CHAPTER XL 



AS AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY 1897-1903 



ON the 1st of April, 1897, President McKinley nomi 

 nated me ambassador to Berlin ; and, the appointment 

 having been duly confirmed by the Senate, I visited Wash 

 ington to obtain instructions and make preparations. One 

 of the most important of these preparations was the se 

 curing of a second secretary for the embassy. A long list 

 of applicants for this position had appeared, several with 

 strong backing from party magnates, cabinet officers, and 

 senators; but, though all of them seemed excellent young 

 men, very few had as yet any experience likely to be ser 

 viceable, and a look over the list suggested many misgiv 

 ings. There was especially needed just then at Berlin a 

 second secretary prepared to aid in disentangling sundry 

 important questions already before the embassy. The 

 first secretary, whom no person thought of displacing, was 

 ideally fitted for his place in fact, was fitted for any post 

 in the diplomatic service; but a second secretary was 

 needed to take, as an expert, a mass of work on questions 

 relating to commerce and manufactures which were just 

 then arising between the two nations in shapes new and 

 even threatening. 



While the whole matter was under advisement, there 

 appeared a young man from Ohio, with no backing of any 

 sort save his record. He had distinguished himself at one 

 of our universities as a student in political economy and 

 international law ; had then taken a fellowship in the same 

 field at another university; and had finally gone to Ger- 



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