Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-28
It Has Been Tried by Several
Presidents Before Roosevelt.
WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL
A CORRESPONDENTS STORIES OF
HOW IMPORTATION LEAKED.
One Secretary Would Not Talk, but
Had Loquacious Son-A Mighty
Good Typewriting Machine.

'It can be set down for a sure thing that
few of the old-timers along newspaper row
are losing any sleep over the cabinet-gag-
gIng order issued by the President before
he started on his southern tour" observed
a Washington correspondent of long eX-
porience and seasoning. THE inside gist,
the intimate nub of everything going on
at the cabinet sessions will be got, same as
usual, nor will the country have to de-
pend, for it's information as 10 cabinet do
ings, upon formal little slips fixed up by
Mr.. Loeb and solemnly bestowed upon the
representatives of the press associations
THE meat and heart of the cabinet doings
will continue to appear in newspapers rep
resented in Washington by pen-pushers pos
sessed Of the know how Certain OF the
members of the cabinet may, for httie
WHILE be what the sports call 1eary' when
Il comes to providing the proper tip on the
big things, but even the most timorous OF
them will loosen up In time. ana the gag
order will be as If it had never been Issued
The present cabinet as has been the case
with other cabinets, will prove soon
enough that It is gagless and ungagabie
'The only dificuity will be that. for a
little while. the incredulous, you ve-got-
to-show me- element OF the public may not
accept the strictly veracious accounts OF
gain the information. The doubling ones.
in view of the wide publicity which mas
| been given the gagging order ana the
vast amount Of comment on 1t throughout
the country, may really suppose that the
order goes that the cabinet members
| really are gagged to stay gagged. and that
the accounts of cabinet meetings Will
necessarily have to be more or less faxes
But in the course of little while, when
the accounts of the cabinet doings come
| to be verified with great regularity by sue
ceeding events, this incredulity will be dis
sipated and the skeptical ones VIII be
RI m.
| that they are getting the straight goods
"'Stop talking orders have been issued
| to plenty of cabinets before Mr. Roose-
| Welt became President of the United states.
Mr. Roosevelt's order differs from preced-
! ing ones of the same general intent merely
| because II was put into concrete form ana
signed by his secretary. NO former Presi-
dent ever issued direct printed ukase or
pronunciamento to his cabinet MEMBERS,
virtually forbiddng them to furnish news
paper correspondents with Information
about cabinet meetings but several Presi-
dents that l could mention have become
| more or less peevish over what one OF them
| termed the 'loquacity' of cabinet members,
| and at regular cabinet meetings more or
| less petulantly adjured the members of the
| table round to stop leaking inside infor-
nation to the correspondents.
| During Mr.. Cleveland's Last Term.
Mr.. Cleveland during his last adminstra-
ton became incensed over what he consid-
| cred the undue amount of inside stuff
| that obviously proceeding from certain
members of his cabinet, was being gained
by alert Washington correspondents. and
at several of the meetings of his cabinet
he ponderously enjoined the members of his
abinet whom he more than suspected of
being too garrulous to suit his conception
| of the proper thing to put the paddock
upon their lips and to pipe down, as we d
say board ship.
but the enioined ones didn't pipe down
| SOS you could notice 1t. True, they didn't
| deliberately violate the Injunction by going
| right on telling the things that they consld-
cred that they had a right to tell. and that,
| in their view. the general newspaper-read-
| ing public had a right to know They
| saved their faces and their consciences to
| certain extent by adopting little expedients
| of their own for furnishing information
| that they felt positive the voters and tax
| payers of the country in general had per-
| feet right to possess.
For instance:
mot long after Mr. Cleveland had first
| warned the members of his cabinet against
| 1oose-mouthed loquacity'I won't say that
| he invented that term, but it. does sound
| like him-I called upon certain member of
| his cabinet, a gentleman with whom | had
| been on the best of terms for many years,
| particularly during his long period of serv-
| ice in the House of Representatives.
| II wanted to get the real nub as to the
| probable executive action on certain mat
| ter of acute interest to people of the state
| In which my newspaper was printed. The
| matter was under the Jurisdiction of the
| member of the cabinet whom / approached,
| and 1 knew that it had been under consd-
| GRAFTON at several recent cabinet meetings.
| "Ushered into the presence of the Secre-
| tary, who greeted me with his accustomed
cordially l went straight to the point and
| asked him for the information that my
| paper had most pressngly instructed me to
| get
1.-The Secretary gazed out of the window
| and twiddied his thumbs till had finished
Ispeaking, and then he said:
"'Son, are you aware Of the fact that the
| Chief-he had habit of abiding to the
( President the Chef'-has lately be-
| come all rled up, so to speak, over-er-er-
| leakages-that's the word, leakages-con-
| corning cabinet meetings?'
II replied that I'd heard some such
| rumor.
| but, added, here's matter in which
| the people of not only a whole state, but
whole group of states, are interested, as
you know. and
| "'Oh, 1 know all that broke in the Sec
| rotary. In my personal opinion the folks
| living in those states have got a perfect
| right to know all about the situation of
| that matter. But the Chief seems to be in
| eensed over the way things have been get
| ting out, and l don't care to face his sus-
| pictous glances. I'm sorry, but won't be
| able to give you the information you are
| seeking. | knew you would be after It. and
/ hate to refuse you. but you must under
| stand the situation.
Just a Discreet Tip.
| 81 didn't feel like pressing him further. L
| felt that he'd give me the information 1
| wanted If he could. SO l turned to go. AS
reached the door the Secretary called
| after me and when turned to him l saw
| queer little twinkle in his eye.
a." BY the way. son. he said to me, be-
4 lieve 1 heard the boy say this morning that
| he wanted to see you
| 1.-The boy was his son. who happened to
| be the chief clerk of the department OF
which the Secretary was the head. That
| was 'nough said.
II was in the office of the boy about two
| minutes later. When I left the Office of
the boy after little while had all the
| information 1 needed safely slowed away in
! the back of my head. The information was
| duly printed in my paper on the following
| day. The next time saw the Secretary he
| pretended to regard me with glare of the
! greatest disapproval.
| $50. sir he said, with well-assumed
sternness. you go right ahead printing cab
| met news, or alleged news, in spite of the
| Chiefs Introduction. do you? Your vapor-
| ippS DR. caused me- to he all but carpeteQ