The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-04-20
MIR. PRICK IN PUBLIC LIFE.

There may be little or much in the story that Henry c. Prick intends to enter public life. The report is that the weil-known coke and steel man, whose name was closely associated with that of Andrew Carnegie for many years, declined the secretary ship of the treasury after Mir. Roose- yeltss election last fall, but will trans fer his residence from Pittsburg to New York and enter politics from the latter city in 1908. What form his poli- tical activity will take is not. stated, but it is said that he is likely to have a larger share than formerly in na- tional affairs. This may mean almost anything. Perhaps his experiment in obtaining a Pennsylvania senatorship for MT. Knox has suggested to him the desirability of doing something of the same sort for himself. He has made a great success of his business career, and it may be that he has come to the conclusion that the same qualities that carried him to the top in western Pen nsylyania will land him in high poli- tica1 office if he exercises them to that end. ...s.r ...
 It is we'll understood that MT. Roose- welt would have liked to have MT. Prick as head of the Panama Canal Commission. though whether he of fered the Treasury portfolio to him is a state secret. The two offices are dis similar, and a man fitted for one would not necessarily be fitted for the other : As head of the Canal Commission MT. Prick would have been in his element,
 for he has had long experience in
 handling men and has developed his
 executive powers to a degree. Whether
 he would have as ably conducted the
 affairs of the Treasury is an open
 question. As a matter of fact the Se-
 cretaries of the Treasury have been of
 the most various training, and 1t Is
 difficult to say that one class has been more conspieuously in the office than
 another. Thus Hugh McCulloch, one of
 the best known Secretaries, was a
 banker, but so is Secretary Shaw, who
 can hardly be said to have shed much
 lustre on the Mckinley and Roosevelt
 Administrations MT. Gage, who was
 also banker, did well, but so did MT.
 Carlisle, who was a lawyer. salmon F.
 Chase is remembered as great Sec retary of the Tresasury, yet he was trained as a lawyer. So far as can be
 judged from the past, Mr, Prick might
 or might not make good head of the
 Treasury Department by reason of his i training up to date.
 I The story of his future appearance in public life, whether confirmed or not by events, emphasizes the contempor-
 ary willingness, here and there notice
 able, of successful business men to go
 into politics. The new head of the I Panama Canal Commission, Theodore F. Shonts, has made his mark as "a railroad president, and it was from an office high in the Atchison Railway system that Mir Roosevelt drew Paul < Morton, his Secretary of the Navy. If
 MT. Trick goes into politics he will
 bring a notable reputation as a cap- .ltain of industry with him; and, as he lis rated a ulti-rlillionaire, his ann I bitions will probably be considered worthy. even though there will be some people who may find them another H. illustration of the dangerous tendency j toward great wealth in high public fplace. If the story of his proposed en- fI trance into public life is correct, it probably has no significance beyond the natural desire of a man who has been successful in business to close his lcareer with few pleasant years In political station. Providence Journal.