The Washington herald., 1913-03-05
srATEs1EN-REAL AND NEAR
By FRED C. KELLY.

! Once q new President Of the United
States has been inaugurated and his
trunks, suit cases, hatboxes. and things
have been delivered to the White House.
his actual taking up of his new job In
attended by as little formality as II hs
had Just become justice Of the peace
at Rising Sun. Ind.
The new President simply saunters
down the private passage from the
| White House to the executive Offices, on
| the morning Of March s. and sits down
at his desk. There is no provision for
| trumpets. megaphones. press agents, or
| couriers to announce his coming. No.
body knows he has gone to work until
| a secretary happens to drop in and sees
him sitting there looking over the morn
ing mail.
| The outgoing President always puts
his desk to rights as housewives say,
before he leaves. and the new man can
keep his personal stationery. letters,
pens and pencils in whatever drawers
he wishes to. A surprisingly small
| amount Of stuff collects in the Presl-
DENTAL desk. The office system Is so
complete that everything save a few
personal matters are disposed OF each
! day. and the desk never gets much
| clutted up with memoranda. Nothing
Is pigeonholed. for a simple reason that
| should at once be obvious to the thought
| full reader. to wit: there are mo pigeon
holes In the desk; It is a fat top desk.
| The average country lawyer keeps more
| stun in his desk than the President OF
the United States does.
Nearly every new President desires
some change In the office arrangements.
For example. VIII Taft early showed his
judicial temperament by wanting some
| shelves handy where he could have
bound volumes of Supreme Court decis-
| ions within reach. That was the first
{ request he made.
The first thing Theodore Roosevelt
| thought of, on the other hand, was .
place for himself and his family to sleep.
At that time the executive ofices
were in the main part of the White
) House. AS the business of the Govern
ment had grown, these Offices had en-
| croached more and more upon the Pres.-
dents private living space in the build
| ing til there were only seven upstairs
| rooms for the family. True. there ara
| rooms downstairs. but they are semi
! public. Seven rooms for big family
like the Roosevelts made their sleeping
quarters pretty cramped. and the Colonel
| had visions OF cots out in the hall every
! time they had company. like a hotel
4 n. L.
one stops to think that there are scores
! of houses for rent in Washington with
! forty or fifty rooms and several baths,
I the President should not have TO make
! his family sleep more than three or four
/ In a room even when there's company.
On the face of it. trying 10 look at the
| proposition in big. broad way, one is
almost persuaded that while avoiding
| undemocratic lavishness, yet the Presi-
dents family should have. at the very
| least, a suite OF ten or eleven rooms
decorated to suit. light and heat fur
nished, Janitor service, modern fixtures
and plumbing. and a zinc-lined flower
box.
! Representative Ben johnson Of Ken
lucky Is a resourceful person. Several
summers ago he was annoyed by a
crowd OF colored youths going by his
place late at night shouting and carry
| ing on and making themselves a nui-
| sance generally. One night they playfulIy
| shot one of Johnson's dogs. That set
! tied it. The next night Ben Johnson
stood behind tree with rifle and
waited for them. There were eight OF
them. Johnson stepped out from behind
the tree and arranged with them to
| throw up their hands. Then he marched
the octet to the lookup. and the next
day they were sentenced to sixty DAYS
hard labor on the highways.
And what do you suppose johnson did
next?
He got himself appointed road super
visor. and took personal SharKe Of the
gang.
He saw TO II that they built a stretch
of road from his farm to the village that
is the best bit Of highway in that part
| OF Kentucky.
is o n ~
mer President Taft was talking to him
a while back about a certain judicial
appointment. and remarked 10 him:
~'You know. Mr.. President. think be-
ing a judge is about the finest thing Of
all. I'd rather be on the Supreme Bench
| than he President
| Whereupon Mr.. Taft IS said to have
observed: We won't have any arsu-
nent about that I've tried being a
judge and I've tried being President and
I quite agree with you
When the vote was being taken In the
Senate on the immigration bill which
! President Taft had vetoed, several In
nocent bystanders with long memories
waited until they heard Hoke Smith OF
Georgia vote in favor OF the bill. and
| then expressed surprise.
| Some years ago a similar bill WAS pass
| ed by Congress and put up TO President
| Cleveland. On account of the fiteracy
clause the bill contained-and that was
what defeated the recent bilI-C7eveland
vetoed tho measure-acting on the ad- .
4 vice Of his Cabinet
| And Hoke Smith was In the Cabinet
Everybody has n chance In this coun-
try. regardless OF handicaps. Represent
ative George Konig OF Maryland never
| learned to read or write until after he
became Of age. F. o. L,ndGnist who
| will represent a Northern Michigan dis
trict In the next Congress, never attend
| ed school beyond the third grade-nevsr
| got as far as fractions, even. And Mat
| thew r. Denver who has Just retired
after several terms IN the Lower House,
| was born In Wilmington. Ohio.
I Copyright, 1878. BY Ffvi O. Kelly An rishts ~
Railroads Pay Big Fines.