The National tribune., 1907-03-28

i
been rejected.
With many big business men the
President is impatient. He finds great
business men often very narrow out
side their own calling. They have nc
horizon. They know practically moth
ing about the details OF Government al
Washington, and take things for grant
ed that are absolutely impossible. One
big financier came down to Washington
saw the President and during the inter
view showed that he thought an utter.
was the same thing as a Congressional
statute.
The President finds most of these bis
captains of industry not only childlikt
but childish in their conceptions of af.
fairs OUTSIDE their own particular field
As they talk mostly with the President
about matters outside their own fields
they are apt to gain erroneous ideas
about what the President thinks OF
what he intends doing. And the Presi-
dent does not like to have to conduct
campaign of education among these
men, who are generally intelerant OF
education, as they have absolute conf
dence in their own opinions and in their
own judgment They think they know
as much about affairs in other lines as
they do about their own business.
Tourists to the National Capital.
Apart from matters pertaining to
railroads and finance, Washington has
been teeming with interesting events OF
recent days. The stream of visitors daily
to the White House offices is large
There are Senators and Representatives
among the pilgrims, for many of the
lawmakers remain in Washington till
the weather grows warmer, while 9TH
I,or an
trips and are returning home by way OF
the National Capital. There are also
thousands of tourists in Washington
during the Easter season. 1t has come
to be very popular for graduating
classes of high schools to make Win
ter trip to Washington and spend the
best part of a week sightseeing. There
are 400 such visitors in Washington this
week from New England. The school
visitors have been coming ever since
early in February, and by no means all
Of them have arrived yet.
An appeal has. been made to the
President by H. N. Marvin. of Dover.
Del. to aid him in finding mis- kidnapped
son. The President has responded with
characteristic enthusiasm, and the Post
Office Department is trying to find a
way to help. The crime Of kidnapping
Is one OF the most heinous in the Presi-
dents category.
The KidnapinG Case.
It was only few years. ago that the
country rung with his efforts to punish
the perpetrators Of q kindred crime,
that Of abduction Of an American citi-
zen. That American citizen, altho re-
siding most of his life abroad, was
Pericardis. Pericardis had been accus-
toned to dwelling at Tangier, in Mo-
IL. n
held for ransom. The incident stirred
the President greatly, and it also stirred
the country. John Hay, then Secre-
tary of State, made a formal demand
for the release of Pericardis, and when
the Moroccan Government was power
less to comply a further demand was
couched in the words, ''Pericardis alive
or Raisuli dead" This demand was
made while the Republican National
Convention was in session at Chicago.
The epigram was framed not by Secre-
but by Edwin M. Hood, q newspaper
correspondent. who suggested the line
to the Secretary. The Brooklyn and
other warships. commanded by Rear
Admiral Chadwick, started for Tangier,
and soon after their arrival Pericardis
and his fellow-captive, Varley, were re-
leased, mainly thru the efforts Of the
French Government, which did not
want any complications from the land
ing of American sailors at Tangier.
There Is no likelihood that any such
dramatic effect can be produced in
the Dover lad. but the Presi-
dent will do all he can to bring the kid
napers to justice, even tho 1t be moth
ing more than to permit the posting of
circulars in the public buildings Of the
As States.
Shaking Up the Bureau.
There has been a great upheaval in
the last few days In the Department Of
the Interior, where the new Secretary,
Mr.. Garfield. is shaking up the dry
bones. The Interior Department Is one
of the largest of all the Government
as 1t includes the Pension
Office, the Land Office, and other very
large Bureaus. At the direction of the
President, who has become tired of the
frequent evidences of graft and incom-
potency, Secretary Garfield is trying to
reorganize several of the Bureaus. He
Is putting new men into responsible po-
sitions. discharging or demoting old
ones, and thus keeping the several hun
dreds of employees there in a constant
furry.
One of the most important changes
has been the demoticn of Assistant At
Frank l.. Campbell, a
veteran Of the civil war, who has been
employed In the Department of the In
terror in one or another capacity for 80
years, and the nomination of a Yale
athlete, George w. Woodruff, in his
stead. Mr.. Woodruff rowed powerful
BAR for four years and played right end
On the football team. He has done
some good legal work in the Bureau of
Forestry, but has never had much ac-
i've practise of law. Mr.. Campbell has
been given a minor legal place for a |
few months, but will be discharged
rom the Government service by July 1. |
More reforms in the Departments are |
o be executed during the Summer. Only
recently the President has shaken up
he Post-O Office Department and infused
'ome new blood. He has appointed new
Assistant Postmasters-General and in
'tituted sweeping reforms Something
will be doing in a similar line before
ong in the Treasury Department Some
important changes in administration
lave already been inaugurated there in
he direction of shutting the Standard
Dill interests out of favors they have
'ome to regard as a matter of right.
md so all along the line the progressivel
Roosevelt Administration is givingl
something to talk about
md think about as the buds swell and
he crocuses begin to peep thru the sun