190 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XVII 



a policy of extermination and confiscation. Even after 

 the first natural outburst of indignation against the Chi 

 nese, it looked as if the ultimatum presented by the powers 

 would include demands which could never be met, and 

 would entangle all the powers in a long and tedious war, 

 leading, perhaps, to a worse catastrophe. Quietly but 

 vigorously, from first to last, the American policy was 

 urged by Mr. Conger, American minister at Peking, and 

 by other representatives of our government abroad; and 

 it was a happy morning for me when, after efforts many 

 and long continued, I received at the Berlin Foreign Office 

 the assurance that Germany would not consider the earlier 

 conditions presented by the powers to the Chinese Gov 

 ernment as &quot; irrevocable. &quot; My constant contention, dur 

 ing interviews at the Foreign Office, had been that the 

 United States desired as anxiously to see the main mis 

 creants punished as did any other nation, but that it 

 was of no use to demand, upon members of the imperial 

 family, and upon generals in command of great armies, 

 extreme penalties which the Chinese Government was 

 not strong enough to inflict, or indemnities which it 

 was not rich enough to pay; that our aim was not 

 quixotic but practical, and that, in advocating steadily 

 the &quot;open door&quot; policy, we were laboring quite as much 

 for all other powers as for ourselves. Of course we were 

 charged in various quarters with cold-bloodedness, and 

 with merely seeking to promote our own interest in trade ; 

 but the Japanese, who could understand the question bet 

 ter than the Western powers, steadily adhered to our 

 policy, and more and more, in its main lines, it proved 

 to be correct. 



On the Fourth of July, 1900, came the celebration of 

 our national independence at Leipsic, and being asked 

 to respond to the first regular toast, and, having at my 

 former visit dwelt especially upon the Presidency, my 

 theme now became the character and services of the Presi 

 dent himself, and it was a pleasure to find that my state- 



