Show air rl 0 of A edward CEO al B ca ark I 1 L f A r WIEST EOm 4 more than a score of years ago james G blaine resigned his position as secretary of state in the cabinet of president harrison he was succeeded by gen john W foster A few months ago william J bryan resigned his position as secretary of state in the cabinet of president wilson lie he was succeeded by robert lansing these two statements of fact act are put together because it may be justified by the human interest which seems to exist in the fact act that john W foster la Is the father ather ln in law 0 of robert lansing it la Is probable that no two men more entirely different in temperament and tn in manifestations thereof eyer ever existed than william J bryan and his successor in office robert lansing mr bryan was more or less inclined to be hall hail fellow well met with men mr lansing has little 0 of the ball fellow well met in him but nevertheless he Is approachable genial and almost without question the best beat listener that the state department has had for or a great many years now it Is said frequently that the man who Is a good listener to la more st to get results than the man who Is we shall not say a good but a great talker those who know the present secretary of state say that there Is no channel connecting one of his ears with the other this simply Is their way of expressing the tact fact that nothing that goes into one ot of mr Lan landings sings ears finds exit from rom the other he holds fast what he hears and later he acts on his knowledge or refuses to act on it as seems seema tetter batter to his understanding of the case ordinarily speaking persons like to hear stories about men in high positions it to Is probably no exaggeration to say that there are a thousand stories about mr bryan about mr knox about mr root and about one or another of the predecessors in office of the present incumbent to one about the present incumbent himself when one says stories of course he means human interest and humorous stories mr lansing does not lend himself readily to the exploitation of tun fun making he to Is a grave man 0 a receptive man and therefore not at all an exuberant man his sense of humor however Is keen and he enjoys a good story atory well told and enjoys it with an evident it if quiet showing ot of appreciation the kind of story they tell about mr lansing when a story Is demanded Is in character some thing like that of the man himself grave and dignified and not possessing the qualities which make up the more or less leea substantial story with a substratum of humor for instance not long ago two ambassadors representing foreign countries and one high official of the united states govain ment ex az pressed a desire tor for an audi audience once with mr lansing on a certain thursday evening mr lansing said that he be would be happy to see the gentlemen at almost ani an other time but on thursday evening I 1 must go to church now robert lansing Is a presbyterian an and d a good one it took real sincerity of 0 purpose for or a secretary of detate who la is supposed to be read ready 7 at any hours of the tha day or night to listen to the plenipotentiaries lar cs af foreign powers to say aay effect no state matters must wit wait it until tier prayer meeting when mr bryan was secretary of state he ef saw ar the newspaper men frequently and his bis intercourse with them was rather ot of the tree free and easy sort because the nebraska gentleman was and to Is a newspaper man himself the correspondents spon dents however did not get any extraordinary amount of news out 0 of mr bryan despite his bis affability mr lansing has regular business meetings with the correspondents there are tew few stories to fly back and forth few quips gulps ot of humor and there Is the usual reticence on many subjects which marks diplomacy but mr lansing nevertheless always gives up a story a news item of 0 minor or greater importance whenever it Is proper tor for him so BO to do and moreover he Is a pretty keen judge ot of news values despite the tact fact that he ha Is a lawyer and probably does not know a 4 em dash from a linotype machine some people say that mr lansing had bad several months training as secretary of 0 state before he took office actually those these are the people who think that he be did most of 0 mr air bryans work this probably Is unjust to mr Lan landings sings predecessor but it Is known definitely that the present secretary was consulted constantly and consistently upon most moat 0 of the matters relating to our foreign intercourse which recently as everybody knows has been in a state not only delicate but perilous it Is pretty definitely known now that whon when mr lansing was counselor tor for the state department he aided the president materially in writing the note to germany which wits was penned june 9 it was the tone of 0 this note which mr dryan bryan thought was waa too militant and it was this note in a way which caused the nebraskan to resign his bla position as aa chief ot of the presidents cabinet when it Is said that a man Is grave a good listener and not over given to talking the impression received Is perhaps that he ha Is lacking lip d IP A ct j cw in interest in what are called the human things ot of life robert lansing Is a baseball tan fan he Is also a painter of 0 no mean ability he knows how to handle the rod and reel and can land with neatness and dispatch a brook trout or a bass moreover mr air lansing likes the social life and