MY THIRD MISSION TO TURKEY
A surgical operation delays my departure--Roosevelt in Africa
delighted with my return to Turkey under Taft
Administration--Received by another Sultan--A royal weakling--The
invisible power of the new regime--Foreign concessions and
political intrigues--Turkish funeral customs--The Mohammedan
indifference to death--Roosevelt urges me to meet him in Cairo--We
visit Salonica and Athens--Received by King George of Greece
--Roosevelt's arrival at Cairo--The Kaiser's invitation--Roosevelt
condemns assassination of Premier despite warning to avoid subject
in his address--Roosevelt declines an audience with the Pope--At
tea with Prince and Princess Eitel Friedrich--A distinguished Arab
on international relations--Rumblings in the Balkans--The brilliant
Venizelos--My objections to "dollar diplomacy"--Former
Vice-President and Mrs. Fairbanks visit us--Other distinguished
Americans visit the Embassy--We visit the King and Queen of
Roumania--How the Queen adopted the pen-name "Carmen Sylva"--The
cell-like study of the Queen--Vienna and London--Two Rothschilds
express their views of the Triple Entente--"The greatest pleasure
of going abroad is returning home"--Reflections of the rift between
the Roosevelt policies and the Taft Administration.
My return to private life in 1909 did not prove a disturbing transition
for me, notwithstanding the fact that, on entering the Cabinet in 1906,
I had terminated all of my professional and business interests, I had no
plans for the future. I had always entered public office not without
some trepidation, and had always retired from such an office with a
certain sense of relief and satisfaction. But my past training and
natural disposition had by no means prepared me to be content with a
life of "elegant leisure," I soon found much to occupy my energies, and
again took part in numerous semi-public activities, and my cooperation
seemed all the more welcome because of my experience in office both at
home and abroad.
Soon after my return to New York, I was formally welcomed at a banquet
at the Hotel Astor, under the auspices of a number of prominent
citizens, led by William McCarroll, who had succeeded me as president of
the New York Board of Trade when I had left for Washington. It was, of
course, gratifying to me to receive this attention from my fellow
citizens, irrespective of party, among whom I expected to pass my
remaining years. Among the speakers were John Mitchel, St. Clair
McKelway, Richard Watson Gilder, poet and editor of the "Century
Magazine"; the Reverend Leander Chamberlain, and Dr. Lyman Abbott. Dr.
Abbott, one of America's foremost intellectual and spiritual leaders, is
the only surviving member of this group, and I am happy to be able to
record that he is still in good health, with his pen, which has lost
nothing of its charm and vigor, ever inspiring.
I quite dismissed from my mind any idea of holding office in the Taft
Administration, especially after Taft had reconsidered his statement or
promise to Roosevelt to retain me in the Cabinet. Shortly after my
return from Washington, however, on March 13, 1909, President Taft wrote
me that he would be glad to have me accept the embassy at
Constantinople, and that in time he would transfer me to some other post
that might be more acceptable. He concluded: "I hope this will meet your
view, because I should like to have you in my administration."
My personal relations with Mr. Taft had of course always been most
cordial and agreeable. I wrote him that, naturally, I had no desire to
return to a post which I had occupied twice before, unless extraordinary
conditions developed which particularly required my past experience
there and made it imperative that I accept as a public duty, and even
then I should accept only for a short time.
The President wrote me that he would be glad to have me accept the post
at Constantinople (which had been raised to an embassy since my last
mission), and that in time he would transfer me either to Japan or to
some acceptable post in Europe, and I soon received the following letter
from the State Department:
_April 29, 1909_
MY DEAR MR. STRAUS:
The President now desires me to make to you the formal offer of the
post of Ambassador to Turkey. The epoch-making events now occurring
in the Turkish Empire bring with them difficulties and
opportunities which make that post take on even greater importance,
and the President feels that your past service and keen knowledge
of the Near East make you peculiarly qualified to take charge at
this time of the important Embassy at Constantinople.
Adverting to your previous conversations with the President and
with me, relative to your disinclination to accept a post which you
have previously held, I would add that the President would be glad
to consider your transfer from Constantinople to some other post if
an opportune time should arrive when this was practicable and when
you wished to relinquish the important mission which is now
tendered to you.
I am, my dear Mr. Straus,
Very sincerely yours
P. C. KNOX
In June, while I was getting ready for my departure, I was compelled to
undergo an operation for appendicitis. I therefore wrote the President
asking him to relieve me of my appointment, as my illness would delay me
for another month or more. The President promptly advised me not to be
disturbed by the delay, that he would be glad to wait until my health
was entirely restored before having me start, and that it was not
possible, because of the troubled conditions in Turkey, at that time to
find any one to replace me.
At this time I received a letter from Roosevelt, addressed from the
heart of British East Africa, expressing pleasure at my again going to
Turkey:
SAIGO SOI, LAKE NAIVASHA
_16th July, 1909_
MY DEAR MR. AMBASSADOR:
Your letter gave me real pleasure. Mrs. Roosevelt had written of
you, and your dear wife, and two beautiful daughters, coming out to
see her; and she told me how much she enjoyed your visit. As for
the address at the dedication of the memorial window, my dear
fellow, you said the very things that I would most like to have
said about me, especially coming from a man whom I so much respect
and who is my close personal friend.
I am delighted that you have accepted the Turkish Embassy. The
situation was wholly changed by the revolution, and at this moment
I think that Constantinople is the most important and most
interesting diplomatic post in the world.
I shan't try to write to you at any length, for I find it simply
impossible to keep up with correspondence here in camp, and am able
to write my letters at all at the moment only because a friend has
turned up with a typewriter.
I can't say how I look forward to seeing you. I know nothing
whatever of American politics at the present moment. We have had a
very successful and enjoyable trip.
With love to Mrs. Straus and with hearty congratulations not to you
but to our country for your having gone to Turkey, I am
Faithfully yours
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
The first paragraph refers to an address I had made in May. The Reverend
J. Wesley Hill, of the Metropolitan Temple, had one of the windows of
his church dedicated to the Roosevelt Administration and I was asked to
deliver the principal address. I took for my subject "The Spirit of the
Roosevelt Administration," and reviewed the leading progressive acts of
the Administration and pointed out how they were all aimed to secure
the rights and enlarge the opportunities of the plain people. I had in
mind counteracting the influence then current to belittle the work of
the Roosevelt Administration. For with the beginning of the Taft
Administration, the reactionaries in and out of Congress had become more
bitter and outspoken in their opposition to the Roosevelt policies; it
seems that they were encouraged by the report that a break had taken
place between Roosevelt and Taft, and by the fact that certain Senators
and members of the House who had fallen out with Roosevelt seemed to be
specially welcomed at the White House. My address was therefore widely
quoted in the press and subsequently circulated in pamphlet form. I
quote one of its salient paragraphs:
All the Roosevelt measures and policies were based not only upon
moral convictions, but upon a statesman's forethought for the
welfare of the country. That he would encounter the powerful
opposition of the offending corporate interests was to be foreseen
and expected. All reforms and reformers no less in our country than
in others have encountered the reactionaries of privilege and
power, who persuaded themselves that their so-called vested
interests, however acquired and however administered, were their
vested rights. These trespassing reactionaries when not checked and
made obedient to the legitimate needs and righteous demands of the
many produced a spirit of revenge which broke out into revolution
at the extreme opposite end of the social system.
