The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-07-20
SECRET AIRY ALCER HAS
RENDERED RESICNnT ton
President Has Accepted it and He Will Retire From
War Department On August l.
Reasons For His Retirement Not Officially Given-Specu-
laon Already as to Possible Successor.


About political matters, the secretary
does not speak now. but it may be
fairly surmised that he then will be
ready, in view of his already announced
decision. to take such part in the Michi-
gan senatorial contest as conditions at
the time will warrant.
The closest inquiry fails to elicit any
information as to the intentions of the
president respecting the appointment
of a successor to Mr.. Alger as secretary
of war Names are mentioned, but
they are only those which have already
been suggested with more or less OF
FEASIBILITY in the press. without Sc
curing either confirmation or denial
from any well informed persons
The members of the cabinet are all
disinclined to talk about the selection.
though one did say the president had
made no mention of q name 10 him.
and he believed that no decision had
yet been reached He also conveyed
the impression that no appointment
would be made Immediately, but that
Mir. MeilIlejOhn would be allowed to
direct affairs for some time to come.
Talk of a Successor.
Among the names which have been
mentioned from time to time in this
direction, when talk of Secretary AL
gers forthcoming resignation had been
rife, have been those of General HOr-
ace Porter of New York. now ambas-
sadOr to France: Governor Roosevelt.
of New York; General Harrison Gray
Otis and Assistant Secretary Meikle-
John. The name of General COrbin has
been mentioned in connection with an
ad interim appointment pending ts>--sse-
lection of d permanent occupant of the
office. This gossip also included ques-
tons of locality and the opinion was
expressed in some well posted quarters
that the selection would be made from
the west.
All this. however. is mere speculation.
and it seems probable from the fact
that the resignation was submitted
only today. that the president has not
had time TO canvass the situation and
make a selection.
As TO the reports that General Cor
bin would be secretary ad interim, an
official close TO the general said there
was no basis for the report: that the
president had never contemplated nam
ing General Corbin ad interim. and if
such an appointment was rendered, it
would not be accepted. There was some
talk also that General COrbin might be
given the portfolio permanently, al
though this was regarded as imprcb-
able even among General CorOinS
friends. There would be precedent for
such a course. however. as in the case
of General ScOfeld's cabinet service.
The news of the resignation caused a
buzz OF comment this evening in all
public places. but at the White House
there was no evidence throughout the
evening that any unusual event had
occurred. The president went for a.
drive with his niece. Mrs. Duncan, late
in the afternoon, handling the reinS
himself. There was no caller of i'm
portance during the early part of the
evening, but about 9 o'clock Secretary
Hay. accompanied by Senator Fair
banks of Indiana, who is just back
from an inspection of the Alaskan
boundary seat of difficulty, came over
for talk on this subject Secretary
Hitchcock and Comptroller Dawes call
ed socially for a few minutes There
was no evidence of a cabinet conferences
and no suggestion of anything in that
line. There was nothing to give out
for publication. it was said.
An evening round of the cabinet Off
GERS still in town showed the same IN
to talk of the resignation.
Some of them said they had felt the
resignation was likely to come at any
time. but that they were so sSrDrisesl
at the published announcement that it
was actually in hand, that they We're
at first inclined to regard it as prema-
ture.
Sympathy From Corbin.
Adjutant General Corbin was seen
during the evening and while not
wishing to discuss any of the facts
connected with the resignation. ex-
pressed his personal regret at the turn
of affairs. He said:
I feel great sympathy and great
for the secretary. History will show
that if he has erred il has been on the
side of the sOldier+On the side Of
those Who We're fighting the battles. No
man in that position has ever had more
at heart the interests of the soldiers.
their comfort and their welfare. Time
and again he has said to US that every
thing must yield before the require
ments of the men in the field. and il
the funds were lacking he would pay
for it himself. He will leave the de-
partment with the respect and esteem
of every one in it
Secretary Ayers departure from the
cabinet will leave in it only three OF
those members who entered it at the
of the administration
namely. Messrs. Gage. Long and Will
son. The number of changes that have
occurred in the two and half wears
Of it's life have been very unusual Six
cabinet officers in all have resigned
their portfolios. either TO retire to
private life or to accept other positions
Of honor and trust at the hands of the
president. Those include Secretaries
Of State Sherman. who went out be-
cause of i'll health and advanced age.
and Day, who accepted a United States
Attorney General McKenna,
who accepted a position on the supreme
court bench of the United States; POST
master General Gary, who retired be-
cause of i'll health. and Secretary Bliss
Of the interior department. who re-
turned to New York and resumed
active connection with business affairs
The transfer of Attorney General
Griggs from the department of justice
to the war department has been suS-
gested by those who are figuring on
Ayers successor tonight 1t
is urged that the largely increased le-
gal questions which are constantly
coming before the war department. as
OF our new possessions.
makes il desirable that the executive
officer should be a man of legal attain
ments and experience. In this connec-
ton the name of Elihu Root. the well
known New York lawyer is mentioned.
lanes H. Wilson of Delaware, now in
the volunteer establishment and COVER
nor of the province of Matanzas, Cuba,
is also spoken of.
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