Part 8 (1/2)
I took the subject under advis.e.m.e.nt and wrote an opinion in accordance with the universally accepted doctrine of nationality under such conditions, namely, that upon marriage nationality followed that of the husband. But instead of rendering my decision, I advised the Sultan what it would be and suggested that it would probably make for better relations.h.i.+p if he would antic.i.p.ate my decision by agreeing with the Shah's contention. This he appreciated. At the same time it relieved me from the necessity of deciding against the sovereign to whom I was accredited.
Of course the Shah's amba.s.sador, Mohsin Khan, who was practically viceroy in the Ottoman Empire, desired to confer upon me Persia's decoration, the Lion and the Sun, set in costly brilliants, and once more I had to explain our custom in regard to such things. It is indeed a wise provision of our Const.i.tution which prohibits American officials from accepting ”any present, emolument, office or t.i.tle of any kind whatever” without the consent of Congress.
The election of 1888 having resulted in a Republican victory, I tendered my resignation to the new President upon his taking office, as is customary for heads of missions when there has been a change in the administration. I was unofficially informed that numerous letters and memorials had been received in Was.h.i.+ngton from individuals and missionary and church bodies, asking that I be retained at my post; Dr.
Pepper, of the University of Pennsylvania, and several other university heads also joined in urging my retention. But I wrote Dr. Pepper not to push the request, as I could no longer absent myself from my private affairs. The main matters of difference between the two Governments had been settled, and I felt justified in resigning, even had Cleveland been reelected, for I could not afford to stay on except under pressure of patriotic necessity.
The salary at the Porte barely covered my house rent. I had secured the best available house with facilities for entertaining and the returning of hospitalities, and, as I have mentioned before, such functions are essential for the proper relations with one's colleagues and the government to which one is accredited. Besides, it is important to be able to show to one's nationals the hospitality they expect from their diplomatic representatives, especially in the case of prominent visitors who bring letters from high officials at home.
Again, ”n.o.blesse oblige” has its widest and most emphatic application in diplomacy. Americans are supposed to be rich, and if an American diplomat does not show the usual hospitalities he is charged with penuriousness, for it is understood that a man who is not able to live according to his station would not be chosen to head a mission. That his pay may be inadequate for the discharge of his social duties is not generally known. When I was in Was.h.i.+ngton during my leave of absence Mr.
Cleveland asked me how I got along on my salary, and I told him then that I could have got along fairly well on four times the amount, for I had spent between thirty-five and forty thousand dollars a year.
A few days prior to leaving my post in June, 1889, I again dined with the Sultan. I had often done so during my stay, but this time he was especially gracious and unreserved. He expressed great regret at my going, saying that at no time during his reign had the relations of our countries been more agreeable, and that he and his minister had had every confidence in my candor and fairness. What seemed to have impressed him most was my handling of a large claim by an American which was being urged through the legation. I carefully examined this claim and found it to be justified neither in morals nor in law, and I informed the Turkish Government accordingly that I had withdrawn it. The Porte was not accustomed to such fair treatment! Of course, ever afterward when I presented a matter it was believed to be justified.
The Sultan held the government pretty firmly in his own hands--too much so in fact--and kept himself very well informed regarding all manner of things. On this evening he said he had heard of the great disaster and loss of lives caused by the Johnstown flood and he desired to transmit through me two hundred pounds to be used for relief work. I cabled the amount to the Secretary of State on the following day and communicated to His Majesty our Government's acknowledgment:
Express grateful appreciation of the President and the Government of the United States for the Sultan's generous relief for flood sufferers.
When it became known that I was about to leave my post I received many communications expressing regret. These were a great satisfaction, especially one beautiful letter from the missionaries of Constantinople, signed by Edwin E. Bliss, I. F. Pettibone, Joseph K. Greene, H. S.
Barnum, Charles A. S. Dwight, Henry O. Dwight, and William G. Bliss.
After we had boarded the steamer to Varna, homeward bound, a royal caque--a rowboat of the graceful lines of a Venetian gondola and manned by six oarsmen--came alongside our s.h.i.+p and one of the Sultan's aides came aboard to present to Mrs. Straus the highest order of the Shefekat decoration, a star set in brilliants, with the special request of His Majesty that she accept it as a token of his esteem and regard. As the regulations prohibiting me from accepting such honors did not apply to my wife, she graciously accepted this parting gift from Abdul Hamid.
And so farewell to Pera and the beautiful Bosphorus!
CHAPTER V
HARRISON, CLEVELAND, AND McKINLEY
One function of ex-diplomats--Russian refugees in flight to America--President Harrison remonstrates with Czar against persecutions--”A decree to leave one country is an order to enter another”--Grover Cleveland's fight for sound money--His letters to me--”The Little White House”--Cleveland under fire for Van Alen appointment--Cleveland's theatrical tastes--A midnight supper of delicatessen and beer--Cleveland's first meeting with Charles F.
Murphy, of Tammany Hall--The final confidences of an ex-President--A pilgrimage in England to the school attended by Roger Williams--I join the fight for election reforms--President McKinley summons me to Was.h.i.+ngton to discuss plan to avert war with Spain--A proposal to ”rattle the Sultan's windows”--McKinley urges me to again accept the Turkish post--”Secretary of State for Turkey.”
Had diplomacy been a career, nothing would have pleased me more than to continue in such service of my country. On the whole I cannot say that I advocate changing our system as to a more permanent service for the heads of missions. Our President is now unhampered to select men who are best qualified to deal with the problems in hand at the various posts.
This is an advantage over a system that tends to keep in office ministers and amba.s.sadors who are ill equipped to bring statesmanlike qualities to their work, though they may be past-masters in routine and social requirements. But it would be well if, on a change of administration, removals of heads of missions were the exception rather than the rule. Of course, after four or eight years, the return of our diplomatic chiefs from foreign fields to the various parts of our country has the advantage of enabling these men, by reason of their experience and standing, to inform and in a measure guide public opinion on questions concerning international affairs.
On my return to New York I reentered business, but continued to take a deep and active interest in public affairs. I spent much of my spare time lecturing on public questions and historical matters.
Waves of Russian-Jewish immigrants were pounding our sh.o.r.es in the spring of 1891. In Russia, pogroms and other forms of mob persecution had become so persistent that refugees were arriving in pitiful droves at our ports. Sinister circ.u.mstance had hurled them from one country into another. Many had been compelled to abandon their employment or even their own established businesses in Russia, owing to the enforcement of the Ignatieff laws and the consequent prohibitions, restrictions, and persecutions.
Determined to make a strenuous protest, a small committee was formed of prominent Jews from New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago, to lay before President Harrison the pitiable conditions day by day presented by the arriving refugees, many of whom had been stripped of all their possessions.
Our committee was headed by Jesse Seligman, and among the others I recall Jacob H. Schiff, of New York, and General Lewis Seasongood, of Cincinnati, besides myself. The President listened to our story with sympathetic interest, and then turned to me and asked what, in the light of my international and diplomatic experience, I thought should be done.