The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-04-28
SECRETARY TO A SECRETARY
A MAN OF MANY FUNCTIONS
One of Them Is To Be the Goat When Occasion Arises
The Eyes, the Ears and Frequently the Mouth of His
Chief-Washington His Habitat.
(Washington Correspondence Of tn

Heraldically speaking, the escutch-
con of the Brotherhood of Private
Secretaries should show a goat
couchant and a glad-hand rampant;
provided, Of course, hat the College
of Heralds could devise a glad-hand
rampant, rampant being described as
standing on its hind legs.
The private secretary has many
functions. One OF them is being the
goat when occasion arises, and being
it gracefully. Being a goat IN d
crude and u~nconvincing fashion Is
abhorred in the best private secre-
tarial circles.
AS a glad-hander the private &C.
rotary must ever keep in practice. ais
is the duty of standing between the
public and his chief, sorting out those
callers who have real business from
those on whom the bestowal or Tune
would be sheer waste. But ne Hust
not offend men whose chaSrlh ilisht
be productive of trouble.
Eyes and Ears of Chief.
These are, after all, minor Things.
The private secretary must DO mucn
more. He is the eyes, the ears ana
frequently the mouth of MS cher.
Washington is the principal hapitat
Of the private secretary. True, all IN
dustrial and financial centres kho"
the private secretary as part OF the
office equipment of big business men,
but that sort of a private secretary
is in a class by himself. frlVate-
secretarying'' a public officer Is a Tar
different task from prlvate-secre'ary-
ing a manufacturer. Perhaps the one
is no more difficult than the other,
but it calls for a different set OF tai
ents.
The private secretary to a public
officer must be a diplomat above all
else. He must know his VINO
Who" He must have an infinite ca
pacitv for mastering detail and for
keeping his mouth shut.
lie must be an aStute politician
And he must have an knoWl-
edge of the gentle art of publicity
. an art the refin.ments of which are
many and the practice OF which Il
essential to the successful o
any public office nowadays.
The general public has small ide:
of the importance, the power, n re
sponsibility of the private secretar.
to n cabinet officer. His work, TO
all the front-office glad -handing, /
largely behind the scenes. He is tn
manager of his chiefs time. He mus
assume in his chiefs name, very OF
ten large responsibility in directin
department SubordinateS.
More Than Secretary.
so vast, so complex is the work
every one of the ten departments
the Government that no Secretary
the head can handle on his own des
all the things he is presumed
handle. He has his assistant secr'
taries and his bureau chiefs, but eve
so there is always the responsible
of interbureau jealouSies and bicke
ings. His private secretary is tt
man who alone can help him throue
these.
The private secretary to a Cabin
officer in reality is not only a priva
secretary; his office corresponds mo
nearly to the position that has be
created in railroad and other large i
dustrial and financial institutio
known as assistant to the presiden'
The Department. of Justice has I
cognized this, though it is the or
one of the ten Government Depa,
ments to do so, and the private secl
tary to the chief is also. by law, g;
sistant to the Attorney General
Assistant Attorney General.
In the Department Of the Inter
there is also an assistant to the S
rotary, who, in a way, is an exalt
private secretary. but Secretary LIZ
also has a capable private secret;
to divide the work with the assist;
to the Secretary.
Handle Much Business.
All Senator's and Representa-
III Ch SOdiSN, law pIlN
secretaries. Many Of these are n
of note and distinction. In Off
Washington they are recognized as
"ther self" of the men they Sc
and they act and speak for their
ployers with full authority.
But, naturally, their power
their duties are not so great as II
of the private secretaries to Cab
officers. These latter come daily
contact with far more people
necessarily have a greater amour
business to transact than any pri
secretary who laborS on Capitol
The private secretary to the Y
President is Mark Thistlethwaite.
Indiana newspaper man.. who has
associated with his chief for n
years. He is what eWspa
call a live wire, keen, active and
t%elligent. Mr.. ThiStlethwaite
born at Richmond, Ind, March
1879. and was graduated !
SwarthmOre College. Pa IN