Evening journal., 1915-06-21
New News Of Yesterday
How Some Presidents Pre-
pared Official Addresses
By Holland

Many anecdotes have been narrated
which purport to describe the isola-
tion TO which President Woodrow
Wilson submitted when preparing his
note TO Germany. and there have also
been reports which told Of the man
ner In which the President prepared
his manuscript and then with his own
hand transcribed his notes upon the
typewriter Those, however. who
have had knowledge of the custom or
habits of somo of those who preceded
President Wilson i'm the White House
/ find many prcccdents for the manner
in which President Wilson prepared
his note. with this exception none
of the other Presidents possessed the
facility with the typewriter which Is
characteristic of President Wilson.
The late George S. Coe. who in civil
war days was the banker Of New
I York most frequently and intimately
associated with the Secretary of the
/ Treasury, Salmon p. Chase. and who
was also sometimes called into coun-
sci by General Grant when he was
! President told me that President
q
WREN i'm complete isolation. the entire
message which he sent TO Congress
the next day-in which he vetoted the
so-called imitation bill. That message
has now become traditional and is re-
garded as one of the mos, important
of all those transmitted by General
Grant TO Congress.
Grant however was accustomed TO
permit lis Cabinet officers TO write
7 many of his documents, and that was
also true of Lincoln. President Ar
thur. on the other hand wrote the en-
tire message shich he transmitted TO
Congress carly in his administration,
in which he vetoed the river and har-
Dor bill, and all Of the vetoes sent To
Congress by President Cleveland OF
private pension bills we're written by
Grover Cleveland.
President Lincoln not only permit
ted his Cabinet officers to write many
of his communications, but he never
changed any of them, relying entirely
upon the accuracy Of his official fam
/ lily. Frequently he did not read then
unless he was told they contained
, matters of political import. In tha
case, he always carefully scrutinizeC
the document which had been pre-
pared for him by his Cabinet
President Johnson was eXceptiona
, among Presidents in the care and al
, most microscopic scrutiny Will
which he read every communication
prepared by ii Cabinet officer whicl
: nc was expected to sign. He Otter
would change the phraseology an'
, seemed at times TO have an almos
4 pedantic tendency 10 correct the Eng
I lish In which the communication h.
! was expected to sign was written
But with a ceremony OF that kin
q President Johnson's interest in tn
4 document ceased. ! have been tol
, that he always made il a point
8 read over and frequently to correS
; the addresses which the Secretary {
II State prepared for him TO be read
p response to addresses delivered
n him by newly-appointed ministers
. foreign lands. He did not hesitate
A blue pencil some of the sentences
n even so accomplished a writer Z
William II. Seward. With such actiO
n his interest in the address ended, S
. that when a minister from a toreig
= land was received by him and delivei
\, ed the formal address President JOhI
n son would turn TO the Secretary 4,