The morning call., 1893-12-03


consideration. but the finished document
is. | am told, The work of the President.
Why shouldn't it be? you ask. The re-
ply is that it ought to be. but at the same
time it would be nothing strange If it were
not Many of the executive messages of
the past for which Presidents get credit
were written by others than themselves.
Washington gave the ideas for his fare
we'll address, but it was Alexander Hamil-
ton and James Madison who put the
thoughts into shape for him. Amos Ken
dali wrote most of Andrew Jackson's
messages, and his first inaugural address
was written for him by Major Lewis
and Henry Lee. Jeremiah Black wrote
a number of the messages of Andrew
johnson and Daniel Webster revised the
inaugural address of William Henry Hsr.
risOn. II was full of classical expressions
and had many illusions to Greece and
Rome. Webster cut these out, and in
speaking of his work at a party the night
after he bad revised the address he ex-
cused himself for being tired because of
the number OF Roman proconsuls be had
Killed that day. You remem Der Jackson's
famous notification proclaim ton. 1t is
said that Edward Livingston wrote il for
him, and il is so with other famous mes
sages.
The first messages to Congress were read
by the Presidents in person, and the Pres
ldents would probably be reading them
to-day in this way had it not been for
Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson, it is said,
could not speak. He was a poor reader,
and he didn't want to appear ridiculous
by trying to read his message to the
House. The result YVES that he sent it up
by his private secretary. Washington
gave his first message, bis inaugural. to
Congress in New York. He took the
Ntce-President's chair in delivering
1t, and few days after this the House
and Senate prepared reply to the mes
sage and went to WASH ington's house
and cne of their mem bers delivered the
reply to him. This procedure was gone
through with for several years, and Presi-
Gent Washington was looked upon as hav-
ing the right to direct Congress. He de-
!lvered thirteen messages to Congress dur
Ing his eight years in office, and in addition
10 these gave his farewell address. John
Adams was one of the most wOrdy of our
Presidents. He delivered ten messages in
four years and you find the pronoun ''I'
thlrteen times in his inaugural address
Van Buren, and Harrison each used this
pronoun thirty-eight times in their re-
spective addresses. and Thomas Jefferson
used the word 'I' nineteen times in bis
first message TO Congress. Jefferson gave
twenty-three messages during bis Pres-
dental term. Madison twenty-five, An
drew Jackson seventeen and James Mon
roe thirteen.
The outlook is that President Cleveland
VIII OO uCCtQtuiy uupUpuldE Will d pdTG Oh
his party during the coming session, and
his message will be severely criticized,
whatever il may be. Congress will, how
ever. have no chance tn insult him, as IL
did in the case of Washington. They re-
fused to call upon Washington, and would
not adjourn for thirty minutes on the 22d
of one of the Februaries of his term to
congratulate him upon his birthday. as
they had been in the habit of doing. They
refused, also, to receive John Adams, and
the papers of that time criticized Washing
toG and Adams quite as severely as Cleve-
land is being criticized now, Washington
once said that he had been abused worse
than common pickpocket. and when
Jackson's farewell address was pub
lished one of the. New York newspapers
congratulated its readers as follows:
Happily this is the last hum bug which
the mlschlevous popularity of this Hitter
ate. Violent vain and lron-willed soldier
can impose upon a confding and credGlous
people," Much worse expressions were
used concerning Washington at the time
he left the Pre- sdency.
Thomas Jefferson sent fourteen special
messages to Congress, and in Madison's
time Congress received a number of con-
fdentiaI messages from the President
Andrew Jackson was eensured by the Sem
ate, and he sent protest against this CEN
sure TO that body. President Grant ad-
dressed Congress by messages eight times.
he did not write his messages himself and
left the work of the various departments
TO his Cabinet officers. These men sent in
their reports, and he took such parts of
them as be wished for his message, pieced
them together and finished them up so
that they made a consecutive message.
All Of his vetoes he wrote with his own
hand and bis state papers read well. Pres
ideGt Lincoln's messages are wonders of
good diction, and w. ID. Kelley of Penn
sylvania, the famous pig-TOn protection
lst, once told me that he thought Lincoln
was the greatest all-round genius since
Shakespeare, and that his messages to
Congress would eve tually become classics.
President Artbnr's messages were writ
ten in bold round hand, and it is said
that Surrogate Rollins aided him ia the
preparation of them. He came to WASH
iDgton and the President and himself went
over the topics which were to compose the
measure, aud the result was the com blna-
tion of their two brains. President Hayes
was greater man than he has the credit
of being. He had broad mind and his
state papers read well. His messages
were copied by his private secretary. Mr..
Rodgers. and he used his Cabinet officers
TO large extent in their preparation.
There is only one case in our history in
which a Presidents message has been
forged. This was in 1864, aud IL was rather
proclamation than a message. 1t was
production of famous New ork corre-
Sp0nQ6nt, VINO is StllI WrltlDg I0T the press,
and il pretended to be all for half a mil
lion more troops and to come from Presi-
dent Lincoln. 1t never saw the White
House, however, but was gotten up in New
I Ork. 1t was written on the manifold pa
per then used for the Associated Press
news, and was handed In TO the morning
papers by telegraph boys, who gave it to
the papers as an Associated Press dispatch.
The only wonder is that Ii was not used by
every morning paper in New York, but
through some bungling in the delivery sus-
picion was aroused In the offices Of the
Times and Tribune. and they would not
use it. The Herald had struck off an edi-
tion of 5000 copies. believing the message
to be genuine, but when they did not see
1t in the Times and Tribune they investi-
gated its source, and finding IL bogus they
suppressed the entire edition. Among the
papers who used it were the Journal of
Commerce and the World. The publica-
tion created great sensation, and Presi-
dent Lincoln ordered the editors of the
papers who used the matter to be i'm
prisoned in Fort Lafayette, but finding
they were innocent If any intention 10 do
wrong, he aflerward couptermanded the
order. The correspondent who got up the
scheme was next arrested. He made full
confession. and he was imprisoned in