The Worthington advance., 1881-09-22

ng the Offices. 1t is appointments and
removals from Offices that burden the
White House mails, that burden tho minds
OF the heads of departments. and that keen
throngs of persistent seekers standing about
sthe ante.rooms all day long. President
Garfield had got pretty we'll over the food
of Office seekers when he started away ON his
vacation. and subsequent events have shown
that, If he had taken an absolute rest from
OF July, no harm would have come to
anybody. When he should have returned
from his vacation his duties wonld have been
tolerably easy, and he would have performed
them without fatigue. The letters received
BY mail would have busted him but little.
These are all opened by the secretaries
and "briefed" list Of them made
for the presidential eye to look over.
Such as merited an answer from
him would have been read and the answer
dictated to stenographer or suggested to
Private Secretary Brown, who has been his
faithful assistant for years. It was his
habit to average not more than one private
letter day in his own hand, while
member of the house of representatives.
lie has done but little writing since he en-
tered the white house. No public man
tosses OF the answers to q bundle of letters
more easily. Ifhe were a we'll man to day,
there is no doubt that President Garfield
could, in week, dispose of all tie accum-
ulated matter requiring his attention.
The most important appointments await
ing his direction are the Berlin mission,
which President White has vacated, the
vacancy on the supreme bench caused by
the death of Justice Clifford, the place Of
auditor of railroad accounts, the positions
no oefo o,,I ~, ,;oR- Al
OF navigation in the navy department,
and q number of cousuls, etc. Mr..
Window would, perhaps, prefer to have
one or more Of the important officers of
the treasury department superseded. Cen
eral HaZen, the chief signal officer, would
talk with him about Howgate's defalcation.
The secretary Of war and navy would con-
suit with him about the arrangements for
the Yorktown centennial. Several court
martial cases pending in the war and navy
departments would be finally disposed of,
and SO on through all of the departments.
There are multitudes of matters which
merely require the notice and sanction of
the president, but on which he would not
waste altogether half an hours time. There
are many matters, too. in the departments
upon which action is deferred by the Sec
retaries, which they would dispose of with
ont even speaking to the president at all
if he were well, but which they cannot
take the responsibility of acting
upon now, merely because when the presi-
dentis well their actions appear to the pub
lie as his action; while, if they were acting
now, the public would know that the act
did not have the final executive authority
behind it. The month of September is
one of the du]lest months of the year at the
White House. This cannot be said of the
month that follows, and November is one
Of the busiest of all the twelve, for it is
then that the president must look in to all
questions upon which he proposes to COM
municate to congress, and he must devote
a good deal of time to obtaining this ma
terial for his annual message. It will hard
ly be possible for the government to 60
more than q month longer without an act
i've executive bead, and yet. in one busy
week, president could dispose of all the
business that will absolutely demand atten-
ton previous to the assembling of congress.