AMBASSADOR TO ITALY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17256, 4 September 1919, Page 7

AMBASSADOR TO ITALY.

SIR GEORGE BUCHANAN. FROM PETROGRAD TO ROME. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Reed. 12.5 a.m.) LONDON. Sept. 2. Sir George Buchanan, who was British Ambassador at Petrograd until the inauguration of the _ Bolshevik regime, has been appointed Ambassador to Italy. Sir George Buchanan was appointed Ambassador to Petrograd (then St. Petersburg) on November 26, 1910 Unlike many diplomatists, who regard it as their 1 cbuu object to be person© grata? with i the sovereigns or heads ot States to whom ! they may be accredited, Sir George ! Buchanan always had in view what he conceived to be the true welfare of Russia and the maintenance of close and friendly understanding and co-operation between Russia, lireat Britain, and their allies. i Thus, when it became clear that the ' reactionary policy pursued by the late Emperor and his advisers was leading the country towards an internal crisis, the British Ambassador sought repeatedly to convince the Tsar of the expediency of sincere constitutional and democratic reform. He met with more than one rebuff, j but nevertheless persevered in the hope o' avoiding the revolutionary upheaval which the attitude of the Court eventually rendered inevitable. Upon the abdication of the Tsar he played the part o: a counsellor and friend to the Provisional Government, and sought by , every means in his powe»- to exercise a'. steadying influence upon events. He gradually became the outstanding repre- ! sentative of the Western Allies in Russia, ; and worked for the Alliance and for j Russia with unremitting zeal. German intrigue, however, and the usurpation of the Government by the Bolshevik extremists combined to frustrate his efforts.