, that marked the turn in Ameri-
can life and gave to diplomacy new
value. BY the luck Of political life
the year 1898 found Whitelaw Reid
at the height Of his intellectual powers
already seasoned in foreign relation