ARMY & NAVY: John Henry

ARMY & NAVY

In 1872 the late Admiral John Henry Russell, who 22 years before graduated with the first class ever turned out by the U. S. Naval Academy, was stationed in California. There Admiral Russell became the father of a son who was named John Henry Jr. A few years later when the younger John Henry wanted to get an appointment to the Academy from his native State none was available. But he got in to see President Cleveland and asked for a Presidential appointment. Cleveland made a grimace: “I’m a little disappointed over this Annapolis business. Some of the youngsters I’ve sent there haven’t turned out so brilliantly.” “I will succeed,” promised John Henry, aged 14. He did succeed, graduating in 1892, serving with the Marines in the Spanish War, in Panama, Santo Domingo, and China. He was a strict disciplinarian, a hard worker, an able officer. He did not, however, get to France during the World War. For a time that omission looked as if it might spoil his chances of gaining the post that is every Marine officer’s ambition, Commandant of the Corps. And last November when Major General John Henry Russell celebrated his 61st birthday the chance became slimmer, for compulsory retirement looms for officers at 64. As of March 1. however, compulsory retirement claims Ben H. Fuller. Last week President Roosevelt named John Henry Russell, to his surprise and joy, to take command of all U. S. Marines (15,200).

Only one pitfall still lay in General Russell’s path: confirmation of his nomination by the Senate. Failure to gain that approval would be only indirectly the result of his failure to get to France. He did not get there because he was chafing in hot Haiti, trying to do an almost impossible job for the U. S. State Department. That job called for: 1) the liquidation of Haiti’s external debt of $24,000,000, owed chiefly to France; 2) the preparation of Haiti’s 90% illiterate population for self-government; 3) keeping the peace between the black elite who were “in” and the black elite who were “out”; 4) getting the Marines out of Haiti in good order by 1936.

In spite of his years John Henry plays tennis, a cautious, slicing game. Sometimes the ball bounces far to the right, sometimes far to the left, and again most unexpectedly it may rebound into his own court. John Henry used similar tactics with Haiti’s scheming politicians. To avoid even the appearance of militarism he wore civilian clothes. Through tall, thin, cafe-au-lait Louis Borno, John Henry kept tight rein on all Haitian legislation. Under him Haiti’s internal and external debt was reduced to $14,000,000. He established eleven hospitals, 139 rural clinics to treat malaria, hookworm and yaws, built 1,000 miles of new roads, a half dozen new bridges of concrete and steel.

These achievements are not wholly to his advantage so far as certain members of the U. S. Senate are concerned. In 1927 Utah’s Senator King, red-hot foe of intervention in Haiti and of the Borno regime, tried to pay a visit to the Caribbean republic, only to be refused admission by President Borno. To this day Senator King blames General Russell for that refusal. Then in 1929, Haiti, to which coffee is what sugar is to Cuba, had a poor crop and labor unrest broke out. President Hoover sent the Forbes Commission down to investigate, to hear charges that General Russell’s rule through President Borno was in effect a military dictatorship. The commission recommended the replacement of General Russell by a civilian but refused to make public his answer to the charges. Friends of John Henry maintained that his answer was “full of dynamite” for the State Department. If Commandant of the Marine Corps, Good Soldier Russell will probably institute few far-reaching changes, but his smart, svelte, active wife Mabel will make things social hum in the comfortable red brick commandant’s quarters of Washington’s Marine Barracks.