The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-01-15

extended to a career dlplOn
 Also he showed that a little politics, correct manners, a good game of bridge, plus fair amount of intelligence and large amount of money, pay excellent diplomatic dividends. This combination took Hugh Wilson to the top of the diplomatic ladder.
 Since the President now is fol- lowing a policy of rewarding career diplomats, and since the new am- bassador to Germany is a fair example of the same, it might be worthwhile to put the new ap- pointee under the microscope. Career Clique
 Wilson is very cultured, like able gentleman of 53, who looks more like a bank clerk than an ambassador. Son of a Chicago shirt manufacturer, he was given all the advantages of an educa- tion at Yale and in Paris, and worked hard in both places. After ward he spent three years in his fathers haberdashery business, and at the age of 26 became pri- vate secretary to the American minister to Portugal.
 During the 27 years that fol- lowed, Wilson has been stationed in half a dozen different capi- tals, has been a good diplomat. He is shrewd, intelligent, has worked hard at diplomacy, also at personal politics.
 The climax of the latter came in 1927 when Wilson was in charge of the State Departments press relations, also chief of the personnel board. In this capacity he helped to promote himself and close associates to lush ministerial and ambassadorial jobs abroad. This was the famous career clique which dominated foreign relations at the time Frank B. Kellogg was having such hard sledding in Nic- aragua and Mexico, and their self promotion caused such criticism that they found it expedient to live abroad for some time.
 Herbert Hoover, who didn't ap- prove the career clique, denoted and transferred some, but Hugh Wilson remained in his original post as Minister to Switzerland. League of Notions
 Here one of his jobs was to handle American affairs before the League of Nations. Toward the League he was a complete cynic, called it the League of Notions" Even in the earlier idealistic days, when Coolidge and Hoover were attempting dis armament in cooperation with the League, Wilson pooh-poohed the idea that anything could come of it.
 Regardless of the League, Wilson is essentially an Old World diplomat. He believes that there can be no lasting peace, that the best way to pro- long it is by balance of power and juggling alliances.
 So the State Department sent Prentiss Gilbert, a man more in sympathy with the League, to be stationed regularly in Geneva, leaving Wilson in the Swiss capi- tai of Berne. But when the Man. churian crisis occurred in 1881 and Gilbert got the honor of sit- ting on the League of Nations Commission, there was a terrific howl from the career boys. Gil- bert was not a career man.
 AbOut-Face
 Shortly after this, Cordell Hull and Norman Davis began to dom- mate American foreign policy, both being old Woodrow Wilson League of Nations men.
 Suddenly, therefore, Hugh
 Wilson talking about the
 League of Notions. He began
 to be quite an ardent League rOOter.
 Wilson is very ambitious. So also 10 Il1o W44c, hdI1c. III WdSIllIlB- ton she always made it a point to play bridge with the wife of the Under Secretary of State. Envisaging advancement for him. self, Wilson contrived the idea of creating a new office, "Ameri- can High Commissioner to the League of Nations" to sit in Geneva.
 This clicked in Washington un- til it leaked to the press and got unfavorable comment on Capitol Hill. Whereupon MT. Hull threw it in the scrap basket. That was the end of Hugh Wilson's promo- tion.
 Diplomatic Dark Ages
 His ambition was rewarded two years later, however, when he came back to Washington as assistant secretary of state. But