Evening star., 1921-03-24
Editorial Digest
Harvey as Ambassador.

far merely under consideration" 1s
am bassador to Great Britain, the sug-
gestion has brought out as much
comment in the press as though the
appointment had already Seen made.
Democratic papers are. of course, the
strongest opponents voicing their
disapproval in terms as caustic as
! those which they accuse Col. Harvey
| of using against Wilson. Britain And
the league of nations. To be sure, the
| appointment is not without support
ers, some of them forceful; others,
however. praise in manner notice.
ably faint.
Among these are a number OF re-
! publican papers. such, for instance. as
the Des Moines Capital, which is sure
| that he will be credit to the United
| States: at any rate, "he would shine
at the banquets" and would make
| speeches which would be fit to print"
| The Syracuse Post-Standard (repub-
lican) feels that while ''he has the
acquaintance with our foreign af-
fairs and the friendship of English
statesmen that will make him at
home as an ambassador to ST. James
| there is doubt as to whether he
has the temperament" since he has
never been diplomatic in speech or
writing"
| In the opinion of the New London
: (Conn.) Day (republican), however,
mis- lack of diplomatic fineSse Is an
| argument in his favor. 1t ADDS: Its
a safe conclusion that America would
! gain rather than lose respect through
| having a blunt spokesman at the
court of St. James; the worst cTltl-
| cism that would be likely to folio"
might be in the form of explanations,
| courtier to courtier. that 'he's dread
fully American, you know.
! At any rate. adds the Springfield
| Union (republican), when the Brit
| ish get used to Col. Harvey. they
! will not have to adjourn to secret seS.
sion to discuss his probable meaning.
But in the past, the sioux s ..,hts 1lts
| post has been filled by our most emil
nent men," and the Journal does not
| consider Col. Harvey merits the high
i honor" of being ranked among them.
| The Norristown tPa.) Times trepup-
! lican) feels that not only has Mr.
Harvey never evidenced qualifications
i for such a post" but his friends have
never put forth claims in that re-
! spect for him"
F, Whatever the Presidents real reasons
may be for the appointment of man
! so "self-opnionated, assertive. fiery
| and combatlve" as Mr.. Harvey, the
Richmond Times Dispatch democrat
! ic) feels that there is danger that the
public will believe the coloneIs quail
fcations for the ambassadorshipw were
not weighed as carefully as so lmpor-
tant a matter demands" That this
is not the first foreign appointment in
our history that fails to give credit
to our country" the Raleigh news
and Observer (democratic) comedies,
! but in all our history" it asserts,
mo appointment has been made to
this post of a man who lacked so
strikingly the qualities which an
American ambassador to London
ought to possess at this time"
Now. of all times, the Atlanta Jour
nal (democratic) agrees. that ex-
ceedingly responsible commission calls
for ability not only Of the highest
order. but of the highest fitness" and.
in the Journals opinion. 1t Is inept:
i'll advised and hazardous" to intrust
it to "one who is both unqualified
and disqualified"
"The man who takes the highest
! diplomatic d post within the gift Of our
Union dndependent) holds. Ought to
have record of work on behalf or
better relations between nations"
Instead. "Mr. Harvey's record is that
| of instigatinE and directing the at
tack upon all those features of the
ward substitution Of a better system
| for the one which had failed SO COM
pletely." If this criticism had con-
tained any Constructive. upbuilding
| policy" the Mitchell Is. d. Gazette
(republican) feels that Harvey would
have proved himself a statesman
| more worthy of the honor which he
now seeks" but unfortunately he pur-
sued the same destructive. hotheaded
! policy" toward England, and has
shown himself decidedly unfriendly."
Surely. therefore, the Louisville
Post independently submits. sit would
be a misfortune to send to London
| man whose only idea will be to break
down everything that has been ac-
complished in the last few years"
While ''he will be received by the
British with the fine courtesy due
land. independently fears that "be-
Eeath 1t all there will be distrust."
However. Col. Harvey's attitude on
the Versailles treaty and international
relations, the Kansas City Star inde-
pendent) points out. was approved
| by the American people at the last
election" and as "a man Of experience
and insight. he Ia competent to take
care of his country's interests"
The Memphis News-Scimitar Gnde-
Ipendent) also feels that his views are
the views of the American people: his
ideas of what the foreign policy Of
the United States should be are sound.
logical and courageous" Admittedly.
this paper continues. "he is not overly
fond OF England and has never hesi-
tated to say So" but "the weakness
OF our foreign policy in the past has
been due to the selection Of ambas-
sadors who were as much in sympathy
with the aspirations Of the country in
which they were stationed as they
were with the desire to serve their
own country" and Col. Harvey "is an
American, first last and all the time a."