Show GARntrA1 HOBART VCtPRfSIDNT IN fACT I How He Has Astonished the Politicians With His Activity Became Distinct Force in PoliticsCaused a Diplomatic Stir By Taking Precedence of British I AmbassadorHis Busy LifeFirst VicePresident To Influence the President As vIce president of the United States Garret A Hobart differs vastly from any 0 his recent predecessors He Is a surPrise to the politicians for be has made himself a distinct political force He evidently realized when he accepted ac-cepted the nomination that the position posi-tion was one of great possibilities that it might 1e and hould be one of primary pri-mary importance He believed the fathers of the republic had no notion that the vice presIdent should be a figurehead and nothing more and he ermlnPd when elected to proceed upon that line His course was a sur Jrise to Washington from tile day of his Inauguration The vice presidency I had long been considered a sinecure in the capital city no matter who the is held to be next to the president in real potential Importance There Is no reason why the presiding officer of the senate should not be a power to be reckoned with if he so wills it It has been as the senates official head that Mr Hobart has most surprised the capital city lIe had long been prominent in the pUblic affairs of New Jersey his native state when advanced to his present high position and for years had been an Influential member of his partys national executive committee He had never been a figure in official Washington Wash-Ington however nor had he ever served in Washington as had nearly every one of his predecessors and no one looked for any stronger work from him in tile vice presidents chair than had been shown by them But Garret 11A I t r Allr44 4i k 1 iL fc 1 VICE PBZESIDENT GARRET A OBABT incumbent and no one could understand under-stand how it could be made anything elseSin Sinre then all Washington has learned that the vice president is a force to be reckon with in many ways All Yasllington likes the chalge and it is hardly probable that the vice presidency after Hobart will cpr drop hack to its old level of rela tIe Insignificance It is only right to say that the present importance of the vice presidency is in some degree due to the agreement of the president with lIIr Hobarts ideas hobart and the President The relations between Mr McKinley and Mr Hobart arc 1110re as such relations re-lations wr planned by the founders of the rpUbJic than they have been sinee Lincolns 11nt term There was l little rmpat1n behn Mr Cleveland 1 F and Mr Stcnnson Mr Harrison and r 1I1r Morton rarely saw each other a deddtl frost sprang up during Mn GartIllds brief actual servIce whenever I1t and Genral Arthur lJJlroached and frigid relations between the president den and vice JIsldtnt have been the lUI for more than thirty years Hut Mi McKinley and Mr Hobart are more than nierely on good terms they are dose ienJs in cm sense I TIU it is not at lll unusual fur Mr trvIinley to dlUIJ in at the famous Camllon mansion on Lafayette place whith the Hobarts have chosen for their home once or twice a week between be-tween whiles so to speak for a smoke and a haU hour of neighborly talk and relaxation Neither Is it exceptional for the tall figure 01 tile vice president to be seen enteling the door of the White House and the conferences bet be-t o eeli the nations chief executive and his next man are by no means devoted solely to sociability As many readers no doubt remember Great Britains representative has heretofore taken precedence over everyone every-onE save the president at all social and stat functions In Washington Sir Julian Pauncefot now British amlassader supposed that there would be no change when the present admin r nb re I istratlon caIne in but in this he was mistaken In behalf of his office and j himself I1r Hobart assumed precedence prece-dence of all UC his chief and tile president supported the vice presidents presi-dents position Sir Julian is a gentleman gentle-man and eventually he accepted the sItuation though not without some detaHe Onqullation with the home office which he deemed might be more vitally intereSted in the question of scLal IINCedenep at the republican rurt of the west than any individual could be His theory was undoubtedly In effect that being the pprsonal representative rep-resentative in Washington of Queen Vitoria he was entitled to all the deference that would be accorded to her in person and the matter was not settled for good and all untIl after the ambassadors return from a visit to the other side or the ocean in the course of which it Is understood he inquired minutely into the practice at Paris tile only other great republican capital Feeling 15 he did before he went abroad Sir Julian had refrained from attendlll various functions at which be aught met the rice president but immediately after reaching Washington Washing-ton again hI haotcned to > pay his respects re-spects to that ol1icJal In a forma call