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Show A FAITHFUL OFFICIAL. The death of tho Hon. Ethan Allen Hitchcock is a snd end to a most useful use-ful life. Mr. Hitchcock was born in Mobile, Alabama, September 19, 1S35. Ho attended school at Nashville and completed his courso at tho military academy at New Haven, Connecticut, when ho settled in St. Louis, and on-gaged on-gaged in tho mercantile business until 1S60, when ho wont to China to enter the commission houso of Olyphant & Co., of which linn ho became a partner part-ner in 1SG6. Ho retired from business in 1S72, and spent two years in Europe, Eu-rope, returning homo in 1S7-1, when he was engaged as prcsulont of several manufacturing, mining, and railway companies until 1S07. In this latter year ho was appointed Minister and first Embassador to Russia, remaining in St, Petersburg until 1S9S, when in December of that year ho was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President McKinloy, and reappointed March 5, 1901. He remained by request of President Presi-dent Roosevelt, September 14, 1901, and was reappointed by President Roosevelt, March G, 1905. Two years later, that is, March 1, 1907, ho resigned his Secretaryship, Secre-taryship, there being differences between be-tween him and Mr.- Rooscv61t. Secretary Hitchcock was a great worker, a man of enormous capacity, working in his office from twelve to eighteen hours a day. He eugaged with great activity and sternness in the prosecution of offenders against the land laws of the United States, and pushed to completion the only successful success-ful suits under Ihat head. But the troublo with Secretary Hitchcock was that he wanted to play no favorites, lo punish no onemies, under guise of public pub-lic prosecutions. Ho began to tread dangerously near to tho toes of tho President's friends, and the closer ho got the more he becamo persona non grata at the "Whito House. The relations became strained, and Hitchcock had to go. The upright, hard-working, public-spirited, loyal Secretary was too single-minded for tho-duplex action of the brain of President Roosevelt. Sinco Secretary Hitchcock's retirement retire-ment he has been a trustee of tho Carnegie Car-negie Institution at "Washington. He took a very active part in political affairs af-fairs last year, doing active work for the nomination of Mr. Taft, and his friend's hoped that Secretary Hitchcock might be restored to a Cabinet position by the now President. This, however, failed, and tho" upright, effective officer was left in neglect, ilis death will be widely wide-ly lamented throughout this country by those who appreciated the admirablo figure of a public official of the Roman type, energetic, fearless, unswerved by power, favor, or influeuee, but proceeding proceed-ing tronchautly in his official duty, without regard to any extraneous influences in-fluences or persuasions of a 113- kind. His was a noble figure, and tho country is distinctly poorer in his loss. |