Sir Esme Goes “Dry”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 683, 7 June 1929, Page 9

Sir Esme Goes “Dry”

AMBASSADOR ASSAILED BY NEWSPAPER “USEFULNESS IMPAIRED” (United P.A. —By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and K.Z. Press Association) (United Service) Reed. 9.5 a.m. WASHINGTON, Thurs. The British Ambassador, Sir Esme Howard, has informed the Secretary of State, Mr. H. L. Stimson, of his contemplated action not to import into the United States any more liquors under the diplomatic privileges. The New York "Evening Post” leader, entitled, “sir Esme Impairs His Usefulness,” comments: “We do not know the motives of Sir Esme Howard in his decreeing that the British Embassy in Washington shall no longer import liquors. He may have done so out of a desire to make a courteous gesture to the United States. Unfortunately the change has a different public aspect. Willy-nilly it makes the ambassador take sides on the most pressing questions of domestic American politics. “He will not only embarass his fellow diplomats, but also will plunge anew the question of ‘Diplomatic liquor’ into the cauldron of the prohibition fight. He will become a symbol in the fight between the wets and the drys. To one faction in the country to which he is accredited he will be a hero; in another part of population his act will arouse deep resentment. “An ambassador should hold no such political position. Sir Esme Howard has definitely impaired his usefulness as British Ambassador to the United States.”