The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-10-10


fully q quarter OF ~
billion dollars. Il 81 81
The great master Il
mechanic Of this
vast enterprise 10
the president OF <
the United States. u
When he begins his term OF once
there lies before him the supervision
or the expenditure Of nearly four bill
Hon dollars, approximately one-fourth
or which goes toward the payment Of
salaries.
In England the acts Of the king are
considered a. being those Of his ad-
visers. who are held responsible for
them. In the United States the acts
Of the cabinet are considered an being
those OF the president. and he 10 re-
sponsfbie for whatever ofYicial action
any member OF his cabinet may take.
This body has no real constitutional
standing a. q collective organization,
and Its decisions are not binding upon
the president. This 10 illustrated by
an anecdote Of meeting of the Lin
coin cabinet. Mr.. Lincoln brought be-
fore II proposition which he favor
ed. and the cabinet voted solidly
against It. Lincoln declared the vote
to be seven noes and one aye. There
fore" said he. the ayes have It."
In the beginning Of the presidency
1t was thought advisable that the cab
met should be made Of members rep
resenting all political beliefs. wash
ington appointed his first cabinet with
| fhaf anA In xrtAat hat hA (vv1n M
proved an unfortunate one and never
has been tried since. There have
been instances where men OF the op-
posite party were selected to cabinet
positions, but In these cases the men
selected have been In harmony with
the attitude Of the president they
served.
There are few buster places In the
government service than the executive
ofices 1t the white once, especially
when congress In IN session. Such .
vast number Of things claim the at
tsntion OF the president that II Is little
short OF wonderful that he II able to
give them the attention they demand
and yet ind time for necessary exer-
else. The mail received at the White
House u proditouS. Il 10 . dull day
.xhan the private ImsAtshSsr does not
bring at least a thousand letters ad.
dressed to the president, and In many
cases double that number come In the
course of "a hours. Any special story
concerning the president or the White
House will attract the letter-writine
proclivities OF thousands Of people.
When Mr.. Roosevelt first enunciated
his celebrated anti-race suicide doc
trine, some newspaper man with a
well-developed bump of humor wrote a
story to the effect that the president
has received % baby carriages. II
was published broadcast. and hun
dreds OF poor families wrote Mr..
Roosevelt begging that he send them
one of his surplus supply. In the old
days 1t was different. 1t is said that
during the Grant administration the
executice force would play croQuet
during the dull hours OF the day. and
upon the arrival of letter one Of them
would be summoned to the executive
once.
1t is comparatively easy for the
president to attend to his mall. There
Is a complete system of asserting the
letters, 30 that out Of the thousand
or more received during the day, less
than a hundred will be laid on the
presidents desk. There IL Q clerk
whose sole duty Is to classify the cor
respondence a. 1t comes In. Probably
one hundred letters may be answered
by q single form letter. Several hum
bred Of the remainder will be referred
to the proper department. and perhaps
less than half will reach the secretary
to the president. He examines these,
gives their substance to the president,
and receives instructions az to the
character Of reply to make. Letters
are often addressed to the president
marked Personal" and Private.
These marks are disregarded. II 10
only letters that are initiated by init
mate personal and political friends
which reach the president unopened.
The constant stream of callers and
the vast amount of ONCE routine busi-
ness make the heaviest demand upon
the presidents time. Once seekers
and their friends are to be met. peo-
pie who simply wish to pay their re-
spects to the chief executive. and all
IMAGINABLE classes Of men and women
who come on every sort of errand.
During the first three weeks OF an
administration II II not uncommon for
the president to shake hands with
from $4,000 to $4,000 people. Unless
he learns to grip the, hand OF his Wis
itor before the visitor grips his, he 10
apt to have badly swollen arm az q
result of the experience. AZ
There IL much monotony about the
presidential once and the grind us
ually tells on the incumbent. Between
signing papers, examining acts'of con-
gress, receiving visitors, considering
matters OF state with his cabinet, and
appointing men to ONCE, the president
finds that very often ne must work
far into the night to get through with
-