Washington, Feb. 8.
The general reaction to the appointment of Mr. Clarence Gauss as Ambassador to China is that China gets one of the ablest career diplomats in the American foreign service.
The "Washington Post," discussing all the new appointments, says "China and Australia swap to give Nelson Johnson a respite from the rigorous life at Chungking. Simultaneously we shall not be represented in China by what on the China coast they call a griffin or inexperienced envoy, for Clarence Gauss has served most of his consular life in Ca'hay."
Mr. Johnson, it is widely recognized here, has long been in the "friar line" and deserves a rest from the hardships of China's much-bombo? wartime capital.
Mr. Gauss is held in high esteem for his years of excellent service in various par's of China, especially the period when he was Consul-General in Shanghai immediately before his appointment to Australia. To few members of the United States Foreign ice is it granted to rise from consul General to Ambassador within 12 months, but all his friends are confident that Mr. Gauss will give excellent account of himself.
Mr. Gauss is said to have had the honour of being personally and particularly commended by the White House for his services in China. It is recalled that he was eulogized in the magazine "Life" when he was appointed to Aus'ralia aS the man "who had the genius for being right" and who "feared neither man, God nor the devil.""—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.