The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-27
TEDDY IS TOO BUSY
Uncle Joe" sibley Suggests That
Cabinet Members Attend to
All Of6ceseekers.
He Also Advises the Appointment Of
a Steering Committee tosPass
Upon House Bills.
From The Journal Bureau, Room IS, Post Build
ing, Washington

From The Journal Bureau, Room IS, Post Build
ing, Washington.
Washington, April 27.-.'Uncle Joe" Sib-
ley has some original ideas on the distri-
button Of patronage, which. he believes, If
strictly followed, would relieve two of
the greatest officers in the United States
of their onerous burdens without, in effect,
depriving them Of a. jot or little of their
Importance or power-the offices being
those of president OF the United States
and speaker Of the house of representa-
tives. Behind the smooth and smiling
cOuntenance Of Representative Sibley are
concealed political astuteness which
equals his ability as fnancfer, a faculty
for weighing and gauging men and mat
ters and a love Of humanity i'll general
which is scarcely surpassed by his love
of horse flesh and the good things of this
world.
The presidency of the United States,'
said Mr.. Sibley yesterday, should be
shorn of its terrors. President Roosevelt
is just at the age when he can enjoy, if
such term is appropriate being presi
dent. But even he, altho he -devotes
considerable time to exercise and recrea-
ton, is hampered by the same burden
which has dragged down all executives
and sapped their vitality, especially in the
last forty years.. refer to that hydra
headed dragon known as the officeseeker.
AS a common sense proposition why
should the president be compelled to select
men for minor Offices? The United States
is such a great nation that it should be
run on strictly business principles the
same ais any other corporation. Who for
instance, would approach the president
of a large railroad corporation with an
application for the post Of station master
trainmaster, section foreman. conductor
@t1,< ~f -, 31oS, @I>o
acter? And yet that is almost precistly
what occurs every day with the president
Of the United States .:'> 3:
IF 1 we're president would put in
force sort of civil service of my own.
When I came to make up my cabinet 1
would call together the men whom I con-
| sidered the ablest in my party to fill the
positions to which had assigned them.
would then say to: them: Gentlemen,
appoint to the subordinate positions those
men in whom you have the most confid-
ence and hold them responsible for the
men whom they in turn will appoint and
I will hold you responsible for all.
Then, you see," continued Uncle Joe"
when a senator or member of congress
would come to me in behalf of some man
whom he wanted appointed to the treas
ury department could say to. him: My
| dear senator, nothing would give me
greater pleasure than to oblige you but
as am holding Secretary Shaw to the
strictest accountability for the personnel
of his department, you will have to see
him. - - '. 80 :s-7&
- 1t would, not be very long before SEN
ators, members and others seeking official
positions. for themselves and their con-
sttuents would understand. that the place
to seek office was from the head of the
department under which the office came
and thus the great labor Of making the
| thousand of appointments ), which are
made by each president would be trans
ferred from the shoulders of the presi-
| dent to those of the members of the
cabinet. The president would then be
left time to devote himself to the larger
questions of internal and international
policy and the president would be more
than ever the executive. a.. j.
@4'Of course" he continued, somewhat
whjmsically, this would: not necessarily
deprive the president Of all say in the
matter of appointments. For should it so
happen that the president had some one in
particular whom he wished to be appoint
| ed to a certain position, he could drop a
| little note to that effect to the secretary
of the treasury or to whatever other Off
! cial he desired, suggesting that he would
| like to have Mr.. So-and-So appointed, and
I have little doubt that his wishes would
be respected. =, !. #,s's> =:
| II do not think. however. that such a
state Of affairs will ever be sifia ugura ted
by a president during his first term, but in
| the second term of some president it will
happen some day that the president will
decide Ito no longer permit himself to be
annoyed with applications for office. but
,toturn all such business over to the heads
of the departments, where, in my opinion,
it properly belongs. And it may come in
the first term Of some president, for be-
lieve that such a system would secure the
@S,~kr%o -
available, for each person charged with
the duty of making appointments would
make 1t a point of pride to have all his
appointments of a first-class character and
the administration would thus be stronger
than otherwise would be the case, and the
president could properly ask an indorse-
ment Of the people thru the medium of a
re election. -. ,'>'t .s.+ =. YEs
"Much has been said" continued Mr..
,Sibley, concerning the arduous duties
of the speaker Of the house, and yet the
fact that these duties are so burdensome
/ is largely the fault of the speaker When
Mr.: Henderson. was speaker he consid-
every bill. with the exception of appro-,
priation bills and other privileged bills,
which came before the house. as he
thought he would be held personally re-
sponsible for all private legislation enacted
by that body. Consequently there were
many sheartburnings and many harsh
words used in; connection with his course
which was denounced as tyrannical in the
extreme. suggest. that If the speaker
wishes to avoid placing himself la. posi-
tion where he will be regarded as a ,czar
he should select a steering committee of
from ten to fifteen of the most prominent
members of his party who. would pass
upon the; bills to come before the house.
In this manner the responsibility would
be shifted from the speaker to the steer
ing committee and any complaints of un-
air treatment would lie against the steer
ing committee instead Of against the
| speaker. At the same time he could be
| sure his, wishes would be respected for
| he would appoint the steering committee
and would. of course, retain all of his