New-York tribune., 1905-07-07
THE NEW SECRETARY OF STATE.

In filling the latest vacancy in his Cabinet
President Roosevelt has shown sound and ad-
mira BILE judgment. 1t was no easy task TO find
Secretary of State who could shoulder the
burdens so dexterously and nobly borne by the
last holder of that office. In his seven years
OF service John Hay had set exceptional
standard of achievement in the State Depart
ment-a standard which could not but prove
eIacting TO any newcomer called to fill his
place. To find a fit successor TO the lamented
Secretary was President Roosevelts problem
and he has solved it by giving the State De-
partment a new head not only qualified by
training and temper TO continue his predeces-
sor's brilliant work, but already firmly estab-
lished in public confidence by previous service
Of high merit as Cabinet chief
Mr.. Elihu Roots capacity for his new post
does not have to be taken on faith. He is not
q stranger IN administration circles and has
comparatively little TO learn IN the field of state
craft and diplomacy. He sat with John Hay
in President McKinleys Cabinet from August
/, 1899, TO September IA, 1901, and in President
Roosevelt's Cabinet from that date TO February
1, 1904 AS Secretary of War he gave the
country a taste of his force as an administra-
tor and of his ability to vitalize ideas and
achieve results. To him more than TO any other
man we owe the modernization of our mill
tary system which came in the years imme-
diately following the Spanish war. He saw
the defects in the old organization-exposed by
the test of actual warfare-and set himself to
cure them. His remedies were heroic, and
Congress listened reluctantly TO his appeals for
legislation which should sweep away abuses
and remodel obsolete practices and ideas.
1t took three years of agitation to accom-
plsh the reforms that the Secretary recon-
mended But in the end Congress consented
TO each and every innovation. and before Mr..
Root resigned In 1904 he had the satisfaction
Of seeing the new system in actual operation
and our army refashioned into an effective,
modern. trustworthy weapon of defence. The
creation of a General Staff, the establishment
of a system of schools Of technical and profess
sional training, with the War College at its
apex; the introduction of the skeletonized COM
pany, the three battalion formation, the reor-
ganization OF the artillery, the limitation Of de-
tails to the staff corps and the naturalization
Of the militia-these are some Of the reforms
for which Mr. Root successfully labored and
for whose far reaching benefits he is entitled
TO the fullest personal and official credit
A Secretary who accomplished SO much in
the War Department will be trusted TO embrace
every opportunity for service which the De
partment Of State may offer. In the last seven
years, ii may be justly said. American diplo-
macy-and perhaps, as a consequence, all d.
plomacy-has been lifted TO a higher level.
Our diplomatic policy has been marked by high
and generous aims and by frankness and
sincerity of method which have savored not a
little Of novelty. Yet in no period have we
achieved in our dealings with other nations
more satisfactory results. To maintain this pol
icy and 10 emphasize this attitude are among
the chief aims of the present administration,
and the Presidents choice of new head for the
State Department could not have fallen on a
man more serviceable for this important purpose
than Mr. Root.