On August 18th Mrs. Straus and I left New York on the S.S. Prinz
Friedrich Wilhelm for Cherbourg. A week later we were in Paris, where we
met Mrs. Roosevelt with three of her children, Ethel, Archie, and
Quentin. During the fortnight of our stay we saw a great deal of them
and several times we went to the theater or sight-seeing together. Mrs.
Roosevelt told me that her husband had solicitously inquired about us
in several of his letters and suggested that I write him.
When we reached Constantinople on September 18th, the month of Ramazan
had begun, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rifaat Pasha, informed
me that the Sultan, now Mohammed V, brother of Abdul Hamid, would
probably delay receiving me for a week or ten days, until the middle of
Ramazan, and not at the end, as was customary with the former Sultan.
Accordingly I was received on Monday, October 4th.
The residence of the new Sultan was in the Palace of Dolma Bagtche. As
my rank now was that of ambassador, this audience was a more ceremonious
one than those of my former missions. Eight royal carriages came from
the Palace to conduct me and my staff to the residence of His Royal
Majesty. The first of these, in which I rode, was a most gorgeous
affair, with outriders and two postilions in uniforms of brilliant
colors standing on a platform in the rear of the carriage. The streets
of Pera were crowded with spectators as these dazzling equipages went
by, in spite of a light rain that was falling. As we entered the Palace,
a large troop of soldiers arranged along each side of the main gate
presented arms. I was met by the Chief Introducer of Ambassadors and
several other officials, who conducted me to the audience chamber above.
With my dragoman, Mr. Gargiulo, I then proceeded with the Chief
Introducer of Ambassadors into the presence of the Sultan while the rest
of my staff were detained in an anteroom.
The Sultan was a man of about sixty-five, short and very thick-set. He
was dressed in military uniform, but appeared physically inert and
clumsy. During the whole thirty-three years' reign of his brother, Abdul
Hamid, he had been imprisoned in a palace on the Bosphorus and kept
under constant guard. He grew up in ignorance and his appearance clearly
indicated mental backwardness. His eyes were dull and his appearance
almost that of an imbecile, except when an occasional spark of animation
was noticeable. Withal he seemed kind and good-natured.
When I made my address, I felt as though I were speaking to an image
rather than a human being, and I went through it as quickly as possible,
omitting some parts for the sake of brevity, realizing that it was
simply a form and that the Introducer of Ambassadors would presently
read the whole of it in Turkish. The Sultan was then handed the Turkish
reply to read, which he did haltingly, even consulting the Introducer at
times to decipher a word. That being over, the doors to the anteroom
were thrown open and my staff entered, also the consul-general and his
staff, and each man was presented to the Sultan. We were then conducted
back to the anteroom and served with cigarettes and coffee, even though
it was Ramazan, when Mohammedans do not drink or smoke until after
sundown. In a few minutes more we were conducted back to our carriages.
The whole function was more in the nature of mimicry on the stage than a
serious diplomatic performance.
With my dragoman I paid my official calls upon the Grand Vizier and the
Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Porte, both of whom received me in
full-dress uniform and immediately returned the calls.
The Government of Turkey under the new regime, with a Sultan who was
merely a figurehead, was in the hands of the ministry, and the ministers
in turn were appointed and controlled by the Young Turks, or so-called
party of "Union and Progress" which had brought on the revolution of
1908 and deposed the late Sultan in April, 1909. It required no great
insight to see that a government thus controlled by an invisible power
without official responsibility could not be one of either liberty or
progress; yet the leading ministers were men of ability and some of them
men of considerable experience. Rifaat Pasha, for instance, was formerly
ambassador to London, an intelligent and thoroughly enlightened
statesman. Hussein Hilmi Pasha, the Grand Vizier, was the former member
of a joint committee charged with the government of Macedonia. Talaat
Bey, the Minister of the Interior, had previously held an inferior
position. He was one of the leading representatives of the Young Turk
Party and was believed to be the one mainly responsible for the terrible
slaughter and martyrdom of Armenians during the World War. After that
war he fled to Berlin, where, in 1920, he was assassinated by a young
Armenian. Djavid Bey, Minister of Finance, was a remarkably brilliant
young man, about thirty-four years old, from Salonica. It was said he
was a Donmeh; that is, a member of a sect of apostate Jews also known as
Sabbatians from the name of its Messiah or prophet, Sabbatai Zevi, who
gave the sect its romantic origin in the middle of the seventeenth
century. Professor Graetz gives a full and interesting description of
this whole movement in his "History of the Jews."
Among my colleagues were Gerard Lowther, who represented Great Britain;
Marquis Imperiali, Italy; and Baron Marschall von Bieberstein, Germany.
Because of the lack of general society in Constantinople, the members of
the diplomatic corps became very intimate with one another, and this was
so with my colleagues generally and especially between the German
ambassador and myself, for we were also fellow members of the Hague
Tribunal, and in 1907 he was chairman of the German delegation at the
Conferences. He was by far the ablest and most forceful diplomat in
Constantinople at this period. During his term of office there, German
influence in the Ottoman Empire entirely overshadowed the British. This
influence started its ascendancy following the visit of the Emperor in
1898, when he obtained the promise of the concession for the building of
the Bagdad Railway.
When first the Ottoman Government granted this concession, the
financiers of Great Britain, France, and Germany had come to a tentative
agreement for the joint construction of the road. The Germans then
wanted more than an equal control in the enterprise, and the
negotiations fell through. Had the interests of Great Britain and
Germany been united in the Near East, there probably would have been
quite a different alignment of Powers on the chessboard of Europe, and
perhaps the World War would have been prevented. The Bagdad Railway, if
jointly constructed, would have contributed to a better understanding
between Great Britain and Germany instead of accentuating more and more
their differences as the road proceeded toward the Persian Gulf.
