Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-13

at all surprising that the President
Ignored these questions. He has been
ignoring them for months. But IL
has been part of the noblesse ohlige
imposed upon the reporters that they
should never mention the fact that
any such questions were asked.
The late President Harding, aided
and abetted by his secretary, George
Christian. devised the newspaper con-
ference system which has remained
under the Coolidge regime. At first
| President Harding said he would
answer all questions put to him, and
| his conferences with the press were n
| sort of continuing quiz Son,etIrnss II
seemed there must be 200 newsraper
men. native and foreign corre-
spondents. gathered In the Presidsnt'a
private office. Mr.. Harding would hs
i bomharded with questions from ali
sides. He did his best to answer all
and sundry, but gradually sons of
| the enemy" CORE pondents growing
| holder, put some embarrassing, not to
! say impertinent. inquiries TO the
| President.
| A private conference ensued. and
/ at this IL was agreed that all uues-
! tons must he submitted to the Prasi-
| dent in writing, somewhat after the
/ English fashion of interpolatinr the
premier of the House Of Commons.
AS part of this scheme II was
| further agreed that no mention
should he made of written questions
which the President ignored The
fairness of such a rule was apparent
to all. Otherwise all sorts of oues-
ttons might have been submitted. tust'
for the sake of writing that the Press
| ident refused to affirm or deny a GER
tain proposition
In the growing looseness with.
which the White House spokesman
has been treated in recent DAYS. both.
In news dispatches and in the debates
of the Senate. the rule about NOT
mentioning ignored questions appears
also to have gone somewhat by the
board. This correspondent. soiourr-
ing on the Pacific Slope. was amazed
the past week at the bluntness with
which dispatches told of the refusal
of the President to take UP the third
term" question put to him in the
written slips These slips, Ike the
spokesman himself, were supposed
to be held In conf1de" and never
released"
There are few newspaper men
who do not VOW, at some time in
their lives. that they are going to
write book. There are even fewer
who get around TO keeping Of the
VOW. And the number is entirely too
small If the volume just published
by E. J. Stackpole Is fair sample of
the "reminiscences and observations
that are tucked away in the brains of
the Nations army of unsung Journal.
| lists.
! But then Mr.. stackpole is more
= than newspaper man. He is a
practical politician and in his so wears
of newspapering in Pennsylvania he
has acquired some very different ideas
of the political game as she Is played
4 in the old Keystone State, all OF
which he sets down with engaging
frankness in his new volume, "Behind
the Scenes With Newspaper Man"
Mr.. Stackpole Is editor and pub.
Usher of the Harrisburg Telegraph.
His narrative. genial and discursive,
but always interesting. touches up
with new light such Homeric figures
OF past and present in Pennsylvania
as Penrose. Quay. John Wanamaker.
Cyrus E. Woods and William Uhler
Hensel. all of whom he knew init.
fCopvrizht. 1877