w11leh was duly and properly returned within the conventional three das limit It was diplomatically conveyed to Sir Julian soon afterwards that olr McKinley thought no one or any station sta-tion whatever ought to come between him and the vice president and since that time the precedence question has I CIstaUzed Itself Quite satIsfactorily J ID1bart ns Presiding Officer There Is no doubt that tIle framers of the rnlted states government believed be-lieved they were providing duties of the most important sort for the viet president presi-dent when they assigned to him tIle task of Ilrcsldlng over the senate The 5peaker of the house of representatives it ii oI < t A9 41i1 A Hobart resolved when little more j than a boy to do whatever he had to do as well as he could and as rapidly as possible and to make every move count to the fullest extent He therefore there-fore took up his duties In the senate chamber in his own virile efficient way First of all some time before March 4 1897 he addressed himself seriously to the study of the fiistory the traditions tradi-tions and the rules of the senate He already possessed an intimate knowledge knowl-edge of parliamentary law gained when he was in the New Jersey legislature legis-lature first as member of the lower house then as speaker and later as senator When he took up the gavel as presidIng officer of the senate he Imew just what to do and exactly how to do it He had both himself and the senate well in hand on the fIrst day of the extra session that marked the beginning of the prescnt administration adminis-tration and was early seen to be a chairman of strength and decision Since that first sPHlon his reputation along these lines has TQn steadily and more than once his sincerest admirers ad-mirers even have been surprise and delighted by his clear perception of the philosoph of parliamentary law and his minute knowledge of senate procedure Strangely enough too some of the oldest and best Imown of the senatorS arc least posted In the teelmlcalities of legislative business They know how to l1resent their Ideas succinctly often doqueltb and they are masters of the art of pleasing the commonwealths they represent Ire they could not serve term after term but they do not understand the ins and outs of the senate rules and are often bothered with the how and the wherefore These senators find the vice presidents unfailing un-failing technical knowledge which is frequently at their disposal of great value Mr Hobart usually reaches the capitol capi-tol at 1130 when the congressional wheels are grinding just half an hour before the senate begins work lot the day Of course he is surrounded with a rOUIJ of men eager to get a word with the vice president as soon as he reaches the senate hamber floor and he gives every one as free an audience as circumstances will permit But no matter what the pressure there is one duty which he invariably attends to before the session begins This is i the careful perusal of the previous days jburnal He has an unusually retentive mind and might reasonably be sure of keeping track of everything were he not to look at the journal at all but he prefers to refresh his memory every morning and to talc nothing for granted After the session has begun he has eyes and ears only for the current proceedings pro-ceedings He keeps close watch of all that Is going on and of everything that is said he has never been known to lose the thread and be obliged to ask about the llrevlous question and hc enforces the rules In other words he looks upon the work of the senate chairmanshp precisely as he regarded keeping a country school yeses ao It ilrare indeed that he calls anyone to the chair and for this reason a newspaper correspondent out of 5ym path with the ice presidents self hnlllsed task of listening to many speeches delivered otherwise chieily to empty benches reeentIy described Mr Hobart as the chronic audience Mr Ho arts Busy Days Whets congress Is in session Mr Hobart Ho-bart 15 one of the busiest men In the I national capitol He rises early and befOre J ocloek has broken his fast Sharp on the hour he seats himself at his desk on the sroundfloor room set I apart as an ofilce in the Hobart residence resi-dence His letters arc always roughly I divided into classes by his personal I secretary before 1I1r Hobart Is ready I for their consideration Into one class are put the letters relating to his large business lriterests Mr Hobart got out or most of his directOrates when made vice president 50 as to be free to give j I virtually undivided attention to his oill tt r1l d t I cial work but there arc still many i r matters upon which his business associates asso-ciates consult him by mail Their letters let-ters are naturally attended to by Mr Hobart himself Besides these the mornings mall brings many letters of a purely personal and social nature many others that are formally official as to contents and still others whose writers solIcit personal backing with the