I could plainly see evidences, both in social life in the Turkish
capital and in the unmistakable trend of diplomatic alignments, of a
rapidly developing entente between Great Britain, France, and Russia.
Since the Russo-Japanese War, and with the coming of the new regime in
Turkey, Russia had changed her attitude toward Turkey and had become
extremely friendly. Italy maintained a neutral attitude as between Great
Britain and Germany. Austria, as always, if not controlled by, was in
close sympathy with, Germany.
Abdul Hamid had developed into the most autocratic ruler of modern
times. With the overthrow of his regime and its colossal system of
secret agents, there was hope for a gradual development of a
parliamentary government, especially as some of the officials in the
Turkish ministry were forward-looking men, of considerable ability and
honesty of purpose. However, just as the jealousy between the Great
Powers had prevented the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire for a
hundred years or more, so the same jealousy prevented rehabilitation.
Great Britain favored the building up of Turkey; the policy of Russia,
Germany, and Austria was to keep Turkey weak and disorganized.
With the establishment of the new regime Germany, England, France, and
Italy sought concessions from the Government for the development of
mines and the building of railroads, docks, and other public utilities.
The country was rich and undeveloped, and the Turks themselves had
neither the capacity nor the money for such undertakings. But the effect
of these concessions was undermining the sovereignty and was
foreshadowing conflict.
With the passing of the old regime and the beginning of the new, an
appalling massacre of Armenians had taken place in Cilicia; and it was
believed that this massacre, which cost the lives of twenty thousand or
more victims, was engineered by the old regime to discredit the new.
The first fall of the new ministry was brought about by what was known
as the Lynch affair, which concerned a steamship monopoly of an English
company on the Tigris and Euphrates. The Lynch Company had a perpetual
concession to navigate two steamers from the Persian Gulf to Bassora,
and from there to Bagdad on the Tigris and as far as navigable on the
Euphrates. There was also a Turkish company with a similar concession,
and the English company undertook negotiations with the Grand Vizier for
the consolidation of the two companies, by which the Lynch Company was
to pay the Ottoman Government L160,000 in cash. The new company was to
have a grant for seventy-two years, with the right given to the Ottoman
Government to buy it all out at the end of thirty-six years on a basis
to be agreed upon. The new company was to have the monopoly of the
navigation, and it was to have an English president with a board of
directors composed half of Englishmen and half of Turkish subjects.
The arrangements were made on behalf of the ministry by the Grand
Vizier, Hilmi Pasha, and the matter was then brought up under
interpellation in the Parliament. The first vote taken was against
confirmation of the transaction. This amounted to an expression of lack
of confidence in the ministry, whereupon the Grand Vizier stated that
unless the transaction was confirmed, he and his colleagues would
resign. Two days later, on motion of Djavid Bey, the eloquent Minister
of Finance, the whole matter was reconsidered and an equally large vote
cast confirming the transaction. Aside from registering confidence or
the lack of it in the ministry, the vote against confirmation would also
have been interpreted as an act of hostility toward England. For the
time being the problem was settled.
Shortly thereafter, however, there arose in the Bagdad vilayet such
opposition to this transaction that the deputies from that province
threatened to withdraw from Parliament. The negotiations were regarded
as a victory for England in the strengthening of her influence along the
Persian Gulf, and a defeat for the Germans, whose railway terminus would
be at Bassora, at the junction of the two rivers. The Persian Gulf, on
the other hand, was of strategic interest to Great Britain because it is
the corridor to India. German influence proved the stronger with the
Young Turks, and the consolidation of the Lynch Company with the Turkish
company was not confirmed.
This vote resulted in the fall of the ministry, for a month later the
Young Turks forced the resignation of the Grand Vizier. In giving his
resignation to the Sultan, the Grand Vizier stated his reason as poor
health, but that was merely for public consumption. Talaat Bey and
Djavid Bey were known to be prominent members of the Young Turks, and
the Grand Vizier, who had been Minister of the Interior and then Grand
Vizier under the former Sultan, was not fully trusted as being in accord
with the regime of the Young Turks. To bridge over this ministerial
crisis the Young Turks offered to Hakki Pasha, ambassador at Rome, the
grand viziership, which he accepted.
* * * * *
Early in the year 1910 the diplomatic circle in Constantinople was
thrown, if not into gloom, at least into official mourning. The Grand
Duke Nicolaiovich, uncle of Czar Nicholas of Russia, and King Leopold of
Belgium, died. At Constantinople, more than at any capital in the world,
ceremonies of any kind were exaggerated to make an impression upon the
Turkish mind. And so in both these instances elaborate funeral services
were held which the diplomatic representatives attended in full uniform,
loaded with all decorations. The service for the Grand Duke lasted about
two hours, although no one apparently listened to any part but the
singing, and there was a general sigh of relief when it was over. The
service for the Belgian king was of a similar nature, with the addition
of a huge catafalque, surmounted by a crown, erected in the center of
the church, which was so cold that most of us kept on our overcoats.
Shortly thereafter I attended a third funeral, this time a Turkish one.
Hamdy Bey, director and organizer of the Imperial Museum, had died on
February 24, 1910, at about sixty-eight years of age. I had known him
for twenty years; he had always been courteous and obliging to American
visitors, and had shown many special favors to me, notably in regard to
the permit for the Babylonian excavations. The services took place at
eleven in the morning in front of the entrance to the Sophia Mosque. The
funeral cortege consisted of about a dozen dervishes clad in long black
robes with high conical head-coverings made of rough yellowish-gray
woolen material, and about three times the height of an ordinary fez.
They chanted in plaintive tones, "Allah! Allah! Allah!" Next came the
coffin-bearers, six in number. As is the custom among the Mohammedans,
the coffin was of plain boards, covered with shawls, over which was
draped a black covering with some phrases from the Koran worked into it.
On top of the coffin was the red fez or head-covering of the deceased.
Behind the coffin walked many of the leading officials of the Government
and other prominent people. The entire ministry was present. I joined
the procession shortly before reaching the mosque and was asked to walk
beside Rifaat Pasha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I was the only
representative of a foreign power present, and my attendance was warmly
appreciated by the Turkish officials and by the relatives of the
deceased.
When the procession reached the mosque, the coffin was placed upon the
pediment of a Greek column near the entrance, an appropriate place for
it to rest, I thought. All the mourners having gathered round, one of
the imans or priests standing by the coffin recited a prayer of about
six minutes' duration, in the midst of which he put the following
questions in Turkish to the bystanders:
"You all knew Hamdy Bey; what kind of a man was he?"
And the audience replied "Eyi," meaning "good."
"If he has done any wrong to you, do you forgive him?"
