Evening star., 1922-04-30
HOLDS A STRANGE PLACE
In WORLD OF DIPLOMACY
Boris Bakhmeteff, Ambassador From
Russia, Is an Envoy With No Recog-
nized Government Back of Him.

time of the car. It is a handsome
residence-palatial.i in fact. The am
bassador and his wife occupy 1t. In
the old days there was q string of
Russian secretaries and attaches at,
the embassy. But today the only
other diplomatic representatives of
Russia recorded in the official State
Department list are Henry de Bach.'
counselor of embassy. who was here
in the days of the old regime. before
Mr.. Bakhmeteff arrived. and Serge
Ughet. a financial attache, with
headquarters in New York.
After the fall Of the Kerensky gov
ernment, the Russian diplomatic rep
resentatives in London. Paris, W ash
ington, Toxic. Madrid, ETC., decided
to stick on the job as long as there
was chance of doing anything to
aid their country. But gradually they
dropped out. and recognition of their
official status has left them. The
charge d'affaires representing Rus
STA in London. who was there before
the old regime fell. has recently left
that capital. 1t is said. Months ago
the Japanese government informed
that 1t would be pleased to have him
remain resident of Japan. but that
it could no longer recognize his Off
cial status. since the government in
Russia has changed hands. Upward
of year ago China took a similar
step.
Boxer Indemnitiea
Utilized I'm China.
The Chinese ascertained that the
Russian diplomatic Representatives s.
in China and Japan,were being mafn-
tanned there by the indemnities
awarded to Russia after the Boxer
uprising in 1900. The indemnity has
been paid in the past to the Russian
diplomatic Representatives through
the Russia Asiatic Bank. But none of
the money was finding its way to
Russia, the Chinese learned, So they
cut of this source of supply. The
Chinese took another step. Thev
put an END to the Russian extrater-
rftoriality rights, and a Russian ma
tional accused of crime in China to-
day must be tried by Chinese court
instead Of by a Russian court, as in
the past.
Before Japan Topped off the official
head OF the Russian ambassador to
that country-an ambassador without
government-that Official had be-
come the dean of the diplomatic corps
in Toxic by length of service He
TOOK precedence on all state occasions
over the diplomatic representatives Of
other nations. which caused some en-.
oarrassment, and took precedence, in
fact, on other occasions.
1t would strike Washington an
strange indeed. il the present Rus
sian ambassador should suddenly be-
come the dean of the diplomatic corps
here. Yet 1t is not without the
bounds of possibility that that might
happen. The French ambassador and
the Spanish ambassador are the only
diplomats here who have had longer
service in Washington than Mr.,
Bakhmeteff
Recognition OF S0vfets
Now Seems Probable.
In the United States, as in other
countries. there has been, in the past
a hope that something would happen
in Russia to bring that country back
to stable constitutional government,
or, to put it more plainly. that the
soviet government would fall. But, SO
far, this hope has not been realized.
Judging from the events at Genoa,
the powers are more likely to recog-
nize the soviet government now. OF
course, what the other powers may
do in this regard does not compel the
United States to follow suit. But II
there is general recognition of the
existing, government of Russia. and
conditions become stable in that
country, perhaps through the fnan-
cial assistance of its European neigh=l
bors, what other course would be open
to the United States?
, In one respect, the United States
has failed to recognize
the Russian ambassador. During the
Washington conference which dealt /.
with problems of the far east. prob
lens in which Russia admittedly was
intimately concerned, the Russian
ambassador did not sit about the
board with the other representatives
of the powers. He had no part in the
discussions of these matters.