Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-27

IgGE6 to it."
go Thus william Henry Moody,
who is to become secretary of the navy on
May /, defines his new position and tacitly
expresses his policy. His experience as a
member of congress has inspired this re-
spect for the legislative branch OF the
government and his selection to be a mem
Der of President Rocsovelt's cabinet has
not turned his head or lowered his esti-
nation of the body from which he %retires.
Sitting in his modest parlor the other
morning. with his feet thrust into a pair
of very rusty house slippers, with a short
sack coat closely buttoned about him and
the appearance Of one who had just left his
breakfast table and morning mail, Mr..
Moody chatted most agreeably and pleas
antly about his selection as the head OF
the Navy department and of the interesting
events that have studded an unusually
active life.
Almost his first observation touched on
a question that is always uppermost in the
Washington mind. Il am not going to be
a social leader or attempt any eXtravagant
entertaining" he said. This was in answer
to the usual inquiry as TO what sort Of a
social swath the new secretary of the navy
proposed to cut in the capital city. I'm
less you newspaper men lean me the money
I will be too poor to live any other than
the quiet and modest life to which ] have
been accustomed since coming to Wash
ington."
There are people in Washington who
think the president ought to be gov
- erned by social considerations in the
selection of his official family. Their"
are officers and friends of the navy VINO
believe that the secretary should be a
man Of wealth and make his department
popular with socially inclined statesmen
at Washington. When this idea was sug-
gested to President Roosevelt at the time
he was seeking a successor to Secretary
Long he became indignant and in as force
full language as he can declared
that he was not hunting a society leader,
but a man who could conduct the Navy
department successfully, who could steer
a safe course through all the shoals and
treacherous channels of chickering's ana
ieaIousies that unfortunately have attached
themselves to that service. And | think
I have found the man." he exclaimed, Sin
Congressman Moody Of Massachusetts"
When the office of secretary Of the navy
was created in 1898 President Adams
turned to Massachusetts for a man to place
at its head. He selected George Cabot, a
statesman and a man of wide experience
in naval affairs. George Cabot came from
Salem, a town in the district which has
been represented several years in congress
by Mr.. Moody, who now, l04 years later
accepts the portfolio which was offered
to the great grandfather OF Sena'
tor Henry Cabot Lodge. 1t seems
natural for the president to turn tC
Massachusetts,. and especially to this sec
ton of the Bay state, for cabinet advisers
as that commonwealth has furnished mor'
cabinet ministers than almost any othe'
state in the union. The old Essex district
as it is known, has been the home OF man!
DISTINGUISHED men, and Mr.. Moody IN
latest cabinet officer to come from that sec
ton, is not overshadowed by any OF hi
predecessors.
who the New Secretary Is.
Rorn within sound Of the surf on tn
north coast of Massachusetts,, Mr.. Mood,
has a natural love for the sea ana matter
connected with II. In his native town o
Newbury he was but a few miles from IN
Gloucester coast, and, as a boy, spent man
happv hours fishing, bathing and boatln
in the salt water. He comes OF a long In
of New England farmers and seatarlng mei
According to the custom OF New Englan
families the sons of the household are pu
in various avocations and professions, S
that each generation furnishes worth
members Of the standard occupations {
That region. One son might remain at hon
on the farm, another be sent to sea, an
other enter business and perhaps the fourt
take his heritage in the best education a
forded in New England colleges and un
versities. The Moody family was no exceI
ton to the rule and from the time the FIR
of the name, William Moody, came fro
Ipswich, England, to Newbury, Mass,
1884. members OF the family have cultivate
the land and plowed the sea. Mr.. Mood
the new secretary OF the navy, is the min
in descent from the English Puritan wi
came to Massachusetts shores 26S yea
ago. His father, Henry Moody, now lol
past the four-score-year mark and loving
cared for by the son in the ~latter's home
Haverhill, inherited a farm from his fath'
and, amid the ordinary surroundings of
New England farmstead, the new head
$500. Haa,n IgF, EpllnurfpH =