To insure absolute regularity and efficiency of progress the Commission as a body, will be subject to this Commissioner General.
My connection as a member of the Commission came about through the suggestion made to Mr. E. M. Herr, by Mr. James A. Farrell, President of the United States Steel Corporation, Mr. E. A. S. Clarke, President of the Lackawanna Steel Company, and Mr. Willis Larimer King, Vice-president of The Jones & Laughlin Steel Company.
I was not the first choice, however, as a number of gentlemen had been previously considered and had either declined the honor or had been eliminated from the list of candidates. The pressure upon me from numerous friends in the steel business to accept the task was persistent and continuous, and upon receipt of a telegram from Mr. Farrell, telling me, within a week of the proposed sailing of the Commission, that if I did not accept, the great iron and steel industries of the United States would be unrepresented, the matter was settled and I decided that it was due to my fellow manufacturers, many of whom had been kind to me over a long period of time and who had helped me in many ways, that I should accept the position. I notified Mr. Herr to that effect just one week prior to the date of sailing.
[Illustration: The Author's Passport.]
I had intended to take an active part in the political campaign pending and such a trip involved keen disappointment in this connection, as I felt that a change of the administration was necessary for the best interests of the country. I had voted for every Republican president from Lincoln to Taft and wanted very much to be somewhat instrumental in the election of Mr. Hughes.
The McKinley Birthplace Memorial needed my attention, as well as other matters of a public nature, to say nothing about the various business enterprises in which I am still active.
All these obligations were temporarily abandoned and hurried preparations were made for the long and, as thought by many, dangerous journey.