Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 1899)
Conservative * ANOTHEK rilOHLKM FOK DIPLO MACY. Amoricnii ombassadors abroad have many difficulties with which to con tend. They think they are obliged , for the sake of keeping up appearances , to live far beyond their official incomes. Whether or not this is an idle notion matters little'since deference to it has become a precedent stronger than writ ten law. Now arise new troubles. Inspired by the gorgeous peacock , its feathers tossed by the breeze , n shim mer of color , or perhaps having listened to the seductive tones of a tailor , the state department is inclined to favor the adoption of a court-dress , the uniform of diplomacy , the badge of high office and another inroad upon the over worked income. True , the court-dress may be impressive , but it ill comports with the theory of democratic sim plicity. The ambassador who may look fairly well in the ordinary garb of civil ization might look otherwise were his trousers to pause at the knee. Much would , of course , depend upon the calf. Shall , then , the aspirant for station abroad be compelled to submit to an ex amination as to the picturesqueness of this essential portion of his anatomy ? Shnll the lean be rejected , the over-fat told first to train down ? As to the use fulness of a court-dress.there can hardly be a question , since it must include a sword. No American feels entirely at ease unless armed. However , the sword is not the accustomed weapon here. The six shooter is more familiar to the touch , and could not become entangled among the feet , thereby causing a rat tled etnbassador to commit a/a uxpas. It is easier to draw , and the appropriate ness of drawing it in a drawing-room appeals to reason. An ernbassador , during a pause in the conversation , by shooting the lights out , would certainly attract attention and make a hit. He could never hope to do this with a sword. Years ago there was a prescribed diplomatic uniform. In 1814 the Ghent commissioners agreed upon a suit deemed becoming and dignified. It consisted of a blue coat embroidered with gold , white breeches , gold knee- , buckles and white silk stockings , shoe buckles , sword , and small black hat with a black cockade. For grand oc casions this beautiful costume was made somewhat richer , and doubtless the Ghent gentlemen would have compared favorably for impressiveness with any spangled set of circus-riders. John Quincy Adams recommended this cos tume , and he was secretary of state , fully qualified to know what was what. The process of evolution gradually divorced the American from the pomp of velvet and tinsel. His gold buckles have since been 'found useful as heir looms and in the propagation of family trees. President Jackson , assisted evolution lution by ordering a simpler uniform , and , in 1853 , Secretary of State Marcy instructed the nation's representatives ibroad to dress after the manner of American citizens. There was no mur mur of dissent , because the representa tives had an uncomfortable feeling that the old rig made them look like a lot of vmatonr theatricals. But as nil things move in cycles , out of the dim and distant past the memory of the court-dress comes to assume material form. Congress , in 18G7.forbado its use , but perhaps Secretary Hay can win it over to his way of thinking , and [ ft embassadors at least wear a cocked iiat and boar a sword , as Buchanan did after the usher had firmly but courteous ly bounced him from the diplomatic tribune at the opening of Parliament , for refusal to array himself in splendor. They permitted him , as an international concession to wear his own clothes. Hay yearns after the gilded frogs and the rich embroidery of other days. He does not propose that in comeliness the army and navy shall outdo the personnel of his own command. The distinguished author of "Little Breeches" ought to be content to let his fame rest upon this achievement , and retire from the breeches line. No bowlegged - legged embas ador can be made to wear anything he does not wish to wear. Such compulsion would conflict with tli at part of the immortal document which guaranteed to the individual the right to pursue happiness. Could such a one do this in knee-breeches and a clanking sword ? The question of uni form ought to take a change of venue over to the attorney-general. The Argonaut. NEBKASKA'S PKOVIS1ONAI. GOVEKN- MENT. The state historical society has issued the third volume of its valuable series of documentary history of the state. In full the title of the latest book is "The Provisional Government of Nebraska Territory" and the Journals of William Walker , provisional governor of Nebras ka Territory , edited by William E. Connelly. The book has a complete and scholarly index. It will be re viewed in these columns soon. The work which the historical society is doing for the state in the preservation of records and the publishing of these journals is not sufficiently recognized. On the occasions when the annual meet- in s of the society is held , or on the appearance of a volume like the one just mentioned , its real activity and unique function become apparent. J. Sterling Morton , of Nebraska City , is the president of the society , Mr. Charles H. Gore is treasurer and Prof. Howard W. Caldwell is secretary. Mr. Jay A. Barrett is librarian and assistant secretary. The members and officers are scholars and lovers of learning. They are anxious to spend money and time to foster learning and to cause to he written and preserved for the use of scholars and historians , hundreds of yenrs hence , the records of a great state in its infancy and youth. In times when every action is determined upon or rejected by the measure of gain the nobility of the devotion of the members of this society to its purposes is unobscured - scured by many other examples of the same description. Among the most devoted members of the society was that gentle scholar and brilliant lawyer Judge James W. Savage , of Omaha , who was its early president and an original investigator of the ethnological evidences of early explorers. Lincoln Courier. There are a number - TIN SOLDIERS. , ber of colonels in Nebraska whose warless records , gun- less valor and battleless renown make them almost equal , in military achieve ment , to Col. Win. Jennings Bryan himself. The colonels to whom THE CONSERVATIVE alludes have declared THE CONSERVATIVE a liar because it had literally quoted and published an ex tract from the pen of Colonel Bryan saying , without regard to grammar : "I assure you that it is the money that is in the office and not the honor that attract mo. " Is it possible that the leading charac teristic of Bryauarchic finance is to be grafted upon grammar so as to have sixteen nominatives to one verb ; or sixteen verbs to one nominative ? How would this new style appear in state papers ? Will some shootingless colonel kindly "tide" the public "over" this "begin ning here" of an innovation upon Amer ican literature ? JOY MORTON & CO. MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS IN ARGO STARCH O A I T SAL SODA CEREALS OMU I SODA ASH General Office , Rier No. 1 , Chicago. Shipping Docks and Soda Factory : 0. B. & 6. SLIP I. C. PIER 1 , CHICAGO. BELT BY. , C. R. I. & P. , SO. CHICAGO. Salt Works : WYANDOTTE , MICHIGAN. HUTCHIN80N , KANSAS. STARCH FACTORY AND CEREAL MILLS , NEBRASKA CITY , NEB.