Preparing and Handling the President's Message
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MAJOR O. I.. PRt'DKN. ASSISTANT SKC
RKTARY TO Till: PKKSIDKNT. IIKAIt
IN(! THK MKSSACK TO TIIK CAPITOI.
(Copyright, 1WI, liy Wnldou I'iwcett.)
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nesslan, In which hi- reviews tho
work of the various executive de
partments for the preceding yoar ami makes
"commendations for the future easily ranks
asrho most Important stato document In tho
republic, and from tho time the chief magis
trate commences work upon It until It Is
made public the contents are a matter of
paramount Interest to the national law
makers and to the country at large.
The method of preparing a presidential
message Is far-reaching In Us scope. As a
Ilrst step the chief executive, some, weeks
before he Is ready to begin tho actual work
of writing the document, asks each mem
ber of his cabinet to prepare a report cov
ering the workings of bis branch of tho
government and embodying his recom
mendations for tho ensuing year, Including
an estimate of the amount of money which
will bo required for the maliitenniico of tho
department under his direction. When a
president hns been In olllce for several yenrs
lie Is usually so closely In touch with gov
ernmental affairs generally that ho needs
this data principally as memoranda, but
when, ns In tho casu of President Hoosevelt,
a man Is unexpectedly called upon to ns
sumo tho responsibilities of tho highest
olllco In tho land nnd Is required to pre
sent n congressional message almost Imme
diately tho taBk of familiarizing himself
with nil the Interests Involved Is a her
culean one.
Different presidents have had widely
varying methods of preparing their mes
sages. Trior to the McKlnley administra
tion It vns the custom of each chief execu
tive to write his message out in long hand
President Cleveland, who Is rather a labori
ous worker and some of wIiom' message
to congress were somewhat lengthy, foun 1
the preparation of such documents a sore
tax upon Ills time. Tin- late President Mc
Klnley and President Roosevelt have both
had recourse to more modern methods and
have dlct-utcd large portions of their mes
sages to Secretary 0 II. Cortolyou.
In later years, however, there has ben
no rule for this. In some Instances Presi
dent McKlnley dlctntcd practically an entire
message, and then, again. In the case of
some of the comparatively brief messages
submitted on special occasions, as during
tin' Spanish-American war. entire docu
ments were written In his own hand. The
business of the government has now at
tained to such proportions that It Is doubt
ful If It will ever again be practicable for a
president to i-ot out to pen personally bis
entire letter of ailvlce to congress. More
over. If the present occupant of the White
House has husbanded his time In one direc
tion lie has made a more liberal expendi
ture of it In another, for. whereas former
presidents were wont to Incorporate bodily
In their messages the icports prepared by
the cabinet olllclals, Mr. Roosevelt insisted
on rewriting everything sulunllted for em
bodiment In his Initial presidential mes
sage and infusing into the recommenda
tions his own personal convictions.
I.nx. for lelvliilc).
l'rnhnhly no man who has stood at the
head of the nation was enabled to prepare
a congressional message with less apparent
effort than the late President McKlnley. lie
bad a habit of Jotting down suggestions ami
recording lines of thought at odd moments,
and thus tho general trend of the dlscus
dnn seemed to literally shape Itself. Com
ing to his duties as chief magistrate only
a few mouths before lie must present an
exhaustive declaration of pulley, President
Itoosevelt had no opportunity of such leis
urely methods in the preparation of hU
II I'm t message. Almost from the outset he
adopted the plan of seeing no visitors after
1:30 o'clock In the afternoon nnd thus gave
up the hours nftor lunch each day almost
exclusively to work on the message. Nit
Infrequently he devoted u portion of the
evening to the same task, anil on tho only
occasion during the early weeks of his ad
ministration when he visited the theater he
departed nfter the Ilrst act in order to get
in some work on his message.
After a presidential message lias been
dictated to the secretaries or penned by
baud It Is transcribed In typewritten form,
and after revision by the president is sent
to the government printing olllce to be put
In type. When the "proof" conies from
Uncle Sam's big printing establishment It
undergoes another revision, and perhaps
this may be repeated several times. There
has been a grent difference In the tendency
of chief executives to make alterations in
their messages after the documents were In
type. Some presidents have practically re
written their mli'flives. to the discomfiture
of tile compositors, while others, notably
President McKlnley. have, as a rule, made
very few corrections.
I'llttlllK It III T) lie.
