Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1886-07-24
WASHINGTON LETTER.

them so much as the President The
+ popular idea is that the President is a
/ very extraordinary parsonage. Scarce
/ ly any one who has never seen g real,
/ live President expects to meet O plain g,
/ prosy, ordinary mortal. Yet the very
word of the Chief Magistrate makes
him to some extent commonplace
man He arbitrates in petty political
affairs of the whole country so far as
they relate 10 federal Offices, and this
requires contact with all classes Of PEG
pie.
Some irate Congressman were talk
ing about a Capitalization Of power in
connection with Mr.. CleYeland's recent
vigorous exercise of his veto power.
There can be little danger, however, Of
imperialism, or the drifting away of the
Executive from the masses, so long as
The functions of the Presidency are ad-
rninistered as at present. Notwith-
standing this compulsory contact with
all kinds of people, the present EZecu-
/ live commits himself to his business
callers only to the extent ne thinks
proper. Its really amusing sometimes
to see how he manages to eYade the
/ direct questions and requests Of Office
seekers and politicians.
For instance, when the Virginia Con-
gressional delegation called upon him
in behalf of Mr.. Goode, whom the Sen
ate rejected for Solicitor General, al
though each one took occasion to ez-
press the hope that he would re-nOmi-
nate this gentleman, nothing could be
extracted from Mr.. Cleveland as to
what he would do in the matter. He
was sorry the Senate had rejected Mr..
/ Goode, he hoped it would reconsider its
action, he liked Mr.. Goode very muchs
etc; but that was the only encourage
ment given the delegation. The Pres
ident long since learned, as all Presi-
dents must, to act before he speaks. In
regard to Mr.. Goodies disappointment,
/ it may be said that he need not yet lose
hope. A former candidate for the
/ Solicitor eneralship, whose nomina-
ton the Senate rejected, rose, after
wards, 10 be Secretary Of the Navy.
| President Cleveland continues to come
down into the East Room three times a
week to shake hands with the people
who are there awaiting the honor.
/ Yesterday he was confronted by about
two hundred callers, most of whom
were excursionists from New Orleans.
| There We're also q number of coIored
people in the party, and their pleasure
at shaking hands with a real live Presi-
dent was plainly manifest. One old
auntie, shaped liked a balloon, waddled
up to Mr.. Cleveland and drew OF her
white cotton glove in order to take
grip with my bar ham, as she express
ed it. Several of the ezcursiOnists took
occasion to say to the incumbent of the
White House that he might rely on
their votes when another election day
rolled around.
Government clerks are no longer
backward about taking vacations. At
this time last year they were rather
timid about asking for their months
leave. They probably feared that the
new administration might find out that
their services could be dispensed with
if they were absent, and so they pre-
ferred to stay close to their desks. At
any rate that was the practical result
until quite late in the summer, and the
departments had their full quote through
the torrid weather. Now the leaves
are falling quite rapidly in all the de-
partments'', said an appointment clerk.
/ The feeling that a democrat would slip
into his place if left vacant for even one
day, does not haunt the clerk as it once
did. OF course all apprehension on
this score has not died out, but it is no
worse than the chronic condition OF
mind Of nearly every one in the Govern
Iment service. The thirty days leave,
however, is not so common now as
formerly, because under the new req
ime, the time that a clerk IS absent
on account Of sickness or from any 9TH
er cause is desracted from the usual
vacation period.
Women stand very little chance of
being appointed to position in the Elk
ecutive Departments here now, One
OF the Executive officials remarked that
there are ten men sent for by the De-
Partment officials to every one woman.
He mentioned a lady who had just been
appointed to a place in the Post-Onice
Department, whose standing was very
high in every branch, yet she had been
on their list for long time, while men
whose standing was ten per cent on an
average below hers, had long since got
: ten positions.
In reply to a question asking the rea-
son Of this state of things he said there
was no real cause for it. 1t was more
a matter Of prejudice than anything
else, Perhaps some chief Of Bureau OF
other officer has an incompetent wO-
man in his Office who is troublesome,
and he is unwilling to try another.
Then there is a feeling that q women is
harder to get rid of if she is iucom-
potent than q man 1t Is hard to tell a
5 woman that she is unsatisfactory. The
chiefs feel that a man viii take such in,
formation like a man, but they fear the
women viii make q fuss about it and
shed tears.
. zas
The difficulty between fishing vessels
of the Dominion aud the United States
2