The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-02
Washington Cor. St. Louis Globe-Demo

Washington Cor. St. Louis Globe-Demo- crat
 THEY say that Taft and MT. Cor (0 telyou, the present secretary of the treasury. are better able to bend the President to their views than any of the other members of the cabinet.
 But even Taft has been subjected to the presidential discipline on occasion. There was the time when the big secretary came back from Cuba. He was convinced that i, would be many months before the American forces could withdraw from the island. The President wanted an ear ly withdrawal. Accustomed to getting what he wanted he quite disregarded the conditions onA the island, and began to say to his con1dants and even casual callers, that there would be an almost immediate withdrawal. The President | thought it a great chance to show the i country his conservatism, and that he was not bent on conquest of the world, and that he could be as considerate and conservative in handling the Cubans as had been the lamented Mckinley.
 About the time the President was giv- 1 ilS dSSuI dllCe u CdlltIS dS u tdliS
 withdra wal Mr. Taft was frankly telling the newspaper correspondents of the real { conditions and of his belief that 1t would
 be more than a year before we could withdraw and again turn governmental affairs back to the islanders When the i President read the half dozen papers, which he usually glances over each morn ing at the breakfast hour, and saw the Tat interview, he was wroth.
 Taft got an early morning summons. He obeyed 1t on his way to his desk. The President went after him rough shod as soon as he stepped into the presidential office. Taft was taken back for a mo- ment and then tried his usual method of laughing the President out of his seri- ousness. It did not work The Presl- dents warmth increased until Taft's face heightened and he listened in silence to the balance of the scolding the Presi- dent was delivering. When the Presi- dent had finished he rose to leave. Just as he balanced his bulky form on the doorsil of the office he turned, looked squarely at the President and said in a quiet way:
 "I'll refuse to discuss the subject with the boys again. But I'll not lie to them, for Mir. President, In spite of your power and your opinion and your luck, the troops are not going to get out of Cuba for many a month to come."
 Then he stalked out of the office. He was surrounded by correspondents His face was still clouded.
 Not Q word, not a word boys" he said to the group around him. "I have just discovered that don't know a thing about the Cuban situation and you boys betrayed me yesterday into believing I did"
 The relations between the President and | his secretary of state, MT. Root, are en- tlrely different. Mir. Root takes himself seriously even with the chief executive. It is known that MT. Root does not take kindly to the executive summons, and that since he has been secretary of state on at least one occasion he has sent back word that unless something urgent was desired he was too busy to come over to the white house. It Is doubtful if the President would quietly accept such treatment from any other cabinet officer He indulges Root because he has the greatest respect for his legal acumen and judgment.
 The real fact about the matter Is that