president or the heads of government govern-ment departments Mr Hobart Impreses the visitor who sees him for the first time as essentially essen-tially American in type and this impression im-pression grows with each subsequent Interview He Is rather above the middle mid-dle height his features are almost regular reg-ular his wholesomely tinted face is shaven clean save on the upper lip his hair and 101g moustache are beginning to show the gray and his blue eyes have the frank direct look of a man who has fought his own way to a high place in life and Is neither afraid nor arrogant His voice is full and round His manner has been termed bluff It has also been characterized as suave It should say it might better be spoken of as offhand H gives the typical American salute with heartiness there is no grudging Peter Grievous touch in his handshake nor is there any affected affect-ed oereordlallty or careful conformation conforma-tion to the latest vogue You get the whole hand and yOU are made to rel when you set it that should you 113e a reasonable request to prefer it will be sranted without any ifs and ands and that if it cant be granted the fact will quickly but Inoffensively be made clear Those who meet Mr Hobart by special spe-cial appointment generally see him in his office the others are received In the reception room opening directly off the entrance hall It is U large cheerful cheer-ful room which somehow suggests the man and is furnished with easy hairs and lounges Which make your waitings comfortable if you have to wait Sometimes whn there are many present pres-ent Mr Hobart circulates among his callers instead of having them some to him to the great saving of every ones time On those rare occasions when the visitors are few he is prone to scat himself easily by Vt callers side for a short talk and he always puts I everyone at his ease As a rule he Is ready for the allers at 10 this gives just an hour to them for he likes to start for the capitol to which he generally gen-erally walks at 11 Mr Hnbarts Social Life Caners are occasionally received by Mr Hobart at his home after the senate sen-ate has adjourned for the day hut the time between h oclock and the dinner homo is brief and not so many go then as in the morning There is no lack of occupation though for the afternoon mail has to bc attended to and often some of the morning letters are still unanswered These must be disposed of for if there is anything he dislikes It Is leftover letters Besides time for the consideration of social matters has somehow to be provided That is not always difficult but there are days aplen6 when it is Since Mr Mortons term it has been supposed that social observances take up a large portion of the vice presidents presi-dents time money and energy Unlike Un-like some general suppositions this one is just now quite accurate though Mr Morton was the first vice president who cut much of a social figure But Mr Hobart Is offhond as I have said while Mrs Hobart is gracious and both enjoy social life immensely The result Is such pronounced personal popularity for both that were each week to be of thirty instead of seven days it would be impossible for them to accept all the social courtesies tendered As it is they either gu out or entertain everY evening in the week except Sunday in th season The 11rst noteworthy function func-tion given by the Hobarts in Washing i f ett1 Ue fs tots was a reception to all the senators regardless of politics while the extra session of 1897 vas on Something has I been doing at the vice presidents house at least once a week since then when congress has beeis in session The most important fuiictions so far I this year have been the reception to the diplomatic corps and the dinner to the president Everyone of the Hobart reetions and dinners is sot up in exquisite taste as you have probably read from time to timo in the dispatches The house Is always decorated profusely with flowers includlm the costly American rose and there is highsrade music whether the function be a dinner or a reception Dances are barred for the reason among others that the house is not properly arranged for them The details of tile social programme are mqtIy looked after by Mrs Hobart Ho-bart whose punctilious observance of all the forms and ceremonies Is highly satlsfacton to the best Veshlnrton circles A young woman secretary is employed to look after Mrs Hobarts calling lists and the engagements of herself and Mi Hobart as a matter of I necessity and a regular social schedule for at least a week in advance Is always al-ways on the vice presidents desk It may be said here that were Mr Hobart dependent wholly upon the vice presidential salary for his income there would be fewer and less delightful entertainments en-tertainments in the Hobart mansion It would be Imp5sible to say how much of fL drain upon his private purse his social expenditures have been so far but the aggregate is surely well Into the tens of thousands T D MARSHALL |