The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-04-12

takes effect on the first of next month
there is but little time left in which to
outline a skeleton form of government
including the formation of a cabinet.
1t is understood that the new governor
will be taken to Porto Rico in one of the
finest vessels of the navy.
In the selection of Mr. Allen, the pres
ident has had in mind the appointment
of a man of affairs and of sound busi-
ness experience, qualities which are
deemed essential in the administration
of the affairs of an entirely new gov
ernment such as is to be erected in
Porto Rico.
Mr.. Allen is no lawyer, but legal ad-
vice always can be had even in Porto
Rico, when the occasion arises, and IN
fact the organic act provides for q we'll
paid attorney general as a member of
the governor generals cabinet.
Mr. Allen was born in Lowell, Mass,
in 1S48, and graduated at Amherst. He
has had, in addition to his business ex-
perience a great deal of legislative
training. First a member of the Low
ell school board, he entered the lower
house of the Massachusetts legislature
in 1881, went into the state senate in
1888, and then became q member of the
national house of representatives. He
served through the 49th and 50th con-
crosses and might have continued in
! legislative work had he not declined d
denomination. At the close of his con-
| gressional career. Mr. Allen resumed
| the active control of his important bus
| mess interests and although he became
! assistant secretary of the navy, May 8,
| 1898. succeeding Theodore Roosevelt he
has managed to maintain his business
connections Notwithstanding the vol
ume of important duties that fell to his
| share in the Spanish-American war.
At present he is at the head of firm
| manufacturing wood preservative; a
| president of one bank. a director in an
| other and is largely interested in the
| manufacture of high grade papers.
! Great interest is felt in naval circles in
| the personality of Mr.. Aliens successor
as assistant secretary of the navy. His
administration of the navy department
| has been extremely popular and it was
| fully expected that should Secretary
Long decline through another admins
| tration in the office of the secretary of
| the navy in the event of Mr.. McKin-
| ley's reelection Mr.. Allen would succeed
to that post. 1t is said however, that his
| assignment to the gOvernOrShip of Porto
| Rico does not completely remove him
from the field as a secretary of the
navy in the future; for the most ex-
| pected of him now is that he shall in
| augurate and put on a sound business
| basis the new government in Porto
| Rico He will return to the United
States when that important work is ac-
! complished.
SKETCH OF THE MAN.
Charles Herbert Allen, who has been
| appointed governor of Porto Rico, as
successor to Colonel Roosevelt, in the
navy department proved himself the
| right man in the right place. He is {
rapid and effective worker, and fair anG
generous in his dealings with his subor-
| dinateS.
Mr.. Aliens last public service. be
fore his appointment as assistant secre
tary of the navy, was a member of th'
| house from the Lowell district of MaSSa
chusetts. He was not especially con
spicuous then, but he was regarded a.
a man of ability, and was a genera
favorite in the house and in the pres
gallery.
He is an excellent amateur photog
rapher. and took keen delight while il
congress in surprising his colleagues il
grotesque attitudes with a snap sho
camera. One day he received a lette
from a constituent, a soldiers widow il
Lowell, saying that her husband wa
buried somewhere at Arlington, and tha
she longed above all things to know
how his grave was marked. She wa
poor, and a journey to Washington wa
out of the question. Congressman ALE
took his camera in a buggy, drove on
to Arlington one sweltering day i
August, hunted up the grave and photo
graphed it. Then he developed the pic
ture, had it framed, and sent it with
pleasant note to the waiting widow a
home
And this was only one of many kind
? lv acts to Mr.. Aliens credit while
. wishers in Washington who rejoice