A DIPLOMATIC APPOINTMENT.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12683, 22 December 1906, Page 8

A DIPLOMATIC APPOINTMENT.

The American practice of appointing distinguished literary or public men aa ambassadors, irrespective of their diplomatic experience, has for once been followed by the British Government. The Right Honourable James Bryce, Secretary for Ireland in the present Cabinet, who is to suoceed Sir Mortimer Durand as British Ambassador at Washington, has, of course, greater claims, ,on the store of publfb service, to such a position than could be put forward by the notable Americans, such as Mr Whitelaw Reid, Mr Choate, Mr Bayard, and Mr Russell Lowell, who have represented the United States at the Court of St. James. Colonel John Hay was, of course, an exception, but, as a rule, the American Ambassador in London is a clever, cultured gentleman, usually possessing some gift of oratory, but with little or no previous experience in the duties of his position. So far as lack of this particular experience is concerned, Mr Bryce is no better equipped for his new poet. But he has a great advantage, apart from his literary labours, and his distinguished political career, of being a cosmopolitan. He has been a great traveller, and is still a remarkable linguist. His world-wanderings have ranged from the States to Fiji, from Palestine to South Africa and Japan. He has dined with European monarchs and with Dyak head-hunters, with the principals of American colleges and with African "kings " He can, it is said, address almost any audience of aliens in the East End of London in their native tongue. He has been Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford and Romanes Lecturer at the same university, and such widely separated universities as those of Buda Pesth and Michigan have conferred upon him honorary degrees. In previous Liberal Ministries he has held the portfolios of Under-Secretary for Foreign .Affairs, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. add President of the Board of Trade. He has always taken a deep interest in public education matters and in the question of international oopyright, and though 6ome of his vi.sw_, notably with regard to the war in South Africs, would not commend him to many in the colonies, he is a man who has done good work for his country. Probably, however, his greatest-' claim to the favour of Ameri<sana is the fact that he is the author of that admirable work, "The American Commonwealth, in which he deals with the constitution, and Federal and State Government systems, politics, people, andl social insti'butions of the Republic, In writing tKe book, and revising it for subsequent editions, he had the cordial assistance of a number of the roost notable Americanl of tbe day,'including the present President, and it is undoubtedly the rtandard work of its kind. As its author, Mr Bryw wall take up his,residence in Washington with the assurance that hs ia among friends, for he likes 'America and £he Americans, and the feeling is reciprocated. He is a critic, but a critic, anxious to see the best in the country, and to believe the best of Its people. In his opinion America is a more pleasant place than Europe to live in, because of the "general prosperity and well-being of the inhabitants, the social equality, .to be found thero, the absence of religious rancours, an_ the bright and kindly good nature of the people themselves. He has much to say in favour of the advanced position occupied by women In America, and declares *that no country seems to owe more than it does to its women, nor so much pf what is Iwst in social institutions. And as regards the future of £Ec country, his views aro optimistic indeed. "Amorica," he says, "has still a long vista of years stretching "before hea- in which e-hevirill enjoy condition* far more auspicious than any European country-can count upon," and he believes. that the Republic msrke "the highest level, not only of material well-being, but of intelligence and happiD<en that Ihe race has yet attained." He may find reasons to modify some of his opinions in view of the changes that have taken plaoe in America sinoe he wrote these words. But for the present they stand as the convictions of •England's) now ambassador, and they afford a good! reason why his appointment should he popular on both sides of the Atlantic, since any steps that promote good feeling between England and the States' must be for the nrutual benefll of both.