The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-14
OLNEY SOUR ON POLITICS.
The Attorney GeneralShip Not a Con-
genial Position.

It's Duties Distasteful to Him, and the
People He is Brought in Contact
With Not the Kind He Likes-Callers
Treated Very Brusquely-The Attor-
ney General a Corporation Attorney,
and Not Use to Giving Any Thought
to What the Public Cares.
Washington, Oct. 13.-Had Mr. Richard
Olney of Boston been gifted with the
power of looking into the future, another
man than himself would now be occupy
ing the chair Of Attorney General. Had
he realized what was before him he
would not have given up his income of
$4,000 year as railroad attorney for the
honor of being a member of Mr.. Cleve-
lands cabinet He does not like his posi-
tion, and he does not like its duties The
thing that cheers him up these days is the
thought that he may not be obliged TO
remain all through the four years of the
administration, but may be able to leave
his Washington work and go back to his
congenlal Boston labors.
CALLERS TREATED VERY BRUsoUELY.
Since he has been here there have been
put in circulation any number of stories
to prove that all his callers are treated
with scant courtesy, and that he has
taken pains TO snub every prominent
member of his party, 1t is true that Mr..
Olney has not made himself popular with
| the members. He has taken no pains to
| do 50. He does not feel at home in an at
mOsphere where so many statesmen have
| a pleasant habit of slapping each other
on the back and indulging in side-split-
ting narratives of dubious character. He
&C aid not feel at home amid such an en-
vironment, and he plainly shows that he
could not, Congressman who have en-
| joyed a free field on the floor of the House
with their long-winded harangues have
taken offense when the stern attorney
general suggested the advisability of con
densing his remarks into more reasonable
| compass.
TWO SIDES TO STORY.
But the Boston member of the cabinet
has his side of the case, too. 1t is true
| that he is brusque in manner and he un-
doubtedly labors under the impression
that the principal functions of his Office
| ought to be something else than the sit
ting in Judgment upon the merits and
| claims Of countless applicants for Office.
| Mr.. Olney is not politician. 1t is diff
| cult for him to realize that in be-
coming the chief law officer of the gov
ernment he accepted a position which
called for as much political astuteness
as legal acumen. and he has wished a
! hundred times that he was back in his
| Boston Office, where he could lock his
| door 10 all intruders and devote himself
without interruption to the consideration
| of q knotty legal problem and the prepa-
ration of a mastery brief. He is working
out in his own rather bitter experience
the lesson that to occupy political Office
acceptably even the ablest men must
have been possessed of a little prelimi-
nary political training.
CORPORATION LAWYER.
Mr. Olney has been a corporation law
yer ali his life. He has been trained 10 be-
! lieve that he owed his first duty to the
man who employed him, and that so long
as he gave them satisfaction and won their
| cases in court, or gave them unimpeachable
! legal advice, it was of no earthly conse-
| quence what sort of an impression he made
on the general public. He had for years
| been stepped in an atmosphere of lore and
| logic, and he finds himself outside his
| element in position where as much de-
pends on his skill in handling men and
avoiding personal friction as in laying
| down incontrovertible principles and COM
| pelling judicial conclusions.
HARD WORKER.
The Attorney General works hard as
| hard as any member of the cabinet. With
| the same thoroughness that he showed
when he worked for his employing rail
roads he works for the government. The
work that he has to do is unpicturesque
| enough and much of his time is spent in
poring over the well l-thumbed volumes that
the government has owned for so many
years. He is early at his desk in the
morning and late in leaving it at night.
| But out of his Office he is still Attorney
| General. He becomes interested in case
and spends his evenings in looking it up
more carefully, and devotes his spare
| time to thinking it out. His hobby is a
combination of law and tennis, and he
| prefers the society of law book to any
| person here. His afternoons he devotes
! to tennis, and the practice that he has
| had with the veterans of the game like
| Dwight and Sears makes him easily the
| best player in Washington. His tennis
court is one OF the apples of his eye. He
watches it as carefully as a mother does a
child; not piece of stray dirt or a stone
is allowed to rest upon it; twice a day it
is swept and is always as smooth and
| shining as a ballroom floor.
FOND OF BASE BALL.
The Attorney General is also fond of
base ball, fond in a dignifed way. That
| is, he does not become excited over the
game and manifest any desire to give vo-
! cal vent to his feelings But in quiet,
calm way be admires good plays and re-
| ioices at the success of the better team.
| He looks at a ball game in a strictly iu-
dicial way He weighs the qualities Of
| the two teams carefully, and then looks
| to see the better team win. in
spite of his lack of political
| tact Mr.. Olney is one Of the strong
! figures of the administration. In mental
! ability and in the breadth of his intellec-
tual scope he surpasses most Of his col
| leagues in the cabinet, perhaps all with
| the exception Of Carlisle. He is a scholar
! by instinct and by training. He thinks
! for himself, but is neither a radical nor
an enthusiast. He is an orator of fine
feeling and literary taste as shown in his
eulogy on Lamar. And under no consid-
GRAFTON win he have anything TO do with
asking for Offices from the administra-
tion.