The Tupelo journal., 1909-08-20

NhSNy 1HS
paper having a Washington CORE
spondent publishes, under a capital
city date line, that on high authority
in a certain department cit may be 4
said" etc, the correspondent has
been talking with the chief of the de-
partment or with one so close to him
officially that the voice of the one is
as the voice of the other.
The president of the United States
is never to be quoted, but it is prob
able that things the president has ~
said directly have gone to the public
some thousands of times through the -
newspapers of the country, although
it is extremely likely that many of X
the readers, in view of the fact that m,0
direct words to the effect that the eMN
president has spoken and quotation Win
marks were absent, h~esitated to be- Ml
lieve that what they read came warm WIN
from the White House. IM
1t has been said that the president W
of the United States is never to be M
quoted. That is the rule. Once in a VI
great while presidents take the ban
off and say: "You may say that l
said So" Ordinarily when Mr.. Taft y
or any of his predecessors in office
have had occasion to put forth a pro-
nouncement it has been prepared
with forethought and has been given out in
printed form to be put upon the wires for
general consumption.
The president talks to the Washington cor
respondents perhaps more than semi-occa-
sionally and unless inhibited they may charge
their own words with the spirit of what he
has said and then give it to the readers of
what they write. The first lesson that a newly
appointed correspondent has to learn is that
no matter how sharp and direct a statement
is given to him by any official it is not to be
used with a name unless permission is given.
Permission generally is given, save in the
cases of the president and the cabinet off
GERS, and even in these cases there is the gen.
eral understanding that the statements may
be put before the public in such form that
it may be known definitely that either execu-
tive or cabinet authority has spoken.
The White House is the source of the
greater part of the vitality interesting news
that goes out of Washington and by the
White House one does not necessarily mean
the president. More legislative news is to be
had in the outer offices of the executive man
sion than is to be had in the capitol itself.
Of course this statement has no reference to
the actual passing of legislation.
No bill of great Importance having a Re-
publican origin ever goes into the hopper of
congress unless it's merits or dement's have
been pretty we'll discussed in the office of the
president. The Republican member who has
a measure of national moment to introduce
into congress naturally goes to the president
to get from him his opinion.
Frequently, more than frequently, the SEN
ator or representative who has conferred
with the president is willing to tell the world
through the newspapers how the chief execu-
tive looks upon the legislation which he has
in hand. This holds of course only when the
measure has been met with presidential favor
and not with presidential frowning.
Senators and members and callers from a
distance get access to the presidents room
through an outer Office, where during the
morning hours newspaper correspondents
assemble. From this little office there is a
daily shadowing forth of future events.
1t may not be wide of the mark to tell how
once on a time a Washington correspondent,
who, with 20 of his fellows, was in the outer
White House Office, secured what is known to
the daily writing fraternity as a scoop" and
secured it under the very noses of his fell
lows. This thing hardly can happen more
than once in a newspaper mans lifetime un-
der similar circumstances.
1t was in the early days of railroad rate
agitation. The whole country was anxious
to know what the president intended to do,
wha. bill for rate regulation he intended to
indorse and what member of congress was to
be the lucky IaIneT VI the measure WHICH was
to hold the country's interest certainly for an
entire session.
While the correspondents were in the
White House Office a man came out from the
presidents room, passed unchallenged by the
newspaper men, for apparently none of them
knew him, and walked rapidly away from the
entrance in the direction of Pennsylvania ave
nue.. One correspondent did know this man
by sight, but he held his peace and his own
counsel.
Before the presidents visitor had vanished
from sight, however, the correspondent who
knew who he was started after him and over