Perhaps the President and Mrs. Hard
ing scarcely realized the plain human
value of their act wTien they directed
that the gates of the White House
grounds be thrown wide open to the
public and that the public bo per
mitted. as In former years, to visit
and take pleasure in certain of the
beautiful state rooms of th? White
House.
Vet that order has already hud a mort
happy reaction, not only upon Washing ?
tonians but upon the visitors from ou*
side. To them it marks the end of tV
period when the White House wa> sh?t
away, barred off from the people; wheft
it took on the anpect of a kind of mys
terious castle which common persons
mus'f not approach. To say that the
gates were kept closed und the people
excluded. In recent timet1 at least, be
cause of the President's Illness, did not
change the Impression thot most folks
got from the locked, chained fnte^.
They simply didn't like it. It we*ti f
democratic.
To-day thousands strolled alonp the
curving walks In the White House
grounds, and hundreds visited the
stately rooms open to inspection. Wher
ever one went there were exclamations
of pleasure over this particular change.
In this new period there will be vis
itors (and not all of them partisan
Republicans by any means) to the White
House and to the Executive offices that
haven't been there for years. There
were many such to-day. It was amaz
ing to note the difference between the
aspect or grounds and reception rooms
tills afternoon and the appearance they
presented a few months or even a few
weeks ago.
In such ways as this President Har
ding has established contact with the
people. The contact Is close all around.