Tho manner of handling a presidential
message nt tho government printing olllco
Is very interesting, for it Is hero that
there exists tho greatest danger of dis
closure of the contents. Considerable so
crecy must bo maintained as to tho Import
of this grent letter of advice, for wcro It
possible for stock manipulators and specil
lators of various kinds to learn in ad
anre the character of some of the meas
ures advocated the llnanelal and business
stability of the country might be mo
meutarily shaken as a result of the tin
scrupulous efforts of such schemers to en
i ich themselves. Once, during the llaca
administration, a presidential message was
stolen mid the theft Is reported to haw
netted the perpetrators many thousand del
lars, but there has never been a repetition
of the loss. The message from the time it
Is delivered at the printing olllce until li
emerges In pamphlet form, ready for de
llery at the White House. Is solely In
charge of one olllclal, who Is held lespousi
ble for Its safe keeping. Presidential mes
sages range In length from IU.immi to L'O.ooo
words and in prcpnilng such u document for
the typesetters it Is cut up into pieces so
small thai no compositor can gain an
dellulte Knowledge of tlie subject under ills
cusslon. The woik Is also so distributed
among hundreds of typesetters that It is
Imprint li able fur any group of men io
"compute notes-' with a view to ascertain
ing the Import of any particular part of
tin- document.
Kei'iihiK li liiiil..
The asM'iiibllng of all these various
musses of type is entrusted to a man of
known responsibility and the same care is
exercised with legnrd to the eiuplojcs who
print Hie documents and bind them. Mm li
the same system Is followed that prevails
in the llureau of Printing and Kngruviiig.
where currency Is printed. Knch sheet of
paper which is Issued for use In printing
li presidential message must be accounted
for ere tho woikman to whom It has been
entrusted Is allowed to leave the building
lit night.
The printed copies of the message are dc
llvered at the White House and from there
distributed to the various newspaper olllrcs
throughout tlie country, a courtesy ex
tended III onlir that the newspapeis ma
not lie put to the Inconvenience of hur
liedly placing In type this enormous docu
iiient In the few bonis Intervening between
its presentation to eniigiess and the hour
at which a majority of the dally papers go
to press. Kach newspaper agrees, of course,
not to divulge any of Hie contents of the
message in advance. In some instancin
the "advance copies" of I lie mestage have
been Issued to the newspapers six days in
advance of the dale of delivery, thus allow,
ing time for tlie document to be trans
mitted by mail to publication on the I'a
cille coast, but on the other oi'i'iisiiius, ow
ing to tardiness In the completion of the
document, less than forty-eight hours has
Intervened. It has been necessary at such
times for the press associations to tele
graph the full text of tlie message to nil the
prominent daily papers in the mine remote
sections of the country. This has entailed
an expense of thousands of dollars for tele
graph tolls alone.
iei'liil Co for Couuri'MN,
Kncli member of congress, when be takes
his seat to listen to the reading of the
presidential message on the morning of a
M'sslou of the national legislature llnds lie.
fore him a printed copy of the document
similar to that furnished to tin' newspapers
Yet this Is not the form in which It readies
the presiding olllcers of Hie two houses of
congress. Tho copy of the document which
Is formally presented for the consideration
of each body Is In manuscript nnd the
preparation and delivery of these copies
are nmong tho important duties of Major O.
1j. Pruden, assistant secretary to tho presi
dent, who, next to tho chief executive and
PUKSIDKNT IIOOSKA I'.l.T AT WORK ON Ills I'lllST MKSSUIK TO ( 'ONOUK.SS
Sciril.il' Coiti hou ptohahly lias mre to
do with the evolution of a prcslih nt i.d mes
sage than any other one man.
Major Pruden's Ilrst duty In the matter
is to prepare manuscript copb s of tlie
m ssage one for the senate and the other
for the house of representatives. I'nr this
lusk he Is well qualiilcil, being a luaivclnus
penman Major Pruileii, who has been de
nominated the "Sphinx of the White
House," In cause of tlie .cabins manner in
which lie guards slate scciels. was at
tached to (he While House staff by (icneral
Olatit and has held the position ever since
In addition to transcribing the annual
message mid other presidential statements
which unbroken precedent decrees shall
go foi tb to the world In plain penmanship -Major
Pruden piepares tlie presidential
ciiiiimlssion for cabinet olllcers and oilier
Important presidential appointments. in
some Instances the limited time interven
ing between the completion of a message
ami the hour nt which It was necessary In
present the document to congress has
necexjillntcil extraordinary exert Inn on tlie
part of Major Pruden. For Instance, In
Hie case of tlie hist message pri pared by
President McKlnley the nsslstiuit secretary
worked all day Sunday mid Sunday night
in order to have tho copies ready for tho
sennte and house of representatives on
Monday morning. In order to prevent the
recurrence of such an emergency President
Itoosevelt, when lie assumed olllce, declnrod
that hciict forth, when time was limited,
tlie advisability of departing from tlme-
hiiiioicil iiistom and sending to each branch
of congiess a typewritten copy of tho docu
tin lit would be HerloiMy considered
l'i r inn 1 1 1 Ii'n ol' I 1 1 i .
