Evening star., 1921-08-13
BY HERBERT COREY.

wanted, very Dig man. He must
have the patience of Job, the endur-
ance of a Missouri mule, a sharp set
mind, and be as hard to handle as a
catfish He must know something Of
saying of gold bricks, and be able
to resist argument and entreaty to
the end that justice shall be done.
His reward will be mostly paid in
trouble.
Members of the congressional COM
mittee on reorganization believe that
the time has come when an execu-
tive assistant to the President must
be provided for by law. The need
has long been recognized. When Will
liam Howard Taft was President he
felt the need of relief from some of
the minor yet exacting duties of his
position But the idea got off on the
wrong foot then. Washington corre-
spondents called the Presidents new
aide the assistant president, and the
new aide helped matters along by
referring to himself in the same way
So his foot slipped.
Early Action Expected.
But an executive assistant will in
all probability be provided for in
the bill, which will shortly be intro
reorganization in order to do away
with the unnecessary and tedious du-
plication of duty now found in the
governments service. In an ideally
arranged plan of administration the
President would be free to devote
himself to the larger aspects of his
office. In fact, each President is
forced to do so. But in order to find
some time in which he may think of
the greater things, he is forced to
leave the lesser affairs run them
selves.
.o1f.;,si There are, for for example. thirty-three
establishments. Theoretically, their
heads report only to the President
No one else keeps watch and ward
on them. In effect. they are as free
ct control as is Halley's comet. No
close and prayerful touch with such
widely diverse situations as those
presented by
The treaty of peace with Germany,
The disarmament conference.
Money raising and spending for
and by the government,
Foreign and domestic commerce,
International relationships,
to name but few of the topics con-
stantly pressed upon presidential at
TO- give real consideration to his
thirty-three executive departments.
Wide Diversity of Interests.
There is no space, in which to give
the entire list. but an idea of the
diversity OF interests represented in
the thirty-three may be had by NAM
Ing few Of them. These, chosen
at random, are:
The Smithsonian.
Civil Service Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
=, Board of Mediation and Concilia-
The Shipping Board.
The Alien Property Custodian.
War Finance Corporation,
Railroad Administration.
Council of National Defense.
II he had nothing else on his hands
briefly above he might be able to
average ten minutes a day for each
of the thirty three. But he has al
most everything else on his hands.
He must make speeches every now
must be the true expression of presi-
Dental thought. He has employees
at the State Department who know
just how to write letters Of condo
lence to bereaved kings and formal
the paint has not dried on them.
But his speeches must be his own.
Entertaining and Handshakine.
Then he must go visiting now and
then, as when Mr.. Harding went to
the Pilgrim tercentenary at Ply
mouth. There are receptions and
dinners to be given. Some one is
always at the presidential luncheon
table, where the talk is always on
serious topics. Almost every day
when he is at the White House he
meets q hand-shaking throng at /
o'clock. Sometimes the throng as
says rather high in essential democ-
racy, for the other day a man in
shirt sleeves and his lady in Khaki
pants were among the handshakers.
The President likes it. This is one
Of the ways in which he keeps in
touch with that short-sleeved middle
west from which he sprang.
But it does cut into his day. Some
attention must be paid to his health,
and SO he plays q little golf and
rides a little in his new automobile.
incidentally, any one who tries to
ride past him in another automobile
is apt to find himself in for q heap
Of riding before he gets past. Now
and then hS dimes privately with
some near friends In Washington.
He must keep In touch with the
House and Senate. and does. No