368 DIPLOMACY 



the Sultan. Meanwhile this important question remained undeter- 

 mined,. and it became necessary to dispatch a formidable American 

 fleet to Turkish waters to evidence the President's interest in the 

 question, and the fleet was held in the Turkish port until the demand 

 of the United States was complied with. What more striking argu- 

 ment can be presented against the maintenance of the various grades 

 in the diplomatic service? 



There is no good reason why the representative of the smallest 

 American republic or European principality should have a different 

 standing, for instance, at the foreign office in London from^ that 

 freely conceded to him in the Peace Conference of the nations at 

 The Hague; neither should it be expected that any government 

 would be forced, because of a mere grade in the diplomatic hierarchy, 

 to maintain a more lavish display at a foreign court than its princi- 

 ples or convenience would determine. 



The remedy for the embarrassments arising from diplomatic rank 

 is a simple one. In the reference I have made to the foolish contests 

 which were carried on for centuries by the nations of Christendom, 

 great and small, for precedence, we have seen that only one solution 

 of the problem could be found, and that was so simple we wonder 

 now that so fierce a warfare could have been possible, that is, 

 recognition of the equality of sovereign nations, so that to-day the 

 smallest republic of Central America is equal in negotiations and at 

 international conferences with the most powerful empire of Europe. 

 There will be no satisfactory settlement of diplomatic rank until 

 all distinctions and special privileges are abolished and a single grade 

 is established in all the capitals of the world. 



