He was under heavy pressure from the office
seekers. They came singly or in groups and under the escort of
Congressmen, some of whom performed such service several times a
day. The situation became so intolerable that on the 8th of May
President Cleveland issued an executive order setting forth that
"a due regard for public duty, which must be neglected if present
conditions continue, and an observance of the limitations placed
upon human endurance, oblige me to decline, from and after this
date, all personal interviews with those seeking office."
According to the Washington papers, this sensible decision was
received with a tremendous outburst of indignation. The President
was denounced for shutting his doors upon the people who had
elected him, and he was especially severely criticized for the
closing sentence of his order stating that "applicants for office
will only prejudice their prospects by repeated importunity and
by remaining at Washington to await results." This order was
branded as an arbitrary exercise of power compelling free
American citizens to choose exile or punishment, and was featured
in the newspapers all over the country. The hubbub became
sufficient to extract from Cleveland's private secretary an
explanatory statement pointing out that in the President's day a
regular allotment of time was made for congressional and business
callers other than the office seekers, for whom a personal
interview was of no value since the details of their cases could
not be remembered.
Pages:
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164