The Washington herald., 1914-06-15
FORMERG 0. ?.
CHIEFS THRIFTY
Men Who Once Guided the.
Party Getting Rich in
Private Life.
HITCHCOCK IN ARIZONA.
Elmer Dover. Cortelyou. Charles G.
~ F.
HITCHCOCK IN ARIZONA,
Elmer Dover. Cortelyou. Charles G
Dawes. Murray Crane. Charles
Dick. and Others Busy.
by FRANCIS r. GEssNER.


New York, June Alt occurred to some
Of the faithful famed by ocean breezes
on the roof garden of a tavern the other
night, that many distinguished political
leaders once prominent in headlines are
seldom seen or mentioned these days.
Alas, that no word comes from Senator
Murray Crane, up Massachusetts, way,
proclaiming for a general getting back
to the old Republican method Of doing
things.
Then John Hays Hammond, cosmo-
polite and all that sort of thing. but
retaining a legal voting residence at
Gloucester, in the old Bay State, has
been alarmingly silent in the last few
months. Hammond had never sought
elective office, but had Taft been given
second term, Hammond would have been
an Ambassador or in the Cabinet and
either appointment would have been most
cordially approved by the party Imam
ayers. ...-. .. ..I.
Only six years ago Frank Hitchcock
was chairman of the Republican national
committee, then Postmaster General.
Really the old-fashioned question. What
has become OF him." was asked with
kindly intonation by those of the roor
garden group. wondering why he had
slipped from view without making any
fuss about it.
Hitchcock Is in Arizona.
Then it was explained by the inevitable
one from Washington that Hitchcock was
out ArizoEa way in business. and con-
tent, also confident that another two
years would find much for an ex-Repub-
lican chairman to do in getting the party
in power again.
Then Elmer Dover. Only a few years
K back Dover was the most popular young
in rha uin n
service with Mark Hanna, and then as
secretary of the national committee. Al
most everything except the White House
was suggested as Dover's ultimate re-
ward in politics, but he failed to approve
the Hitchcock craftsmanship and pre-
ferred letting go at the very height of
a remarkable political career. Since 1908
ne has been busy out Washington State
way with big corporation affairs backed
by Charles G. Dawes, and is piling up
the kopecks with possibly an occasional
regret for the what might have been in
politics Dover was secretary of the
committee under the craftsmanship of the
long headed Cortelyou whose career in
American official life will continue an
unmatched marvel
Dover and Cortelyou worked in splen-
did harmony, but for some reason Dover
did not approve Cortelyou's choice of
N.
came, Cortelyou beginning as secretary
to the President. held three Cabinet
places and would have figured in the
1905 Presidential running had not Roose-
welt interposed.
He is now at the head of the Consoli-
dated Gas Company, a great corporation
of New York. and he has added many
millions to its treasury by his skillful
management. Cortelyou has been no less
IL
tion uplift than he was in public office
and as a political manager. Really il
was a tragedy of the heart breaking
sort that he was kept from the Presi-
Dental convention contest in 1908 and
some day the history of it all will be
told.
The prospect of being succeeded in the
White House by ore who had been his
secretary possibly Jared on the Roose-
velt nerves. and his dictum alone kept
~ortelyou out of the running. Had he
been nominated and elected. the result in
1872 might have been different and an
administration entrenched politically as
Cortelyou would have demanded, could
never have been beaten by Democrats
while a third party would never have
been organized. even by Roosevelt.
The colonel knew that well enough. and
If planning a return to power realized
that he would wait eight-yea if Cortel-
you took hold as the Roosevelt successor.
Charles G. Dawes was another of the
once dominant figures in official life and
politics in Washington, whose name was
recalled by the roof garden coterie the
other night. The mention of Cortelyou
would naturally suggest Dawes, as they
were close in their personal and political
friendships throughout the two admins |
trations with which Cortelyou was init |
mately connected.
Dawes was Comptroller q the Cur
rency during the Mckinley term but was |
the closest personal and political ad- |