Evening star., 1932-02-10
The People and the President.

the next few months he will be unable
to participate in formal White House
receptions" This statement, issued
from the White House yesterday, will
cause much disappointment to the dele
gates to conventions of national organi-
cations that are scheduled to meet in
Washington during the Winter and
Spring. There will be no less than one
hundred and sixty. of such meetings
and that number will probably increase
Already requests from scores of these
organizations for White House recep
tions have been received To grant them
all would entail demand upon the
Presidents time that would leave little
opportunity for the consideration and
disposal of the public business that
presses in ever-increasing volume upon
the Executive. To avoid Determinations
the all-inclusive rule is made to with
hold from any the privilege Of meeting
the President in person.
In connection with this announce
ment statistics are presented to indicate
the intensity of the pressure upon the
Executive Offices. During 1881 the in
coming and outgoing telephone calls at
the White House totaled 416 ,422. In the
nearly three years of the Hoover ad-
ministration these calls have aggregated
1882, ,309. AT present the average Of
calls, not including intra-office and in
terdepartmental calls, is 1900 daily.
White House conferences have averaged
more than twenty day. On the basis
of ten minutes for each this has meant
that no less than three hours and twen-
ty minutes has been devoted simply TO
the greeting of groups of people.
Practically every visitor to Washing
he were to do no more than merely
shake the hands of all who wish to
call to pay respects he would be oc-
cupied for at least third of his work
ing hours But many want more than
a handshake They want a chance to
discuss their own problems, the prob
lens Of national affairs. They want
to bring directly to the Presidents
attention their own views Of hcw to
run the Government. They want to
ask for the consideration of this or that
aspirant for public appointment.
No man, however strong or sound in
health, can withstand such a pressure.
1t is always to be desired that the
President shall be accessible to the peo-
pie. But the volume of public business
is so great, the matters Of mere ad-
ministration are so numerous and COM
plex that it has become necessary to
limit the access to the medium OF the
chosen representatives Of the people.
their Senators and members Of the
House Of Representatives. at least for
the present, while the national welfare
demands tie uninterrupted attention
Of the Chief Executive upon details Of
Government.
Though disappointed, the delegates to
the scores of conventions that are to
meet in Washington during this BIZ
centennial year will doubtless accept
the situation cheerfully and in a spirit
of patriotic cooperation. They will
be handsomely entertained and amply
accommodated while in Washington,
and if they miss the presidential hand
shake they will at least see the Gov
ernment at work and probably will
leave the Capital with the feeling that
their interests are being better served
by the concentration of the President
upon his weighty responsibilities than by
the grant of formal, crowded re-
ception.