Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-05
9th er Business
Over n e e d e d
Line Must Be Sus-
pended When His
Call Is Received.
NJ ay Be Put in
Touch With Off
Gals in All Parts
of the World.

/ III lIlS war
There was then no wire into the White
House. In times Of great suspense. dur
| ing actual or impending battles, 1t was
| his practive to go Informally to the
office of the War Secretary and there
spend hours reading the kilograms as
they were received in the adjoining tel
| egraph room
1t was while sitting at the desk in
the cipher room of the War Depart
ment telegraph Office that Lincoln
wrote the first draft of the Emancipa-
/ ton Proclamation.
The telegraph facilities in Lincoln's
| time were very crude compared with
those of the present day. Nowadays
| messages are handled by automatic
telegraph devices which can speed as
many as eight kilograms over one wire
simultaneously.
Before the Civil War no Government
department, not even the War Depart
ment had any telegraph organization.
Only in April, 1861. did the American
Telegraph Co. which afterward became
part of the Western Union Telegraph
| Co. and whose lines reached Washing
ton from the North, extend its wires to
the War Department. Navy Yard, Ar
senal and other outlying points.
There was no appropriation then TO
! meet the expenses of a Government
telegraph service, and for six months
or more the president of the American
! TELEGRAPH Co. advanced the money to
paw all bills. aggregating thousands OF
dollars for poles, wires, instruments and
salaries.
but the first tidings of the capitulation
of Vicksburg to Gen. Grant did not
| reach the President for week. 1t was
not unusual for the first announcement
of a battle raging. tapped not from
the wires" on its way north 70 som"
rparh
President through its washington cor
respondent.
TN the war with Spain, President Nc
Kinley. for the first time in history.
realized in practice the constitutional
proyision that the President not only
shall be. but is. the commander In chief
Of the Army and Navy Of the United
States.
At all times, from the first warlik"
movement of troops from their HON"
stations during the long term Of I'M
broken peace. the President. as COM
mander in chief, was within tap OF the
telegraph button.
Such facilities Of practically instant
communication between the commander
in chief and the active fighting forces
of a nation we're then not only abso-
lutely new but novel in the art of war.
The war room" in the southeastern
corner of the second floor of the
Executive Mansion will always hold
pre-encinent place in the history OF the
stirring events of 1898. Before the out
break Of hostilities this apartment was
devoted to the peaceful routine Of
executive administration, devolv1ng In
detail upon John Addison Porter secre-
tary to President Mckinley.
The necessity of being constantly In
intercourse with all parts Of the country
early became apparent to the President
and those about his person and subject
to his convenience in the transaction OF
public business.
In order to bring the President into
direct contact with the requirement
Of the situation Secretary Porter, Co!
Bingham, United States Engineers. an
Lieut.. Col. Montgomery United State
Signal Corps, at a conference at tn
Executive Mansion projected conpre
henSive scheme of wire and cable con-
nections with the systems OF the
commercial companies.
To secure the necessary isolation OF
the telegraph from the clerical routine
of the executive Office Secretary Porter
vacated the apartment which he had
occupied. Col. Bingham rearranged the
connections outside of the mansion,
bringing them in contact with the In
StrumentS within.
There had existed in the room across
the corridor a switchboard arrangement
with the systems Of the great telegraph
lines of the country for the transaction
! of ordinary business by relay through
the central Offices Of the city. This
crude method. though inconvenient at
times answered the requirements of
the day; but when war became inevi-
table, facilities of direct communication
equal to the exigencies of the new con-
ditions were demanded.
A new switchboard accommodating 20
wires was connected up single and
duplex for telegraph purposes. The
French and English cables, in addition
| to the regular wires OF the commercial
companies and press associations, con-
| Meeting with the Executive Mansion.
! thus brought the President in direct
and constant communication with every
part of the United States and the rest
of the world.
A cable box" with accommodations
| for Is telephone wires, placed the Pres
ident in official intercourse, separate
and distinct, with the Senate and
House of Representatives at the Capt.
| toll; also with each Of the eight execu-
tive departments. a special wire leading
| direct to the desks of the respective
chiefs. the latter being recorded tele-
phonically each under its own number.
| President Coolidge, as mentioned, had
! 40 telephone wires at his disposal.
| DRESIDENT HARDING was the first
Chief Executive to employ the tele-
| phone extensively to transact his daily
routine business. His predecessor, Mr..
Wilson. seldom used the service, and
| the White House operators had instruc-
| lions never to ring him. Roosevelt did
not continue the precedent set by Mr..
Mckinley. using the telephone only in
! an emergency. President Taft, how
ever, found it a great convenience.
The President leads an existence
which is every moment in the full glare
of publicity and yet is so strangely iso-
! lated. He must make important de-
cisions, and he should be at the White
! House proper or in the Office, or ION
! the line" practically all working hours
The availability of the President to his
cabinet and to members of Congress is
of the utmost Importance. Decisions
can then be quickly made.
Our Government Is the biggest busi-
| ness in the world. Our President rep
| resents in mis- own person more author
| ity and responsibility than are conferred
| In any other human being.
The President is both the nominal
and the real head of this stupendous
establishment. His place Is that of the
sovereign who reigns and Of the ruler
who actually governs. Every admins
trative policy is subject to his deter
mination. He conducts our foreign re-
| lations. He is comander-in-chief of the