Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-07-25


the Steel Trust is Thriving The President
Does Not Voice Republican Sentiment Re-
sardine the Trusts.
tFrom our regular correspondent
WASHINGTON, July 10, 1902.
"No admission" is the greeting
that meets the visitor in Washington
who attempts to enter the White
House grounds. and many have ex-
pressed serious disappointment at
their inability to inspect the home OF
the President. But it should prove
some compensation to loyal Americans
to know that for the first time since
1881 the White House is receiving a
thorough renovation. Those who
have visited the building in recent
years can testify to the necessity for
such an overhauling. AS the wealth
and greatness OF the country have in.
creased the demands on the executive
mansion have grown and for some
years its accommodations have not
been sufficient to secure to the Presi.
dent and his family that comfort and
privacy to which they are entitled.
The Office force has grown constantly
and new rooms have had TO be con-
verted into offices until but q small
portion of the second floor of the
building was available for residence
purposes and ordinarily more than
half OF the first floor was open to the
public during certain hours of the day.
When the present renovation is com.
pleted and the new Office building,
which is being erected just west of the
White House is finished, the entire
second floor will be restored to its orig
inal purpose, residence for the Presi-
dent and his family.
In the basement, on the east end Of
the building, there are to be reception
and cloak-rooms and the present en-.
trance on that end will be greatly en-.
larged. There all persons having oc.
casion to call at the Presidents home
will enter, the former main door being
reserved for the exclusive use of the
family. Persons who have occasion to
call on the President on business will
be directed to the new office building
At the west side OF the grounds. This
building will have accommodations for
the entire clerical force heretofore To-
Gated in the White House and will
also be provided with a large Cabinet
room, a private Office for the President
and one for his secretary, reception
room OF generous proportions, and a
comfortable room for the use OF news
paper correspondents, where every
convenience will be afforded them for
obtaining and preparing the news.
At present, the clerical force of the
President is divided between Oyster
Bay, where few rooms in bank
building have been rented for the pur-
pose, and q rented residence on Jack
son Place, across Lafayette Place from
the White House grounds, where the
major portion of the force is installed.
This. by the way, is the first time that
the White House has been completely
vacated since it was entered by Presi-
dent Monroe on the day of his inau.
guration March 4, 1877. The White
House was originally completed in the
fall of 1900, the corner-stone having
been laid eight years before, but, as
every American boy and girl knows, it
was burned by the British on August
"a, 1914, and it was not until 1917
that the rebuilding was completed.
The interior of the White House
looks to-day as if it had been the vic.
tim OF . Kansas cyclone. even the
floors having been removed. The
staircase at the east end of the lobby,
up which have toiled go many thou.
sands OF anxious Office seekers, have
been removed, and, while it is impos-
sible to secure from the architects all
the details of their plans, it is believed
that the space formerly occupied by
the old staircase will be filled BY
far more elaborate one leading up from
the basement and the reception and
cloak rooms located therein. The in
terror decorations of the building are
TO be elaborate and beautiful, and it is
promised that when completed the
interior OF the White House will pos.
sess most attractive and artistic ap.
pearance. All who have attended the
Presidential receptions will appreciate
the convenience that will be derived
by the new entrance, for, heretofore,
the crowding about the cloakroome,
erected temporarily in the main lobby,
has been deplorable. It is the expec.
tation of the architects that they will
be able to turn the completed resi-
dence over to the President on his
return TO Washington in October, al
though from the present appearance
OF the building that hardly seems pos.
sible.
The answer of the United States
Steel Corporation, otherwise known as
the Steel Trust, filed in the New Jersey
courts aud sworn to by Mr.. Chas.
Schwab and other officers of the COM
pany, has set the gentlemen at Demo-
cratic headquarters to work making
some interesting deductions. Mr..
Schwab says that the assets of the
company amount to 81 ,4OO, 29l 600,
and that the net profits of the concern
are $l4O, OOO, 900 per annum. He fur.
Their states that these profits could be
reduced seventy-ive per cent and still
leave ample to pay interest on the
company's bonds and provide for its
sinking funds, these fixed charges
amounting to but $31,737,85O. This
is the corporation, it will be remem.
bered, which is charging American
manufacturers and shipbuilders from
thirty to thirty-five per cent more for
the steel they are compelled to use
than it is charging British and other
manufacturers for the same material.
When Representative Richardson, of
Tennessee, offered bill in the House
which provided for the removal of the
duty on goods made by trusts, the
Republicans charged him with desir-
ing to wreck American industries.
The duty on steel will average forty.
five per cent, so that's how far this