Their reply in Turkish signified, "We do."
The body was then borne on the shoulders of the carriers to the museum
enclosure which was near by, in front of the Chinili Kiosque. Djavid Bey
then mounted the marble portico and from there delivered a funeral
oration lasting about twelve minutes, in which he referred to the
excellent work accomplished by the deceased under the most trying
circumstances during the reign of corruption and oppression, and pointed
to the buildings surrounding the enclosure as the most fitting and
lasting memorial.
A funeral among the Mohammedans is not regarded as a cause for mourning.
Death is looked upon as a matter of course. Every respect is shown the
memory of the deceased, but there is neither sanctimony nor suppressed
sorrow at the funeral service. This is doubtless due to the spirit of
fatalism deeply embedded in their religion, and which colors so deeply
the life and philosophy of a Mohammedan.
The attitude of prayer on the part of the bystanders during this
ceremony was one I had never observed at the ordinary services in the
mosques. They all stood erect, arms horizontally extended forward from
the elbow, palms turned upward. The simplicity of the whole service
impressed me very much. The entire dramatic scene, in its picturesque
surroundings, was unforgettable. The day was bright and beautiful, and
the Bosphorus wore its most attractive coloring. Turkish functions,
whether official or ceremonial, are always arranged with quiet dignity
and precision.
Among the pleasant things during this sojourn in Constantinople was a
trip to Cairo to meet Roosevelt. On New Year's Day, 1910, I received a
note from him scribbled off in pencil, asking that I meet him if
possible about March 22d at Cairo; he would wire me later from the upper
Nile a more exact date. He could not come to Constantinople because he
had to include Christiania in his itinerary, which made it a little
difficult to carry out his plans.
In due time I received a telegram from him from Gondokoro, on the lower
Nile, to meet him on March 23d. Accordingly Mrs. Straus and I started
from Constantinople on March 7th in the embassy dispatch boat, Scorpion,
a ship of about seven hundred and fifty tons, manned by a crew of
seventy-five or eighty bluejackets. We left a little early in order to
be able to make stops at several ports on the way, notably Salonica,
which in many respects was the most advanced city of the empire. It had
about 135,000 inhabitants, of whom some 20,000 were Greek, 15,000
Bulgarian and other Balkan peoples, and the rest chiefly Jews. The
ancestors of many of the latter had settled there centuries before as
refugees from Spain at the time of the Inquisition. As was the case with
many of the other Jews of Turkey their language was Ladino, a Spanish
dialect.
We stayed at Salonica three days and visited the principal institutions
of the city, and the Jewish hospitals and schools, all of which I found
superior to any I had seen in Turkey proper. They were conducted on
modern scientific lines. The leaders of finance and industry were the
Jews and the Greeks, while at the same time the hewers of wood and the
drawers of water, those who loaded the ships and did the hauling, were
also principally Jews.
Next we stopped at Athens, where we met my brother Isidor and his wife,
who were making a tour of the Orient. Our six-days' stay in Athens was
made delightful for us by the courtesies of our minister, George H.
Moses, now and for some years past United States Senator from New
Hampshire. We visited the Boule, or Greek Chamber, one afternoon. What
mainly impressed one was the lack of decorum and dignity. The Minister
of War, who also represented the military league, was the dominating
power. I thought then how unfortunate it was for a country to be ruled
by the sabered politician. Then truly does the army become a curse to
the Government, as well as inefficient for the protection it is supposed
to give. When the army enters politics, then politics also enters the
army, a double calamity for any state. But that seemed to be the
lamentable condition of Greece as I saw it at that time.
We were received in audience by King George, who spoke perfect English.
I had met him before, on my visit to Athens in 1888. He conversed freely
and with the objectiveness of an outsider about the disturbed political
conditions of Greece, which was at the time dominated by a military
league, a secret organization of army officers. Referring to this
league, the King said that outsiders probably regarded him as weak in
giving way to its demands, but that they did not appreciate conditions;
he did it to prevent a revolution, and he hoped that unity among the
people might be promoted by the approaching meeting of the Assembly for
the revision of the constitution.
He seemed remarkably well informed regarding our system of government
and American affairs generally. He said that Greece needed a council of
state with cooerdinate legislative power, rather than a senate. He
appeared to favor a small appointed body rather than an elective
senate. He said he had been in Greece for fifty years; he had come there
when he was eighteen and was educated for the navy. He added drily that
it might have been better if he had stuck to the profession of his
training.
He knew I was on my way to Egypt to meet Roosevelt for whom he expressed
the greatest admiration. He said he had read several of Roosevelt's
books and had always had a desire to meet him.
We went on to Alexandria by the Roumanian boat. The sea seemed rough, so
we thought best to send the Scorpion on ahead so that we might make the
trip leisurely, and on March 21st we arrived in Cairo, where
Consul-General Iddings had reserved rooms for us at the Shepheard Hotel,
adjoining the suite reserved for the Roosevelts.
The Roosevelt party arrived from Luxor at about nine o'clock on the
morning of March 24th. We went to the station to meet the train, and
there was quite a gathering, including the consul-general and his wife,
an aide of the Khedive, an aide of the Sirdar, a number of American
missionaries, and several others. Cairo was astir. American flags were
flying on many buildings, and at the hotel a great crowd cheered as
Roosevelt entered.
After breakfast the first morning, Roosevelt wanted me to read several
letters he had dictated, among others a reply to the invitation that had
been extended by the Kaiser asking Roosevelt to be his guest in the
palace in Berlin. The invitation did not include Mrs. Roosevelt, and
this he resented. He therefore dictated a letter to Ambassador David J.
Hill saying he would be pleased to call on the Emperor on the day
designated, but could not accept the invitation to be his guest, as he
did not purpose to separate from Mrs. Roosevelt. He asked Ambassador
Hill to be sure to submit the message to the Emperor's chamberlain in
such a way that it could not be construed as a hint for an invitation
for Mrs. Roosevelt. I advised against sending this letter and asked him
to let me handle the matter. This I did, and Ambassador Hill soon
discovered, what I had suspected, that the Emperor was not aware at the
time the invitation was sent that Mrs. Roosevelt was with her husband.
The omission was immediately corrected.
Roosevelt was, of course, anxious for news from home. He spoke again of
Taft's having told him he would retain Garfield and myself, and said
Taft was aware that he (Roosevelt) was specially attached to us both. I
showed him an article in a current "North American Review," entitled
"The First Year of Taft's Administration," which plainly showed that
much ground had been lost.
