Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-12-03

he is e~ndeavoring to I'll. As in great
things 81 it is with innumerabh small
affairs. He must many times a day ask
himself the question il this or that u
gested action is in keeping with the dig
nifty Of the President Of the United Stntes.
Personal impulses by the thousand must
be suppressed. The man must to a great
extent make himself over. Almost with
out exception every American who has
occupied the presidential Office has risen
to it, risen in character and dignity and
manner, no matter how much below it he
was Mt the outset. It is an Office which
demands THAT q man shall sink himself
and become almost another entity.
The wonder is that so many Of our
Presidents have retained their person
al characteristics and habits, their ma
turalness and simplicity, while in ONCE.
All the tendency is in the other direction.
Unconsciousiy to the man himself he is
drawn out Of himself. He ceases to be
as his friends knew him, as he knew HIM
self, as he takes on a new conscioueness.
He is "the President" This fact he is
permitted to forget. 1t follows
him everywhere. 1t hobs up impertinent-
~ ut the simplest dinner in a country
house us we'll as j n a cabinet meeting at
liz eAcCuGNe muQSlO6.
In monarchical countries sovereigns are
reared. They are to the manner born.
From infancy they are trained to be rul-
ers. They approach gradually, step By
step. the station which we thrust q man
into almost without warning. 1t is a fact
that the greatest, most ~stupendous tran
sition which comes to any man in the
world is to him whom the people Of the
limited CHo<oo <o1.1 4uC~. ~. 80.
his home or his modest official station and
thrust into the presidential chair. A dis
tinguished foreigner said not long ago:
@'It is amazing that you get as good Pres-
idents as you do, and it is q remarkable
thing that your public men are adaptable
enough to rise so easily and naturally to
the heights of your sovereignty. But
they cannot be happy" This foreigner
vas right. Probably not one President
in ten is happy while IN Office.
A Weight of Care,
As if this We're not enough, our political
system makes the President the center
of party activity, Of personal ambition
and desire. Not only must all appoint
ments be made theoretically by him as
chief executive, but actually by him in
person. Before making them he must
~ 0AN IA W4GA ~ Tie 1lNGT38CGO 0of-
sons. no matter how great their number.
II they come again and again, for the
avowed purpose of bringing the pressure
of persistency," they must be seen and
Modified. Crossroads politicians must
have access to the ruler of the American
people about seven-by-nine ~postofaces.
The President must keep open house to
all the Senators and Representatives. in
Congress, of whom there are something
like 400, and the most Of whom arc nro.
fessional office brokers. Through all this
the President is expected to maintain
his dignity and his equanimity. keen h;s
patience unrufled and his sense of ms
'tice and Of the fitness of things unwarn-
ed. During the whole four years Of his
administration he bears p his shoul-
ders the responsibilities and cares of the
nation. In the case of most Presidents
there is no cessation Of toll. The cares
of the chief executive are rarely dronned
when he leaves the Office. They accom-
pany him to the social function, they are
his constant companion as he attemnts
to enjoy a few days outing, they are his
most intimate associates even in his fam
lily circle, and they yer follow him into
his bed chamber and there minister tn
the discomforts of his slumber.
Americans are not always a consider.
ate people, but it is doubtful il thew ever
had a better chance to see themselves as
they really are than in the book which
ex-President Benjamin Harrison has inst
published, in which he devotes a chanter
to telling Of his own experiences In the
four years he passed in the White Honsa
There seems to be no danger of the CHIEF
magistrate of the nation forgetting that
he is, in the most literal sense Of the
words, a public servant, paid by the pub
lie for the public to enjoy at its leisure.
During the first three weeks of his term
the President Of these United States has
to shake hands with not less than 10000
of his fellow citizens. If any one has
ever seen the Auditorium when 10000
persons have been packed into it, and will
multiply that number by four and con-
template shaking hands with all of them,
he will form n notion Of what infinite nui-
saEces h~and-shaking folk can make Of
themselves if you can only get enough of
them together. Mr.. Harrison records that
every one who ever had to undergo the
ordeal suffered acute physical torture un-
til President Hayes discovered that il he
reached forward and grasped the hand Of
An approaching shaker" before the