Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-19
The Presidents Request of
Members of the Cabinet
CAUSES WIDE COMMENT
HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS ARE
MUCH SURPRISED.
Poceedings of Cabinet Meetings to Be
Disclosed Only to the Press
Associations.

The fact has come out that yesterday
morning each member of the cabinet re-
ceived letter q page and n half long.
signed by Secretary Loeb directing that in
the future not one word be said about any
thing that takes place IN the cabinet room.
The letter Is said to have been dictated by
President Roosevelt himself and to fully
represent his views
The letter begins by directing that abso-
lutte secrecy be observed as to cabinet bust
ness. The letter is said to have contained
the following:
sit has been made the subject of an I'M
Outstanding with the three press associa-
tons that nothing Is TO be given out here
after In regard to cabinet meetings. This
will do away with the unseemly practice
which self-respectlng members of the press
have always disliked to follow. OF waylay-
ing members of the cabinet as they come
out from the cabinet meetings and asking
them for information Of what has taken
place.
1T is to be helped that In Observance OF
this request. which places each member
OF the cabinet under the solemn moral
obligation not to discuss proceedings or
the meetings of the cabinet no one Will
In moment Of weakness or of good ma
ture give TO special correspondent whom
ne may especially Hike. or for whom he
reeis sorry, statement of anything that
has happened In cabinet meetings Such a
course would make 1t necessary to go back
to the old practice of giving out a resume
of what has been done by the cabinet.
which is undesirable. Members Of the cabi-
net will also please refrain from discussing
policies. either of their own or those of the
administration
Cabinet Officers Surprised.
The letter was great surprise to cabinet
officers. as only a few weeks ago, upon
the urgent Instruction OF the President,
cabinet officers had begun to refuse to
talk to newspap per men. saying that Sec
rotary Loeb would give out whatever
should be made public The fact that Mr.
Loeo dfd not give out anything led news
paper men to continue the practice of
seeking news from cabinet members, who.
however. fell back upon the Presidents
desire to keep secrecy and said nothing.
Until the recent order of the President
cabinet members had resorted to the prac-
uce OF announcing to the press whatever
had taken place in the meeting respecting
their own departments. invariably deeIin-
ing to talk about what had occurred In
departments other than their owns This
enabled fair degree OF information of the
cabinet meetings to come out especially
matters relating to appointments. 1t is a
fact that nearly all cabinet meetings are
largely taken up in discussing departmental
matters, such as appointments and the
character of men applying for positions IL
has been conceded that when an appoint
ment was decided upon and confirmed by
the President 1t was legitimate and fair
that 1t should be announced by the head
of department. ~
The enforcement of the rue that cabinet
officers should not talk led to several
clashes with cabinet Officers, and CORE
spondents, in which the newspaper. men.
maintained that the American people had
grown accustomed to expecting correct in
formation of official action. and that they
would probably resent attempts to keep
from them that to which they believed
they were entitled.
Effect of the Order
Under the provisions of the order issued
to cabinet officers by the President no In
formation may now be given to correspond
ents. and all matter must be handed first
to the three press associations of the eouu-
try. The effect of such an order. II fully
carried out by everybody. would mean that
nothing would ever reach the public except
IN the form desired by the administration,
as the press associations handle the mat
ter given to them as official without enter
ing into that comment and analysis that
is customary with special correspondents
and reporters.
The order was a source of widespread
comment today, newspaper men and govern
meut officials joining in discussing II. The
fact that the letter of the President leaked
out was considered strong evidence that
1t might be almost impossible TO enforce a
rule Of that sort.
Censorship Becoming Stricter.
The handling of cabinet news by newspa-
per men has grown gradually more difficult
in the last few years. In the Mckinley ad-
ministration each cabinet officer was his
own Judge as to what should or should not
be made public. and the members talked
somewhat freely on subjects that had been
decided upon and were really past affairs.
Several years ago rule was made that
the Presidents secretary would give out
whatever cabinet news there was This
was found tmpracttcabie, by reason of the
late hour OF adjournment of the sessions.
and each cabinet officer went back to the
plan of giving out whatever news OF the
session concerned his own department This
plan appears TO have resulted in the giving
out of information that did not suit tho
President and some of his cabinet officers.
with the consequence that the latest rule
has been adopted
Those newspaper men whose duty 1t is to
look after the work of the cabinet do not
desire the making public of such things as
ought to be held back because their settle
ment has not been determined upon. but
they think that every case that has been
definitely settled some way or other Is the
property OF the public and ought to be
given out.
New Policy is Criticised.
They criticise what apears to be general
attempt to withhold anything from them.
and point out that the cabinet and other
officers of the administration do not hesitate
to make public whatever they regard as
suitable to their ends. but refuse inforna-
ton on subjects that might not be 50 favor
able IL broadeasted. The effect of such a
policy is to shape public sentiment by OFF,
ciai proeLhmations containing only what
officials have carefully concluded should go
out.
The frank opinion is expressed by many
Y,ewspauer men that IL this policy Is con-
tinued the public at large will not give the
same confidence to Washington official mat
ter they would If they did not know that
everything that is given out Is practically
blue-penciled in advance. Because OF the
supposed frankness with which matters are
handled here in official circles the public
usually relies with confidence upon the
news that Is sent all over the country each
tiay believing that 1t fairly represents all
sides of the situation and not one side only.
DEATHS nv ACCIDENT