The delivery of the caiefully prcpand
copies of tile presldelll's most Important
olllcial ilecbiralloii Is atiolber duty that
develops upon Major Pruileii On Hie open
lug morning of u cougii'ssloiial hi'ohIou he
gins to the rn 1 1 ill in the ono-hotsc car
riage which the goveriiuicnl maintains In
Hie White lliinse stables for his use. The
same borsi s, Kendall and itaniiod, a pair
of bay geldings, have taken turns In draw
ing Hie president's mcmuge bearer tor al
most a dermic. Arrived III the senate
chamber. Major Pruden, carrying tho large
white envelope under his arm, advances to
a position before the presiding olllcer and
says:
"Mr. Piesldcnt, (be president of the
('lilted Sliiles diiecls me to submit a
message In writing."
Willi this iiunnuin eiuent lie hiilidH the
package, which is held by the olllcial seal.
Io Hie reading cleik ami proceeds to (bo
house of lepreselilallvcH, where the cere
luiiny Is repealed. Clerks In the two hous 's
of congress read the document aloud
hI in u 1 1 a n ously mid modern newspaper cu
terprlse enables (he general public In all
parts of the country to be
come cognizant of tho contents of the
mesango by means of special edit ions of the
grent dally Journals quite as promptly ns
tlie law makers scaled In Iho balls of
congress
Episodes and Incidents in the Lives of Noted People
tit in. ,iii . . ... i . i i t , , 1.
-'. null in. Diua.xiiiiii.x, nun
. I has been selected ns collector of
" I 11... .. V-...I. Iw.t .... l.l-
wiu iui i ui I u IV, Milf tin mo
given mimes tliu stntes of Ne
vada and Nebraska. At tlie time
ho was born tho great went was just be
ginning to develop, mid his father was Im
pressed by rending about these territories.
A crusade hns been begun In Washington
against tho uniithern custom of men remov
ing their bats while riding In elevators It
there aro any women passengers. Notices
hnve been posted In the corridors of several
largo olllco buildings to the elfcct that good
tasto docs not requlro It. The reason for
tho crusade is said to be altogether hy
gienic. Wu Tlngfnng, the Chinese minister to
Washington, was exploring an art gallery
there, when he saw n portrait of Id Hung
I'll 10.'' "It iloes not onk like him " kmI.1
mo Oriental diplomat. "Hut It Is only a
three-quartern view," urged an artist who
stoon nenr. "It does not look three-quarters
like him," retorted Minister Wu as
ho paused on.
Not ono of the theater crowd knew
ThomaB Ilrackett Heed, relates the New
York Times. Tho plays were over and tho
cor crowded. Tho big man was seated,
thinking, perhaps, of the dnys when he was
known as tho czar, nnd the cartoonists gave
much of their talent and tlmo In caricatur
ing his amplo curves and round face. Per
haps the ox-statesman wondured that there
W88 not ono friendly nod or respectful bow
for him among those typical, woll-drest-ed
and huppy New Yorkers. The conductor
knew tho man from Maine, aiul Intended to
stop the car near Ifili Central Park, South,
for Mr. Iteiil does not like Io be carried
beyond his destination.
Hut with the many duties of his crowded
car tlie conductor missed the chance to bo
courteous. The car had pnsn'd the corner
when tho conductor noticed the big man
reaching to ring to tlie motoiiuan. lie hur
ried to tho ox-spenkcr mid expressed his.
sorrow at not stopping at the right place.
"Don't you sympathize with me, sir,"
said Mr. Itood, with the twinkle In Ills c'"
which used to mean danger to presumptuous
congressmen. "You must not syiupatblo
wltli anyone. It is out of style, and thu
only place you can find sympathy now li
In the dictionary."
M. Snntos-Diimout, tlie Brazilian balloon
ist, is tho most popular man In Paris Jirit
now. Tradesmen are displaying Santns
Dumont necktle3, lints nnd other articles of
apparel, and even cakes similarly nam d nru
nu snle. It Is until, by the way, that Presi
dent I'nuro once asked a friend, "Am I
really populnr?" and received this reply:
"Not yet, M. Io President; your figure In
gingerbread Is not yet being told In tho
streets."
Prof. Syle, a member of tho faculty of a
western university, cannot tolerate .mob
hlshness on tho part of his scholars, and
any bucIi offenso Is sure to roll forth snm
keen, snrcnstlc comment. The othor day,
while calling tho roll of one of his classes,
he enmo upon tho card of a Miss On one.
lie paused and expressed disapproval of the
lliiul e In her name by saying: "(i-r-o-o-n-o,
noes that spell Oreen or Orcenle?" Miss
Oreeno promptly replied: "S-y-l-e, does
that spoil Syle or Sillle?"
