The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-04-08

managing 6 navy max couto uo&oAJ
be said to exist" In his report OF
fectve naval force OF the United
States at FIVE frig1tes. ten sloops OF
war. and four schooners. The foreign
policy Of the United States d10 no1
require the maintenance OF . s6on4
navy and accordingly she had no
place among the naval powers OK the
world. The chief duties Of our little
navy seem to have been to convey
our foreign ministers to and from
their posts and to patrol the northern
coasts Of Africa. h waters OF the
West Indies, the Brazilian coast, and
the Pacific ocean to protect our mer-
chant marine from h d~epredations or
pirates. The new Secretary of the
Navy himself favored q small navy.
In his first report to the President.
December !. 1929, he declared it to
be the true policy OF h govern
ment to discontinue, for
the present, the building Of ships of
war. unless for some specific object
Of immediate emergency" No such
emergency arising. this policy was
adopted and Branch's administration,
therefore, was not sienalzed by any
addition to our naval force or by any
naval event Of which the historian
need take any note. His reports deal
wholly with routine affairs n are
not enlivened by h narrative OF any
incidents Of especial interest or by
the recommendation Of any policy Of
particular Importance, with perhaps
one exception. He did manifest much
interest in the raising of the stand
ards of service In the navy. With this
a In view he recommended SUCH
increase in the compensation OF naval
officers as to make It equal With that
of army officers OF the same rank;
and he made a strong. unanswefable
appeal for the establishment OF =
naval training school similar to the
Military Academy at West Point His
recommendations, however, fell upon
leaf ears. Aside from these two ug-
gestions, neither Of which originated
with him. Branch's reports Impress
one with the conviction that they were
written by a man OF Intelligence IN
deed, careful OF details. familiar
enough with the routine OF his or
Zee, but neither fertile in initiating
policies nor aggressive IN promoting
them. Indeed, the naval policy of the
government at that time required but
little If any more OF the head Of the
Navy Department, and accordingly
ton to his chief. I'm accepting your
resignation" wrote the President,
April 20, 1881, cit is with great pleas
ure that I bear testimony to the In
tegrity and zeal with which you have
managed the concerns OF the navy.
, In O discharge of all the duties OF
your Office over which 1 have any
! control I have been fully satisfied"
The story Of Branch's career in the
!, Cabinet would have to end here were
it not for the unfortunately ~conspicu-
: part he was made to play in the
Eaton affairs. MIS-. Eaton, wife of
: the Secretary Of War, had been well
known In Washington as peg
O'Neal," the daughter OF q popular
tavern keeper. In former days she
WAS a handsome, dashing young wom-
an whose free and easy manner with
t her fathers bOarderS, many Of whom,
t were members of Congress, brought
4 down upon her the condemnation OF
r the best society of the city. As Par
o ton we'll puts IT.: ~ witty, pretty
saucy. active tavern-keeper's daugh-
ter. who makes ~ with the inmates
Of her fathers house, and Is made free
y nation, but not calu5nny." Gossip die
not stop when she married "a dissfpa,
ted purser OF the navy" whose Ions
s aud frequent absences from home
gave the tongue OF scandal unreStrain-
le ed liberty with the reputation OF hi
y wife. Her name became frequent,
d associated with that OF John H. Eaton
l. Senator from Tennessee, who, as Par
lie ton chooses to put 1t, had conceived
n for her IAN attachment quite az ten
n der as a man could lawfully indules
g for the wife OF q friend and brother
y Mason" In 1895 her husband com
=. mitted suicide at sea-, driven to Il
"a sal gossip, by the conduct OF his wife
Z. and ON the following New Years da,
she married Eaton, the intimate fricn.
and party OF the President
elect.
q Until now the affair had been Der
sonal only. but with Eaton's appoint
ment to a Cabinet position two month
after HRS marriage. It assumed sue
et sycial and political importance as {
determine the fortunes Of more tina,
one individual and to make and un
ia. make Cabinets. Washington eociet
q. peremptortfy declined to accord (
r.: Mrs. Eaton the social recognition du
- tO tho wifo of q Cabinet min ioAu- IN.