'The Days of a Man 



1896 



Richard 

 Olney 



Li Hung 

 Chang 



profits of the industry by forbidding the admittance 

 of pelagic skins to the United States; this involved 

 a system of registration of sealskin garments, bur- 

 densome to travelers but effective in depriving the 

 Canadian sealers of their best market a dis- 

 advantage largely offset, however, by the steady 

 upward trend of prices in general, due to war-in- 

 flation in 1898 and 1899. 



In the course of my stay in Washington, I one 

 evening dined with Richard Olney, Secretary of 

 State, a strong, forthright man of excellent ability 

 whom I very much admired, despite a certain dis- 

 approval of his abrupt insistence in the Venezuela 

 matter. But at that time, as at others in the history 

 of our relations with Britain, it may have been neces- 

 sary to stand up before the Mother Country. For 

 British diplomacy has often been based merely on 

 the assumption that whatever Britain demands is 

 necessarily right. In this case, however, London's 

 claim was substantially correct, Olney' s purpose 

 being only to have the situation clarified by thorough 

 investigation. 



Being seated at Mr. Olney's right, I had the wel 

 come opportunity of explaining to him the insid 

 story of the Government Suit against Stanfor 

 University, a matter in which he was naturally in 

 terested. I was amused by an anecdote he related 

 of Li Hung Chang, who had recently visited Wash 

 ington on a tour of the world. "How much do you 

 get?" asked the Oriental diplomat. "My salary is 

 $6000," said Olney. "Yes, I know," said Li; "but 

 how much do you get?" 



