Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-03


THE CABINET MExrNa-coxoREssxrH AND
coNaRxssNnx-Rl.cT.ss
The President is q very busy man Just now.
The closing hours Of Congress bring on him .
vast amount Of work in the examination Of &C.
cumulated bills and the consideration Of
measures of great importance. such as
are almost always left until the end Of
the session before being presented to
him for action. His desk is piled
quite high with papers and there is constant
coming and going Of parchments beneath his
hands rs he puts the final strokes Of the pen
upon them that give them the force and vitality
of laws. This morning he ground out large
ACTS SIGNED THIS MORNING.
He signed the direct tax bill: the act to pre-
vent pool making and pool selling in the Dis
trict; the act authorizing the Veteran volun-
teer Firemen's Association the use of certain
property in this city; the act dedicatins parts
OF lots IA and Is in square 8l2, in the city Of
Washington. as public alley; the joint resolu-
ton authorizing Vice Consul General Skid
more to accept medal conferred on him by the
Emperor Of JAPAN the act amending the act for
the relief Of soldiers of the late war. approved
March 2, 1889; tho act for bridge across the
Red river at Alexandria, La; the act granting
pension to the widow Of the late Gen. VIM.
Hoffman; the act for printing 10000 additional
copies Of the work entitled "1he Growth of
Industrial Art;" the act to establish circuit
courts Of appeal and to define and regulate in
certain cases the jurisdiction of the courts Of
the United States.
CoNaREssNEN WHO CALL.
There are not many members Of Congress call
ing on the President during these rushing hours,
when their presence is SO often necessary at
the other end of the avenue. Still, there are
enough OF them dropping in on the chief
magistrate to keep him from becoming lone
some.
Here one sees q retiring Representative, there
an ousted Senator, and occasionally one of
those rare creatures q newly elected republ-
can member but they do not all 60 on the
bent on one line Of thought and it takes very
little discernmcnt to see what il is, while the
newcomers want to see what sort Of o man he
ID after all" There is probably only discreet
amount OF actual campaigning for places at the
White House, but there is ever so much force
In personal presence, and no one knows this
better than the average Congressman who is
just on the eve of bowling his way out Of the
line Of public vision.
PARCHMENT SNOW STORM.
But all is submerged in the White House at
mosphere by the everlasting bill. It is to be
seen on the desk of the busy private secretary,
with cabinet officers opinion as to its worth
pinned upon it, ready for submission to the
Presidential chirography; it may also be seen
the buster assistant private secretary futters;
it may be seen piled high ON the desks of two
or three clerks who have all they can do to
record them and see that it does not get lost;
and at last it can be imagined, but not seen
by the eye Of the public, forming legislative
counterpart all over the desk of the President
a rapidly shifting succession OF sheepskin that
is hard to write on and harder to read.
This presence, this lowering spirit Of con-
grcssional action, this grind of name signing
phere at the mansion. Everyone is wrought
up to a high tension. Nerves are strained,
fingers are busy, brains are tired, feet are
lame, and through it all is heard wall Of
agony, "Oh, that it were but over"
THE CABINET MEETING.
The cabinet meeting this morning was at
tended by all of the members. Secretary Fos-
ter announced his intention to depart for the
land Of the buckeyes next Saturday, when the
hurry burly is done. He will spend at least
ten days in his work of STRENGTHENING up matters
at Fostoria sufficiently to allow himself to think
finance and silver uninterruptedly after his re-
turn.
He said to STAR reporter that heswas
amazed by the vast multitude of details that
the Treasury work involves He realizes that
it will take him some time to pick up the
threads of his duties, and in the
meantime he is leaning heavily on the staff of
support and aid afforded by the experience Of
Gems. Nettleton and Spaulding and Private
Secretary Hendley.
TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER.
Attorney General Miller met Gov. Foster
just in front of the White House and as they
went in they got to talking about the weather
The governor remarked that the snow storm
was good argument for a change of the date Of
the Inauguration and the Attorney General re-
sponded: That's so! don't think that George
Washington showed any better sense in his his
selection of an Inauguration day than he did
in selecting the location of the Potomac river"
and right on their heels came Secretary Rusk
who said something about being ''bad for the
crops" as they all went upstairs to the meet
ing.
The session was a short one being over be-
fore o'clock, as the President needs all the
time he can get to spend at his desk amid his
parchments.