The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-06-27

one end to the other. I find no ore
who is willing to pay that price
and therefore we have to concern
yourselves in the affairs OF ,the
world.
For that reason we must have
a better diplomatic service than We
have had in the past. We have lad
many eminent ambassadors aud
ministers from America. We have -
them now. But we have not had
any intelligent continuous tore!gn
service in the history of the repuD
lie. We are the one great nation
in the world that changes our am
bassadors and ministers every four
years, or eight at the Iongest.
France, republic like our own,
| whose government changes much
oftener than our government docs.
has had Jules Jusserand at WasH-
ington for IS years or more.
Frances minister to Rome has beer.
there 25 years. They have changed
their government many times dur
ing this period, but they recognize
the necessity of a continuous ana
permanent foreign policy. Eng
land likewise changes her govern
ment frequently. but she does not
change her foreign representative
at every shifting change OF party.
Urges Embassy Purchase.
ours is the only nation in the
world of any consequence that does
not own its own embassies in for
eign capitals. An embassy flying
our flag, occupying soil owned BY
America, becomes a little bit OF
America under international law
and gives prestige 10 the man who
occupies it Aside from the TACT
that it detracts greatly from the
prestige of our foreign represent
atives, it entails financial burdens
upon him which only the rich can
bear.
Il prepared and advocated a dill
authorizing the American govern
ment to purchase embassies and
! legations. In the last year of my
service, 1 secured the enactment o.
the law. That was II years ago, /
think. Since then the government
has made two or three purchases
under the law, but none in the most
important capitals. While l was Ia
Berlin recently, 1 learned that after
! the great war, the Austrian en-
bassy, one of the most imposing
and finest embassies in BeTlin.. a.
structure that before the war must
have been worth close to a million
dollars, had been offered to the
American government for $4,000,
and still we have not had sense
/ enough to buy it yet
I'VE must make more attractive.
too, our foreign service to our tai
ented young men. The secretaries
of our embassies and legations
form a very important class of Of
/ ficials. In some of the principal
capitals we have three or four sec
retaries for each embassy Their
salaries are $500 and $4,000
year, and in a few instances. be
1ieve, after many years of serytce,
+ they reach as high an amount a.
! $4,000. These are the salaries mcu
receive who are dealing with al
! fairs of such magnitude that the
successful handling of them may
mean peace aOr war. The counsel
Ior,, too, and the other members OF
every embassadorial staff, are plid
| in like proportion. As a result, the
stats of our embassies in Europe
are composed usually of young men
of wealth or the sons of wealthy
people who are socially ambitious.
OF course, these young men have
entrees into the highest society ev-
( eryWhere. AS a class they are very
/ fine men. Inevitably, however, their
salaries form but a small part OF
their expenses. They do not feel
the same dependence on or deYO-
/ ton to their work as they would ii
! their pay was adequate. Again.
you are excluding from this most
important branch of the public ser
vice the young men of ability who
would gladly make this service
their career if they could afford Il.
One very distinguished ambassador
! of ours said to me that he would
like to see the service made so. at
tractive that the young men who
had worked their way through col
lege would be tempted TO it for
career.
Another thing. we have got to
give some sort of permaneney and
continuity to our foreign policies.
Every other nation but ours does
this. There are certain great fun
Idamental foreign policies in every
country that all parties agree upon
But these policies can be given et-
feet only If there is permanent
body of officials administering
those policies.
with Us. there is a change from
one party to the other; the under
secretary and the principal assis--
ant secretaries are all changed No
matter what the genius Of the sec
rotary may be, he IS tremendously
handicapped by the absence of per
manent high officials in his depart
Iment"
ing, f1gurativeIy at the drop Of d
II 4