bout de papier, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1996) — Fall 1996 // Automne 1996, pp. 40–41
At the beginning of June 1950, Robert Gerald (“Gerry”) Riddell succeeded John Wendell Holmes as Acting Permanent Delegate of Canada to the United Nations in New York. Before the end of the month, Riddell was engaged in the diplomacy arising from the invasion of South Korea by North Korea. That story is well told elsewhere.
Readers of bout de papier may be interested in another problem which beset Riddell soon after he arrived in New York, one which for some reason has escaped the attention of political scientists and historians. In the columns which follow, we offer you a scoop by this magazine, only 46 years after this remarkable episode. For this exceptional opportunity to add to the published record, we are grateful to Gayle Fraser of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, who located these documents in the John Holmes Papers at the CIIA, and to John Hilliker, Head of the Historical Section, who transcribed the handwritten memorandum and minutes with some assistance from Gayle Fraser.
When he wrote this letter, Riddell had recently been confirmed as the first career diplomat to serve as Permanent Delegate (sadly, he died less than a year later). Upon his return to Ottawa, Holmes had resumed his duties as Head of the United Nations Division. The bit players in this drama included: the Chief of Protocol, Howard Measures (who left the Department of External Affairs one year later for the Department of Secretary of State, apparently with this question unresolved) and/or Arthur Menzies, Head of American and Far Eastern Division, as well as three members of the United Nations Division (George K. Grande, H. Basil Robinson and Robert A.D. Ford) whose distinguished careers were seemingly not blighted by association with this sorry tale (or tail?). There is no evidence in the files of a happy ending for the dog.
Canadian Delegation to the United Nations New York, 22 August 1950.
Dear John [Holmes]:
I am, of course, deeply indebted for the many admirable arrangements you made in order that our arrival in New York should be as pleasant and convenient as possible. As far as I can see you have overlooked only one detail. You have not let me know how I should go about explaining the difference between 58 and 60 to a Doberman Pinscher.
Perhaps you do not recall the Doberman Pinscher. He was lying in the entrance way at 58 Nassau Drive during the short visit that you paid there with us in early July. I think that he was directly underneath a carved mahogany ape (Pung 17th Century) and his hind quarters were somewhat obscured by a large cloisonné vase (dragon pattern in scarlet on azure background). During part of the time we were there he may also have retired behind a black lacquer and tortoise shell screen (very rare), or taken refuge in the corner beside a white ivory Buddhist monk (very early period — showing signs of age). I particularly noted his presence on that occasion because it occurred to me that if the owners did not object to the presence of so large and active a beast, they would probably not be disturbed if he were succeeded by the small and retiring animal which we possess.
Amongst the many problems which the former owners had to solve when they gave up housekeeping, the Doberman Pinscher seems to have been left to the last. They then took an easy way out. They gave him to their neighbours (who are now our neighbours) at 60 Nassau Drive. The neighbours have subsequently explained to us that they did not know quite how to refuse this bequest, and in any event they had become rather used to the animal. The difficulty is to know how to explain to a Doberman Pinscher that on Monday, the 14th of August, he should stop living at 58 Nassau Drive and move to 60 Nassau Drive. So far no one has succeeded in conveying this information to him. The result is that whenever we open any of the numerous doors at 58 Nassau Drive, we are immediately confronted by a large, bewildered, unhappy and frustrated dog who cannot comprehend what has happened to the secure world in which he lived, and who, though obviously anxious to adjust himself as best he can to the new situation, is determined to do so in the old environment.
Happily the misfortune which has befallen him has not made him either irritable or disagreeable, but even this favourable circumstance presents its problems. We have a natural instinct to be friendly with a new acquaintance, and indeed it is the duty of a foreign service officer when abroad to do so. We cannot forbear therefore to speak kindly to a former occupant of our house whom we have dispossessed. In his present disturbed emotional state, any sign of friendliness moves him deeply, and I can tell you that the enthusiastic appreciation of a large and powerful dog is almost as hard to handle as his anger, especially for a child about one-third his weight. There is the additional problem of knowing what to do about him at night. The Doberman Pinscher has taken up a 24-hour vigil. During the long hours of darkness he finds the exclusion even more intolerable than during daytime, and he then expresses his feeling by persistent and penetrating baying, which we have identified as being pitched at G below middle C. On a day of rain the circumstances become even more disturbing. He stands outside the glass door of the living room surveying dolefully the happy family scene within, and scratches piteously and destructively for admission.
The greatest sufferer from these circumstances, of course, is our own dog. She is, as you will remember, of somewhat indiscriminate origin, and was once described by my boy, who was hard put to it for an adequate answer to a question about her breeding, as being “mostly dog”. It is not surprising, therefore, that in the presence of one hundred and fifty pounds of unmistakable aristocracy, displaying in every twitch of its emotional ears the generations of breeding which have produced it, she should feel herself at a psychological disadvantage. Added to this is her obvious concern at the determined efforts of the visitor to join a family circle of which she has been for some time the undisputed center. There is no doubt also present in her mind a reasonably precise awareness of the enormous ratio which exists in all the physical measurements of the two dogs. A great deal of her time therefore has been spent in a space, inaccessible to all but small dogs, underneath a teakwood chest (15th Century, heavily carved with antique Chinese figures), or crouching in the seclusion of a relatively Perhaps after all this is a problem too serious for any one Delegation to resolve with its own resources. We could put it on the agenda of the Security Council, were it not for the fact that matters affecting a Doberman Pinscher are almost certainly a part of the peace settlement for Germany, and therefore would be regarded by the Russians as no fit subject for the Security Council agenda. I would not in the least mind a long procedural dispute on this subject, provided the Secretariat would take charge of the problem in the meantime. Perhaps on the whole the easiest thing would be to turn the matter over to the newly reorganized authorities charged with the problem of displaced persons, and try in the meanwhile to establish the fact that the origins of this particular animal are volksdeutsche so long absent from Germany that no question can arise of German citizenship.
Meanwhile I am wondering whether or not you left any cans (or barrels) of dogfood in your apartment when you left New York.
Yours sincerely,
(sgd.) “Gerry”
R.G. Riddell
Memorandum to all members of the U.N. Division It is the primary duty of members of the U.N. Division to advise the Permanent Representative on all matters. I should like your urgent attention to the problem Mr. Riddell raises herewith.
It occurs to me that Mr. [George] Grande might investigate the establishment of UNIDEF for the purpose. Perhaps there may be an international agency called B.O.W. or at least W.O.W. Mr. [Basil] Robinson should consider that aspect which concerns the recognition by dogs of Chinese China.
Mr. Menzures [sic] must also be consulted.
J.W. H[olmes].
[Minutes on above:]
— obviously diversionary tactics on the part of the Russians to distract the Perm. Rep’s attention from the problem of the veto. R[obert] F[ord]
I am much too busy looking after the rights of 3rd Secretaries to worry about dogs — besides, dogs (and all other animals except 3rd Secretaries) now have a Charter of their own.
G.K. Grande
View the original scanned pages →
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1996) — Fall 1996 // Automne 1996, pp. 40–41. Read the rest of this issue →
