Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-01-10
(From our regular correspondent.)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 26, 1901,


From our regular correspondent.)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 26, 1901.
Affairs at the White House have
taken a peculiar turn of late and some
of the idiosyncracies which were ex
pected OF Colonel Theodore Roosevelt
when he first became President have
appeared. This was particularly no.
ticeable in his final disposition of the
Schley affair. His attitude in the
matter was autocratic in the extreme
1t cannot be denied, of course, that
General Miles had violated q techni.
cality, but while he had, perhaps, laid
himself open to mild reproof there was
no ground or precedent for the drastic
reprimand which the President saw
fit to administer, and many who know
Mr.. Roosevelt believe that he permit.
ted his annoyance over the entire
Navy Department wrangle to lead him
beyond the dictates OF his more delib.
crate judgment.
This belief is carried out by the
scene which occurred in the White
House the day that the reprimand
was made public. General Mile,
called at tho White House, presuma.
bly, with q view to ward off a public
reprimand, when he was met at the
entrance to tho Presidents reception
room by the President himself. With.
out regard to the number of people
present. without even closing the door,
the anti-room being full of newspaper
men, the President proceeded tc
" scold" the General commanding the
army in . manner that would have
been of questionable dignity had Gen.
eral Miles been . West Point cadet
and evidenced sad lack of apprecia.
ton of the dignity of his own position
and the courtesy due to the Generals
rank. A Senator who was present,
aud who 10 . warm friend of the Presi.
dent, said 1T is . great pity. The
President was simply mad, and gave
way to his feelings, but it is just like
him, ~ he used to be-"
Immediately upon the heels of hi,
interview came . serious affront tt
Secretary Long. Acting probably
upon impulse the President instructed
Secretary of War Root, TO make pub
lie the letter calling upon Historian
Maclay for his resignation and signed
BY Secretary Long. Az soon as he 70
turned to the War Department Secre
tary Root gave out typewriter copies
OF the letter to the newspaper men
Who Immediately took them to the
Secretary Of the Navy to ask for an
expression Of opinion from him. He
positively declared that no such lette,
had been written and that the copy
was spurious. He imagined that the
Newspaper mon were laying . trap for
him. Later he learned that the Pres.
ident had authorized the publication
Of the letter and had to explain that
when he denied its authenticity he
did not know that the President had
decided to send It. Mr.. Roosevelt also
explained that he had instructed Sec.
retary Root to make it public and had
forgotten TO advise Mr.. Long.
Another instance of the Presidents
peculiarities is the case Of Secretary
Gage, who has denied his resignation
continuously. The President when
asked on Monday about the Secretary
resignation said that he had never
seen it, and yet it is known that Gov.
ernor Crane was offered the position
BY the President, personally, early last
Friday. The President might a. we'll
have said that he has offered Mr.
Cages position to another without
asking for his resignation. What pre-.
vents Gage from sending in hisresig
nation now and at the same time
making it public, 20 in Is far - posi-
bic, to save his dignity, it is difficult
to understand.
Governor Crane declined the honol
although he was pressed to accept b,
Senator Lodge. The President ther
rendered the Portfolio to Governor
Shaw Of Iowa, who has accepted ant
will probably assume the duties som'
time in January. The position wasa
difficult ono to fill, % q man who hal
the ability to administer the. ofic,
with credit to the administration usu
ally has far greater opportunities else
where, and only motives Of patriotism
or personal regard for the Presiden
will induce . man Of great ability 4
accept.
There are growing indications tina
the Philippine tariff bill which pssse'
the House just before adjournmen
will call for considerable revision .
the hands of the Senate. The objec
tions to the present measure are grow
ing on all sides and the recommends
tions of the Taft Commission serve 4
emphasize their wisdom.