Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-22
THE KEEP COMMISSION
Composed of Men in Presi-
dents Confidence.
ALL CAN KEEP SILENT
ARE WELCOMED AT WHITE
HOUSE AT ALL TIMES.
Some Are More Frequent Visitors
Than Cabinet Of1cers-Advance-
ment Expected in Each Case.

OF the PfeS1Qent nlmSeir ana the
other two proteges of Postmaster Cen
eral Cortelyou. All of them are young
men, the oldest being about forty-three and
the youngest about thirty-six. All but one
| of them is college bred, and only one of
| the number Garfield, has had any political
| experience.
| President Roosevelt is well acquainted
| with departmental and governmental red
| tape in Washington He didn't live here
as a civil service commissioner and as as
| sistant secretary of the navy a good many
years for nothing. As President he has
| become better acquainted and his long
| perience confirmed him in the belief that
| there was much lack of uniformity and
method in departmental business, and that
| there was room for progress. In the pur-
chase of supplies alone thousands of dol
| lars could be saved the government each
year by uniform action, the President con-
! sidered. Each department at this time
! acts as it suits best and frequently one
| department pays more for the same goods
| than another. So the President decided to
appoint commission to look into these
! things and to recommend changes. After
| thinking it over long time he named
| five young men-Chares Fl. Keep. assistant
| secretary of the treasury; James r. Gar
| field, commissioner of corporations in the
Department of Commerce and Labor; Law
renee .. Murray, assistant secretary in the
same department: Frank H. Hitchcock,
| first assistant postmaster general, and Gift
| ford Pinchot chief of the forestry division
of the Department of Agriculture.
Their Characteristics.
Although the President intended that the
work of the commission should be confined
to the red tape affairs of the departments
he turned over to it the investigation as
to the row over the purchase of typesetting
| machines for the printing office. The com
| mission has been engaged on this work for
several weeks, and next week will write
a report to the President and then take
recess for the summer.
Charles Hallam Keep. the chairman of the
commission, like the President. is grad
uate of Harvard. He is from Buffalo n.
Y, is well-to-do and came to Washington
as assistant secretary of the treasury with
out much thought of the salary. He is a
forceful man, student of financial mat
tiers and deeply interested in his work.
James r. Garfield is one of three or four
young men in Washington, Pinchot being
| another, who visits the White House al all
hours and is cordially received by the
President. They are with the President
/ more frequently than any member of
his cabinet. They are his confidants
and such they are compelled to keep
their mouths tightly closed. At the be-
ginning of his administration the Presl-
dent had a vacancy in the civil service COM
mission. He considered the question of fill
ing it. He wanted clean upright, fearless
man to fill 1t and at the same time he
ilOl uliHiIiulul Oi TACT Lndl II would De
important for him to make the appoint
ment worth as much possible to himself
politically. He offered the place to Gar
field, a mere boy in Ohio politics. but an
name back of him. Garfield accepted
Afterward he was made commissioner of
corporations in the new Department OF
Commerce. In the beef trust investigation
and other trust and corpora ton matters he
has had to talk with the President many
times. His White House visits. though, are
not confined to the official side. He is wei
coined there socially and personally and
many of his visits have nothing to do with
official work. His work as commissioner of
| corporations has been praised by the Presi-
dent. who intends TO make him cabinet
! officer before the close of his administra-
ton.
Mr.. Pinchot is another of the few men
welcomed in the White House at all times
He, too is a Harvard man. wealthy. and
cares little for the salary he gets as chief
of the forestry division of the Department
of Agriculture. His life study has been
! forestry and he issues many bulletins on
that subject He walks and rides and drives
with the President, plays tennis with him
and his children and is a social fav0rte in
the presidential family. He belongs to
the same class as Keep and Garfield in
knowing how to keep from talking at the
right time. and does this successfully.
AS Unobtrusive as Silent.
Frank H. Hitchcock is another man of the
same class and so Is Lawrence o. Murray. A
more uncommunicative set of young men
could hardly have been gotten together. They
are as unobtrusive as silent. and are not
possessed of the spectacular. keeping out of
the newspa pers as much as possible Hitch
cock was an unknown man in the depart
ments of Washington a few years ago. He
was holding a responsible clerkship, but
that was all. He was out of the range of
public notice. Mr.. Cortelyou knew him,
however and knew his worth. So when
Cortelyou was placed at the head of the
new Department of Commerce and Labor
and looked around for a likely set of staff
officers he made Hitchcock chief clerk He
found that he was not wrong in his first
opinion of the man and took him to New
York as his confidential secretary in the
management of the political campaign of
1904. Hitchcock was a great source Of
satisfaction to Mr.. Cortelyou. who, upon
relinquishing the craftsmanship of the re-
publican national committee and going to
| the head of the Post Office Department
raised Hitchcock to the position of first as
| sistant.
Mr.. Murray was deputy controller of the
currency five or six years ago, when he
accepted an offer to become an officer of
| an Illinois banking concern. He and Mr.
Cortelyou had been personal friends in
Washington and he was selected for as
| 5fstant secretary of the new Depa rtment of
| Commerce and Labor. He has filled the
| place creditably and has the confidence of
| the President to high degree. He Is often
/ d guest VI TIC HTeSlQeDt IN tennis games in
| the rear of the executive Offices On con-
GLIDING each days labor the President
| seeks some form Of outdoor exercise Ten
mis- Is one of the number and he invites
| Murray, Pinchot or Garfield TO enjoy ii
with him. sometimes all of them
! 1t Is said to be the desire OF the President
| TO advance all of these young men when
| ever possible. He feels himself something
| OF a political father to them and they are
willing TO take their chances under him.
Garfield Is not the only one of the num-
| Der mentioned for a cabinet place Mr..
! Keep is talked of as the successor of Sec
| rotary Shaw when the latter retires from
| office in February next; Murray Is mem
| TONED as the successor of Metcalf when
! that official goes out of Office Pinchot
stands good chance of becoming Secretary
| or Agriculture, and the changes Of time
may make Hitchcock Postmaster General.
White or BlackP
From the London Chronicle
Bofsselot a popular French comedian