The Hawaiian gazette., 1909-08-24
CABINET SEEKS
PEACEFUL LIFE
By Ernest G. Walker.
(Mail Special to the Advertiser.)

Secretary of Agriculture Wilson is
never averse to staying in Washington
during the hot months and he has
made no exception this summer. BY
and by he will be straying out to
Iowa for little rest He will be here
to sit on the lid for a while when all
the other cabinet officers have de.
parted.
After a week or so, all the depart
ments, with an exception or two, will
be in charge of assistant secretaries.
They arrange those matters carefully,
So that some assistant secretary at
least shall always be on deck. Assist
ant Secretary McHarg will be the Act
ing Secretary of Commerce and Labor
during most of August and Septem-
Der. Assistant Secretary Reynolds will
be Acting Secretary of the Treasury
during the intervals when Secretary
| Macyeagh goes up to New Hampshire.
Assistant Secretary Of the Navy Beck
man Winthrop has been acting sec
rotary of that department much of the
| time in recent months and, as mat
Ter of fact, has had more experience
thus far in performing the duties of
n head of department than any other
of the twenty-five or thirty assistant
secretaries. He is great friend of
President Taft and used to be Assist
ant Secretary of the Treasury.
There are half n dozen assistant at
torneys general who will alternate in
signing themselves as Acting Attor.
ney General for the next two months.
| All the assistant attorneys general
must have vacations, but some one of
them is always on deck and knows how
to get into communication quickly
with his official chief in case of emer-
gency. Assistant Secretary Frank
| Pierce, a Utah man, has been presid.
ing over the Interior Department for
nearly month but he has now gone
on vacation and red-cheeked young
man. Assistant Secretary Wilson, of
Indiana, now signs the Interior Depart
ment mail He will stick to it till
Secretary Ballinger is back in town
again.
Assistant Secretary Oliver has been
holding the lid down in the War De-
partment bat now he, too, has had to
take his vacation and the department
is in charge. of a CHIEF clerk, Mr..
Scofeld. A year or so ago, however,
the Congress bestowed upon Mr..
Scofield some of the responsibilities of
an assistant secretary and gave him
authority to act as secretary. This
avoided some of the troubles that used
to arise when the Chief of Staff was
the ranking officer in authority, as
there would be clashes of rank and
| otherwise between him and the Ad
jutant General.
Before long there will be some jour
neying of cabinet officers to Beverly,
for, while no program for such visits
has been mapped out, there will be
departmental matters demanding the
Presidents attention. Cabinet meet
ings, however, have now been abandon
ed and there will probably be no more
for nearly four months or till the
President returns from the West.
The big officials, going and coming
working and resting, of course monopo
lie the attention as far as summer
official activities are concerned. But
big movement of the subordinate
workers to many parts of the country
is now in rapid progress. The gov
eminent gives each one of them q
months leave. Thousands OF clerks
whose annual pay ranges from $1,000
to $4,000 year are scurrying away tc
the country side and getting rested
for the years work ahead of them
Most of them manage 10 have very
good time, for they are well paid as
rule considering their services, anG
know how to get the worth of theil
money.
In reality most cabinet officers plar
to be away from Washington while
this big vacation period endures. TIT
working forces are so reduced that j
is more difficult to get much accom-
plshed. So nearly everybody connect
ed with the government in Washing
ton is about to have long play day
It will be month or six weeks be
fore the rush bomeward begins ant
the great industry of administering
the affairs of the United States, i
= booming once more.
-s.%-s.