134 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XV 



friend Dr. Hill, afterward assistant secretary of state, men 

 tion being made of the Elaine campaign, an eminent justice 

 of the Supreme Court said that Mr. Elaine always insisted 

 to the end of his life that he had lost the Presidency on 

 account of the Rev. Dr. Burchard s famous alliteration, 

 Kum, Romanism, and rebellion, and that the whole was 

 really a Democratic trick. Neither the judge nor any other 

 person present believed that Mr. Elaine s opinion in this 

 matter was well founded. 



An important part of my business during this visit was 

 to confer with the proper persons at Washington, includ 

 ing the German ambassador, Baron von Thielmann, re 

 garding sundry troublesome questions between the United 

 States and Germany. The addition to the American tariff 

 of a duty against the sugar imports from every other coun 

 try equivalent to the sugar bounty allowed manufactures 

 in that country had led to special difficulties. It had been 

 claimed by Germany that this additional duty was contrary 

 to the most-favored-nation clause in our treaties ; and, un 

 fortunately, the decisions on our side had been conflicting, 

 Mr. Gresham, Secretary of State under Mr. Cleveland, hav 

 ing allowed that the German contention was right, and his 

 successor, Mr. Olney, having presented an elaborate argu 

 ment to show that it was wrong. On this point, conversa 

 tions, not only with the Secretary of State and the German 

 ambassador, but with leading members of the committees 

 of Congress having the tariff in charge, and especially with 

 Mr. Allison and Mr. Aldrich of the Senate and Governor 

 Dingley of the House, showed me that the case was com 

 plicated, the various interests somewhat excited against 

 each other, and that my work in dealing with them was to 

 be trying. 



There were also several other questions no less difficult, 

 those relating to the exportation of American products to 

 Germany and the troubles already brewing in Samoa being 

 especially prominent ; so that it was with anything but an 

 easy feeling that, on the 29th of May, I sailed from New 

 York. 