PraxcdcH Mateo Sagasta, tho Spanish pre
mier, whose health has Just completely
broken down from catarrh of the stomach,
is 71! years old and has been conspicuous In
the political life of Spain since 1S.M, when
lie was Hist elected to the Cortes. It vn
he who forced the recall of Weyler from
Cuba. No slutc-muui In Spanish history has
averted mine crises or so of tin rescued tho
country from humiliating situations.
Not ns many stories of John I). Rockefel
ler are told as of men who go about more
in public. Hut now and then we got ono
Here Is the most recent, lelated by the
llrooklyn Kagle: Years ago Mr. Rockefeller
was n poor clerk In Cleveland, drawing a
salary of $10 a month. He bad nu ailment
which required a simple ami harmless sur
gical operation. Ho went to a surgeon of
high reptlto In Cleveland mid arranged to
pay so much a month. The surgeon was
willing mid It took Rockefeller nbout a
yeor to pay tho hill of $in without In
terest. No so very long ngn Mr. Rockefeller sent
for tho sntno surgeon, now nn old man, ami
eiitortnlned him at his Tarry Forest homo.
Tho mognato wanted another consultation
regarding tho old complnlnt and ohoso to
send for the surgeon of his youth. They
talked It ovor nnd then Rockefeller asked
for tho hill, romnrklng' "I won't keep
you walling ns I did years ago. Things
liavo changed since then."
"Oh, I am out of practice; I wish no fee,
Mr. Rockefeller. That Is nil right. Don't
mention It."
Rockefeller opened a drawer at his desk,
disclosing a few pounds of new green
backs. Putting a few bills In an envelope
ho handed it to tho surgeon, saying: "Well,
If you do not want to take a fee, give this
to some poor young doctor of your ac
quaintance." Theio was $r.00 In Hie en
velope, nnd afior in rival homo tlie old sur
geon did not think of any young doctor to
whom ho could give the money mid kept It.
A Herman friend having Invited Cn.l
Scimrz to spend tho remainder of his life
In Southern California, Mr. Schurz replied
gratefully, hut says the literary projects
lie has on hand preclude the Idea of his
giving himself up to the enjoyment of na
ture. Mr. Schurz. by the way, was among
N( guests at a dinner given to the stalf
or the New Yolk I. veiling Post on its 100th
anniversary. In his speech he paid the pa
per the high compliment of saying: "It
Is not even afraid of Its friends."
- -
Tho relations between Isldoie Itayuer, at
torney general of Maryland, and Admiral
Schley beautifully Illustrate tho line old
southern spirit of chlvnlry. We call It
southern, relntes the llrooklyn Kngle, be
cause tho graces of friendship seem to blos
som moro freely In the warmer dlmo than
In New Kngland When the court of In
quiry was ordered Admiral Si hley engaged
two life-long friends ns his counsel. One
was the late Judge .leieiiilah Wilson ami
Hie other was Mr. Itayuer. In asking Mr
Itayuer to serve ho wiote; "I wish a rep
lesciitatlvo from my own statu to represent
mo In this coiitioversy. 1 have selecicd
mi nnd it is hardly necessary for mo in
add that I shall be delighted with youi
prcsi nee and grateful for your distinguished
services." Mr. Itayuer at once honored the
draft in. uli' on ills friindshlp mid for Hie
honor of his slate and Its distinguished
I epl'i'Hi utal ive ill the navy he strove to
pinvo that tlie admiral had done his ilulv
as a sunt liein gentleman. And when the
Inquiry was ended he declined to accepl
ono dollnr of pay. He even met Ills own ex
peases while In Washington, hut the ml-'
mlral would not let Hie matter rest here
Ho has given to Mrs. Itayuer a beautiful
brooch, studded with diamonds, and In Mr
Itayner a gold watch and chain with a gold
pencil as a charm. During the long weeki
of the sessions of Hie coin I of Inquiry Ad
mlral Schley had sat i lose to Ills counsel
Mr. Itayner bad mi old-fashioucil, key-wind
Ing timepiece, which had long since out
lived Its usefulness It did not keep good
time and Itayner was in Hie hahit of turn
ing to Admiral Schley frequently nnd ask
ing the time of day. I.lko many other law
yers, Mr. Itayner was often without a pen
ell mid he would ask the admiral to loan
him Ids pencil. Ilccauso he noted tlieso
things tho admiral thought the pencil and
tho wnteh would bo appreciated by his
friend. Doubtless It was his remembrance
of Mr. Rayner's splendid service Hint
among other things made him sny that he
was thankful for everything, "not one par
ticular thing, but everything"