The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-31 00:00:00

TJTE SUN, LON DON, WEDNESDAY .E VENLN G, MARCH 31, L,.7,69•

CABINET CHANGES 1N TVASHINGTON.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

It is amusing to read the article in the Times of
Thursday on President GRANT and his Cabinet. In
Printing-house-square its man in Philadelphia is
still an oracle, and in its innocence the Times
prints leaders on the text of his sayings. General
GRANT thought he was going to be a strong Presi-
dent, but he finds himself a weak one ; he thought
he was going to rule in his Cabinet, but he finds
that his Cabinet is to rule him ; he knew that it
would be a war to the knife with the rings, backed
by the class of politicians who make the rings, but
these men prove to be his masters, and have recon-
structel his Cabinet. By a chain of reasoning the
Times arrives at the conclusion that, however poor
a thing a European monarchy may be, a still poorer
thing is an American Republic. The impression
it desires to convey is that Mr. STEWART* was
GRANT'S choice for Secretary of the Treasury, but
that the politicians ousted STEWART in favour of
BouTwELL, a man of their own. Their chief rea-
son, the Times says, was that STEWART is a Free-
Trader, while the politicians are Protectionists, and
they made a strong point that a Free-trader should
not occupy the. post wherein he would be the most
dangerous to Protection. The truth is that GRANT'S
first choice for the Treasury was Mr. BOUTWELL,
and he only appointed Mr. STEWART after the other
had declined to act ; so that the whole ground-
work of the Times article sinks, leaving that paper
where it often is, in the air, mere ballooning.
GRANT, as we have before explained, selected Mr.
WASHBURNE for the first office in his gift as a com-
pliment, knowing that he could not continue to
hold it. He retained SCHOFIELD for the same reason,
expressly stating that as that officer had declined
to resign his commission in the army, he did not con-
sider it right he should remain in the post of a civilian.
The man he selected as his successor is the closest
personal (friend, perhaps, he has. If GRANT owes
his elevation to WASHBURNE, RAWLINS owes his
more distinctly to GRANT ; and it is a truism that
the attachment growing out of giving is greater on
the part of the donor than on that of the receiver. Yet
the Times writes a leader to impress on the English
public that GRANT has been driven from his position
by the politicians, that the Cabinet of his choice has
been broken down, and the present incumbents of
the three most important offices have been thrust
on him at the dictation of the politicians. While
on this subject let us give an instance of the way
in which it corrects mistakes. It published to the
world that GEORGE F. lloan had been nominated
Attorney-General, and puzzled every person in
Europe acquainted with, and interested in, Ameri-
can affairs. The letter of the correspondent fol-
lowed in due course, and the error of his telegram
was there repeated. We gave the reason last week,
but not in the most remote way did the Times ever
allude to its blunder, and with an impudence, which
only long habit could give, wrote about Mr.
EBENEZER. ROCKWOOD HOAR as the Attorney-Gene-
ral. The Cabinet is not yet fully constructed, for
President GRANT does not intend to infringe the
rule of taking more than one Cabinet Minister from
any State. When he prevailed on BOUTWELL to
I accept the post of Secretary of the Treasury, he
wrote asking Mr. HOAR to resign ; but that gentle-
man arrived immediately at Washington, having
`resigned his seat on the Massachusetts bench, and
the PRESIDENT so far changed his mind as to avail
himself for the present of his legal services. It is,
however, an understood thing that Mr. HOAR will
shortly receive another appointment and sur-
render his place in the Cabinet. At the same
time, we freely admit, a great storm is brew-
ing at Washington ; but it is one long fore-
seen by GRANT, and long predicted by the news-
papers. The fight will be GRANT versus the
" Rings," and the PRESIDENT will require all the
aid the nation can give to come off victorious. In
this country something is known of close boroughs,
corporations, cliques and monopolies, and the man
who undertakes to fight them has a hard time of it,
with only a small chance of success. But what are
these to the gigantic combinations of fraud which
have grown up in America during and since the
War. General GRANT has one thing to do--to
purify the Administration, to reform the Civil Ser-
vice. If he can accomplish this he will crown his
great services, and take his place by the side of
WASHINGTON in the future history of the Union.
But to rout the "rings" will prove as difficult as to
subdue the South, and no man knows this better
than GRANT himself. His Cabinet has been ap-
pointed to strengthen his hands for the conflict.
It is composed of men always foremost in this battle
and his own fast friends, and the Times is most in-
correct in its assertion, that either Mr. FISH or
Mr. BOUTWELL represent interests or opiniohs not
in accord with those of the PRESIDENT who selected
them. We have already sketched the careers of
the other members, and we have only to add those
of the Secretary of State and of the Treasury. The
former, HAMILTON FISH, of New York, was born
in New York City, in 1809, of one of the oldest and
most respected families of the metropolis. He was
educated at Columbia College. studied law, and
was admitted to the bar in 1830. He was defeated
in his candidature for the State Legislature in
1834, but was elected in- 1837. In 1842 he
was elected to Congress, and in 1848 became Go-
vernor of his native State. On the close of his term
in 1850 he was sent to the U.S. Senate, in which as-
sembly he sat from 1851 to 1857. From that period
he travelled for years, mainly in Europe, which
has given him much acquaintance with European
questions and an insight into Foreign Affairs which
qualify him for the post he now fills. In conjunction
with BISHOP A3IES, he acted on a commission
ap-
pointed in 1862 to relieve Union prisoners in the
South. On the whole, his appointment must be
well received by the nations with whom he will most
come in contact, as his views are moderate, and he
is a gentleman in every sense of the word, his
sentiments being expressed and Lis manner dis-
tinguished for courtesy and dignity. General JOHN
A. RAWLINS, Secretary of War, was born in Jo.
Davies County, Illinois, on the 13th Feb., 1831.
His early life was spent in farming and charcoal
burning, and his educational advantages were
limited to attending the neighbouring schools,
Chiefly in the winter, although he once had a spell
of eight months at the Rock River Seminary,
Illinois. When 23 years of age he was admitted
to the bar, entering into partnership with his pre-
ceptor in Galena, GRANT'S own town, where he
continued to practise till the outbreak of the war.
In 1861 he assisted in raising the Lead Mine Regi-
ment of Illinois Infantry, and was shortly after-
wards appointed to the staff of Brigadier-General
GRANT, with the rank of Captain. From that
period throughout the war he was on GRANT'S Staff,
and rose with him till he attained the position of
Chief of Staff, with the rank of Brevet Major-
General of the United States Army. This com-
mission he will have to resign, a sacrifice SCHO-
FIELD would not make, and one which doubtless
caused RAWLINS pain. He enjoys the entire con-
fidence of the PRESIDENT, who speaks of him as
having fully earned all his promotions as a soldier
who came " the nearest to being indispensable to
him of any officer of the service."

111LSCELLANEOUS NEWS.

and cannot "be Irept unaer proper cumin:nu, We
steamers thus manned being often deserted when a
foreign port is reached. Mr. Carnegie advises that
all seagoing steamers should be forced to carry
apprentices. It is only fair that the owners of
steamers should train up a supply of able seamen in
their own ships, instead of taking the crews reared
in the sailing vessels. Under the old Mercantile
Marine Act all vessels were properly compelled to
carry a sufficient number of apprentices, and it will
inflict no hardship to enforce the same rule now.