"I favor them both," declared the President. "They are taxes on good luck; bad luck is its own tax."
A statesman from the Pacific slope protests against Federal interference in the school question.
"It is a local matter as you say, Senator, and yours is a 'Sovereign
State'—they all are till they get into trouble. If we should have war with
Japan, your State would speedily become an integral part of the Union."
A group of gentlemen now object to an aspirant for a Federal judgeship on the ground that he has not a "judicial temperament."
"As I understand it," the President begins, "judicial temperament is largely a fragrance rising from the recollection of corporate employment; it is the ability to throw a comma under the wheels of progress and upset public welfare; I am glad to learn that Mr. L—— has not a 'judicial temperament'; I shall send his name to the Senate to-day."
The gentlemen retired. "Come, Mr. Dale, let us go."
This President had been accused of a lack of dignity. Is it a less valuable trait which puts the John Dales of our land at instant ease in the "State Dining-Room" of the White House?
"Well, sir, no man ever had a better friend than Judge Long," said the President when they were seated. "'Ves' Long, I mean," he added with a smile.
"I met him in the West; he had a ranch; mine was near it. We saw much of each other; we hunted together—and that's where you learn a man's mettle. He never complained of dogs, luck, or weather. We saw rough times; it was glorious. We'd wake up with snow on the bed, and when 'Ves' introduced me at Point Elizabeth in my first campaign he said we often found rabbit tracks on the quilts—but then 'Ves' had a remarkable eye.
"Some say, 'blood is thicker than water.' That depends somewhat on the quality of the water; I like him; there's nothing I wouldn't do for him!"