not infrequently he is IB to be seen at afternoon affairs when state department duties are not pressing and still more frequently at evening affairs where as one might say he be loosens up a bit and talks in a way to draw his auditors and to hold them oswald garrison villard has written in the new york evening post this little description ot of mr air landings Lan sings personal appearance the contrast between mr bryan and his successor Is nowhere more marked than in their personalities mr air lansing Is a handsome man with notably fine eyes and a winning countenance that lights up most attractively when he Is amused ho he smiles with his eyes as well as otherwise writes a washington reporter about him and there is a keenness in their expression which indicates an able and a nimble mind ile he Is altogether of grave and dignified presence which Is enhanced by his prematurely gray hair lie ho Is only fifty one lie he Is well groomed stands up straight and looks directly into the eyes of his questioners quest loneis usually he is wearing the black cutaway of statesmanship you feel eel instinctively that he Is man to tie to the kind which shrewd intuitive women would naturally seek as a counselor indeed this title which chich he has hitherto borne in the state department tits him like a glove in the paragraph which is quoted something is said bald about the secretary of 0 state being a handsome man some washington residents declare that he Is the handsomest handsom eat man in the cabinet others do not agree to this but all admit that the secre way ot of carrying himself is all that it should be it is perhaps probable that mr air lansing knows that he carries himself well ell at any rate lie he alone Is responsible tor for his carriage while his tailor Is responsible in considerable measure for making the secretary admittedly the best dressed man in public life in washington it may be ba asked who is or rather who was robert lansing while the answer is riot not to be given in a few words it Is probable that tile the secretary of state was comparatively unknown until he came into prominence in connect connection lou with our delicate dealings with mexico and with the other powers little and great which recently have been at trouble among themselves or within themselves and havo bavo been directly and indirectly causing trouble to the united states robert lansing was born in a small email city wa ter town in northern new york only a few ew miles from the st lawrence river from the waters ot of which it Is probable that as a boy he drew many a pickerel and bass and laid the foun foundation dation ot of his love for or the sport which isaac walton made famous he entered the state department as counselor one year ago last march succeeding john bassett moore for thirty years yeara that Is since he was twenty one years of 0 ag age e mr lansing has been studying and practicing international law he was connected in behalf ot of the united states with a great many arbitration cases he was this governments associate counsel in the fur ur seal arbitration twenty two years ago and later be represented the government before the bering sea claims commis commission sion lie he was counsel tor for the government in the alaska boundary dispute and he has served uncle sam in china mexico venezuela and at the hague in various arbitration matters it Is said that robert la lansing rising slipped easily and gracefully into the big chair in the cabinet room which stands at the right hand ot of the bigger chair which Is occupied by woodrow wll wil son bon A good many men ot of note have hav e occupied the chair when a man ceases to be secretary of 0 state history invariably makes an estimate ot of him and of 0 his services what will the verdict be concerning robert lansing one thing is certain mr air lansing entered upon his great office duties at a time when it Is possible for or a man to win his spurs or to lose 1030 them and that quickly there are heavy burdens on incumbent nt of 0 high the shoulders of 0 this present cabinet office when the corner stone 01 0 t the h I 1 pan american building was laid theodore roosevelt then president ot of the united states delivered an address in which he said that there had secretaries ot of state but that been many great el ellhu ihu root than greater there had been none at the laying ot of some corner stone or at the ceremonies attending some other memorable occasion will it be woodrow wilsons Wll Wil sons part to rise there have been many great to his teet feet and say secretaries of 0 state but none greater than robert lansing in writing this sketch one very fm important I 1 matter came pretty near being ove overlooked robert i cap la Is a poet noet some peo pie say that he Is a writer ot of exquisite verse terse poetry Is poetry verse is either near poetry or mr lansing does not claim no kin to poetry it Is probable that he writes to be a great poet poetry as a diversion at any rate it Is generally conceded that tie he Is a pretty tair fair poet and that he also Is much more than a pretty fair painter so when the american people have a secretary nations sit up and make other of 0 state who can attention who can fish who can play baseball pay who can dress well who can paint who can write poetry and what Is better exceedingly forceful prose ought not the said american people to be satisfied with the man who has taken of the burdens of part upon himself a large burdens burden a are heavy when thosa state at a time |