1953–54 Volume 78 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

Will Hays Enters Chapter Grand
GREAT PHI, P.P.G.C, NATIONAL FIGURE IN
LAW, POLITICS, MOVIES TAKEN BY DEATH
WILL HAYS, Wabash '00
As he appeared in 1920-22 when
President of the General Council
WILLIAM HARRISON HAYS, Wabash
'00, P.P.G.C, former Postmaster General,
czar of the motion picture industry,
and always a devoted and enthusiastic Phi,
died at his home in Sullivan, Indiana,
Mar. 7, 1954. He was 74 years old and had
lived an outstanding and varied life.
To the three careers mentioned in the
newspapers, law, politics and motion pictures,
should be added a fourth, * A 0, for
his enthusiasm for his Fraternity never
waned. A member of the Wabash chapter,
he prevented the extinction of that chapter
at the turn of the century when he returned
there to intiate three men. He served $ A ©
as province president for six years and as
President of the General Council from 1920
to 1922. He was a Golden Legionnaire.
Republican Party Leader
A native of Sullivan, Indiana, Brother
Hays returned there following graduation
from Wabash College to enter the practice
of law in his father's office.
Early showing an aptitude for politics.
Brother Hays moved through the minor
offices of the Republican party, serving that
party well within his home state, until,
in 1918, he was elected chairman of the
Republican National Committee. President
Harding was elected largely through his
[388]
efforts and appointed Brother Hays Postmaster
General in 1921. Typical of Brother
Hays was the fact that he did not regard
the appointment as merely a political plum,
but immediately began work to make the
department more efficient. During his oneyear
tenure, he established the Post Office
Welfare Department, extended rural free
delivery, encouraged the use of air mail, restored
second-class mailing privileges to
newspapers and reduced expenses by $15
million.
Established Famed Hays Office
In 1922, he resigned to take the job which
made him famous throughout the nation
as the "film czar" and to give the name
"Hays Office" to the censorship bureau of
the picture industry. For 24 years he held
the position of president of the Motion Picture
Producers and Distributors of America,
using his personal prestige to sell the nation
on the idea that the film industry was
capable of policing itself. And to him must
go the credit that that is still the situation.
His loyalty to his fraternity was seconded
by his loyalty to his alma mater. A generous
alumnus himself, he also was instrumental
in helping the college in obtaining financial
support for worthy projects.
Brother Hays held many important business
and welfare positions during his career.
He was a member and elder in the Presbyterian
Church, an active worker in the
national organization of the Salvation
Army, the Boy Scouts of America, the- Institute
for Crippled and Disabled Men and
the American Red Cross. Directorships
which he held included the Continental
Banking Company and the Chicago and
Eastern Illinois Railway Company.
Among the survivors are a son. Will Hays,
Jr., Wabash '37, currently a member of the
Wabash faculty, and a brother, with whom
he was associated in the Hays law firm,
Hinkle Hays, Wabash '12, and two nephews,
Charles E. Hays, Wabash '38, and
John T. Hays, Wabash '35.