The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1849-12-20

binets Of Europe may be in flame, and who
knows, but out of this agitation the friends of
liberal governments may be able to give success
to the cause of progress and republicanlsm!
ORGANIZATION OF THE SENATE, AND THE New
ArPolN1MENTs.-The organization of the Senate
and the appointment OF the committees, bode no
good to the nominations which the cabinet will
fling by the bpshell full into that body. Mr..
Mangum made the first movement IN the Senate
in the committees, and this movement is con-
ceved in the bitterest hostility to the cabinet,
every point of view. For many years Mr.. Man
gum and Mr.. Clayton were friends, admirers and
fellow-sufIerers in the opposition but now we un.
derstand that MIR Mangum, with great credit to
his sagacity, acknowledges the imbeciiy, folly
and falthlessness of Mr.. Clayton and his associ-
a,es, and is one of the principal opponents of
the administration in the Senate. If Mr. Benton
should take sides with the administration in the
Senate, Mr.. Mangum, an original Taylor man,
will take his place as the head of the opposition
to all the bad, ridiculous, absurd, and unwse APP
pointments made by the cabinet Yet we don't
apprehend general cutting off of heads. There
will be deliberate and calm selection of the
most obnoxious, most notorious, and most noted
appointments, and these will be served without
remorse and without pity.
| This topic will soon become intensely interesting.
The administration had appointed the
binet, than removals, without cause, were made
with hot haste all over the country, to appease
hungry clamants-here a sop-there a sop; ap-
pointments the most ridiculous and incompetent
freely made, to crafty the personal spleen of
particular members of the cabinet, each member
voting for the nominees of his colleagues, that his
Own might also pass without objection
Let us state case. Notice was given to all the
principal officers at the Custom House in Philadel
phia, as soon as the cabinet was formed, that they
must resign, or be removed, as a clean sweep of
every democrat was determined on. The ap-
praisers at Philadelphia were removed with hot
haste. The senior officer IN that department,
Thomas Stewart, received Geographic despatch
from the Treasury Department, that his removal
had been decided on, almost Immediately after
Meredith had taken his seat "Reminiscences
against the removal of Stewart were Immediately
got up and signed by all the leading wing i'm
porters of Philadelphia, beseechlng the cabinet
not to outrage public opinion, and remove va
luable public officer, solely and only because he
was a democrat; as he had never neglected his
duties the government, nor had he ever pre-
sidcd an officer over public meeting while
In off, but had confined himself simply to
votir as a free citizen should, according to the
homes dicdates of his conscience, 1t was thought
he would be retained. There never was
more popular officer in the Custom House
than Mr. Stewart; clear and decisive in matters OF
business, his department moved like clock-work.
As a Judge of goods, he is considered to have no
equal In the country. Having been many years IN
Office he had acquired vast store OF knowledge
of the cost, at the place Of manufacture, OF all
articles pay ing dd ralorem duties; and as millions OF
goods are determined in their value by nice distnc-
tons, undesirable except to those who are crl-
teal judges Of the particular fabric in question: the
government absolutely requires officers in that de-
partment trained to the business, or they can rea-
Oily lose, by fictitious invoices, hundreds OF thou
sands in month. The honest importer and the
manufacturer have vast interest in the COM
potency and integrity OF the appraiser.
We are authorized to say that the principal
manufacturers of New England pe,i,ioned on
beh af of Mr.. Stewart but no Mr.. Meredith
made il pc rsonal matter with the cabinet to
cede that removal to hum, and fer what cause
Simply to crafty personal dislike TO Mr. Stewart
whose politics were siametncaly opposite to his
own, and the force OF whose influence he had felt,
for years, IN Philadelphia. HIS competency, IN
tegriry, attention to his duties, were never called IN
question, and have not been, TO this hour William
NJ. Meredith removed Thomas Stewart, to crafty
a personal feeling Of hostility, arising solely from
bis politics, and without any oihercause, or shadow
Of cause, and we defy the administration to deny it,
And was the public good served by such removal
Il was not; for the person appointed in his place,
John c. Martin, is uan who did not, and does
not, possess the requisite qualifications for that
particular office, nor do his personal friends claim
that he possesses one rthe Of the qualifications MS
predecessor had. Mr. Martin rs a man Of good
character, active and industrious-a fair clerk
was formerly salesman in a wholesale jobbiog
house IN Market street, and after that did small
business on his own account, IN small way, Ia
,ebbirg silk goods, and for some ten years past
has been the superintendent of the merchants
reading room, in the exchange, at Philadelphia,
keepipg the newspapers in their respective places
on the files and pointing ont to visiters where
they could find them. Assiduous and oblging ia
that employment, BE- filled the position with credit
to himself and the subscribers But for the offce
Of appraiser OF foreign goods he is not properly
fitted, and owes his appointment soley W being the
personal friend Of Mr.. William M. Meredith.
When hlr. Meredith announced that he was going
to sweep from the csstom-house at Philadelphia
every democrat in it, several parties, who were
formerly largely engaged in importing European