ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1902. AN EMPIRE BUILDER.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVI, Issue 40, 17 February 1902, Page 2

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1902. AN EMPIRE BUILDER.

Tub death of the late Lord Duffer in should not pass unnoticed. Few men have done greater and more lasting service to the Empire and the British diplomatic service in particular has no more distinguished member. Entering the diplomatic ranks as a member of the now half-forgotten mission- to Vienna of Lord John Russell in 1855 he was entrusted with delicate and important work by Lord Palmerston, in 1862, when he went to Syria to make enquiries into the massacres of Christians by the Turks and laid the foundation of knowledge of the Porte's devious ways, which must have, in late years, stood him in good stead when he became British Ambassador at Stamboul. Lord Dufferin was a member of the Liberal party, and from 1864 to 1866 acted as Under-Secretary of State for India, a post where he gained an experience which must have proved extremely useful when in 1884 he succeeded the Marquis of Ripon as Viceroy of India. Lord Dufferin was again a member of a Gladstone Ministry from 1868 to 1872, in which latter year he was appointed to the onerous and honourable position of GovernorGeneral of Canada. Here ha dealt with a very grave question in the discontent which reigned in British Columbia over the conditions of that province's admission to the Canadian Dominion. His prudent counsel and personal tact had an excellent effect, and both in the eastern and western provinces of the Dominion his name is still widely revered, his statue now standing opposite the Parliament buildings in the Dominion capital of, Ottawa. After aer yin g some five years in British North America, he was appointed Ambassador to the Court of St. Petersburg, whence, in 1881 he was transferred to Constantinople. The early eighties were remarkable for an awkward recrudescence of the everlasting Eastern question, and Lord Dufferin gained high credit and honor for the firmness and dignity with which he acted during a succession of troublesome negotiations with the shifty, suspioious and ever double-dealing Sultan. From Constantinople this experienced and able public servant was promoted to thfi Viceroyship of India. Here again he made a name for himself displaying all his old qualities of tact and firmness in dealing with the native princes, and making strenuous efforts to solve the ever troublesome problems of Indian taxation. Resigning before the expiration of his full term he became British Ambassador at Rome, whence again he was transferred to Paris, where he succeeded that veteran British diplomatist, Lord Lyons In 1896 he retired from the diplomatic service and made occasional appearances in the House of Lords, where his wide experience, his extensive knowledge of men and affairs, and his admitted administrative capacity caused his utterances to be received with the greatest attention and respect. The late Marquis was in his time the recipient of many honors from the Queen and country he served so faithfully and well. He was made an English baron in 1850—by birth he was an Irish Peer with no seat in the Lords,—an Earl in 1871, and in 1888 was created Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, the latter portion of the title being an acknowledgment of the services he had rendered in connection with the administration of Burmese affairs during his Viceroyship of India. He was a Privy Councillor, had several royal orders and possessed honorary degrees not only from English but American universities. As an author his name will be remembered as the writer of a charming book of travels in Iceland, " Letters from High Latitudes." His eldest son, the Marquis of Ava, fell in Natal early in the present South African war. His heir, Viscount Clandeboye, is a secretary in the diplomatic service. Last year the Marquis became involved in the crash of the Globe Financial Corporation, of which he was a director. The affairs of the Corporation were most recklessly conducted by the managing director, Mr Whittaker Wright, and the action of the Board of Directors in not exercising more direct control over their subordinate was the subject of some angry comment in the press. We should not be surprised to learn that the late Marquis, who had, he admitted, no personal knowledge of financial business, and who himself lost a large portion of his personal fortune in the ill-starred "Globe group," took the newspaper criticism so much to heart that his health became affected. The deceased statesman, who was in his 76fch year at the time of his death, will long be remembered as one of the most brilliant ornaments the ranks of British diplomacy have known.