The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-07-01
~ 49, IS.
John Hay,

/ John Hay.
The great secretary is dead. It can
not be said that: his; work was finished, |
but it may truthfu1ly be averred thats|
his fame is secure, His death isss1nost
untimely, for the great questions of
state to which his genius had addressed
themselves are still in The region of
debate. Whileihe had laid good founda-
tions, the raising of the ,superstructure
is yet to be accomplished. Doubtless
there. are etherszAmericans who; can do
this work, but there is none to<Whom we
can now point who has the confidence
of his own country and the admiration
of foreign governments SO we'll .eentered
in himself as they, were in John Hay.
Mr.. Hays administration of the. of
fee of secretary Of state, it is not ex-
:trayagance$or hero.worship to. say, was
the most significant. in our history.
Bridging, in his. own diplomatic expe-
rience, the period between Lincoln and
Roosevelt, his. career also bridged@oVer
from the period Of isolation to that Of
active.participation in the affairs o Of the
world. =$!4.
If Mr.. Hay S sadministra Of his
loftiee shall in thesfuture appear to US
great, it will be due not entirely to his:
own talents, but in part the different
position of his country, Mr.. Hay did
not create the new eonditions-the
came thru the Spanish war, the acqui-
sition Of the Philippines and the growth
Of traI lott
1t was Secretary Hays part to recog-
nize the responsibilities that had come
to his country and to grasp the oppor-
tunltles that were opened to it. He
rose to the OCCASION, He impressed
upon the people at home the gravity Of
the crisis which had arisen in our his
tory and upon foreign governments the
fact that America meant Is meet all it's
responsibilities, whether national or in
ternational. 15@
Mr.. Hay was sometimes accused of
being an Anglomaniac, but there is no
evidence that he was ever anything but
intensely American.
" During the Spanish war. he was. am
-,.ssador to England and he understood
'n-interference Of, Europe in our at
III with the Castilians. = The surest
way to guard against interference was
to have an understanding with Great
britain as to our intentions. When the
British empire said s1.1hands off, It
= meant the exact neutrality of Europe.
# was Mr.. Hays diplomacy which
brcught about this Understanding with
out an alliance and without committing
this country to the support of any Of
.England's continental or colonial proi-
ects. .
When the Boxer uprising came, Presi-
= dent Mckinley and Mr.. Hay, who had
Become his secretary Of state, went for
ward immediately on the platform that
the legations must: be relieved before
anything else. When that was accom-.
pushed. IN r. Hay had an opportunity
to set new mark for American diplo-
macy. The powers. of /, Europe were
- ready to partition China then and there
II they could agree upon the spoils
which should go to each. Being nro.
halllbited by our civilization from Join
ng any such land raid. Secretary Hav
ad before him the problem of prevent.
the spoliation by others By tax:
e immediately a firm stand for the
Evacuation Of Picking, he succeeded II
Parting the foreign troops toward the
sehboard almost before the diplomat.
g Europe OWNED under what infu
s eneee they were moving. Had they beer
aplel to agree upon division of China
nrop tably Mr.. Hays plans would hav,
peen wrecked; gbuts.he was fortunate il
: sele9 ting as the moment for his NOV,
@1ae time when the European power
AWefe unable TO agree upon a counte
oTe. Thus China was saved for til,
no9nent. 0
When the war between Russia an,
ia pan came, he had his second oppor
unity to save the Chinese empire, an,
! gfasped in a note which will long stan,
as one of the greatest achievements o
a single stroke of the diplomats pen
tt put a geographical limit upon tn
war and made, a clear distinction be
tween what the two powers knew the,
We're fighting about and what they Pre-
fessed to have taken UP arms to de
= fend. France, Germany and Englan
Readily agreed that neither Japan no
ARnssia should swallow China at tn
close of the war, and they were great