East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-09-19
ROOSEVELT
HOME COMING
GENERAL HOUSECLEANING
IN EXECUTIVE CITY
Vacation Time Ended With Presi-
dents Return and Washington Of
flclals Get Down TO WOrlS-Cabinet
Officers Returned and Returning
-Scant Revenues Must BE Stretch
ed to Cover Heavy Expenses for
Year.

Washington, Sept. 19.-"The boss
is coming back-get busy" This is
the word that has been passed about
among the employees of the White
House, and as a result the cleaners
and busters and gardeners and men OF
all work have been laboring overtime
during the last week. The executive
mansion has now assumed a spick and
span appearance and will be ready
for its occupants when the president
and his family arrive from oyster Bay
three days hence.
A lot of pleasant official vacations
in September have been cut very
short The president is returning All
the others Of his executive force must
govern themselves accordingly. 1t
seems to have been overlooked that
the president might return to be pres
ent during the sessions of the tuber-
culosis congress When he departed,
however, it was generally understood
that the White House doors would
not swing open for him and his family
until October 1. That was the date
OF his return las summer. so the big
and little official vacations were
builded around that date.
Postmaster General Meyer formed
the advance cabinet guard Washing
tonward this year. As he returned
Secretary of War Wright hastened
away to attend some amy manoeuv-
ers at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. and
therefore the old cabinet rule of one
man i'm Washington TO keep down the
summer lid held food for a time.
Secretary of the Navy Metcalf and
Attorney General Bonaparte arc
among the early comers. The former
has been away a long while, and
there is q I9t Of navy business await
ing his attention. As soon as the
federal courts begin their October ses-
sion Mr. Ronaparte and his assistants
will have a quantity of legal business
to attend to. Some of this must have
attention in advance. Then there is
to be a new trust buster in charge
Of that activity at the department of
justice before long-Attorney General
Wade II. Ellis of Ohio. In the mean
time Mr. Bonaparte must look after
much of that work himself Mr.. FL
lis, as assistant to the attorney gen.
eral, must also have a little time to
look over the pending cases and fa-
miliarize himself with them.
The first official tasks in hand this
autumn after the linen covers have
been removed from official desks and
the accumulated work disposed of
must be the preparation of annual
reports and the making up of an
nual estimates The latter promises
to be an embarrassing task. The rev.
enues are scant. For the next fiscal
year, beginning July l next, these rev.
enues will plainly be many, many
less than the current eX-
penditures of the federal govern
ment BY the timethis fiscal year has
passed and another is at hand there
is every promise that the present sur
plus will be pretty we'll depleted
The question will certainly be a
one for the next admins
tration. President Roosevelt, al
though he will be out of Washing
ton and probably in the heart of the
wilds of Africa by that time can not
possibly ignore ii now. But whether
the heads of the various executive
will take note of this
or whether they will make
their estimates as usual and pass the
responsibility on to congress is not
yet known. 1t will be practically inn
possible for Congress to put any new
scheme of tariff taxes into operation
IN time to meet the situation for the
first half of the next fiscal year, which
means from July l, 1909, to January
/, 1910. Congress, of course, might
evy some special internal revenue
axes, but that would be exceedingly
Unpopular and would not be under
aiken except in a very extreme stua-
ion.
The logic of the situation points TO /
| feverish effort at curtailment all |
llong the line during the late autumn |
md coming winter, not as affecting
he expenditures of the last months /
IF the Roosevelt administration, |
which have already been fixed by law, !
)ut for the year of the administra-
ion that succeeds.