Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-07-03
THE PRESIDENTS ADVISERS
Look at the Cabinet rs Ii Really Appears
When In Session. &EEs

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A Look at the Cabinet e; Ii Really Appears
When In Session.
President Cleveland has changed one
Of the Cabinet days from Friday to
Thursday, and now meets his constitu-
tional advisers on Tuesday and Thurs
day of each week. This is the only
change that has been made. The forms
that have been observed for half CEN
fury and more on Cabinet days are still
undisturbed. The hour OF meeting is
IL o'clock noon, and the room is the
same that has been used for the meet
ings since Lincolns time.
It is a plain room with no striking
feature about it. It's two large win
dows. extending from ceiling to floor,
command a lovely view of the sweep
ing lawns, the monument, and the shin
ing Potomac beyond. The interior is
simplicity itself. The walls are painted
in drab tint, the ceiling is frescoed
with flowers and cherubs, and mantel
Of cinnamon colored marble surrounds
capaclous fireplace, where hickory
logs are usually blazing cheerily. A
lowered Brussels carpet with a black
and red background covers the floor,
and gray silk rep curtains hang at the
windows.
The table around which the cabinet
is seated is An octagonal affair of black
and French walnut in the fashion of
twenty years ago. It has profuse]y
carved central leg and legs at the COR
ners. It is covered with billiard cloth.
The eight armchairs that surround it
are all alike, of walnut with rep uphol-
STEERING.
Very little formality attends the meet
ings. Under Mr.. Cleveland's Admins
tration, at least, the members are very
promptly on time. MIR. Garland is
usually the first to arrive. He is al
ways few minutes ahead Of time, and
if the president is not engaged he fire.
que1tly goes irto the library to see him.
Sometimes Mr.. Bayard is first and some
times Mr.. Lamar. The members gen
orally come singly, rarely in pairs.
Each always carries under lis arm a
portfolio such as lawyers use for papers,
only the Cabinet portfolios are more
Anticipated than those affected by law
yers--as old probably as Senator E.vart's
hat. The Cabinet portfolio is thing
Of calfskin, about 24x20 inches. It has
81 single pocket covered by flap. It
has no lock, but is fastened by two
straps and buckles. Some Of these
portfolios are probably hundred years
old, and the greater number have seen
from a quarter to half century. The
newest is exactly like the oldest II pat
tern, and each is lettered with stencil
to indicate to what department. it be-
longs.
Each member Of the cabinet shakes
hands with all the others wher. he ar
rives. The president usually comes in
after nearly all his councillors have ar
rived. He shakes hands with them
all around and chats with them for a
moment, and then takes his seat at the
head of the table, his advisers taking
their places in the order indicated in
the diagram. The session begins at II
/ o'clock exactly, whether the members
have all arrived or not. The president
does not rap the meeting to order, and
it is wholly informal throughout. No
vote is taken on any question. If the
president wants the individual opinion
of his advisers On any subject. he asks
for it, but he decides the question i'll his
own way, without regard to whether a
| majority of his advisers is for or against
| his views. No minutes are kept Of cab
met meetings, and as no reporters are
present, the proceedings are never Civ
en- in detail. An ex-cabinet official
says the public loses little by the OBJ
servance of secrecy for the talk is dis
cussive and fragmeutary and would not
be read if published.
! Nevertheless all necessary },rccau-
tons are taken to prevent the proceed
! ings Of Cabinet meetings from being
overheard, and full report Of one has
not been published since the days when
Webster was Secretary Of State, An
enterprising correspondent of that day
in some way contrived to get into an adj
! joining room, where he could overhear
every word. Mr.. Webster himself dis
covered the leak after several meetings
had been reported, and ever since the
rooms have been carefully watched.
| Imagine what eight bank directors or
an equal number Of asylum trustees On
| pretty good terms with one another
! would do if shut up in q back room
away from public gaze, and some no.
tion probably can be formed of what a
Cabinet meeting is like. All the pic
lures that are made of Cabinet groups
are absurdities. The Secretaries do OF
stand in tragic attitudes with hands
thrust in the breasts of close buttoned
coats, nor do they stand with an elbow
resting on the mantle, nor sit with fold
ed arms and knitted brows. They just
sit carelessly and easily at a table like
other folks. toying with penholders,
tearing scraps Of paper, OF drumming
on their portfolios.
! Abraham Lincoln, it is said, walked
into the Cabinet meeting that was to
consider the emancipation proclamation
with copy of Artemus Wards book in
his hand, and read passage from it
aloud before passing to more serious
! business. Many a session, too, he enli-
vened with quaint stories, # reports be
true. In fact, some Of the best stories
repeated in after dinner circles during
every Administration are commonly re"
ported to have been first told at Cabi.
net meetings.
| There is no set form in which tie
councils begin or continue. The sub
| jects discussed suggest themselves. To-
day the Oklahoma question may be up
permost, and the Secretary of the Int
rior and the Secretary Of War naturally
are the chief takers around the table.
Tomorrow the Central American news