The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-09-26
President Cleveland and His
Private Secretary.
DRUDGERY OF ROUTINE WORK.
Mrs. Cleveland the Object Of the
Public GaZe-GrOver's Busy Days
This Lying Press.
SALT LAKE Cry, September %, 1886.

President Cleveland, after a month s
well-earned holiday. has returned to
the Executive Mansion, in the capital
city. and it is reasonable to expect,
inasmuch as Congress is not in session
and as the country ism a state OF com
parative peace, that he will now settle
down 20 work with a will 1t was an
nounced that when he left for the coun-
try that upon no account would be
allow his holiday to be disturbed by the
considerations of official business. Very
few. if any, letters were to be forwarded
to him. For a few weeks. atleast, the
business of the White House, or Execu-
tive Mansion, must, in a sense, take
care of Itself. This being the case, and
soaring in m nd the tremendous
amount of work that requires to be p r
formed by the President in his oticia
capacity, it Is not difficult to i'm igIne
that the stock OF accumulated
correspondence that confronted him
upon his return assumed very consider
aole proportions. Still, so far rs down
right hard work is concerned, President
Cleveland is not easily frightened. The
amount of work hat would scare an
ordinary man will never scare him. l
have referred on several occasions to
his capacity for hari work, and can say
that my iufOrmatiOneup upon the suCjec
was obtained from those whose business
called them verV frequently TO the
White House. The actual staff of as
sistants in the executive Mansion is oy
no means large. There is a private sec
rotary, an assistant secretary, tn ee eX
eCutive clerks and several other clerks.
In addition TO these, of course, there
are a number of attendant and meSsen-
gecs, who are kept continually on the
trot The White House moufrted mes
sengers are running to and-fro all the
day long. They deliver letters at the
various departments and al private
residences. and when Congress Is in
session the capital is visited several
times per day. Colonel Lamont. it is
almost unnecessary to say, is the Presi-
dents private secretary. Upon hIm de-
wolves the responsibility OF the work.
He IS ! n constant attendance upon the
President. BOtn are hard at work
at 9 O'Clock in the morning.
Colonel Lamont IS very familiar with
the Presidents ways. He knows the
mood b. is in at a glance. They are,
however, both admirably suited to each
other. They both possess great execu-
tive ability. In weight (avcicdupOiS) the
President Il able 10 give his Private Sec
rotary about 100 pounds. The latter is
q man Of small frame. His features are
clean cut. and are adorned with a pair
OF dark eyes ana heavy da.k mus-ache.
His manner - very pie SAINT. He makes
tue person having business to transact
with him feel at home n bis presence.
There i an utter absence Of Gudeism IN
his department, dress and manner
From morning TO night he IS in great
demand at : e Wine House. Ii a per
son IS DESTROYS Of seeing the President
he feels that he must first send for
Col. Lamont to find out what the
chances are for -au interview. Then
again dozens Of people daily poster
him to use his influence with the
President in getting them positions
under the government, and those who
cant reach him personally for this puT-
pose bore him to death with letters.
The Colonel's influence with the
President in obtaining positions for
friends, or in anything else, is greatly
in Washington to whom the Col
onel has so stated. The n eTspaper
talk hat the President does nothing
without consulting him is so much
bosh, andtis in keeping with a great
many other things that have been
printed about the President and his
secretary, much to their annoyance.
That Col. Lamont is q capable private
secretary everybody has been more or
less informed by this time; but for
anybody to assert that President Cleve-
land is incapable of performing an Off
cal act, no matter how trivial it may
be, without first consulting the Colonel.
to the exclusion of the judgment and
ability of the members or the Cabinet,
Is something too preposterous for one
moments consideration. OF course
such talk may serve the end of Repub-
licsn soreheads. Such criticism as the
following, emanating from g friend of
Blaine in Portland, will only go for
what 1t is-a sOrehead criticism of a
great man:
Cleveland is a profoundly ignorant man
upon everything r~,latiIg II pubic affairs.
and he does not appear to belong to the type
of men who learn easily He is self-opln-
donated, dOgmatic aud big-headed with the
idea that he is the man OF dest ny. NE per-
forms what l call the shiTtsleeve Get. ard
belitt eS the character and dignity of The
Presidential Office by his al S lrd dIuig "
over scrub r~outlne~work. That man, sis IN
his shirt sleeves IA pl6uEhs, through work
which he should not require his own pri-
vate secretary to look at. In other words,
thgKorkthathe does makes him real yFa9k
about as third assistant private secretary TO
himself.
The above was given to Mr.. Craw-
ford, Washington correspondent of the
New YORK Hortd who published It
q few days ago in that journal. It's
a fine piece Of spleen. 1t is
a pity Mr.:.Crawford did not give the
authors name. If he had, he would
have been recognized as a person who
had held office for many years under
the Republican administration. but wi
within the last few months, had been
rsmovedsby the person whom he tries
TO belittle. There will be a few mo
soretead, by and by. President CleV. -
lard will perform "tbe shirt sleeve act
with greatsuccess, Everything points
to.the belief that he will make a clean
sweep of Republican FedeFak officials,
both IN the States and the Territories.
The business will not be confined to a
hundred or so chiefs Of bureaus in the
Interior or any other department in
w A Tbo To- nOCIfiOnc -b;oL /