Roosevelt was to deliver an address before the Egyptian National
University. He handed me the draft of it and asked me to criticize it
freely. I suggested a number of changes, which he promptly adopted. He
had been asked not to refer to the recent assassination of the Premier
of Egypt, Budros Pasha--a deed that had probably been inspired by the
Nationalists, a party composed chiefly of young students, half-educated
theorists, and a few others whose shibboleth was "Egypt for the
Egyptians." Roosevelt considered that it would be cowardly and evasive
to avoid this subject, and that usually the subjects one is asked not to
refer to are the ones uppermost in the minds of the people. Besides, if
he did not openly condemn such an act, his silence might be interpreted
as an approval. In view of all the circumstances I fully agreed with
him. The speech was delivered in a large hall filled to capacity; the
consular body and many Egyptian ministers were present. About one third
of the audience understood English, and the address was
enthusiastically received, and had an excellent effect, as I afterward
learned, upon law and order in Egypt.
Roosevelt gave a luncheon at the hotel to Sir Gaston Maspero and
Professor Sayce, the eminent Egyptologists, which we attended. There
were about fifteen people present, among them Mr. Lawrence F. Abbott, of
"The Outlook," who had joined the Roosevelt party at Khartum. It was a
delightful occasion and reminded us of the old days at the White House.
Roosevelt always had the faculty of surrounding himself with people who,
whether from prominent or humble walks of life, were worth while. There
were so many facets to his nature that he could make interesting
contacts with all sorts of folk, those of the forest as well as those of
the closet.
From Gondokoro, Roosevelt had written Ambassador Leishman at Rome saying
he would be glad of the honor of presentation to His Holiness Pope Pius
X. At Cairo he received the following cable reply from Ambassador
Leishman:
The Rector of the American Catholic College, Monsignor Kennedy, in
reply to inquiry which I caused to be made, requests that the
following communication be transmitted to you: "The Holy Father
will be delighted to grant audience to Mr. Roosevelt on April 5,
and hopes nothing will arise to prevent it, such as the
much-regretted incident which made the reception of Mr. Fairbanks
impossible."
I merely transmit this communication without having committed you
in any way to accept the conditions imposed, as the form appears
objectionable, clearly indicating that an audience would be
canceled in case you should take any action while here that might
be construed as countenancing the Methodist mission work here....
Mr. Fairbanks, it may be remembered, was granted an audience with His
Holiness, but on the same day accepted an invitation to lecture before
the Methodist body in Rome whose propaganda was inimical to the Vatican.
This displeased His Holiness and the audience was thereupon canceled.
Roosevelt answered Leishman's cable to the effect that while he fully
recognized the right of the Holy Father to receive or not to receive
whomsoever he chose, he could not submit to conditions which would in
any way limit his freedom of conduct. But the Vatican stood firm on the
conditions set forth:
His Holiness will be much pleased to grant an audience to Mr.
Roosevelt, for whom he entertains great esteem, both personally and
as President of the United States. His Holiness quite recognizes
Mr. Roosevelt's entire right to freedom of conduct. On the other
hand, in view of the circumstances, for which neither His Holiness
nor Mr. Roosevelt is responsible, an audience could not occur
except on the understanding expressed in the former message.
Consequently, while Roosevelt did not go to the Vatican, he was received
with great cordiality at the Quirinal by King Victor Emmanuel III. In
order not to have the Vatican incident misunderstood at home, Roosevelt
sent a message regarding it to the American people, through the pages of
"The Outlook" of April 9, 1910. Mr. Abbott makes detailed mention of the
episode in his "Impressions of Theodore Roosevelt."
* * * * *
Mrs. Straus and I were invited to luncheon with Sir Eldon and Lady
Gorst, British consul-general at Cairo, where we met Professor Oscar
Browning, of Cambridge, among others. Sir Eldon was the successor of
Lord Cromer, and had had many years of experience in Egypt in official
capacities. He spoke of the unrest among the natives, especially those
who had lived abroad as university students. These were in fact the
leaders of the Nationalist Party, a movement stimulated by the
establishment of the new regime in Turkey and the parliamentary form of
government in Persia. Some of the Arabic papers were encouraging, if not
actually inciting, opposition to the British protectorate. He said the
British policy was to grant by degrees an always larger share of local
self-government, but it was feared that if the national spirit was too
much encouraged there would be a reversion to conditions that prevailed
prior to the British occupation of the country. He explained that Lord
Cromer's administration covered the period of national improvements,
such as the reform of taxes, and the building of railways and irrigation
works; and that now had come the desire for political changes.
I have referred to that part of Roosevelt's speech at the National
University in which he condemned the assassination of the premier. Sir
Eldon said he had been consulted in regard to the speech before its
delivery, and that if he had expressed any objection he was sure Mr.
Roosevelt would either have omitted that part of the address or declined
to speak altogether, for he knew Mr. Roosevelt would not do anything to
embarrass British interests. He had had no objection, and made this
clear to Mr. Iddings, who made the inquiry.
We were all invited to a tea at the German Diplomatic Agency, to meet
the Prince and Princess Eitel Friedrich, who were on a visit to Egypt.
Eitel Friedrich is the second son of William II of Germany. I had little
opportunity to speak with him because he and Roosevelt were engaged
almost the entire time in an animated conversation, during which both
remained standing. My impression of the Prince was that he seemed
tremendously impressed with his own importance. I had a pleasant chat
with the Princess, whom I found very charming. She seemed to me of a
type more Austrian than German.
On March 30th we left Cairo, going with the Roosevelt party as far as
Alexandria, where they boarded a ship for Naples, and we went aboard the
Scorpion. Our little ship was dressed in its complimentary flags, the
band was playing, and the commander had drawn up the bluejackets on the
main deck to present arms, so that the Roosevelt party was being saluted
with all the form, splendor, and dignity that our ship could muster. The
sea was much calmer than when we came, and we reached Constantinople in
a little less than three days. I had intended stopping at several other
ports to confer with our consuls, and to visit Jerusalem, Beirut, and
Smyrna; but as my instructions were to hasten my return I did so.
* * * * *
During my third mission in Turkey I saw quite a good deal of Mahmoud
Chevket Pasha, the generalissimo of the Turkish army, who was at the
same time Minister of War. He was fifty-two years old, of spare frame,
medium height, with a full beard that was turning gray. He was an Arab,
born in Bagdad. He told me that, when he was a younger man and a major
in the army, he spent ten years in Germany studying the German military
system and training. It was evident to every observer that under his
generalship the Turkish army had vastly improved both in appearance and
in discipline.
