POLITICAL NOTES: Praise

Newspaperman Clinton W. Gilbert takes with an almost judicial scrupulosity his function of measuring out a daily mead of praise. Last week he decided that Ambassador Alanson B. Houghton had been unfairly treated during his recent visit home (TIME, April 5 CABINET). So this is what Mr. Gilbert judged fit to say:

"He looks at international relations with a shrewd, ironic eye. He maintains a certain detachment, remaining an American, in contrast with a good many American diplomats, notably with Ambassador Page, who when he was in London became more British than the British themselves. But probably this is easier to do now than it used to be. Americans abroad always used to have a certain sense of inferiority, especially in England, where they could not get over the feeling that they were more or less Colonials in contact with an older and surer civilization. Now the United States is the most powerful nation in the world. . . . There will probably be more American Ambassadors in the future who will stay Americans. . . .

"There has been a good deal of speculation about Mr. Houghton's political future. It has been predicted that if Secretary Kellogg should retire he would become Secretary of State. But there is no place in which his talents would be more useful than in the Senate. What is sadly needed there is some one who really knows something about foreign relations, who has actually lived abroad and dealt with international problems. And if Mr. Houghton can talk as well on his feet as he does in a chair, he would add distinction and gayety to the Senate debate."