Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-19
By Day Allen Wiley
DIG square white envelopes
- come to the White House

DIG square white envelops By Day Al
u come to the White House
by the thousands in year.
The President is asked to do every sort of thing,
from having the cornerstone of the new Coyote
County courthouse to being one we have with
us this evening" at the annual dinner OF the
Chamber OF Commerce or the boomV1lle
Pushers Club.
Two or three clerks who in these typewrltlng
DAYS can still pen letter in the script OF the
little old red schoohouse, do nothing else but
answer invitations from Sunday school asso-
cations farmers clubs, conventions of the
M c. A., the d. A. R., and the dozens of
other initiated bodies. Even the baseball man
ager tries to tempt the head of the nation to
the end-season banquet of the winning team.
In Roosevelt's time he was more than once Of
fered the box of honor at a hstic display be-
tween punchers of world renown
If the President accepted hundredth OF
these engraved and engrossed requests so en-
ticingly worded and so artistlcally prepared, he
would have to hire substitute and devote his
time to junketng In the old days Thomas
jefferson and John Adams could occasionally
eat barbecue and spread mortar under cor
nerstone; but nowadays things go with such a
rush that when somebody gets up ten million
dollar exposition and people go from all over
the country they have to cheer the President
by long distance wire and just imagine he IS
among them.
Answering the Invitations
MOST of the social mail could be answered
AvA by mimeograph, because the same reply
which means Thanks; but can't come,
only expressed in more elegant language-can
be sent in nearly every case. Sometimes an
invitation comes that is not answered by the
correspondence clerks; then it is placed on the
executive desk after its Importance has been
appraised by the private secretary.
1t may be an invitation to military reunion,
a big national gathering. religious, scientific,
or social conference, but something where the
President will see people from all over the coun-
try and have a chance to meet men who have
information he wants. The event may be
"love feast" where leaders of the party are
irving to bring together opposing factions. 1t
is diplomatic to have him there to help smooth
things out.
If he can attend several events in the same
part of the country, so forenoon will do the
commencement, an afternoons ride will reach
the monument dedication or the opening of the
new State building, they are more likely to sue
coed in getting the President; but if he says
yes, it is all planned out at Washington weeks
and months ahead and planned out to the
where and when he will eat, the time required
on the train, who will be his host if any, even
the kind of speech he will make.
Fixing Up the Speeches
SPEECHES are of course part of the pro-
~ gram the President must give. Now where
and how can he get the mass of information he
needs for what he has to say each year! Think
OF DINNERS III IOnOI VI UiS Hcu dllo UiS
events, the unwilling of monuments of all
Sorts the formal openings of churches, halls,
and other public buildings, the college COM
mencements, the warshp launchings, to say
nothing of political gatherings he thinks he
must attend, where he must talk! So it is that
months before the coming of the Great One,
letters may be sent from Washington to the
local newspaper editor for all the facts about
the building to be dedicated, who thought of
the idea, the purpose for which it is intended,
the prominent citizens who have helped boom
the enterprise. If the celebration is in memory
of a departed favorite son of the community
or the State, everything worth while about who
he was, what he did, and what he might have
done is sought for.
Pleasing the Crowd
60, when he speaks, what strikes the crowd
- is how much he knows about our town.
He must be interested in it, and they feel
bigger than ever before. If the reference to
the departed citizen includes tales of what
he has done for the community, and it
usually does, that comes home to them far
more than the rest of the eulogy, eloquent as
it may be- "One of our folks, and he knew all
about him. John must have been friend of
the Presidents. Think of iti'' If the guest
should want to run again for office, he can
surely count on bigger majority next time
y1or