Evening journal., 1915-07-19
New News Of Yesterday
The Speech That Hayes
Remembered
By Holland.

No more picturesque personality. at
least within the memory of the pres
ent generation or those who are sur
vivors of the earlier. ever came to
Washington as a Cabinet officer than
was Richard Widdington Thompson,
whom President Hayes selected in
1877 for portfolio of Secretary of the
Navy The selection itself was due
to some rather unpleasant expert
ences, although in these Mr. Thomp-
son himself did not share. Hayes was
urged to make appointment Of Will
liam P. Frye. of Maine, as Secretary
of the Navy. but he could not see his
way clear TO make selection of that
kind The suspicion at that time
prevailed and has mover ended that
the refusal of President Hayes 10 ac-
cept the recommendation of James
G. Blaine respecting the appointment
! of Secretary of the Navy was one Of
i, the causes, if not the only one. for
the considerable estrangement which
I characterized the relations of Mr.
Blaine TO President Hayes.
There was no Cabinet selection
which gave President Hayes great sr
( concern than that of Secretary of the
Navy. Immediately after he was de-
! clared by Congress to have been
! elected President by one electoral
vote he fixed upon William NJ Everts
: for Secretary Of State, John Sherman
/ for Secretary of the Treasury, and
Carl Schurz for Secretary of the In
I terror and, having made choice Of
these men. it was necessary for him
TO build up his Cabinet around them.
At last he sent a communication to
Indiana which greatly astonished
Richard w. Thompson. for it contain
ed a request that Mr.. Thompson Join
the Cabinet as Secretary of the Navy.
AT that time Mr.. Thompson was eS
years of age. Nearly forty years be-
fore he became a member of Congress
and later was a fellow-member With
Abraham Lincoln Of the House Of
Representatives.
When the announcement was made
that Richard W. Thompson was 70
be Secretary of the Navy almost
everyone who did not live in Indiana
asked who he was. His Indiana
friends spoke of him as having been
a very able compa:gner years before.
/ and II was sometimes said of him
that he was the greatest daily con-
sumer of cigars of any citizen Of
| Indiana. After he became Secretary
of the Navy his quaint. entirely demo-
cratic manner his fine supply of
good, common sense. and a physical,
as we'll as mental, activity not COM
monty expected from a man Of his
years. as we'll as the fact that he
/ had been of "a sudden brought of the
past into renewed, public life, made
\ him perhaps the most conspicuous
member of President Hayes admins
] tration Delesseps tempted him with
an offer of S25, 900 a year to resign
from Hayes Cabinet so that he might
become associated with the French
company which was building the
| Panama Canal.
Pesident Hayes was often asked
how he came to hit upon 4" Dick
Thompson, almost 20 years of age. for
Secretary of the Navy. And his reply
usually was that he thought Thomp-
son was admirably qualified for that
post. But there are reasons for sur
missing that something like sentiment
led to Thompson's appointment.
was told some years ago that Presi-
dent Hayes, after he retired from the
/ Presidency, said when I was a
young man just beginning active life,
/ attended political meeting. The
advertisement said it would be ad-