The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-07-22
BRYAN MAKES 1T WORSE.

Every time Secretary Bryan opens
his mouth to explain why he went upon
lecture tour while holding the office
of Secretary of State, and while so
many pushing questions arc before the
Department of State to be settled, he
makes his action worse than before.
He first explained that he needed the
money; 1t now appears that this need
was SIMPLY TO prevent encroachment
upon the income of his private invest
ments. But since no other Secretary Of
State has made this complaint, and
while others have undoubtedly incurred
greater expenses than Mr. Bryan has in.
CURED IN that office, his explanation is
very lame.
His more recent explanation at War
saw, Indiana, that he can drop in occa~
sionally at Washington and settle any.
thing offhand that requires his decision,
is an eXemplifcation Of complaint that
has been distinctly made as to his man
agement of the State Department, In
| Washington letter TO the New York
Evening Post. That letter states that
the heads of bureaus in the Department
of State find great difficulty in getting
Mr.. Bryan TO take up any question that
has been presented. Mr., Bryan wants
to know what is done on every matter
and wants to decide things for himself,
and yet ne pays no attention to the
preparation Of cases by the bureau
chiefs, nor to the history or preccdents
of the Department in any given case.
AS stated in that letter, "even when
the bureaus have spent days or weeks
in working up some subject, accumulat
ing great mass Of important informa-
ton, they find it ignored in the snap
shot decision, taking no account of
what has gone before AS expressed
by one, "When ] can get at Mr.. Bryan,
I can get quick answer out of him on
any subject, without his taking the
slightest pains to consult anybody, or
to acquaint himself with precedents or
with the past history Of the case "
1t is stated further that the business
Of the Department is in a chaotic con.
dition, the work being far in arrears,
not only in the great things of foreign
policy but in the smaller matters of
routine, upon which Mr. Bryan declares
that no final decision must be made un-
til he has been consulted.
Under these circumstances, the alb.
sence of Secretary Bryan from his post
in the Department of State is all the
more TO be condemned. If, being away
and refusing to pay attention to the de-
tails Of the work In the Department, |
he would allow the routine work TO 60 |
on and be finally disposed of by the bu-
reau chiefs, the Department could get |
along very well in routine business; but |
when he holds everything up for his |
final decision, the work of the Depart |
ment quickly gets into q condition OF |
chaos. precisely as the Posts CORE.
spondent represents the work of the
Department of State to be in now.
When, further, Mr.. Bryan declares
that he will pay no attention to criti.
cism, that the people are bound to find
fault whether he does III or does well.
he. exhibits a state of mind by no means
calculated TO make his administration a
success. For. if an official is totally in.
different to criticism as Mr. Bryan de
clares himself TO be, there will be no
means Of waking him up to just sense
of the importance of allowing the De.
partment work TO proceed in good or
der, according TO established rules and
precedents, while the great questions
that he must necessarily be called upon
to decide personally and officially. will
lack the sound completeness and perfect
scope which his daily attention TO the
business Of his Department would IN
sure.
There is no question but that the af.
fairs Of the Secretary g office are so i'm.
portant at this time that Mr.. BRYAN s
absence from his desk for even one day
is disadvantage TO the country He
states that he will be in Washington on
Friday TO meet Embassador Wilson, aud
to confer with him and with President
Wilson upon conditions in Mexico. But
this temporary appearance in Washing
ton will. il fact, throw the burden of
the decision as to what is TO be done
upon President Wilson, without due pre-.
face and preparation for such decision
coming from the Department of State,
as President Wilson has the right to ex-
pect. The fact is that the condemnation
of Secretary Bryan for bis absence from
duty at the present time is universal.
not even administration papers ven :
turing TO approve it, and it certainly