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PRESIDENT ELIOT UNDECIDED

Question of Acceptance of Ambassadorship Not Definitely Settled.

Washington, D. C., April 1, 1909.--As a result of the interview between President Eliot and President Taft in the Blue Room of the White House yesterday, no official decision has been made by President Eliot either in acceptance or refusal of the ambassadorship to the Court of St. James. It is ascertained, however, from sources close to President Taft that President Eliot told Mr. Taft at the time the offer was made that he was disposed to refuse it, inasmuch as he was retiring from the Presidency of Harvard in order to relieve himself of responsible duties. He stated, moreover, that, having been as educator all his life, the assumption of a new occupation, however great the distinction conferred, might not be agreeable to him. Yet it is understood that Mr. Taft persuaded President Eliot not to decline the post absolutely, but to take the matter under advisement, since there was no immediate need of a definite reply.

President Eliot is now the guest of Mr. F. C. Woodman '88, at the Morristown School, Morristown, N. J., where he will attend the sixth annual diner of the Harvard Club of New jersey Saturday evening. President Eliot will return to Cambridge on Monday.

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