AMBASSADOR'S PAY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 550, 15 March 1913, Page 6

AMBASSADOR'S PAY.

! By retiring from the post of British Ambassador to the United States in favour of Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, Mr Bryce has relinquished a salary of £IO,OOO a year. The posl, however, is in no sense a sinecure, for, apart from the responsibility of steering a middle course through complicated international affairs, the expense attached to the position are very heavy. It has been said that only a rich man can be an Ambassador, for he spends more than he is paid in maintaining the dignity of his country; and this to a great extent is true, for it is essential that an Ambassador shall entertain freely and largely during his term of office. The £IO,OOO reeceived by our Ambassador at Washington, however, is not the largest salary paid. Sir Francis Bertie, who has been our Ambassador in Paris since 1905, re ceives the largest sum although formerly it was only £9OOO. In Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary our Ambasssadors receive £BOOO each; in Italy, £7000; in Spain. £5500; and in Japan, £SOOO. In addition to their salaries. Ambassadors are provided with by the Government with an official residence, and the British Embassies in Paris, Berlin, and St. Petersburg are very palatial buildings. British Ambassadors are, generally speaking, more highly paid than those of any other country. In Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, and St, Petersburg the French Ambassadors receive from £4BOO to £BOOO annually, and occupy official residences and offices leased by their Government. Ambassadors of Austria-Hungary in these great European capitals receive about the same as those of Great Britain, the salaries ranging from £6200 to £9OOO annually. The Russian Ambassadors a're paid £6400 to £BOOO annually, and the Italian Ambassadors from £4400 to £4600. The poorest paid Ambassadors of all are some of those from America. As a matter of fact, a short time ago a Bill was introduced io Congress for the purpose of increasing their salaries ard placing them on a level with other Ambassadors in that respect. It was pointed out that the United States Ambassador to France, for instance, has a salary of £3500, and that, in addition to receiving only about one-fourth fifth of the salary paid to the British Ambas sadpr, the diplomatic representative of the American Government must furnish his own quarters. In St, Petersburg the German Ambassador is being paid £7500 a year, and will shortly occupy a palace costing over £112,000.