The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-05-03
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER
NEWSY NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE PLACE WHERE OUR LAW MAKERS
 HOLD FORTH.

 Washington, May 3.-Twenty-one
 American republics, barring one Or two which were having too much trou-
 ble at home and could not be pres ent, dedicated beautiful white mar l ble palace to the cause of peace the | other day. Officially it is to be known l as the Bureau of American Republics, | but, according to the megaphone men
 on the rubber neck wagons and in the common workadays parlance of the | streets the glistening structure is re- | ferred to as John Barrett's office"
 Barrett being the director of the Bu- | reau and the guiding and controlling 1 spirit in the work of boosting the | neighborliness and commerce among | the countries
 John Barrett's office," therefore, is | an office such as none other in Wash | ington can boast. It is set in the l green of the Potomac park, the new l play ground for Washington society. | Beside it is another buildinga of grey marble, Continental Hall, the meeting
 place of the Daughters of the Amer, l fcan Revolution. But Continental | Hall is modest little structure com | pared to it. Further on is a bulky | building of granite, in which are the offices of the Secretaries of State, War l and the Navy. Their offices are well
 enough as offices go in that obsolete and dingy old structure. Fifty years | ago they might have been considered
 moderately splendid A little further off is a small white structure, called the Executive offices, in which Pres ident Taft does his work.
 Not much can be said of President Taft's office when compared to John Barrett's. There are several rooms,
 and it is a sunny, comfortable sort of place with a colonial atmosphere and a few cheap, mOttled green jardinierS standing in the corridors, but there is nothing especially distinctive about it. As a matter of fact the White House
 itself is just an interesting old man. sion, quite plain compared to the of
 flee of the director of the Bureau of American Republics.
 With the S750.000 which Andrew Car negie supplied for the construction of the new building, the height of lux ury has been attained. The stateli- ness of the classic architecture is com bined with the expansive comfort of the Spanish colonial. There is the dignity of the ages in it's facade and the serenity of the present moment in it's sunny patio. If the director should tire of contemplating the waving fol- iage and long stretches of green of the Mall and Potomac Park he could retire to the patio where, beneath the shade of the tropical plants of many countries, he might sit beside a tinkling fountain. But John Barrett is on the jump from early until late and it is not at all probable that the patio will see very much of him.
 The woods of many countries were used in finishing the directors room. At his right hand is the Columbian Library and next door the hall of the republics. Artists have exerted them selves in sculpture and paint to eX- in h9rrnOniQc form the aspirations of the institution of which Barrett is the head. The Sena- tors and Representatives who came to the conclusion some time ago that the Capitol was much too old and gloomy to shelter their offices, tried to set a mark by putting up the House and Senate office buildings, marble pal aces also. But their efforts were trival beside Barrett's little institution, on the corner of the Mall.
 Secretary of the Treasury Mac veagh whose health recently threatened to break down, has taken steps to "con- serve his natural resources" and put into effect a new program for the days work which he expects will relieve him of considerable strain. The head of the Treasury, with all of it's ramifications through the customs and internal revenue services, the fnan- ciaI admiristra tion of the government receipts and disbursements, the control of national banks and the thousand and one other things which are impos- ed upon the director of this wide be busy man if he only hits the high spots. This is especially true when it is considered how much of his time is consumed during the day by callers of, various descriptions. There are all ways Senators and members of the nf taf Tn see him about matters directly affect ing the interests of their constituents whether they relate to appointments in the government service, the troubles of these already in office, or the de- tails of the construction of the latest public building appropriated for by Congress. To these his doors must always be swinging wide open. And when are added to them the multi farious calls of business men wanting to discuss policies of the Department; of friends who come merely to "pay their respects;" of newspapermen look ing for the latest developments in this, that Or the other subject of public interest; and other chiefs of division who want to see him to talk over the decisions in their respective branches of the service, these receptions alone constitute a tax upon any mans vital energies, without counting the revision of the mail which grows out, of these visits. Secretary MacVeagh insists not only upon knowing what is being done by his subordinates in the De- partment but upon revising the let ters which the various chiefs prepare after their consultations with him on important questions He does not skimp through them either, but reads them carefully and is mighty particu- lar as to the choice of diction em- plOyed.
 Then, too, he has found time to give his personal supervision to the "re- habiliation,'' which is his favorite method of expressing it, of the customs service at New York, to the reorgani- 1 zation of the special agents service, 1 and to the inquiries into customs con- ditions at other ports.
 Under this mighty press of busi- | ness it is scarcely to be wondered at | that recently his health threatened to | fail But he has accepted the warm ing and is now arranging to curtail the l amount of business that he must do. | Another consideration that has led him | to do this is the social duties which | occupy his evenings. Scarcely any | man in Washington entertains more | than does Secretary Mac Veagh. He | is always giving dinners or receptions | to his friends, or attending similar | functions of an official or social char acter.
 So as the first step in his new poli- ] cy of conservation" he decided to 1 move his office from the corner of | 18th street and Pennsylvania avenue, | there is constant olannor of ]