I found him a well-educated, modern man. At that time he enjoyed a
world-wide reputation as the most important and dominating official in
the empire, because, as general of the Third Army Corps, stationed at
Salonica, he had marched his men to Constantinople, dethroned the late
Sultan, and established the new regime. Within a few months he had made
visits to Austria, France, and Germany, and was received with great
honors. In the leading cities of these countries he made addresses that
were statesmanlike and internationally tactful. Throughout he
represented his country with admirable tact and judgment.
During one of our conversations the generalissimo told me that the only
cloud on the horizon was the effort of the Greeks to make the Island of
Crete a part of their country. He thought the general conditions in
Turkey were good and that there was no danger of internal troubles,
because the Government had things well in hand. Should Greece make any
hostile move, he knew Turkey could easily defeat her. He did not think
that any of the Balkan Powers would join Greece, since they could not do
so without drawing in some of the big Powers, and the latter would not,
as a matter of self-interest, allow the Balkan States to join Greece in
a war.
We were speaking rather frankly, and I asked him whether he thought
Russia desired the advancement of Turkey and its steady growth under the
new regime. He realized that Russia was then entirely friendly, but said
it was not because she favored a progressive Turkey, but because since
her war with Japan she was in no position to take advantage of the
misfortunes of Turkey. I asked him what he thought of the real attitude
of Germany. He answered that he thought Germany entirely friendly; that
her desire was, of course, to advance her commercial interests in the
Ottoman Empire, but that in this respect she was perhaps not different
from other nations who regarded Turkey as a good field for commercial
operations.
Shortly thereafter the political atmosphere was considerably disturbed
by the Crete affair, just as Chevket Pasha had foreseen. The Greek army
had entered politics and dominated the Government. It caused several
changes of ministers and forced the King to consent to the summoning of
a National Assembly consisting of twice as many delegates as there were
members in Parliament. Crete also insisted upon sending delegates, which
would have been tantamount to incorporating itself as part of Greece
politically.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs frankly told the ambassadors of all the
leading Powers, as well as the Greek minister, that if the Greek
National Assembly admitted delegates from Crete, Turkey would regard
that as a _casus belli_. There was a rumor at the same time that
Bulgaria was preparing to take advantage of the crisis to make war on
Turkey, either by uniting with Greece or in conjunction with some of the
other Balkan States. The Minister of Foreign Affairs had managed well,
and the four big Powers, England, Russia, France, and Italy, bestirred
themselves and the situation was allayed for the time.
Greece had purchased from Italy a man-of-war of about ten thousand tons,
which was being fitted and armored for delivery within six months. To
offset this augmentation of the Greek navy, already stronger than the
Turkish, Turkey wanted to purchase a man-of-war of sufficient size to
outclass the one being fitted for Greece. The Minister of Foreign
Affairs called on me with a memorandum of the size of the ship and the
strength of the armament desired, together with a statement that the
object of the Ottoman Government in the purchase of it was not to make
war, but to safeguard the peace of Turkey and possibly of Europe. It was
thought that the moral effect upon Greece of such a purchase would
prevent her from taking any action that would cause war.
I cabled this proposal in detail to Secretary Knox, and requested a
reply by cable. I knew that we had several ships that would probably
answer the requirements of Turkey, and I thought that, aside from the
moral effect this might have in preventing a war between Turkey and
Greece, it would enable us to substitute a new ship of our own for an
old one. It was not a question of price, as Turkey had put aside
sufficient money to pay for such a ship.
A few days later Chevket Pasha also called on me, and again assured me
that the purchase was designed to have an immediate effect upon the
maintenance of peace, and that the people of Turkey would be forever
grateful to the United States if we should sell them the ship.
But after the lapse of a week or more, I finally received a negative
answer from the State Department, saying that such a sale could not be
made without the authority of Congress. This, of course, I knew; but
since the transaction would have given us the opportunity to add a new
ship to replace the other, I thought such legislation might readily have
been obtained. The Turkish Government then made application to Germany,
and that country seized the opportunity further to cement its friendly
relations with the Ottoman Empire, which later had such an important
bearing in the World War.
About a year after this Crete affair, Chevket Pasha was assassinated as
he was coming out of the Sublime Porte. No greater loss could have
befallen Turkey than the removal at that time of her greatest general
and most enlightened statesman. He was the best-informed Turkish
statesman I have ever known, with a clear and correct view of the entire
European situation. What the conspiracy was behind this shooting was
never brought to light.
The affairs of Crete at that time were in the hands of the energetic
and brilliant leader who has since come to be regarded as one of the
foremost statesmen of all Europe, Eleutherios Venizelos. At the Paris
Peace Conference his recognition was complete. The Greeks, however, have
always shown themselves to be a fickle and ungrateful people, and from
the time of Socrates have turned against their foremost philosophers and
statesmen, and their attitude toward Venizelos is the most recent
illustration of those traits. Venizelos is practically a refugee from
his own country and at this writing is visiting our country to study
American institutions.
* * * * *
The main reason I accepted the post at Turkey for the third time was to
secure the legal status and rights of American institutions under
definite laws in the new regime. The Turks had promulgated a law, known
as the "Law of Associations," under the ingenious restrictions of which
they sought to place all foreign institutions. That would have given the
Ottoman authorities, both civil and judicial, the power so to impede the
work of these institutions as to prevent them from functioning. I
pointed out to the Grand Vizier that the Law of Associations was
contrary to the acquired rights of the institutions, which had been
legally recognized for many years, and taking section by section I
showed him the inapplicability of it to these institutions. After months
of negotiations, as usual in Turkey, I succeeded in getting a decision
from the Council of Ministers exempting foreign institutions of a
religious, educational, or benevolent character.
There were three or four other matters that I succeeded in bringing to a
successful close. Contrary to the real-property laws of 1868, our
institutions were being denied the right to hold in their names real
property necessary for their operation, and this right I was able to
secure for them. Among other things I obtained a charter for the Syrian
Protestant College at Beirut, and I got an irade or permit for the
construction of new buildings for Robert College. The American College
for Girls, at Scutari on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, wanted to
transfer the institution over to Arnaoutkeui on the European side, its
present location, and I secured permission for this transfer and for the
construction of its buildings.
While these various negotiations were in progress, I received an
instruction from Secretary Knox at which I took umbrage. It contained
the following paragraph: "If I am correct in understanding that American
educational and missionary interests in Turkey are in fact receiving
treatment in substance entirely satisfactory, I conclude that the chief
influence should at present be centered upon a substantial advancement
of our prestige and commerce."
This had no other meaning than that instead of vigorous effort for the
protection of American colleges, schools, and hospitals, whose rights
under the new regime were being seriously threatened by new laws and
regulations, I was to transfer my efforts to securing shipbuilding and
railway concessions. I promptly advised the Department that this
understanding was not correct, that the interests of our institutions
were being seriously threatened, and that the proper protection of these
interests in no way conflicted with the advancement of our commercial
interests.
