DIPLOMATS DISTRACTED.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 304, 19 December 1908, Page 4

DIPLOMATS DISTRACTED.

CHILDISH SQUABBLT4S THAT ALARM THE NATIONS. The most aliii'iiiing symptom of the present condition of international polities is the state of " nerves " into which some of the diplomats seem to have fallen. The present Bulgarian trouble started because the Turkish I'oreign Minister oniitied to invite Uie Bulgarian agent io a dinner given to the Diplomatic) Corps. The Bulgarian .Minister was' furious, and complained to his Government. Commenting on this, the Bulgarian -Minister in lx>ndou most indiscreetly declared that the time had come for the declaration of the independence of Bulgaria. The other day a most astounding story came from Tangier, according to which the French and German Ministers had a furious row over the departure of a German, secret mission to Fez. 11. Renault, the French Minister, accused the Cieiinan, Baron Wangcnhciin, of having acted unfairly. The Baron replied in ell'ect that Germany would do as she pleased, without asking the permission of France, and practically told M. licnault to mind his own business.

"it you want war," M. Renault excliinicd passionately, " we are ready." "We don't want war," the baron replied, and addled .significantly: "But we have long been prepared for it!" An Anglo-American " incident" was recalled tlie other day by the death ot Lord Sackville. lie'was British Ambassador at Washington during a Presidential election, and the excitement of the campaign seems to have invaded the sedate calm of the embassy aud thrown his lordship oil' his guard. He fell into two traps, i'irst, a correspondent of an inquiring turn of mind wrote to the Ambassador asking his opinion on certain points in the campaign; later, v the Ambassador met an intelligent and affable stranger, and they chatted together a>bout the chances of the candidates. Tlie correspondent aud the stranger were journalists, and Lord Sackville was accused of attempting to influence the election.

Later still, it was found that the whole affair was a Republican plot to .discredit the Democrat by proclaiming British sympathies with them. "Lord Sackville tried to explain, but President Cleveland persisted in handing him Iris passports, and the unhappy Ambassador fell, never to rise again. Newspapers are sometimes accused of bringing about, wars, but there are in-, stances in wJiieh journalists have averted war and steadied Foreign Ministers who had lost their heads. Some Italians were charged with murder in New Orleans, and a furious mob broke into the gaol and lynched the prisoners. The Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, the 'Marquis di Rudini, had just been appointed to the office, and, being new to the delicate business of guiding the ship of State, he steered wildly. He ordered the Italian Ambassador at Washington to demand immediate reparation, and to threaten that, unless prompt measures were taken, the Italian ileet would bombard New Orleans. The Times correspondent in Rome heard of the affair, and hurried to the Ministry. He pointed out that the threat not only might provoke war, but that the Italian warships could not possibly go to Xew Orleans, as the Mississippi did not admit ships of their draught. The" warning braced the Minister's

nerves. .Probably the most notable of these occasions was tlie time when the Due Decazes begged 11. de Blowitz, the Times Paris correspondent, to announce to the British Premier that he would " nay for !t"—a plain declaration of war. The Duke was the French Foreign Minister, and Blowitz with several others 'had been dining with him and had gone into the billiard-room. A lady was playing with the Duke, when a Cabinet attache entered with a telegram. The Duke read it. He (lushed red, then paled, then wined his temples, moist with perspiration. The guests stared at him in amazement. Then, he lost all his self-control. Maddened, he snatched up a billiard-cue, snapped it across his knee, and Hung the pieces in the fire. He walked quickly, menacingly, up to Blowitz. "Do you know what I have just heard'; * Lord Derby has bought the .Khedive's Suez Canal'shares, after carefully concealing from me the fact that tliev were for sale. It is an infamy! Tt means that Ureal Britain seizes the Isthmus. 1 authorise you to say what you have seen—l even beg you to say i it—and add that Lord Derby will have to pay for it!" Muttering " Yes; 1 swear that he shall pay for it! : ' the infuriate! Minister rushed from the room. It is, of course, a matter of history that Blowitz did not publish this terrible message, and when the Duke hud recovered his equilibrium he had the good sense to thank the journalist.