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part05+-第29部分

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book which had gained him credit。 As the most serious questions



between the two countries were commercial; he seemed a godsend;



and; going to the President; I stated the matter fully。 Though



the young man was as far as possible from having any 〃pull〃 in



the State from which he came; was not at all known either to the



President or the Secretary of State or assistant secretary of



state; all of whom came from Ohio; and was equally unknown to



either of the Ohio senators or to any representative; and though



nothing whatever was known of his party affiliations; the



President; on hearing a statement of the case; ignored all



pressure in favor of rival candidates; sent in his nomination to



the Senate; and it was duly confirmed。







The next thing was the appointment of a military attache。 The



position is by no means a sinecure。 Our government must always



feel the importance of receiving the latest information as to the



armies and navies of the great powers of the world; and therefore



it is that; very wisely; it has attached military and naval



experts to various leading embassies。 It is important that these



be not only thoroughly instructed and far…seeing; but gentlemen



in the truest sense of the word; and I therefore presented a



graduate of West Point who; having conducted an expedition in



Alaska and served with his regiment on the Western plains most



creditably; had done duty as military attache with me during my



mission at St。 Petersburg; and had proved himself; in every



respect; admirable。 Though he had no other supporter at the



national capital; the Secretary of War; Governor Alger; granted



my request; and he was appointed。







These matters; to many people apparently trivial; are here



alluded to because it is so often charged that political



considerations outweigh all others in such appointments; and



because this charge was frequently made against President



McKinley。 The simple fact is that; with the multitude of



nominations to be made; the appointing power cannot have personal



knowledge of the applicants; and must ask the advice of persons



who have known them and can; to some extent; be held responsible



for them。 In both the cases above referred to; political pressure



of the strongest in favor of other candidates went for nothing



against the ascertained interest of the public service







The Secretary of State at this time was Mr。 John Sherman。 I had



known him somewhat during his career as senator and Secretary of



the Treasury; and had for his character; abilities; and services



the most profound respect。 I now saw him often。 He had become



somewhat infirm; but his mind seemed still clear; whether at the



State Department or in social circles his reminiscences of public



men and affairs were always interesting; and one of these



confirmed an opinion I have expressed in another chapter。 One



night; at a dinner…party; the discussion having fallen upon



President Andrew Johnson; and some slighting remarks having been



made regarding him by one of our company; Mr。 Sherman; who had



been one of President Johnson's strongest opponents; declared him



a man of patriotic motives as well as of great ability; and



insisted that the Republican party had made a great mistake in



attempting to impeach him。 In the course of the conversation one



of the foremost members of the House of Representatives; a man of



the highest standing and character; stated that he had himself;



when a young man; aided Mr。 Johnson as secretary; and that he was



convinced that the ex…President could write very little more than



his signature。 We had all heard the old story that after he had



become of age his newly wedded wife had taught him the alphabet;



but it was known to very few that he remained to the last so



imperfectly equipped。







Of conversations with many other leading men of that period at



Washington I remember that; at the house of my friend Dr。 Hill;



afterward assistant secretary of state; mention being made of the



Blaine campaign; an eminent justice of the Supreme Court said



that Mr。 Blaine always insisted to the end of his life that he



had lost the Presidency on account of the Rev。 Dr。 Burchard's



famous alliteration; 〃Rum; Romanism; and rebellion;〃 and that the



whole was really a Democratic trick。 Neither the judge nor any



other person present believed that Mr。 Blaine's opinion in this



matter was well founded。







An important part of my business during this visit was to confer



with the proper persons at Washington; including the German



ambassador; Baron von Thielmann; regarding sundry troublesome



questions between the United States and Germany。 The addition to



the American tariff of a duty against the sugar imports from



every other country equivalent to the sugar bounty allowed



manufactures in that country had led to special difficulties。 It



had been claimed by Germany that this additional duty was



contrary to the most…favored…nation clause in our treaties; and;



unfortunately; the decisions on our side had been conflicting;



Mr。 Gresham; Secretary of State under Mr。 Cleveland; having



allowed that the German contention was right; and his successor;



Mr。 Olney; having presented an elaborate argument to show that it



was wrong。 On this point; conversations; not only with the



Secretary of State and the German ambassador; but with leading



members of the committees of Congress having the tariff in



charge; and especially with Mr。 Allison and Mr。 Aldrich of the



Senate and Governor Dingley of the House; showed me that the case



was complicated; the various interests somewhat excited against



each other; and that my work in dealing with them was to be



trying。







There were also several other questions no less difficult; those



relating to the exportation of American products to Germany and



the troubles already brewing in Samoa being especially prominent;



so that it was with anything but an easy feeling that; on the



29th of May; I sailed from New York。







On the 12th of June I presented the President's letter of



credence to the Emperor William II。 The more important of my new



relations to the sovereign had given me no misgivings; for during



my stay in Berlin as minister; eighteen years before; I had found



him very courteous; he being then the heir apparent; but with the



ceremonial part it was otherwise; and to that I looked forward



almost with dismay。







For; since my stay in Berlin; the legation had been raised to an



embassy。 It had been justly thought by various patriotic members



of Congress that it was incompatible; either with the dignity or



the interests of so great a nation as ours; to be represented



simply by a minister plenipotentiary; who; when calling at the



Foreign Office to transact business; might be obliged to wait for



hours; and even until the next day; while representatives from



much less important countries who ranked as ambassadors went in



at once。 The change was good; but in making it Congress took no



thought of some things which ought to have been provided for。 Of



these I shall speak later; but as regards the presentation; the



trying feature to me was that there was a great difference



between this and any ceremonial which I had previously



experienced; whether as commissioner at Santo Domingo and Paris;



or as minister at Berlin and St。 Petersburg。 At the presentation



of a minister plenipotentiary he goes in his own carriage to the



palace at the time appointed; is ushered into the presence of the



sovereign; delivers to him; with some simple speech; the



autograph letter from the President; and then; after a kindly



answer; all is finished。 But an ambassador does not escape so



easily。 Under a fiction of international law he is regarded as



the direct representative of the sovereign power of his country;



and is treated in some sense as such。 Therefore it was that; at



the time appointed; a high personage of the court; in full



uniform; appeared at my hotel accompanied by various other



functionaries; with three court carriages; attendants; and



outriders; deputed to conduct me to the palace。 Having been



escorted to the first of the carriages;myself; in plain



citizen's dress; on the back seat; my escort; in gorgeous



uniform; facing me; and my secretaries and attaches in the other



carriages;we took up our march in solemn processioncarriages;



outriders; and allthrough the Wilhelmstrasse and Unter den



Linden。 On either side was a gaping crowd; at the various corps



de garde bodies of troops came out and presented arms; and on our



arrival at the palace there was a presentation of arms and



beating of drums which; for the moment; somewhat abashed me。 It



was an ordeal more picturesque than agreeable。







The reception by the Emperor was simple; courteous; and kindly。



Neither of us made any set speech; but we discussed various



questions; making reference to our former meeting and the changes



which had occurred since。 Among these changes I referred to the



great improvement in Berlin; whereupon he said that he could not



think the enormous growth of modern cities an advantage。 My



answer was that my reference was to the happy change in the



architecture of Berlin rather than to its growth in population;



that; during my first stay in the city; over forty years before;



nearly all the main buildings were of brick and stucco; whereas
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