Evening star., 1937-05-30

"be-spatted hlgh-hat boys"
Slippers" And, just by way of {
the splendid service done by Uncle
. Sans foreign representatives within
the last II months at Madrid, Valen-
cia, Barcelona and Adds Ababa. They
were on the front line of defense, tax.
ing their lives in their hands.
Ambassador Gibson Says
He Is No Piayboy.
Mr. Hugh Gibson, American Ambas-
sador to Brazil, who was the officia
introducer when President Roosevelt
landed in that country last Winter
became a little excited, too, and in a
most interesting and informative ar
ticle recently. in weekly publication
entitled Diplomats Pay to Work,
made it perfectly plain that in his
long career in the foreign service he
had never been just playboy. but, like
hundreds of his confreres in the serv-
ice. has worked long and late for his
country.
The Department of State and
Foreign Service Discussed.
He begins his delightful article by
saying that he does not wear spats !;
that he has no fashionable school edu-
cation or private means. and that he
does not drink tea enough to under
mine the founda tions of the Republic
Notwithstanding the fact that he has
spent the greater part of his life in the
foreign service, and adds: "* It is
doubtless a novelty for some one on
the inside to discuss the Department
of State and the service. " y hope
may be permitted to offer some OBJ
serva tions."
His Excellency Scorns the
Charge Of Snobbery.
His excellency says that the charge
OF snobbery leads all the rest and that
1t is intimated on the outside that
the service is made up of Groton and
Harvard men when from actual count
there are perhaps 20 Groton and 100
Harvard men in the Foreign Service,
which has a personnel of about 1000.
Mr.. Gibson received his earlier edu-
cation in his native State, California,
but is a graduate of the Ecole Libre
des Sciences Politiques at Paris; his
degree of LII. D. and A. NJ at Po-
mona, Calf, and DR.. Dip. and Polit
Sciences at the world-renowned Uni
vers1ty OF LOuvain. One of America s
most accomplished diplomats, he has
served his country at no less than
10 foreign posts in different parts of
the world, and through his work in
Belgium during those dreadful days
after the World War became almost
an idol OF the Belgian people. After
the war. during the readjustment
period and the delicate reallocation
OF nationals, he broke diplomatic
ground for the Department Of State.
Mr.. Gibson
Calls 1t q Day.
Mr.. Gibson resents what he calls
the charge Of undemocratic behavior
or social giddiness on the part of the
, diplomat and says: Il choose at ran
dom the calendar of a busy day,
emitting all the engagements affect
Ing days work in the Office and
touching only on the social side: 10
am, inauguration of hospital, with
one hour of standing on marble floor
and listening to Indifferent speech
makers. 1890 pm, luncheon at the
American Chamber Of Commerce to
who is guest Of honor 4::3O pm, a
reception at the foreign office in honor
OF some visiting notability, where ab-
sence might be considered q lack OF
ordinary courtesy. 8 pm, dinner
with the leader Of the opposition,
whose attitude toward tariff matters
affecting the United Staes calls for
careful treatment. 1920 pm, evening
party at another embassy with a
couple hours more standing on a
marble floor, in order that absence
may not be construed as bearing
upon temporary conflict of inter-
est between our two countries"
Then his excellency gets down to
real lacks: Office duties, such as
reading an average of 40 letters before
ne keeps that 10 o'clock appointment,
olctatlng answers to some, seeing that
suoordlnates carry out instructions
from the department, receiving re-
ports from these, making a flying trip
TO the foreign office, trying to find
out II the foreign minister has in
mind what he says he has in mind,
making sure that visiting American
IN difficulty gets attention, reading
letters he has dictated. Coming as it
has on the heels of Secretary Hulrs
recent announcement that reorgani-
Iation OF the State Department was
under way with the view of greater
administrative centralization, it would
seem that Ambassador Gibson has
chosen very happy time to enlighten
the public upon many phases of the
Foreign Service that are always more
or less criticized. He answers in some
detail the criticism that is often made
that the service is undemocratic: That
posts in the service should be re-
served for deserving" Quotations are
the authors) Foreign Service men
and he adds that the Government
does not exist for the purpose of re-
warding the deserving.
Franklin Succeeded in Spite
OF Homespun Breeches.
There is one group" Mr.. Gibson
says, which persists in the idea that
our Government is best served abroad
by a plain, everyday American from
private life-the palmer the better.
When you hear the beginning of this
statement you know it will be fol-
lowed by a triumphant citing of Ben
jamin Franklin as the archtype of
plain everyday American who made
brilliant success in diplomacy. OF
all the nonsensical stories that have
been put about, that is probably the
most ridiculous. Benjamin Franklin
succeeded not because he was plain
or because he wore homespun breeches,
but because he was one of the shreWd-