Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-11-07


almost any event is an excuse
for party, they stayed at
home last night.
In the quiet of their homes
diplomats watched with nom
partisan interest, the proceed
ings of that great quadrennial
American sport-the national
elections.
Their mood was a somher
one, in contrast with some Of
the more spirited gatherings
of their American friends.
Attention on embassy row
was diverted from the local
scene to the dramas unfolding
in the Middle East. in Eastern
Europe and in New York at
the United Nations.
\ ~
IF THE GRAVITY of these
domestic and international
events we're not sufficient rea-
son to keep them home-then
protocol was.
Traditionally. diplomats pre-
fer to be as inconspicuous as
possible during an election
here. They cannot express any
4 preference, for that would
mean a blatant interference in
our domestic affairs by a for
eign government.
Regardless of his personal
preference, a diplomat must
Z wear a mask Of strict i'm
Partially.
- For the few diplomats who
did have gatherings last night.
it was strictly an Official fam
ily' affair. At the French En-
bassy, the Ambassador and
Nine. Alphand invited men,
bers of their staff for an in
formal dinner at which the
feature attraction was the TV
set.
The Austrian Ambassador
and Nine, Gruber munched
sandwiches and slipped wine
with a few Austrian friends
and watched the returns come
in.
Brazilian Ambassador and
Nine, Peixoto watched the re-
turns with a group of parlia-
mentarians from their coun-
try who were in Washington
I for the day.
BRITAIN'S CHARGE DAT
FARES and Mrs. Coulson left
yesterday for New York to
meet the new Ambassador and
Lady Caccia who arrived early
this morning aboard the Queen
Elizabeth.
The Coulsons were hoping to
dine with friends in New York
and then visit both Republi.
can and Democratic headquar-
tiers there to get a bipartisan
picture of the elections.
The Egyptian Ambassador.
whose grave voice indicated
the tremendous strains of the
past week. said he would be
staying In his Office or the
residence all evening. as he
must be in constant commune
cation with his country and
the U. N.
The Israeli Embassy reported
that the Ambassador and Mrs.
Eban were in New York and
would stay there for election
night.
Said the Spanish AmbaSsa-
dor. I've been asked to sew
eral parties by very kind
friends, but feel it is wiser
to decline them. I think it
would be improper of me to
be anywhere where I might be
involved in Americas purely
domestic affairs"
A DIFFERENT opinion was
expressed by a member of the
Italian Embassy staff, who
said he planned to join his
colleagues at the embassy,
where the Italian Ambassador
and Signora Brosio had in
vited some Of their staff to
join them. However, this Dip
lomat said he hoped he would
have a chance to drop in on
some of his American friends
later in the evening. for he
wanted to watch how the
Americans react"
\ +
AMONG THE ARAB-ASIAN
nations there was expression of
their great concern over the
Middle East crisis.
"The election is more now
for the people Of the United
States" said Ambassador Lu-
din Of Afghanistan yesterday.
I'VE as foreign diplomats can
not express views on one side
or other. But whichever can