I continued to push the negotiations on behalf of our institutions, for
I knew that a let-up at that time would, instead of benefiting our
commercial interests, convey the impression of weakness on the part of
our Government in looking out for American interests. In several
dispatches I pointed out to the Department that to exert official
pressure for railway concessions in Turkey would likewise require the
protection of such concessions, when obtained, by strenuous official
action which might at some time even involve the use of force, and could
not fail to enmesh us in the intricate political problems of the Near
East. I asked the Department to weigh carefully the possible advantage
of concessions to a few American exploiters, against the serious
disadvantages that the protection of these concessions would impose. I
pointed out that invariably the Turkish Government, of its own accord or
through outside pressure, failed to live up to its contracts if not
compelled to do so, and that the situation would be further complicated
by the conflicting interests of the other Powers whose commercial
dealings were subordinate to their political strategy. To ordinary
commercial transactions, such as export and import, these risks did not,
of course, apply; but they were particularly troublesome with regard to
the building and running of railways on Turkish territory.
* * * * *
Among our distinguished visitors during this mission were former
Vice-President and Mrs. Fairbanks, who were on their tour round the
world. They were our guests for a week, and we gave a series of dinners
to have them meet the leading diplomatic and Turkish officials. Among
the latter was Ahmed Riza Bey, president of the Chamber of Deputies, who
had for twenty years been a refugee in Paris, where he edited a Turkish
paper. He spoke French fluently. He was said to be practically the head
of the Young Turks Party. He was blue-eyed, handsome, and thoroughly
modern. His father was one of the chamberlains of Sultan Abdul Aziz, and
his mother, an Austrian, once told Mrs. Straus that she had almost
forgotten the German language because she had not used it in so long a
time, for she was only seventeen when she was married.
Riza Bey was very much interested to learn from Mr. Fairbanks the rules
of parliamentary procedure. The Chamber of Deputies had not as yet
adopted any such rules and its proceedings lacked system and order.
A few days later, while the president of the Chamber was calling on me,
the palace of the Chamber of Deputies, Tcheragan on the Bosphorus,
burned to the ground,--an unfortunate occurrence not only because of the
material loss, but because it was looked upon by the populace as a
visitation from God against the new regime.
Judge and Mrs. Alton B. Parker and the widow of Daniel Manning,
Secretary of the Treasury in Cleveland's second Cabinet, also gave us
the pleasure of a visit. And a little later Cleveland H. Dodge arrived
in his yacht. He was heartily welcomed by all the missionaries, for he
was prominently connected with Robert College and was chairman of the
board of trustees of the College at Beirut. In his party was Mrs. Grover
Cleveland.
After we had moved to our summer quarters at Yenikeui, Kermit Roosevelt
and his classmate, John Heard, came to spend about ten days with us. My
son Roger, then a student at Princeton, was spending his vacation with
us and was glad to have the company of two young men of about his own
age.
At this time we saw much of Sir William Willcocks, the eminent British
engineer, who had just returned from Bagdad where he was employed by the
Turkish Government in the construction and supervision of irrigation
works in Mesopotamia. It was he who projected and designed the Assuan
Dam across the Nile. He told me he was born to his work, as his father,
Captain W. Willcocks, was engaged in it in India.
In June I wrote the Department of State requesting a leave of absence
toward the end of September or beginning of October, with permission to
return home. In answer I received a cable from the assistant secretary
to the effect that the railway concessions of the Ottoman American
Development Company were to come up in Parliament in November, and
asking if it would be convenient for me to take my leave earlier so as
to be back in Turkey by November 1st. I replied in a confidential letter
that it was my intention, upon my return to America, to confer with the
President and the Secretary of State regarding my release from this
post, in accordance with my understanding when I accepted the
appointment. I decided to wait until the arrival of the new secretary of
the embassy, Mr. Hoffman Philip, and before leaving I took pains to make
him thoroughly familiar with the work of the embassy so that no ground
might be lost pending my resignation.
* * * * *
On leaving Constantinople we desired a few days' rest in the mountains.
At the suggestion, therefore, of our minister to Roumania, J. Ridgely
Carter, we planned to go to Sinaia, the Roumanian summer capital, which
he thought we should find agreeable in every way, so on September 3d we
left Turkey for Roumania.
Sinaia we found not only very beautiful, but most enjoyable. We were
invited to the Palace a number of times. The Court being in mourning,
all entertaining was informal and more intimate. The King reminded me of
the late Edmund Clarence Stedman in general appearance. The Queen, known
to all the world as "Carmen Sylva," was a striking personality, tall,
rather heavily built, with silver gray hair and a high complexion,
strong, mobile features, and a very spiritual expression. She spoke
English, French, and German with equal fluency, so that it was difficult
to tell which was the most natural to her.
The Queen told me how she happened to choose Carmen Sylva for a
pen-name: The woods always appealed to her; their stillness and beauty
inspired her. When she began to publish her work, at the age of
thirty-five, she asked a certain German writer to tell her the Latin
word for "woods"; that gave her "sylva." Next she asked the Latin word
for "bird," but that did not suit her. Then the word for "song"
suggested itself, "carmen." The combination appealed to her poetic
sense, and she adopted it.
At luncheon one day our conversation drifted to poetry and American
poets. The Queen seemed to know all our bards, even the minor ones,
several of whom I had not heard of myself. I happened to quote, as near
as I could recall it, a couplet from a little poem that Joaquin Miller
wrote when Peter Cooper died:
All one can hold in his cold right hand
Is what he has given away.
She was most enthusiastic about that sentiment and said she considered
it real poetry. She repeated it several times so as to remember it.
"Whenever any one gives me a beautiful thought, I never forget him," she
said, turning to me in her unaffected manner. I appreciated her delicate
compliment.
After luncheon she invited me to the floor above to see her study. She
explained that she did her best work in a little cell-like room in the
monastery below the hill near the Palace, which we had visited the day
before. There she was most free from disturbance of any kind. Her study
in the Palace was comfortable and attractively furnished; not large, but
cozy. Looking out of the windows, one saw the terraced Italian gardens
and the wooded peaks of the Carpathian Mountains beyond. The low
bookcases which lined the four walls contained English, French, and
German books in exquisite bindings. At her desk were three typewriters,
respectively from England, France, and Germany, for use in writing the
languages of those countries. She used them herself, according to the
language in which the inspiration of the moment had come. She presented
me with a volume of poems and one of essays, both in German, "Meine
Ruhe" and "Mein Penatenwinkel," which she inscribed for me.
