The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-02-09

discuss the raising of gold loans he
 would say to them that he could do no
 IF ore than tell them what was needed,
 but it was for the bankers to provide the ways and means by which the treasury department could secure that needed gold
 ] He was succeeded by Senator Will liam Pitt Fessenden, who represented Maine in the Senate and whose reputa- | tion for profound ability is now tra- dition of the Senate. Senator Fessen- den was lawyer and statesman, and
 not a banker, yet his achievements as l Secretary of the Treasury was recos- nized as justifying the selection of him I by President Wilson as the successor | of Secretary Chase, who had been se- 1 lected by President Lincoln to fill the vacancy of chief justice of the supreme court, which the death of Chief Justice Tawney created.
 | PRESIDENT GRANTS CHOICE 1 President Grants first choice for Secretary of the Treasury was Senator
 George Boutwell, of Massachusetts. He l Was not a banker Almost all of his l life was in public service, yet he in- 1 itiated some of the important measures
 for refunding the war debt. When Sec retary Boutwell, resigned President Grant made choice of Judge Richard- l son, whose chief training had been as | judge of probate in one of the Massa- chusetts probate districts.
 JOHN SHERMAN NOT BANKER John Shrmass administration of the | treasury department under President 1 Hayes was so brilliant, especially his triumph in securing the resumption of | specie payments that it has become historic. Yet Sherman was not a a f,1S or hut Ia pV haan 1 for 20 years in public life.
 President Garfield made choice of Senator William Windom for the treas- | ury department MT. Windom was then l serving as senator from Minnesota and at one time was governor of that state. He was not a banker, and yet | his triumph in securing the refundlng 1 of a considerable part of the national
 debt compelling the bankers to accept | his plan in now one of the great 1 traditions of the treasury department.
 In fact, the refunded bonds paid trib- i ute to Wfndom, because they were called Windoms S. President Harrison recalled MT. Windom to the cabinet as l Secretary of the Treasury. President Cleveland appointed John G. Carlisle Secretary of the Treasury in Cleve- 1 lands second administration. Carlisle 1 had been speaker of the House of Rep | and was recognized as one of the pro- l found legal intel1ects of his time, but he was not banker. PRESIDENT WILSON'S CHOICE 1 No one of the three secretaries of the treasury who served under President Wilson was banker MT. McAdoo was a lawyer and had gained recognition for his triumph represented by the con- struction of the Hudson tubes. There fore, since Lincoln's day only Daniel
 Manning, Charles s. Fairchild, Lyman J. Gage, Governor Leslie Shaw, who
 was only incidentally banker, and
 possibly one other have been chosen I by Presidents as Secretary of the Treas
 ury. MT. Mellon, therefore will furnish l a conspicuous example of departure
 from the precedents because his life
 career has been that of banker and
 his achievements in that vocation have ] placed him among the first ten or | twelve American bankers of his time.