The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-04-16
.The Cablnet Ne doomed. ,,


have seen an article in the Union of Sun
day last under the imposing caption "The
Cabinet is doomed' We have read,
quite carefully, both it and the Washing
ton letter published in the New York Ear
press which it introduces, and which gives
it all the consequence it possesses. They,
both letter and editorial Introductory, pro-
nounce the doom of President TAYLoR's
Cabinet "fxed fact" but arrive at this
conclusion from very opposite directions.
In the Introductory of the Union our vene-
rable contemporary assumes the character
of Cassandra and Zantippe-the last OF
which no one can better illustrate. II
foresaw the doom of the Cabinet long ago,
as the inevitable consequence of sundry
abominable things done by the President
such as the election from office of the
"scathing Thompson" and patriots of that
kith. 1t claims for its lamentations over
the army of martyrs the same marvellous
effects which superstitious minds ascribe
to the howlings Of "nocturnal dogs" around
the habitations Of men. These, the old
women of the country will insist, portend
death. The howlings of the Union have
been enterprising enough to prognosticate
the doom of all mankind; but queryl if
''baying the moon" would not be more
german employment for such dog.
The letter extracted from the New
York Express derives all its significance
from the fact that the editor of that paper
is Wing member Of Congress, and the
paper itself is an old established Wing
journal. 1t will be borne in mind that
Mr.. BROOKS, the editor of the Express,
upon taking his seat in Congress, caused
to be published card, in which he an
nounced to the public that whilst he oc-
cupied seat in the House of Representa-
tives, he would not write letters for his
paper unless over his own signature
This was done lest the readers and the
public at large might give to the Wash
ington correspondence of the Express a
greater weight than was due them, from
connecting his name with its contents.
The letter in the Express comes to the
conclusion that the Cabinet must 60, ''be-
cause" as it alleges, ''there are not FIVE
Wing members in Congress who would vote
to have them retained month" 1t then
proceeds to enumerate certain wrongs
done by the members of the Cabinet, all
relating to the payment of old claims. Mr..
CLAYTON, Mr.. MEREDITH, Mr.. CRAw-
FORD, Mr.. EWING, are all arraigned for
paying, or participating in the payment of,
old and oft-rejected claims; and Mr.. At
torney General JOHNSON is condemned for
writing opinions upon which they were
allowed.
II has been no part of our business to
poll the members of Congress to ascertain
how many are in favor of the present Cab
met remaining in Office, or for what length
of time any number of them would vote to
have them retain their places. We are
not authority on that point; and calling to
mind Mr.. BRooKs's abnegation of respon-
sibility for the contents of any epistle writ
ten from the seat of Government which
does not bear his initials, the averments of
this letter seem to claim no more consider
alton than the ratiocinations, speculations,
or statements of any other Washington
correspondent. Indeed, the positive de-
claration that FIVE Wing members Of Con-
grsss could not be found to favor the re-
tention for thirty days of a Cabinet COM
posed of cable men and hard working
public servants" which the letter claims
the present incumbents to be, reveals a
Partially for using exact numbers without
much regard TO their precise meaning.
Having disposed of the letter in so far
as any especial authority for its statements
may be inferred from the official character
of the editor of the Expressive are not
sure that Mr.. BRooKs was in Washington
when il was written-we shall now pro-
coed TO notice other parts of it. The wri-
| 'ti niiasho lhc Odoiuct upoh TIC odipnin
claim, the De la Franchia claim, the
Chickasaw claim; and desires TO know il
the conduct of the members of the Cabinet,
through whose departments and by whose
advice they we're paid, does not deserve
to be inquired into by Committee Of
Congressi
We certainly see no improperly in any
paper suggesting an inquiry into the con-
duct of public officers; but we protest
against the spirit in which this has been
done in the letter under consideration. II
is bad enough in Locofoco Bitter end
journal to talk about investigating the con-
duct of the members Of Wing Cabinet
in an accusatory strain. II is public in
justice in the Union to assume a fraud
upon the treasury whilst iabbering about