"Minor Jobs"

Private secretary to the Governor of a sovereign State is a position fraught with grave responsibilities. Captain Herman A. MacDonald of Boston has been finding this out lately. Capt. MacDonald is secretary to Governor Alvan Tufts Fuller of Massachusetts. Last month, feeling facetious, Secretary MacDonald wrote and published a letter in which he called a fellow citizen a "Mexican General." The Mexican Consul at Boston took this as a national insult and demanded an apology from Governor Fuller (TIME, April 2).

Last week, Secretary MacDonald wrote another letter, this time to Representative Treadway of Massachusetts, rebuking him for declaring in favor of John Quillin Tilson of Connecticut for Vice President. Secretary MacDonald gave the impression that Governor Fuller wanted to be Vice President.

When Governor Fuller heard about it, he explained to Representative Treadway: "I think Captain MacDonald must be in love or something, because every time I go away he gets into trouble writing letters. I must tell him to restrain his boyish enthusiasm.

"I have always considered the Governorship of Massachusetts as second only to the Presidency and I assure you I am not interested in any minor jobs such as Vice President or Senator or anything like that. ..."