The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-03-28

.DDS 0941e04O u III t80A1 UOWABUUl-
ing President Harding and hie Sec
retaTy Of state a Washington to-
day p that Of seIscting wisely the
ambAssadofs and ministers who
will represent thAcountry and new
Standardization aDrdhd.
In the selections 0f thpse various
ENJOYS. and of their secretaries and
attaches, President Harding and
Secretary Hughes must not only
take into consideration the fitness
of the5e men for their Jobs, but the
qualifications Of their wives Also.
The wife 10 the most important
Of all the elements Of an embassy"
said Napoleon once in an explana-
ton IT his selection Of the unknown
husband Of an attractive and ac-
|complished woman for the post Of
ambassador at an important court.
Nor is the wife Of the diplomatic
chief alone important. Tie wife
OF the most. unimportant secretary
is capable Of krecking the success
Of diplomatic hiissioa. A tactless
slip Of the tongue on her part may
give rise to q GOODNESS between
~ home government and the for
eigp government that only years
will eradicate; The ambassador or
attache himself is mere easily for
given for break than his wife.
Madame must possess all the So
cial graces, with wisdom and guile
to boot. But she must not be too
Circe-like. A ramp" would not
be toleSated in diplomatic circles.
She must not be too extravagant.
she must not talk too much and
above all else she must be given
to the habit of writing indiscreet
letters.
illustrating the last ''must not"
Washington still remembers the
case of the beautiful Lady Susan
Townley, whose husband. Sir Wal
ter Beaupre Townley was for d
brief space charge d. afEaires OF
the British embassy in Washing
ton. The briefness Of his sojourn
here, after a distinguished diplo-
matte career elsewhere. was attrib-
uted to Lady Susan's fondness for
letter-writing. Social Washington
is still sore, though the case OF
Lady Susan is now more than fif-
teen years old, over some of the
things the witty young English
woman said about the elect Of the
capital in her letters home. Lady
Susan was too witty and her friends
lat home enjoyed her clever satire
SO much that they let some of the
letters slip into the hands of a pub
Usher.
The charge d. anaires was re-
called after a few warm remarks
had been passed between the two
governments. Afterwards his gov
eminent relented to the extent OF
sending him to a less important
post
Most Blunders flushed.
The affair of Lady Susan was
given wide publicity but the dimplo-
matte custom in such cases is to
hush matters up, quietly to recall
the offending envoy and never to
let the general public into the Sc
cret of So-and-So's abrupt return
home. How many promising ca
reers have been wrecked by tact
less wives, therefore, will never be
public recorded.
Equally numerous are instances
(, in which the ambassador has been
helped by a clever wife in his rise
in the graces Of the government to
| which he has been accredited. Per
haps one of the most striking Incl
dents of that kind in Washington
at present is the minister of Croats
Serbs and Slovenes, to give him his
full title, DR.. CIavko Y. Grouitch
DR.. Grouitch frankly admits that
he owes much of his diplomatic
success to his charming and at
tractive wife.
She has, it may be added, kept