The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1863-10-21
Wednesday Morning, October 81. 1868.


This distinguished gentleman honored our
,s& city with his presence yesterday on tour of
inspection of the Notifications in our harbor,
II an account of which and of his reception will
be found in other columns, and as we have
thought that it would be interesting to our
readers and especially to our youth, 10 see
what industry, energy and patriotism will ac-
Z lcompiishin all pursuits of life, we subjoin
sketch of the career of Gen. Dix whchwe in
vite them to peruse.
- Gen. Dix was born in Boscawen, n. h.,
July "a, 1889, and is son of the late It. Col.
Timothy Dix. He first commenced his mill
tary career as a clerk at the age of fourteen
80 to some military officer. He entered the Mil
itary Academy at West Point in 1912, but the
war with England breaking out he became an
Ensign of Infantry and entered the army sery
EDS ing upon the frontier He was promoted to
the Sd Lieutenant of the 21st Infantry in 1913
and to I'd Lieut. and was transferred TO the
= - Artillery arm of the service, subsequently
acting as Adjutant Of a battalion. While
serving in these capacities he found time by
= great exertions and industry to become an
: e excellent scholar. In 1916 he was appointed
Aid de Camp to Maj. Gen. Brown commander
In chief of the army. He transferred TO
the lst and Sd Artillery in 1921 and promoted
to a captancy during which time he studied
the principles of legal science He resigned
his commission Dec. 81, 1928 and having mar
=. ried and travelled extensively abroad he es-
tabsled himself as lawyer in Cooperstown,
N y, where turning his attention to politics
- he became identified with the democratic
= J party. TAM f a3Et4S N@A
In 1880 he was appointed Adjutant- General
of the State, and in 1888 he was chosen Secre-
stary Of State, by virtue Of which Office he was
Superintendent of Common Schools men,
Der OF the canal board and commissioner of the
canal fund, tae two latter having charge of the
: vast internal improvement works, and their
complicated financial affairs. During his term
of Office enlargement of the Erie Canal was
commenced and the net work of railroads now
q. covering the State was just starting into exis-
= tence He was elected member of the AS
sembIy from Albany Co., in 1912, ard in 1915
was chosen to the U. s. Senate to ill out the
nnexpired term caused by the election of the
distinguished and pure-mnded Sas Wright
as Governor of New York. While in the Sem
ate lac took distinguished part in the discus
sion of the great questions which arose in that
.4ss stormy period, viz: the annexation Of Texas,
W
disputed boundary of Oregon and the power
of Congress over slavery in the territories.
@zE@IIs was chairman of the committee on COM
merce and a leading member of the committee
on military affairs. @i'a
He may properly be called the father of the
PROVINCIAL Reciprocity treaty, as during his
term he brought in a bill-supported it in two
sss speeches which display an intimate knowledge
.t.ta, satl,,
like that which passed six years later He
was also the author of the act defining the
duties and reducing the salaries of officers of
the customs in the large ports. He also Sc
cured an amendment to the debenture bill for
Santa Fe so as to include the Canadas in its
beneacent operation, and the bill as amended
was carried mainly by his advocacy. In the
Senate General Dix stood deservedly high, as
Z by bis untirng industry and firm principle he
always made himself well acquainted with ev-
~ cry subject that up, in all its bearings.
on the question OF slavery he was the expo
r nent of the views of the free-soil wing of the
- 2 democratic party, whose candidate for Gov
III ernor he was in 1S4s, while Mr.. Van Buren,
sss was the candidate for the presidency in oppo-
sltion to Gen. Cass both standing upon the
buffalo platform" The division in the dem
ocratic party on the slavery question rendered
s. his reelection to the Senate impossible. He
was succeeded by Mr.. Seward in 1910. When
the incongruous elements Of the democratic
party came together in 1852, Mr.. Dix support
go ed Mr.. Pierce for the Presidency, and took an
active part in the campaign. At the Inaugural
tion of Mr.. p, Gen. Dix's friends desired that
= he should be appointed Secretary of State, and
- he was at first selected for the position by Mr..
Pierce, but difficulties arising in the mind Of
the President elect, he having to construct his
cabinet, doubtless, according to the dictatorial
feeling of jefferson Davis who was Secretary
of War, and with such inconsistent material as
Caleb Cushing, James Guthrie, and James
Campbell, Gen. Dix was induced to decline
in favor of Gov Marcy of New York. He af-
forwards accepted as a temporary employment
the post of resident treasurer in New York
cty, but dissatisfied with the Presidents course
4 relative 10 the appointment of Minister TO
France, he resigned the place, and took but
little part in politics beyond making an occa-
siona speech before some popular meeting Of
"a the Democratic party, and confined himself to
his legal practice. He was appointed post
master of New York in 1S60--61, by President
Buchanan in place of l. V. Fowler who alb
seconded, and was called to the cabinet of Mr..
Buchanan, Jan. II, 1861, as Secretary of the
Treasury made vacant by the secession of
Howell Cobb 1t was while holding this high
position, when the incipient egg of secession
was about to be Matched, that Gen. Dix wrote
that famous sentence to w. II. JONES' Chief
Clerk in the Comptroller's office, whom he had
sent to New Orleans and Mobile TO save, if
possible, the two Revenue Cutters on those
stations; but the dispatches were intercepted
by the rebels, the treason consummated and
the cutters lost This sentence was repeated
by Sunday-school lad at Akron, Ohio, on be-
ing requested, with other members of his class,
q 10 repeat a verse Of his own selection from the
Bible-"If any one attempts to haul down the