The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-24

IN those days the President had few
callers. and the white house was ample
for the needs of state and for the accom-
mediation of his family l think there is
a record somewhere of the east room in
the white house being used by Mrs. Adams
as a drying-room for her clothes. There
was a room TO spare.
Now the white house has undergone a
change. Where emptiness ruled there is
profusion; and where quiet prevailed there
is confusion Telephones, telegraph wires,
messenger calls and private tickers fill the
smaller rooms; and in the larger ones de-
voted to the affairs of state, there are nu-
merous clerks ticking upon typewriters
and filling bulky ledgers with the neces-
sary records of the Presidents work.
I'm the midst of it all the President sits,
ever busy, never at rest, knowing no pri-
vacy and scarcely finding time TO slip away
TO dine and lunch with his own family in
another part of the house.
The President of the United States has
no privacy. He lives in his Office build
ing, and is placed, in a way, about the
same as a man who has a folding-bed in
his office. and who is forced to dine within
sight of his desk.
1.-THE remedy for it all would consist in
giving the President of the United States
a home of his own. He should not live in
the white house He should be allowed
separate quarters, where he could know
some retirement and have a little daily
rest from business, the same as private
citizen.
1T is claimed now that the President of
the United States does not keep Office
hours. Visitors seek him to-day at
o'clock and find him. Tomorrow he is
not there at that hour This may be so;
but it is due to the fact that the President
is within call all the time, and must slip
- .-t nd
History cites many cases where a Presi-
dent has been awakened in the night TO
read a bill or to consult upon some impor-
tant measure; and there is never an even
ing when he is free from at least one hur-
ried consultation; more often he Is busy
until midnight
at is an unhappy thought, but one that
is forced upon the mind Is this con-
slant work good for the President? And
can this be the explanation, in part, of the
fact that so few ex-Presidents are now
surviving. though they should by right of
years be stir alive? That is only a
thought suggested by the question of over
work
1.-THE Presidents home need not be
palace 1t, in fact could not be such. He
could not keep up such home, even II 1t
were given to him rent free. His salary
would be insufficient, and he would come
out of the white house in debt. The Pres
dents home should be the home OF pri-
waite gentleman.
Il would suggest that upon the ground
floor there should be a dining room, also
parior reception room and library. Up
stairs there should be six or eight sleeping
rooms, and further up quarters for the
household servants-in other words. gem
tleman's residence. This the President
cou,.. afford to keep up. and he would find
IL fully iequate for his wants
Ts4ffa bo- hoo .vfsF "a
thus far In its Presidential families. None
~ the Presidents has had large families.
kIr. Mckinley has a small household and
Mr.. Cleveland's Is not numerous
but anv day this may be changed, and
there may be elected a President who will
come into the white house with seven sons
and four daughters, some of them married,
with growing grandchildren, all of whom
have perfect right to live under his roof.
What win he do then, in view Of the pres
ent cramped quarters?
THE President OF the United States
should be able to hold house party if he
desires MIR. Mckinley might wish to IN
vite a house party; but If he were to do so
lie could find no room for his guests He
could not accommodate them. The house
party of Blenheim would be utterly inn
possible at the white house upon the
smallest scale, and II will be recalled how
Impossible IL was to think Of entertaining
Iculalie and her small suite Of ladies dur
ing their brief stay in the United States.
they would have had to sleep three in a
bed
IF the President were given a home Of
his own he should be asked to conform TO
certain regulations. and II history is cor
rect he would not object to these Take
the diplomatic dinners. The President
should be compelled to give the diplomatic
dinners IN the white house. and as the
diplomats would be guests Of the nation.
the nation would get full credit for the
hospitality. This would he a pretty COM
pliment 10 the foreign corps Near by the
Presidents house would stand, and the