Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-01
Notable Career Of the Late
John Hay.
FRIEND OF LINCOLN
SECRETARY TO THE PRESIDENT
IN THE CIVIL WAR.
Gained Fame as an Author and Editor
Ambassador to England and for
Years Secretary of State.

the message that told of the death of
Secretary of State Hay. and while the an
nouncement at this time was unexpected
Mr.. Hays friends and admirers and the
people of the country generally had been
in measure prepared for the inevitable
by the fact of Mr.. Hays long-contnued
Illness. Ever since last March. when the
Secretary was taken seriously i'll, his health
had been matter of popular concern. Not
only in Washington but in every city,
town and village of the country which he
served so long and so well, and in the
capitals of the nations Of Europe, where his
reputation as skilled dplomatst was an
established thing, the reports of the Secre-
taryS condition were received with far
more than ordinary interest. And 1t Is
recognized now, and will be appreciated
even more time rolls on. that his death
means a distinct loss not only to his
own country. but to the world at large.
Career in the Cabinet.
Mr. Hay was the Great exponent of the
new diplomacy. 1t has now been nea..r
seven years since Mr.. Hay came to the
State Department the head of the cab
met, and during that time have occurred
most of the remarkable successes upon
which his fame a statesman and as a
diplomat will rest. During that time he
has seen his one-time colea CUES drop one
by one from the cabinet circle to return to
the fields of business or to private life, I'M
til at the time of his death only one of
those who sat with him in the first Mckin-
ley enthusiastically of Agriculture Wilson
was left In the cabinet of President Roose-
Eelt His term was the longest of any
Secretary of State since the foundation of
the American government. OF his colleagues
in that original cabinet circle of 1898 Secre-
tary of the Treasury Gage is now In pr
vate life: Secretary of War Alger is now =
United States senator from Michigan; At
torney General Griggs is again practicing
law; Secretary of the Navy Long is a lead
Ing member of the profession; Post
master General Smith is once more news
paper man and Cornelius n. Bliss has re-
turned to care for his interests in the
great financial world.
During Mr.. Hays long term he eniOyed
the friendship and confidence of Presidents
Mckinley and Roosevelt, and 1t may be
SAID without eXaggeration that his success
in directing the ship of state through the
treacherous rocks and shoals of the gov
ernment'S foreign relati was most re-
lnarkable. 1t is true that all his previous
life had. in measure been nothing save
training and preparation for the great posi-
tion ne was to hold for seven years until
his death, and 1t was in the natural course
of things a training such as but few men
could possibly have.
Mr.. Hays Training
During practically all of President Lin
coins term in the White House Mr. Hay
was with him secretary and friend and
all the great events of the civil war passed
before his eyes at close range. He had
the advantage of the example of the mar
tyred Lincoln; he observed with his young
eyes the manner in which the great Presi-
dent met and disposed of crises when the
very fate of the nation seemed to hang in
the balance. 1t was at this early period in
his Hfe-for John Hay was only twenty
two when he came to the White House with
he lea tI,nt
were Of invaluable assistance to him in the
future
In the diplomatic service Mr. Hay round
ed out the experience that was to serve him
in good stead when he became the head of
the State Department. In European CAPT
tails he learned to know but not to admire
the ms and outs. the windngs and turn
inss, of od-world diplomacy. He became
familiar with many tongues, speaking
French, German and Spanish fuently and
having knowledge of others well. And
he came to know men, too, the men who
make and mold history, the men with
whom as head of the State Department he
later had to deal
And them to completely round out this
rigorous preparation for his place among
the seats of the mighty, Mr. Hay for five
years served as editorial writer on the
New York Tribune, and was characterized
by Horace Greeley as the most brillian
writer that ever entered the office" Ger
tain 1t is that those five years of editorial
writing, of considering the great events of
the Tune ana or reviewing them from the
standpoint of intimacy and with the mind
of an anatomlst were not the least yalu-
able portion of the training that Mr.. Hay
received. But in 1875 after his five years
with the Tribune, Mr. Hay moved to Cleye-
land, where he remained for ten years be-
fore taking up his residence in Washington.
In 1881, however, he returned to New York,
and for seven months, during the absence in
Europe of Whtelaw Reid served as editor
in-chief of the Tribune.
no +o EnoJo-l
Thus 1t can be seen that when Mr. Hay
was selected by President Mckinley as am
bassador to England he was able to enter
upon his duties with complete and SPLEEN
did equipment. He was fifty mine years old
and for twelve years he had lived in Wash
ington. Nor were the Department of State
and its ways strange to him, for he had
served eighteen months as assistant secre-
tary under Secretary of State Evarts, and
he knew personally all of the diplomats in
Washington.
As a man of letters he was then known
not only in Washington and in the United
States. but on the other side of the ocean
as well. and while he was not then famous
as a diplomat. he was welcomed as gen.
tleman of culture. education and wealth
who would undoubtedly represent the
United States ably and well. And it may
truly be said that Mr.. Hay exceeded all
expectations and did more than ex-
pected of him. He served Is ambassador
at the court OF ST. James Tor year ana
a half. During his term the Spanish-Ameri
can war was fought, and it was undOubt-
eddy due largely to Mr. Hays tact and
diplomacy, to his mastery handling of a
delicate situation, that England at the be-
ginning of the war, assumed an attitude of
friendly neutrality, and that the threats of
European intervention then often heard,
did not in any way materialize. And in
Great Britain and on the continent Mr..
Hays popularity and friendly feeling to-
ward the United States were greatly pro-
NOTED by the public addresses which he
made at various times before his return to
this country.
Secretary of State.
The so-called new diplomacy dates from
the time when Mr.. Hay returned to the
United States to succeed William r. Day
as Secretary of State. The new diplomacy
has made the United States nation to be
considered in any move on the International
chessboard and has given to this country
the voice 1t now has in the great discus
sions by the concert of powers. The new
diplomacy is no longer thing new and I'M
tried. Under Mr.. Hays lead it has reveal