The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-08-15
THE WHITE HOUSE EDITOR.
What Colonel Lamont Does with the Vast
Amount of Papers Daily Received.

What Colonel Lamont Does with the Vast
Amount of Papers Daily Received.
Washington Special.
About two hundred newspapers are received
at the White House daily These include the
large metropolitan dailies as we'll as the less
pretentious sheets. Only a small portion of
these papers are paid for. Under former regimes
almost every newspaper of prominence had
among its list of subscribers the President of
the United States. The amount thus expended
was charged to the contingent fund, and fre.
quently exceeded So, 900 per annum An ex-
change clerk, as he was called. was employed at
salary of $3.50 month to read these papers
and make such clippings as were supposed to be
of interest to the executive. Almost the first of
Colonel Lamont's official acts was to dismiss
the exchange clerk and reduce the ex-
pense of newspaper subscriptions at least
IS per cent The effect of this new
departure has been noticeable only in reducing
the revenues of the newspaper publishers The
number of papers received at the Executive
Mansion is fully great ever. Newspaper
editors are determined the President shall know
their opinion of him, and if he will not pay for
the information they will send him the paper
free. New York State heads the list with the
largest number of dailies. This is not surprising
when it is remembered that the President
Colonel Lamont, and two members of the Cabi-
net live in that State. In the list of cities, Chi
cago comes next to New York, with Boston
third, Philadelphia fourth, and Cincinnati fifth
The representation from New England is very
small. The Pacific slope, including California,
Oregon and Nevada, sends but one paper. The
South has also feeble representation, probably
not dozen papers in all being sent from that
section. These exchanges are carefully read each
day by Colonel Lamont whose journalistic
training enables him to go over them
rapidly and Gull out such articles as it may be
advisable to preserve for reference These.
carefully arranged in chronological order, are
pasted in scrap books under the heads of tariff
finance, civil service, foreign policy, appoint
ments, current comment. Indians, personal, and
the like Colonel Lamont has quick, retentive
memory, and such is his control of this faculty
that he can tell the President, with whom he is
closeted every day, the sentiment in regard to
any particular policy in any section of the coun-
try he may mention.
The system Of preserving newspaper opinions
by the occupants of the White House dates back
to the formation of the government Under
President Hayes the present plan of arranging
these clippings in scrap books was first inaugnra.
everything relating to his admins
tration should be saved, and scarcely a
week passed that the books We're not carefully
read. Garfield, during his brief incumbency as
chief magistrate paid close attention to the
scraps" as they are called. Garfield was very
sensitive to newspaper criticism but his eager
ness to obtain knowledge of public sentiment
as expressed through the press, was such that
nothing, however hostile or vicious, was over
looked Arthur more Indifferent. The
clerks at the White House say ne seldom read
the scraps except during the few weeks pre-
ceding the meeting of Congress, when engaged
in the preparation of his annual message and
when he had in contemplation some particular
nomination whose effect he desired to see upon
the country before absolutely committing him
self. In such cases he would allow the informa-
tion to leak out semi. officially" and then follow
the press comments carefully to see how it was
received. If public sentiment condemned it, the
nomination was never made.