Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-04-14
Washington
w LETTER
BY n. B. WALKER
star staif Correspondent.
Star Bureau.
Metropolitan National Bank Bldg

man who really knows what the
| President wants done about the cur
reney and other big questions that
ARE coming UP after the tariff is out
of the way is Woodrow Wilson.
In the Roosevelt administration.
Washington correspondents formed
| the habit of going to the White House
and asking the President what he
thought ought to be done about mar
riage, divorce, conservation, aero
| planes, eugenics or any other ques-
ton. and if they didn't get exactly
what they went after, they got
story of some kind that was just as
good Presidential messages, in those
days, were largely rehashes of news
paper and magazine stories, of either
White House inspiration or founda-
ton, which the country had been
reading and talking of for weeks and
months.
In the Taft times there were fewer
writers who went to the White House.
and they gained less information, but
the few to whom the door was open
were taken into the Presidents conf
dence as to his hopes, fears. plans and
program, with a frankness that, at
times, made copy" and at other
times added 10 the individual corre-
spondent's fund of information some
presidential opinions he was not at
liberty to print.
So, when the new administration
came in, the correspondents fiocked to
get the President sprogram and ideas
as to what ought to be done on hun
dred different subjects. So far, few,
IL any of them. know more than the
public has learned from reading his
speeches.
One Thing at Time Is His Way.
The Wilson way, Washington is
coming to learn, is to do one thing at
time.> As we found out in New Jer-.
sey, he is distinctively a onejob man.
Whether he has a currency program,
trust program, railroad or parcel
post, or Alaskan or conservation pro-
gram, is something he alone knows
The country generally believes he has,
that he knows what should be done
about these problems, and that he
will get it done. But If he has, and is,
he is going to get it done. and go at
the job in his own way, which is to
take up and finish one thing at
time.
And, for this reason. Wilson is not
furnishing the kind of copy" for the
newspaper and magazine writer's that
made the Roosevelt administration
popular. He doesn't talk in advance
of whaf he hopes or proposes to do,
and, especially, he doesn't talk in ad-
vance of how he proposes to do 1t.
Never. probably, has there been an
administration when everything about
the White House was so democratic
and Open The open door" policy is
In full effect. Anybody can get into
Secretary Tumulty's office who has
shadow of an excuse for being there.
Newspaper men walk in and out of
Tumulty's room, and don't even have
to stop to knock at the door. And the
door between the secretary's office
and the Presidents room is almost
always open.
But that is as far as the open
door" policy does prevail. The news
paper men can get at Tumulty al
most any minute. day or night II
there is anything the President
Wallis lilC paper w hASNg
will tell, gladly and even blithely.
But when 1t comes to discussing
something the President doesn't
want printed, the proverbial oyster
is tumultuous compared with
Tumulty.
Sees Reporters Twice a Week.
Twice a week, the President sees
the newspaper men. Any Washing
ton correspondent who wants to do
so may join the crowd and sit down
In the Presidents room and join in
the game of thrust and parry which
the President and the reporters play
on these occasions. So far as the
routine news of the day is concerned,
nobody could be more communica-
tive than the President on these oc-
caslons But beyond that, the news
paper Amen might as well ask Tu-
multy.
There are two classes, or groups,
of correspondents in Washington
One group is made up of reporters,
men whose sole work is to send to
their papers, and to the press asso-
Citations the routine happenings of
the day at the White House, in Con-
gress and in the departments The
other group consists of, as rule
more elderly and experienced men,
who write special articles. editorials
and letters for the larger newspapers
and magazines discussing the inner
meaning of the news of the day.
Few men of this latter group at
tend. the weekly newspaper recep-
lions at the White House. Some of
them who went once or twice stopped
going. Not that they don't like the
President, but that they found it
wasn't worth while. For one rea-
son, the correspondent who writes
the latter kind of articles has to find
something to write about that is
different from what all the other
papers are going to have. Most of
the big papers get routine news from
the press associations. and as the
press association reporters attend
these receptions they send out all
there is to be sent from the seances.
So the special writers, after one or
two trials to get some advance in
formation, or something Of the
Presidents purposes at these ses-
sions gave it up. Then some of them
tried to get the kind of information
they wanted by asking for appoint
ments to see the President singly.
They got the appointments, a few
of them, and that is about all they
did get. outside of a pleasant smile,
kindly handshake and an appar-
emily very frank admission that the
President really wasn't prepared to