I said there was one I could not recommend because we had
fished together and were such intimate friends that we could not judge
each other disinterestedly, but he might inquire about him--Mr.
Shiras, of Pittsburgh. He did so and appointed him. Mr. Shiras
received the strong support of the best elements everywhere. Neither
my recommendation, nor that of any one else, would have weighed with
President Harrison one particle in making the appointment if he had
not found Mr. Shiras the very man he wanted.
In the Behring Sea dispute the President was incensed at Lord
Salisbury's repudiation of the stipulations for settling the question
which had been agreed to. The President had determined to reject the
counter-proposition to submit it to arbitration. Mr. Blaine was with
the President in this and naturally indignant that his plan, which
Salisbury had extolled through his Ambassador, had been discarded. I
found both of them in no compromising mood. The President was much the
more excited of the two, however. Talking it over with Mr. Blaine
alone, I explained to him that Salisbury was powerless. Against
Canada's protest he could not force acceptance of the stipulations to
which he had hastily agreed. There was another element. He had a
dispute with Newfoundland on hand, which the latter was insisting must
be settled to her advantage.
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