The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1909-01-07
AMERICAS BROADENING ACTIVI-
TIES.

Congress is now taking mp a bill
which will divide the work done now
by the secretary of state among The
heads OF two or three other depart
ments, each under a separate cabinet
officer. or else provide several dis
tinct bureaus in the present depart
ment. all 10 be under the direction
of this one official In either case
this will be a recognition of the fact
that the foreign affairs of the gov
eminent have outgrown the machin-
cry which was provided TO deal with
them. Secretary Root urges a dis
tribution of this work among sew
eral department chiefs. Apparently
this would necessitate the creation
of "a few new cabinet officers. He
recommends The creation of sec
rotary for European affairs, "a secre-
tary for Oriental affairs, secretary
for British colonial affairs. Either
in this shape, or in providing for the
separation of the present state de-
partment into several bureaus Gov
ering these subdivisions. bill is TO
be proposed.
This proposition of division of
work in the state department has
much to recommend il. And Secre-
tary Root is the man above all others
who may be relied Oh to tell con-
gress how and why the change ought
to be made. He is one of the great
est secretaries for foreign affairs
whom the United States has had
among the long line of distinguished
men who have filled that role since
Jefferson and John Quincy Adams
and which included. among Others
such political leaders as Clay, Web
ster. Van buren,, Calhoun and Marcy
head of the state department since
Seward None of his predecessors
had the opportunity of realizing. as
he has done, the inadequacy of our
present machinery for meeting the
demands of steadily broadening cir
Gle of diplomatic activities. No other
head of the state department ever
went outside of the country on official
business during his term of office. Mr.
Root attended the Pan-Ameriean
cangress at Rio de Janeiro in 1906
He made a tour of the South Amer
lean continent, calling ON the presi-
dents and heads of the departments
of foreign affairs of most of the Lat
in-American countries. On "A visit to
the City of Mexico he arranged with
President Diaz. a program which
had for its principal object the main
tenance of the peace among the five
little Central American nations. BY
a cai on the governor general of Can
ada at Ottawa he is understood to
have talked over the Chinese and
fauana.a in,n,igra,iop ;ceVae and ~
have aided in outlining course ID
action on these and other subjects
which were. and which still are, of
direct concern 10 Canada and the
United States. In this most active
and diffusiye of all the presidential
regimes which the country has seen,
Mr. Root has been the most active,
versatile and ubiquitous of all of Mr..
Roosevelt's department chiefs. His
views. therefore. regarding the ne
cessity for the division of work in
his department will necessarily have
much weight with congress.
II is easy TO point out reasons why
there should be a broader allotment
in the officials detailed to deal with
the countrys foreign activities. The
state department is the oldest of all
the branches of the executive end of
the government. At the time when
IL was created, In 1889. the United
States had only 100000 of inhabi-
tants. On the scale OF its popula-