New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-17
TFrom The tribune Bureau

Washington, May ID
GOVERNMENT BY STEALTH.
witty critic Of the Taft administration has
pronounced it government by stealth" and
no more appropriate epigram could have
been coined. The Lawler memorandum.
the sensation of an hour, would have been
no sensation had the President sent his
letter OF yesterday TO Senator Nelson
several weeks ago, instead of waiting until
the silly statement of an unfaithfuI stenog-
rapher had magnifed Ii out OF all proper
ton by means of the lens Of secrecy which
the President had placed over it. Attention
has already been called in this column to
the secrecy with which the President at
tempted TO surround the investigation OF
labor conditions in the steel industry which
he had ordered at the behest of the labor
leaders Had the President seen fit to take
the public into his confidence when, after
conference with Secretary Ballinger. he
decided that the Garfield power site with
drawais were Illegal, and gain when, on
the recommendation of Secretary BaIlipger.
he authorized subsequent Withdrawals COW
ering actual site, regardless of the lack
of legal authority, there would have been
no Ballinger-Pinchot controversy and the
conspiracy against Mr.. Ballinger and the
Taft administration would have resolved it
self into what The New York World has
termed the attempt of few fair haired
boys Of the last administration TO secure
revenge because their vanity had been
bumped by the legal gentleman who now
occupies the White House"
Mr.. MEYERS LESSoN.-In the days
when Secretary Meyer was formulating the
admirable system OF reorganization which
he has since put in force an the navy he
followed the same effort at secrecy, and
special boards met by stealth. considered
by stealth and reported by stealth AL
that they were doing was most admirable,
as subsequent events have amply demon
strated, but il was a constant source OF
annoyance 10 the Secretary OF the Navy
that industrious newspaper correspondents
persisted in digging out the facts and In
forming the public of the meetings and
doings Of another of Secretary Meyer s
secret boards Later the Secretary OF the
Navy decided that tho game was not worth
the candle. Boards and meetings which
possessed no Importance from news point
Of view were acquiring such value simply
because they were secret. and the Score
tery determined TO take the public into his
confidence. with the result that the public
exhibited little interest in the processes and
the newspapers contented themselves with
printing the results.
Mr.. vICKERsHAM's GRADUATION
There was no mere secretive member Of
the Taft Cabinet in the early days Of this
administration than George ". Wicker
sham. the Attorney General The eager
scribe who had received Geographic ingtruc-
tions from his editor TO secure Immediate
oT
some matters Of interest had to run the
gauntlet OF seven messengers and half
dozen under secretaries. finally TO encoun-
ter e private secretary who, for inscruta-
bility. had the Sphinx faded 70 q whisper.
and who, If he could be impressed that the
case IN point was OF really vital irnpor-
lance, consented TO make an appointment
for the correspondent just about two weeks
hence o. course, everything in the De
pzrtuaent OF Justice was OF strictly conf
Genital nature, and there was really moth
ing OF any interest 10 the public except the
results Of prosecutions, which would be
duly announced py the proper judicial trt-
buual. But all that IS changed, and there
is no member Of the Cabinet more willing
10 iend needed assistance TO q newspaper
man VINO submits z sensible question on an
important subject than the Attorney Gen
e1aI Il is only regarding his relations with
tie President that Mr.. Wickersham IS still
secretive. and there. of course. all discre-
ZION rests with the Executive
|, THE RIAL ARTICLE-There Is nc Sc
cretivensss in Washington. however, which
deserves to be mentioned on the same day
with that OF the secretary TO the President
Wrapped in mantle Of irnpenetrable
gloom, Secretary Fred Carpenter, who can
never have been loquacious, even IN his
cradle. has become so secretive that it IS
aI.thoritarively declared that even the
President has 70 present written credentials
before he can induce Carpenter 10 tell his
first name. II is positively asserted that.
after the returns Of the last Presidential
election were all in and Mr.. Taft was &C