The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-07-07
SEWALL AND ROOSEVELT.
Incidents i'm Lives OF Two Har.
ward Graduates.


( The Boston Journals special corre-
/ spOndent writes the following TO his
paper from Washington: Only two men
on this administration have secured
exactly what they set out 10 get in
the way of Office, and it is curious. TO
say the least, that these two should
have been members of the same class
at Harvard not so many years ago.
Both Theodore Roosevelt and Har-
old Sewall were graduated in 1882.
There must have been a straint of pa
triotism in that class quite out of the
ordinary, for both Sewall and Roose-
welt are as excellent specimens Of in
tense young Americans as can be
found They are high-strung, self-as-
sertive, full of Yankee mettle and
ready to fight at the drop of the hat
when the interests or the reputation of
their country are at stake.
For a man to land exactly where he
hoped to land out of the troubled sea
of politics is something almost unpre-
cedented. and there is fitness in the
success which has attended the ambi-
| tions of these two mettlesome young
| fellows. One reason for their success
was the fact that neither of them con-
| templated for a moment the possibility
of being RELOCATED to what Senator
Chandler calls the IS. E. G.. list"
Neither of them could have been put
off with the promise of something
equally as good.' For in the case Of
neither could there be any stretch of
the imagination be anything equally
as good
Roosevelt wanted to be Assistant
Secretary of the Navy, because he was
ambitious above everything else to be
identified with the upbuilding of the
American Navy, and because he
thought himself especially fitted for
the place.
Sewall strove for the appointment
as Minister to Hawaii because he fore
saw that conditions there were likely
to call for a man with just the quail
ties he knew himself to possess. Meth
er Sewall nor Roosevelt would have
cared a fig for any other position in
the gift of the President and it is
doubtful if either would have accepted
any other, for both are independently
rich and are in politics purely for the
love of it. Neither the Assistant Sec
retaryship of the Navy nor the mis-
sion to Hawaii is place which the
average politician would seek. One is
subordinate position without patron
age. The other is diplomatic post
of the third class, with little salary and
no social advantages.
When Roosevelt and Sewall were in
college John D. Long was Governor of
Massachusetts, and as Governor he sat
on the platform of the Sanders The
OF CO fTun
ceive their diplomas at commencement.
Roosevelt took no part in the exercises
except to march up with the rest of
the class to get his sheepskin, but Sew
all had a commencement part and the
honor of declaiming it from the ros-
trum in his black cap and gown. Just
in the middle of it he forgot his lines.
He faltered flushed and stammered,
and was on the point of collapsing al
together But the Governor, who sat
so near that he could touch his coat,
saw the boys embarrassment.
go on! Go on!" he whispered, just
loud enough for Sewall to hear. The
young orator recovered himself on the
instant, caught up his lines and turned
what might have been humiliation
into success. He has always remem-
bered this little act of kindness on
the part or Governor Long, anu ne re-
minded the Governor Of it few days
ago at the Navy Department.
Roosevelt, as Assistant Secretary of
the Navy, will occupy an historic desk.
It is the desk which was first used dur
ing the war by Assistant Secretary Fox
and it is the only piece of furniture re-
naming in the executive offices of the
department as a Renaissance Of those
days Until recently it has been in the
room of the Secretary, and almost ev-
cry Secretary, from Gideon Welles to
Governor Long, has occupied it. But |
during the house-cleaning last week it
was taken out of the Secretary's room |
and turned over to Roosevelt. 1t is a |
big fat table of ash, with numerous |
drawers, and it is conspicuous in the |
nest of mahogany furniture about the |
department.