Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-04

Tie President and his family of official ad-
visers Even in the trying. grave days of
IL, spanish war. when the United States
Nas holding at arms length the interfer
cuce Of Europe, the sunny. genial nature OF
President Mckinley WAS continually upper
most. and the councils of the nations ruiz
crs partouk little of the ideas pictured by
50 many.
The first meeting Of the new cabinet of
President Roosevelt, II il may properly
he called a new one, will be held next
Tuesday, and there win be no interruption
from then on 10 the semi-weekly gathering
Of the nine men who. with President
Roosevelt. constitute the executive branch
of the government. President Roosevelt
viii ny that time have sent their names to
the Senate and tEat body, following custom,
viii quickly confirm them. There has been
no instance in history of the Senate stop
ping long enough 10 discuss the wisdom of
cpuiirmiug or rejecting a cabinet appointee
Of the President at the beginning of an
administration. The Senate proceeds upon
the theory that the newly elected President
mas given deep thought 10 who shall
stituie the body Of men to surround him,
and courtesy forbids the slightest inquiry
to the wisdom Of what he may have done.
politically hostile Senate would act III
the same manner as politically friendly
one.
Precedent. for many years back. has fixed
upon tuesdays ana frld3yS as the Two
days in the week for the cabinet meetings
and IL O'Clock in the day the hour. There
has been 10 change in the days or the hour
for eight years. Time has shown that Sat
urdays and Mondays are not good days for
the cabinet sessions. and it has also shown
that Tuesdays and Fridays are about the
est Saturday is busy day with the
President, his callers on that day being
larger than any other of the week. There
are several reasons for this: The first is
that the cabinet day falling on Friday call
ers are unable to the President. and
make their visits the next day. The next
is that senator or representative defers
his business with the President till toward
the end OF the week, and then he wants to
clean up his affairs before beginning
other week. Procrastination is one of the
evils of which congressional life is not free
The First Meeting.
1t will depend a great deal zupon the ma
ture and amount of the business before the
first cabinet session of the new admins
Uation whether the serious or the light
vein holds sway If the President feels
good that Congress is off his hands, and
there is little departmental business. it is
q certainty that some good jokes will be
told, and that the President will have some
things to say that will interest and amuse
those sitting around him. There is no man
more appreciative of wit than the Presi-
dent. but he is not given much to Joking.
the ironical kind, incisive. subtle He accu-
mulates fund of good things during MS
daily contact with importuning humanity,
and the cabinet gets the benefit delight
ciplents. They are pleased to see that the
Presidents good humor does not desert
him. They regard it as an indica ton that
the onerous duties of his office are not
wearing too heavily upon him, and that he
gers fair good share of the brighter side
of life out of his office and work.
President Mckinley's evenly balanced dis
position never borrowed trouble, and
throughout the most serious and compre-
hensire problems of his occupancy of the
White House maintained that dignitied
cheerfulness that was one of his best char
acteristlcs. He liked and tod d good
story. not only at cabinet meetings, but
during the transaction of daily business.
BILLY Mason, who was then in the Senate
from Illinois. was about the best story
teller of the upper house. and he had a
fresh story every time he called at the
White House. Mason really broke the
monotony and tiresomeneSs of the days
routine, and President Mckinley liked to
have him call. The last two chief eXecu-
tives have been men, therefore, who did not
shut out the sunshine from their offices,
while the two before them were men of
rather aUstere dignity, Harrison unbendng
mole for joke than Cleveland.
Smoked During Sessions.
President Mckinley and his cabinet Of
ficers smoked during the cabinet sessions,
and there were times when a peep into the
room would not have revealed all the MEM
bers for the dense circling cigar smoke
out Of courtesy to President Roosevelt
there is no smoking at the meeting of the
cabinet now. President Roosevelt rarely
smokes. never during business hours, while
President Mckinley sat at his table with a
lighted cigar always near him Sensational
papers used to print stories that he was i'll
- ooh. ra=irf
this subject, more than on any other. The
autopsy after his assassination not
show that any particular organ had been
harmed by his excessive use of cigars. He
smoked strong Hayanas, too, and smoked
twenty to thirty day.
All of the nine members of the Roosevelt
cabinet genial men. alive to the best
and witticst IN human conversation. There
are five good story tellers in the cabinet.
These are Secretaries Hay, Shaw, Taft and
Morton and Attorney General Moody. The
other four good listeners and two of
the four-HitchcOck and WilSon-rank fair
" well at getting off good things. Post
master General Cortelyou and Secretary
Metcalf do not join in the illustration OF
departmental work by stories. The three
hest story telierS are Secretaries Hay, Shaw
and Taft i'm the order named. the first two
being inveterate in that line. Secretary
Shaw never presents joke so that its
point protrudes too far. He likes TO leave
the comprehension of it to the listener
These three are not only the best in the
cabinet at telling stories. but they are the
heartiest laughers. There rolls out of the
cabinet room occasionally burst of the
most genuine laughter. The reVcrbeTationS
can be heard in several of the rooms. The
jokes are sure to be wei received If they
are at the expense OF fellow abinet mem
bers, particularly those who don't joke in
that kind Of thing.
Usually Little Late.
While the work of the cabinet should be-
gin promptly ct II O'Clock the President
rarely has opportunity 10 enter the cabiaet