The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-26
TAFT WILL | FOLLOW FOOT -y Philippine Ges .r1Or as 1 secretag'f War. WRIGHT SccHHDs TAFT Lifelong Democrat Will Be- come Governor General. Resignation of Secretary Root VIII Become Effective January 1.
 Other Changes Will
 Then Occur.
WRIGHT JccHEDs TAFT

Oyster Bay. N. Y.. Aug. @.-General Luke E. Wright of Memphis, Tenn, will of the Philippines when the latter be- coeies Secretary of War next January in succession to Elihu Root.
 President Roosevelt this afternoon au- thorized the Associated Press to make the announcement that the post had been of fered to General Wright and that he had accepted it.
 Philippine Commission and Vice. Governor of the islands. He is lifelong Demo crat.
 President Roosevelt spoke in terms of high praise of General Wright's ability and fitness for the position of Governor General He entertains a sincere regard for him both personally and officially. Both the President and Secretary Root re-
 gard General Wright as a man of proved executive ability, his services as a mem Der of the Philippine Commission having
 been of a distinguished character, During Governor Tafts sojourn in this country General Wright was acting Governor Gen. eral and his conduct of the offlce was q source of reorganization to the adnlnis- tPation.
 General Wright is popular not only with Americans in the Philippines but aiso with the Filipinos who hold him only second in their estimation to Governor Taft.
 Secretary Root under date of August 1S. presented his resignation formally to the President.
 The resignation was accepted by the President with the understanding that the Secretary continue at least to January F. Governor General William H. Taft of the Philippines, will succeed Secretary Root as Secretary of War. President Roosevelt today autnorfseo the following statement:
 'The President some months ago ten dered the Secretaryship of War to Judge Taft. and at that time it was arranged ifhat he ssonla -s,yccaed Secretary Rooes | Secretary Root will go out of office some time in January and Judge Taft will as-
 sume the duties of the office shortly ar- l terward."
 The president also authorized the pubii-
 cation of the correspondence between him and Secretary Root concerning the lat ter's resignation. In full the correspond
 ence follows:
 "Dear MT. President: You have been good to assent to the suff1ciency or Inc reasons for which have wished to retire l to privat life as soon as practicaple after, the establishment of the general
 staff of the army and the completion Of
 my full four years of service as Secre- tary of War While 1t is understood that
 you probably will not arrange to i'll the office as you wish before the end of the year and that I am to remain in ofiice i in the meantime. it is probable that you | will be ready to send a name to the Senate in November or December, and before you do so my resignation should
 be in your hands. I find myself on the eve of sailing for England to attend the sessions of the Alaska boundry tribunal quite unable to judge how many months I shall be kept away from this country
 and I therefore now tender my resigna- ton of the office of Secretary of War to
 take effect upon the appointment and
 qualification of my successor. I shall carry away with me unabated loyalty In your administration, confidence in the sound conservatism and patriotic unsel- | fshness of your policy, and enduring gra-
 titude for your kindness and considera-
 ton with which your friendship has hon.
 ored me. I shall not cease to appreciate
 the sympathy and loyalty to President Mckinley with which you took up and | carried on his work-and I shall always
 be happy to have been a part of the ad-
 ministration directed by your sincere and | rugged adherence to right and devotion | to the true interests of the country. q am with great respect and esteem,
 always, faithfully yours,
 'Enhu Root.
 "To the President"
 The Presidents Letter. Oyster Bay. Aug. 24-Hon. Elihu Root,
 Secretary of War. Washington. D. C.:
 My Dear MT. Root: It is hard indeed
 for me to accept your resignation, and
 do 1t not only with keen personal regret, | but tnyffh fo nP IA
 gap your withdrawal will create in public life My sense of personal loss is great,
 and yet my sense of the loss to the nation
 as a whole is even greater. You have | been over four years Secretary of War.
 wonder if you yourself realize how
 much you have accomplished during that
 period. If you will turn to your first
 report and will read therein the
 recommendations you made in order
 that the ramy might be put on | an effective basis, you cannot but
 be pleased at the way in which these rec
 concentrations have now been adopted by | Congress as well as by the administra- l ton and become enacted into law or crys- | talized into custom We have never had | a public servant of the Government who
 has worked harder than you have worked
 during these four years and a half and
 this is not merely in point of time but I
 success has been equal to your labor.
 The only reward you have had or can have Is the knowledge of successful
 achievement of the performance in full | est fashion. of a great public duty the
 doing of which was of vital importance to
 the nations welfare.
 Your duties have included more than
 merely the administration of the depart
 ment and the reorganization of the army In an effective basis You also have been
 the head of a department which deals 1 with the vast and delicate problems in-
 volved In our possessions of the Philippine
 Islands and your success in dealing with this part of your work has been as sig nal as your success in dealing with the purely military problems. To very few statesmen, indeed, in any country, is il given at one and the same time to achieve single and striking triumphs in the ad- ministration and reform of the military
 branch of the Government and in the ad- ministration of what was in effect a de- partment of insular dependencies, where the problems were new to our people and