Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-03

4
| = "Finis'' to a most important and
trying piece of work. This occurred with
| In the past week and both he and his
assistant well earned the right to lean
back in their chairs and heave q sigh OF
| relief.
| Once each year there comes the same
| impulse to do the same act in the execu-
| tive offices of the White House. Signs
| may come and go throughout the year.
| but none possesses quite the Significance
of that which is heaved anywhere from
one to four weeks before the convening of
Congress. It means that the President S
annual message to Congress has been
completed. and that the document which
is looked upon by both public and private
minds as being of the greatest import,
which requires so much painstaking not
only In the construction. but also in the
writing, has been SO compiled and COM
posed that no flaw turks between or
among the lines. Criticisms may come
but they can only assail the opinions eX-
pressed. the recommended outlines for
legislative action. Hence the sigh Of
relief is also one of satisfaction.
There is no general rule as to when the
Presidents annual message is to be COM
pleted. The act Of compiling and writ
ing and therefore the completion lies
with the individual occupant Of the
White House himself, and in the past
has averaged about one week prior to
the assembling of Congress.
Ex-President Roosevelt possessed the
reputation of getting his facts together
and the document out of the way early.
The late Presidents Mckinley and Cleve-
land both used to make 1t their rule to
complete such duties as early as ten days
in advance Of the time required. There
are times. however. when circumstances
will arise which will cause delay in the
work, and it is frequently not completed
until the last moment. This does not
mean. however, that the whole work upon
the message is delayed until the last
moment. 1t might be said that the actual
work of composition requires but a COM
paratively short time, from one to four
weeks. but the main work Of construct
ing the message may extend throughout
the year.
Whatever affects the public welfare
will, therefore. very likely become a part
of the presidential message. There are
few in our millions OF population who
do not stop to read some portion Of 1t,
at least. and because 1t is an Official
ton it will be treated in the most guarded
manner.
The selection Of the number of subjects
that will be contained in such a message
will depend a great deal on the events
Of the previous year and sometimes on
the acts of the previous session Of Con-
gress itself. 1t Is not unusual, therefore,
for President to list these topics as
far back as the previous summer. Elk
President Roosevelt was known on two
occasions to assemble an array OF facts
and actually write a portion Of his mes
sage during his summer vacation upon
conditions which he was certain would
not change until legislative action was
taken. The late Mr.. Cleveland collected
much Of the data for that portion Of his
message relating to the annexation OF
Hawaii as early as three weeks prior to
it's writing.
The collection of the necessary data
and facts is the next step in the prepara-
ton of the message. The individual
Presidents. even back to Washington,
structure of the message, though they
have shown various literary qualities.
Usually, after the gathering of data
they will make a plain statement Of the
coHuitiOHo u u SuOJcC1 iOhoWcu ny
resume of the causes giving rise to those
conditions. In an argument for or
against any particular topic it is the
usual practice not only to weigh each
point, but to array the facts and data on
their proper side of the balance much the
same as would a Judge in presenting a
case to a jury. 1t has frequently been
the case that such arguments have turn
ed the tide Of legislation in favor Of the
presidential policies.
II Ia really one of the PURPOSES of these
which an executive is to freely express
his. official opinions. and upon these opin-
ions to base his recommendations and
suggest the outlines for general legisla-
ton which he may deem desirable.
~
Herein does the President often call
upon his official advisers for suggestions.
If there is a subject which pertains more
particularly to any one executive de-
partment he will sometimes call the head
of that department into consultation.
There are occasions also when an ex-
ecutive will discuss certain subjects in
regular cabinet meetings to secure a gen.
eral outline Of action, and it is not I'M
usual that he will draw up the whole
message in skeleton form and present 1t
directly to the cabinet officers for gen.
eral discussion.
Just how much the President has to say
in this great document depends entirely
on the state of public affairs. There have
been some annual messages containing
as many as 1900 words. while the con-