The silver state news. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1907-1909, 1909-05-04
NEWS OF NATIONS
CAPITAL
BY Sheldon 8. Cline.

"AOAAANUAOfN, may 1s-Anet EIo0l-
dent Taft talks too much il the avowed
belief of white house attaches and 9TH
er close and confidential friends Of the
administration. 1t is not asserted that
MIR. Taft talks unwisely or without due
consideration of what he says, it i
simply that he spends too much Of his
time talking to callers and in listening
to their talk. The result is that he has
to discharge his other tasks in time
which ought to be given to rest or
recreation, the hours OF sleep even be-
in robbed to make up for the hours
spent in talking and being talked at.
A council of the president . friends has
been held and efforts viii be made to
reform him.
It 10 estimated that each caller at
the white house who 10 received by
the president takes an average Of If
teen minutes Of his time. With neither
President Roosevelt nor President Nc
Kinley was the average about i've
minutes. It is Mckinley, however, rath-
er than Roosevelt whom Mr.. Taft's
friends would have him take ~ his
model. Roosevelt and Mckinley ar
rived at the same results, but in radi-
cally different ways. In great ma
jority Of cases Mr.. Roosevelt would
grasp caller by the hand and begin
to talk, and when the president had
dnno foIk;np <ho snto~-sa- -o~ - -
end. Mr.. Mckinley let the caller do
the talking, but there was something
in his manner which forebade unneces-
sary words and brought the caller at
once to the point. Then Mr.. Mckinley
would dispose of the matter in question
without an unnecessary word on his
part. Always, though, there was that
charm of manner and sincere gracious
ness which made Mckinley 20 univer-
sally popular.
Mr.. Taft's disposition is to 60 to the
bottom of things and thresh them out
then and there, forgetting all other
matters in his intensity Of application
to tn cone. Not only does this take
more of the president 3 time than he
ought to give, but it causes dissatisfac-
tion among other callers who are kept
waiting during these long interviews.
OF course, both Roosevelt and Me-
Kinley had callers who could not be
dismissed with few hurried words.
Such as those, after being greeted, were
asked to remain until others waiting
had been talked to and dismissed. This
method kept the ante-room clear and
everybody was happy. Mr.. Taft's life
system has been to do one thing at .
time and do it thoroughly and he hasn't
yet caught on to the methods his pre-
decessors had of railroading" callers.
Frequent comment is heard ON the
similarity of President Taft's charac-
teristics and methods to those Of Grow
er Cleveland. Though there il not lack
ing foundation for comparison, the
similarity probably is more spparent
than real. There is the same pains
taking care and attention to details,
but the painstaking of Mr.. Taft 10 less
laborious than was that Of Mr.. Cleve-
land. Mr.. Taft doesn't write out his
papers with his own hand, as Mr.. Oeve-
land did, nor does he show the Cleve-
land unwilingness to entrust anything
to his subordinates. Mr.. Cleveland's
conscientiousness led him personally to
scrutinize every subject which came be-
vial. Mr.. Taft 10 no less conscientious,
but he has a broader grasp upon the
duties Of the presidency, and also he
realizes that the duties of the presi-
dent have enormously increased ever
since the incumbency Of Mr.. Cleve-
land. 1t is growing more and more
difficult each year for . president to
give personal attention to the details
of routine matters.
That Mr.. Taft has full appreciation
of this fact was evidenced when he or
ganized his cabinet. He got the very
best men he could find, told them to
pick their own assistants, and that he
would hold them alone responsible for
the work of their departments. If Mr..
Taft carries out the program he has an
nounced the members Of his cabinet
will be less Of clerks and more of ad-
than have the ministers
of any president of recent years.
.,ut for all the evidences that Mr..
Taft appreciates that every minute of
his time is of the utmost value, he will
talk and talk and talk to his callers,
and then work far into the night to
make up for the time he has lost.