Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-16
Some Things You Want to Know
The Presidents Speeches.

or Indirectly. The president may see as
many as 100 Of these. But copies of all
correspondence are preserved and a card
index kept, so that the man who comes
to publish the correspondence OF a Taft
OF a Roosevelt will find abundant material
from which to Gull. .....
MCKINLEY was not so much a man Of
letters as many of the other presidents.
His published speeches constitute about
his only effort in the field of literature.
Few presidents have had more written
about them. however, than Mckinley. His
tragic death resulted in a verltable flood
Of il-prepared biographies, most Of them
published by the time his body was laid
In the tomb at Canton. They wers gotten
out merely to catch the subscription book
trade and with little view to their perma-
nent value.
Grover Cleveland paid little attention to
letters until after his second term as pres
ident, but from the end Of his career in
the White House to the date OF his death
he found ready sale for the articles and
books written by him. The royalties from
his published books are said to afford his
family a comfortable income. Benjamin
Harrison wrote two excellent books after
leaving the White House. Chester A. Ar
thur was little given to literary endeavor,
and in the big card index of the library Of
congress there is not a single card show
ing a printed document from his hand.
Aside from his messages and routine pa
pers he has left nothing to literature. In
James A. Garfield the presidency had it's
only minister of the gospel He was also
a college president. While his utteranoes
in congress are a comprehensive resume
OF econstruction times, he left little else
to the abiding literature Of the country.
For profitable endeavor in literary work
first place will have to be accorded to
General Grant. Ground down to sheer
poverty by the Grant & Ward failure he
was forced to write his memoirs in order
to provide for his family. He had written
but little before, but 1t developed that the
fighter was also a writer, and his auto
biography has had s1sale far above the
10000 mark. Mrs. Grant received one
check for $780, 900 and another for $3.50. 900,
to say nothing of smaller ones. II is said
that the royalties on the memoirs Of Cen
eral Grant represent the highest reward
that has ever come to the authorship Of a
single work.
Lincoln enjoyed few educational advan-
tages, yet all the world recognizes his
Gettysburg address as one of the classics
Of American literature. His writings have
been collected into eight good-sized vol
tunes, and reveals the many sides Of this
wonderful man. Aside from Washington
he is perhaps the most wrltten-about Of
all the presidents.
James Buchanan wrote a review and
defense Of his administration before he
died. George Bancroft, the historian, col
lected the letters and diaries of James (.
Polk. and intended to publish them. They
are now bound In. twenty-five quarto vol
umes and are In possession of the Lenox
library, New York. William Henry Harrl-
son once wrote a pamphlet on the abor-
igines of the Ohio valley, and Martin Van
Buren, published an inquiry into the origin
and causes of political parties. John
Quincy Adams was a literary man, and
some of his poems and essays have sur
ftved In the popular mind. His poem on
Man wants little here below, nor wants
that little long" has, found an abiding
place in American literature. ~
Monroe, who lives in the popular mind
as the author o. the Monroe doctrine,
wrote an extended essay on the conduct
OF the executive. and another on a tour
VI ObhCl NANlOh .hU lauOs o. IAlS state DdDbTS
are among the. most interesting written
by any president Madlson's Notes on
the Constitution. and those on the Confed-
Grafton, are documents referred to by
constitutional writer's to this day. JEFF
ferson's Declaration of Independence, his
msnual of Parliamentary Practice, which
still remains a general code Of rules for
the senate and house, and his Notes on
Virginia, are among the most interesting
productions from the pen of any presi-
Dental man OF letters. John Adams wrote
a number of essays. Washington's Maxims,
and his Transcripts of Revolutionary Cor
respondence, constitute his literary pro-
duction, but his Farewell Address takes
front rank as a state paper,
Taking the whole sweep of American
history up to the time Of Cleveland, 1t
Is probable that the most notable docu-
ments that nave come from occupants of
the White house are Washington's Fare
we'll address, Jefferson's Declaration of In
dependence. Monroe's Monroe Doctrine.
Llncoln's Gettysburg Address and Grants
Memoirs.
Tomorrow-Making Of violins.