The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-11-29


vive. A diplomstist is often glad TO b
able to make a technical denial. This Is
very public age, hut Affairs Of state mp,
easily be o~bstructed or compromised BY al
0;med publicity" ~.
"Haye you much correspondence will
Nhe governors of states In this country"
mo, not much; very seldom. Occasion
ally circumstances may happen to, make !
necessary. At the time of tho lynchinR o
those Italians, for instance, had some COT
r~espondence with the governor OF Lonlsi
ana. But the bulk of our correspondence
has relation TO foreign countries"
do you have much personal intercourse
with the foreign representatives in Wash
ingtonw
here al any time. But Thursday 10 the day
specially appointed for their visits. w.
give up practically the whole of tho day *
them. They begin to come at 10 O'Clock IL
the morning, for many of them have thu
foreign habit of taking y very light carly
breakfast. Americans. you know need
substantial breakfast to begin the work o.
the day on"
"You receive them, l suppose, in thu
order of their importancev"
'.Oh, no." replied the secretary, laughing
"All foreign representatives here ars
strictly upon an equal footing. There !!
absolutely no other precedence than OF
arrival. The one who comes first 10 the frat
to be received. If the representative from
Hayti gets here one minute before Sir Julian
Pauncefote, Sir Julian must wait until the
gentleman from Haytl has said his say"
And you are in constant
with all of thsmy"
''Ihey don't necessarily come to me
about any matter of ordinary business that
can as we'll be attended to by subordinate
officers; but on matters os any Importance
they communicate directly with me, and,
as l said, Thursdays are specially given to
them"
'Do you sec much of the PRESIDENT"
Yes; tho secretary of state is very near
to the president. owing to the nature of his
duties. They must confer together on q
great Number of questions. am. IN fact,
the secretary uf the president; not That l
ever do any work in the White house. of
course. but it is through the medium Of
this office that he carries on communities
ton with foreign governments.
a5'It seems to me-" said ], that this de-
partment must be tho most interesting to
administer of any in the government"
"Well.' returned Mr.. Blaine with a
smile, II don't wish to be understood as
Understanding the charms or certainly
not the Importance of n of the other de-
partnents; but, for my part, l do find the
duties of the office very pleasant. It deals,
necessarily, mainly with questions of ma
tional policy, and has, perhaps, a more di-
III AalAA gllaA lAo1p VA p-o VtApAS IA =
to shape the course of contemporary his
tory. A number of events of large import
ance are conducted, or take their rise, here.
The relations OF a great country like this
with Other countries are naturally more
striking N picturesque than the ordinary
routine of domestic affairs. But the treas
ury is a vast department; so is the interior;
so is the postoffioe. They all have infinite
detail which would be more irksome to me.
The navy has become of great Importance
under Mr.. Tracy, md the department of
justice, under Mr.. Miller, is large and to a
layman very complicated: Mr.. Proctor,
who has been a very efficient secretary of
war, has resigned to accept a life Office
United States senator from Vermont. The
secretary of agriculture, Uncle jerry" is
the most popular man in the cabinet"
You have had some great predecessors"
l remarked, looking at a portrait of Marcy
hanging on the wall opposite.
MARCY was a great man." replied Mr..
Blaine; land there at the further end of
the room. are two fine portraits l want you
to look IT," He got up from his chair, and
we walked down the length of the apart
mont. The secretary is a tall man, little
less than six feet, in height, and; buttoned
himself erect, he looked his height. THAT
is Lord Ashburton,' he said, indicating the
portrait of a rosy-faced, homely, clever
Englishman, sitting at a table with his
lean. long-fngered hand upon the famous
treaty. 'And that" he continued, indicst-
ing the othsr-but there was no need to
name the owner of that marvellous head,
and those smouldering unfathomable eyes.
It was a portrait of Daniel Webster, and
one of the best. if not the best, that i have
eyer seen.
II have heard him speak," said Mr..
Blaine; "and here is his contemporary,
Henry Clay. 1t is a fine work of art, and
was bought by the government at a large
price, l believe"
It was a remarkable head, differing from
any likeness of Clay with which l am &C
quainted, but bearing internal evidences of
being a faithful likeness. II have listened
to him when he made one of his most
cogent speeches" said MI. Blaine.
How do the contemporary orators of
congress compare with the mon of those
days, in eloquence?" / asked.
Mr.. Blaine stroked his chin, and seemed
to be taxing his memory. II don't know"
he said at last in a hesitating tone, that
now, but a number of great debaters."
Another portrait which he pointed out to
me was that of Seward, with all the ACUTE
ness and sagacity of the man in it; "and if
you'll come in here" said Mr.. Blaine "Ill
show you another of him."
He opened the door of the further room
az he spoke; it was quite a small room, and
at a table sat a man, with his back towards
us, writing. There were one or two clerks
i'll the room with whom the secretary ex-
changed kindly g ceilings. Meanwhile the
mar at the desk had not looked round or
appeared to notice our entrance.
"He 10 deaf" obse ved Mr.. Blaine to me,
"but want to introduce you to MIR. Adee,'
and he tapped him on the shoulder.
Very little communication with Mr.. Adee
suficed to show mo that his chief g charac-
terization of him az a very able man was de-
served. Ability CLOVIS and sparkles from
his face, and one fancies that his %insensi-
bility to outward sounds but opens his inner
ear more ~ecutely to the discourse of bright
and penetrating thought. 1t is good to have
such an ally at ones back, and Mr.. Blaine's
friendly feeling for his assistant was obyi-
GUS.
AS we came out | glanced at the clock
and discovered that / had been monopoliz.
ing the secretary's attention for nearly an
hour.
Don't be in a hurry to co." said he.
.'There seems to be nothing waiting for me
just now. II there is any question that l
can answer, I will do so.'
There is one thing that has always been
an engaging mystery to me, and | imagine,
to most outside people, said. 81 would
like to know what happens at cabinet meet
ings!"
well! In regard to cabinet meetings, one
hardly wishes to speak of them, for they are
regarded as private, but there is no harm
that can see in saying that they are sim
ply a conference twice q week, TUESDAYS
and Fridays, between the president and his
several secretaries. Everything presented
there is regarded as confidential. When