very President, to
considerate and forbearing criticism. For, ardently desired as the
office is, it is a hard place to fill. Through the kindness of President
Roosevelt, I have been enabled to observe the daily routine of his work,
and I am free to say that from the business point of view, no man better
earns his pay than does he. Mr. Bryce remarks that a good deal of the
President's work is like that of the manager of a railway. So far as
concerns the consultation with heads of departments, prompt decisions,
and the disposition of daily matters, the comparison is apt, if a great
American railway and a manager like Thomas A. Scott are borne in mind.
But the railway manager's labor is done in comparative privacy, he can
be free from interruption and dispose of his own time in a systematic
manner. That is impossible for the President during the session of
Congress. Office-seekers themselves do not trouble the President so much
as in former days; they may be referred to the heads of the departments;
and, moreover, the introduction of competitive examinations and the
merit system has operated as a relief to the President and his Cabinet
officers. But hearing the recommendations by senators and congressmen of
their friends for offices consumes a large amount of time. There are, as
Senator Lodge has kindly informed me, 4818 presidential offices
exclusive of 4000 presidential post offices; in addition there are army
and naval officers to be appointed. The proper selection in four years
of the number of men these figures imply is in itself no small labor; it
would by a railway manager be considered an onerous and exacting
business. But the railway manager may hear the claims of applicants in
his own proper way, and to prevent encroachments on his time may give
the candidates or their friends a curt dismissal. The President may not
treat senators and representatives in that manner, nor would he desire
to do so, for the intercourse between them and the executive is of great
value. "The President," wrote John Sherman, "should 'touch elbows' with
Congress." There are important legislative measures to be discussed in a
frank interchange of opinion. Senators and representatives are a guide
to the President in their estimates of public sentiment; often they
exert an influence over him, and he is dependent on them for the
carrying out of any policy he may have at heart. While the encroachments
on the President's time are great, I am conv