The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-01-06
NEW SYSTEM OF HANDLING CALLERS
 AT WHITE HOUSE
Information Control of Habit Forming Drugs to be Matter of "Dope' Congress Discus sion

sion
 Washington, Jan. GA new system of handling callers at the Executive
 Offices of the White House has just been put into operation by Secretary Charles Dyer Norton. Heretofore visitors hoping to penetrate to the Presidents private office have been dealt with mainly by Secretary Nor ton or assistant Secretary Forster, both of whom attempted the task of wedding out the undesirables.
 Now Secretary Norton has put the secret service operatives at the White House to work. Two operatives charged with the safety of the Presi- dent are always on duty at the Exec utive Offices during the time that the President is in h.s office. Former ly they waited in the reception room and mingled unostentatiously with the heterogeneous crowd of callers. Ap- parently they had no connection with the White House force.
 Norton. however. has put them to work handling the callers. in the ca- pacity of ushers. It is their business to interview every caller. ascertain his business, size him up, and in all ways possible facilitate their quick disposal. They are practically under secretar- ies nowadays, and are supposed to weed out callers of the crank variety, and switch visitors who really haven't any imperative bus with the Ex- ecutive over to Secretary Norton. The new duties do not interfere with their specified duty Of personally sizing up all White House callers-on the con- trary, it gives them a better chance to inspect visitors.
 The new plan has worked like a charm. Never before in the Taft admin stration has the President been able to dispose of so many call lers in so short a time. A great deal of criticism was levelled at the White House during the last session of Con- gress by certain congressman who had to wait two and three hours to See the Executive The President was generally an hour behind his engage ment list. People who could just as we'll have been handled by one of the secretaries were permitted to take up the Executives time with minor mat ters, while visitors of importance cooled their heels and got hot under the collar out in the reception room.
 Here is the way in which the ordin- ary caller. who comes to the White House with a leg 'timate business with the President progresses:
  uniformed policemen, who ask him his business. and pass him on to the the large reception hall. Incidental ly, these two officers have been on du- ty at the Executive Offices for ten years. They know every public off, cial, every senator and congressman, and every man of prominence in the country.
 Once in the large reception hall the visitor sits down to wait. Before long one of the two secret service men takes his name down on a special blank. on which his business is stated, and whether he desires to see Secre- tary Norton or the President. The caller must convince the secret ser vice men that he has legitimate ex- cuse for an interview with the Execu- tive.
 MT. Blanks name is handed by the secret service men to Secretary Nor ton. He vises the card and perhaps may interview the caller, in an at tempt to see if he can't be headed away. Norton personally sees every visitor who has business with the Pres dent. In addition, he is pres ent in the Presidents private office, during part of every interview which the Executive grants.
 Norton having O. K.'d the applica- ton, the visitor is next taken to a sort of improvised reception hall by McKenna The corridor Is nothing more than a hall, screen ed off. This is Lame Duck Alley" The alley contains the few who final ly get in to see the President. Mo- Kenna lets the callers in one at t:re or in punches
 The new plan has resulted in much greater facility in the handling of callers. The secret service men are &no are experts in sizing up" callers.
 One of the most interesting conven- ions to be held in the coming year is he so-called dope Congress'the Con- sress for the International control of habit form ng drugs, the preliminar- es for which are now being arranged y. the Government of the Nether- ands. Some years ago diplomatic negotiations between China and Eng and resulted in an agreement between he two powers by which England agreed upon a gradual reduction of the quantities of opium exported from it's Aslat1c possessions into China in pro- portion as the Chinese government re- 'tricted the manufacture of opium in China.
 The great benefits which have re. ulted from this agreement have caus- 1 d the enlightened progressives who l low dominate the government of the 1 celestial empire to seek more rapid | eouction of opium sale in China than 1 5 provided for in the AngIn-Chinese 1 Treaty. At the time of the signing l f this treaty certain influential citi- | ems of the United States interested in | he State Department in the pi eht of l ,hina from this point the agitation l n this country upon the subject of a control of habit forming drugs l las steadily increased. Accordingly l he State Department decided to take he Initiative in propos' a world | The proposition was greed to by all of the powers but | wo of them disagreed as to the in- fusion of certain drugs in the classi- | lcation of habit forming drugs" lis natter is being undertaken by he Netherlands. It VII probably ! cnyene within the next few weeks.