We went through the Palace that afternoon. It is modern and very
beautiful, furnished in excellent taste, and not cold and uncomfortable,
sacrificed to grandeur, as most palaces seem to be. Then the King and
Queen invited us to return the next morning at eleven, to a musicale and
luncheon.
Next day after luncheon the King left the other guests and took me into
a small adjoining room where we smoked and had coffee. Knowing that I
had been Secretary of Commerce and Labor, he led the conversation to
economic questions, which he said interested him most. He expressed
surprise that we had not come to state ownership of railways, which he
believed was the only way to regulate them. I explained our method of
regulating them, but he thought that method more socialistic and
arbitrary than in his own country. We talked of the Roosevelt policies
and their general aim at social justice. He said he regretted very much
that Roosevelt had not visited Roumania, for he had the greatest
admiration for him, both as man and as statesman.
Our conversation ran on to the Jewish question, and the King spoke most
sympathetically of the Jews, saying that they were patriotic subjects
and good soldiers, that there was no religious prejudice against them,
and that the Jewish question in Roumania was purely economic. The Jews
who came in from Russia and Poland constituted separate communities in
the country, with foreign methods of living, foreign language, and
foreign views. I told him that in the most enlightened countries there
was an absence of the Jewish problem because no problem was created by
treating the Jews as separate groups with restricted rights. He saw that
point, but explained that Roumania was right next to Russia where the
Jews were most oppressed. If, therefore, Roumania accorded them full
rights, there would be a flood of immigration much larger than they were
then getting. I pointed out that it would be much better to restrict
immigration than to restrict the natural rights of the Jews of Roumania.
That thought impressed him, and he said he realized that, under the
system they then had, much injustice was done which brought disgrace to
the kingdom, but he hoped a remedy would be worked out.
We spoke of the United States Postal Savings legislation, of which he
requested an outline, and thought it could be adopted by Roumania with
advantage.
A few days later we again lunched with the King and Queen. The Queen
mentioned the bit of poetry I had given her a few days before and asked
whether I could give her another. Something had been said about Hay's
Roumanian note that brought to mind the last stanza of Hay's hymn:
Wherever man oppresses man,
Beneath the setting sun,
O Lord, be there, thine arm make bare,
Thy righteous will be done.
The Queen admired these lines and begged me to write them out, which I
did on the back of one of my visiting-cards. She put the card in her
reticule, saying that the lines would inspire a poem some day, and that
she would then send it to me.
Referring to her work generally, she spoke of her indebtedness to
Professor Michael Bernays, the distinguished Jewish scholar, who was a
frequent and welcome visitor at the home of her parents. She said he was
the most modest and intellectual person she had ever known, and his
conversations and teachings had greatly influenced her intellectual and
spiritual life. She asked me to read her estimate of this wonderful man
in her book of essays that she had given me. I have since read it
several times, and it would surprise many to read such a eulogy and
vindication of the Jews and Judaism by the Queen of a country where the
Jews were so sorely oppressed by drastic discrimination.
Before we left Sinaia, the Queen sent me a large photograph of herself,
inscribed: "Never mind deep waters, there are pearls to be found.
Elizabeth. Sinaia, September, 1910."
In Vienna, we were guests at a tea given by Dr. Sigmund Muenz, of "Die
Neue Freie Presse." Among those present was Baroness Bertha von Suttner,
the great peace advocate and authoress of "Down With Your Arms," who had
received the Nobel Peace Prize the previous year. I had met her before
in the United States, where we spoke from the same platform during the
sessions of the Interparliamentary Union and the International Peace
Societies.
Next we went to London, where we enjoyed the pleasant hospitalities of
our ambassador, Whitelaw Reid. At one of the luncheons at the embassy I
was pleased to make the acquaintance of Dr. Luis M. Drago, the Argentine
international jurist and author of the Drago Doctrine, who had just
returned from the Anglo-American Fisheries Arbitration at The Hague.
We dined one evening with the Right Honorable Sir Ernest Cassel at his
charming home, Brooke House, and afterward went with him to the theater.
Sir Ernest, one of England's leading financiers, was constantly being
referred to in the press in connection with the negotiations pending in
Paris for a new loan to the Turks. He told us that these international
financial negotiations, because of their international importance, did
not appeal to him, for he had no ambition to be in the limelight or to
become a conspicuous international personage. He preferred quiet and
obscurity, for constant publicity disturbed his peace of mind. This
attitude was not one of assumed modesty; he really said what he meant
and felt.
On another evening we dined with Postmaster-General Herbert Samuel and
his wife. Mr. Samuel was only thirty-nine years old and gave every
promise of the distinction which he has since attained in the service of
his country. At this writing he is British High Commissioner in
Palestine.
Lord Rothschild had written me to call on him when in London; and I went
to the banking house to see him. In speaking of the Triple Entente of
Great Britain, France, and Russia, I told him I thought that, from a
British point of view, it was unwise. He, on the other hand, regarded it
as good because it offered the best security for peace. A few days
thereafter I mentioned the subject to his brother, Alfred. The latter
said that he and his brother usually agreed, but in this matter they
took opposite views. Alfred considered it a great mistake, from the
point of view of civilization, for England to be aligned with Russia,
and beyond that he considered it detrimental to the relationship between
England and Germany, which was none too friendly. In the light of all
that has since taken place, it is interesting to note how the
international alignment of 1910 was reflected in the minds of these big
international financiers.
On September 8th we boarded the Lusitania at Liverpool, reaching New
York on the 13th. My brother Isidor and our children met us, and we were
made to appreciate the real truth of the bull that "the greatest
pleasure in going abroad is returning home."
Soon afterward I went to Washington. First I called at the State
Department and had an informal talk with Secretary Knox. I told him I
did not wish to return to Turkey. The important negotiations had been
brought to a favorable conclusion, and I felt that I had spent enough of
my time there. He referred to the understanding with which I had
accepted the post, that when I desired to be relieved, another post that
might be available and acceptable to me would be tendered me. However, I
purposely did not comment on this understanding. I simply said that I
did not wish to cause the Administration any embarrassment, and was
content to stay at home. He said he would have a talk with the President
and confer with me later.
When I called on the President, I told him that since all the questions
for which I went to Turkey had been adjusted, I did not wish to return.
Subsequently I received a very cordial and complimentary letter from
him, but, as it contained no intimation of his earlier promise to
transfer me to a post more to my liking, I did not refer to it. The rift
between the Roosevelt policies and the Taft Administration had by this
time grown considerably, and I was known to be in thorough accord with
Roosevelt and his policies.