The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1905-07-14
WASHINGTON LETTER.

The appointment of Elihu Root as
Secretary of State and his acceptance OF
that responsible Office will prove graft
6cation to all loyal Americans. Of all
the men suggested for the high Office
made vacant by the death of John Hay.
no one is more capable of performing
with honor and success the delicate
duties which must devolve upon the min
lister of foreign affairs, more now than
ever before, since the United States has
become world power. That the Presi-
dent, having lost his close friend and
adviser, John Hay, should naturally have
turned to his even closer friend and con-
slant counsellor, Elihu Root, is entirely
natural although there are many who
believed that Mr.. Root could not be in
duced to accept another place at the
cabinet table.
x*x
Mr.. Roots selection has served to re-
call wildly the magnificent work which,
as Secretary of War, he performed. To
him more than any other man is due the
credit of having recognized the army,
established the general staff and of
having conceived and put into operation
a system of mental training for all army
officers which promies to make the
United States army officers the best edu-
Gated class of military men in the
world. Second only to the great work
which Mr.. Root accomplished for the
army was his wise supervision over
Cuban affairs which so materially assisted
that young republic to get fair start,
and to the former Secretary OF War was
largely due, no doubt, the final removal
of every American soldier from Cuban
soil. Outside of the immediate concerns
of the department over which he pre-
sided Secretary Root rendered invaluable
assistance as an arbitrator of the Alaskan
Boundary dispute with Great Britain and
finally, in manner unknown to the
public, he rendered exceptionally valu-
able services as the personal advisor of
the President, exercising a potent in
fuence in the Presidents cabinet.
x**
The calm judicial temperament of
Elihu Root is such as to constitute him a
particularly valuable advisor for the
President whose chief fault is to act too
quickly after arriving at conclusion.
Mr.. Roosevelt's convictions are SO often
accurate that it is difficult tor him to re-
alize that occasionally he may err, but
Elihu Root has calm, dispassionate
manner of expressing himself which has
proved peculiarly sedative to the Presi.
dent 10 the past and will doubtless con-
tinue to do so in the future.
Nv
The small taste of diplomatic work en-.
joyed by Secretary Root when. as Secre-
tary of War, he acted in association with
Secretary Hay to relieve the diplomats
imprisoned by the Boxers at Pekin. and
later when he acted as member of the
Alaskan Boundary tribunal, gave him a
desire to do further work of like charac-
ter and he naturally expects that his
work as Secretary of State will prove even
more congenial than did his experience
as Secretary of War. 1t is amusing to
note the CONSERVATION which the an.
nouncement of Mr.. Roots selection has
created among the men destined to be his
subordinates. The State Department has
long been the acme of fossilization and
dilatory performance of duty. But Mr..
Roots intolerance of fossils and of any.
thing short of earnest and capable work
is we'll known to the men in the State De.
partner and they make no attempt to
conceal the fact that they apprehend q
fearful Shaking up of dry bones" once
the new Secretary takes hold. There is
no department of the government SO
greatly in need of overhauling or carrying
90 much dead wood; and everyone familiar
with the facts other than the employees
who are likely to suffer. regard the com.
ing of the energetic New York lawyer as
precisely what the State Department
standssmost in need of.
NJ.
Joseph L. Bristow former Fourth As.
sitant Postmaster General, now Special
Panama Railroad Commissioner, has sub
mitted his report TO the Secretary of War
and the Panama Canal Commission and
its recommendations are precisely what
those who knew General Bristow might
have expected. After making a careful
investigation of all the circumstances sur
rounding the conduct of the Panama
Railway. its contract with the Pacific
Mail Steamship Company, etc, Mr.. Bris.
tow recommends that the railway be con-
tinued as a common carrier and that the
monopoly for years enjoyed by the