ANTHONY WHITING November 11, 1792. 



We have here a typical reply to a manager s report in 

 which Washington shows his ability to criticize severely. It 

 will be noticed that even the sawyer s faulty calculations of 

 lumber do not escape Washington s careful eye. 



Jared Sparks, an early biographer of Washington, says of 

 these reports and their replies : 



&quot; While Washington was absent from home, in discharging 

 the duties of President of the United States, it was his custom 

 to exact from the manager at Mount Vernon, once in each 

 week, a full report of the proceedings on all the farms. This 

 paper is a sample of those reports. In the meteorological 

 table, the figures denote the state of the thermometer, and the 

 initial letters the direction of the wind. The design of this 

 table was to communicate a knowledge of the weather, by 

 which a more correct judgment could be formed of the 

 amount of time, that the laborers could properly be employed 

 at their work. Each report was accompanied with an ex 

 planatory letter from the manager, containing other partic 

 ulars. These were regularly answered once a week by the 

 President, and sometimes oftener. His letters frequently 

 filled two or three sheets closely written. The importance he 

 attached to these letters, and his diligence in preparing them, 

 may be understood from the fact, that he first made rough 

 drafts, which were copied out by himself in a fair hand 

 before they were sent off. Press-copies were then taken, 

 which he preserved. This habit was pursued, without inter 

 mission, from the beginning to the end of the Presidency.&quot; 1 



i Sparks: &quot;The Writings of Washington,&quot; Vol. XII, p. 351. 



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