Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1861-09-11

There is a petition beiny circulated in this CITY
addressed to the President OF the United States,
praying for the removal Of the Hon Simon Cam
eron from the Office of Secretary of War, and the
appointment Of the Hon. Joseph Holt. Of Ken
lucky, to fill the vacancy. The question 1t pre-
sents is two-fold one concerning the propriety
of the removal, and concerning the propriety of
the choice suggested in the petition. Ii would,
perhaps, have been better had the authors Of the
movement confined themselves to the first branch
of the subject: as they would. in that case, have
escaned suspicion of motives Of personal, or
party, or sectional character, which may now at
tach to it, thereby detractng from its acceptable
ity here and its influence at Washington.
No one who has the good of the country at
heirt can fail to feel uneasy at the testimony
which the policy and acts of the Government pre-
sent in proof of its general ncompetency to the
task which has fallen into its hands; but the ques-
ton presents itself: Have we theright to presume
that this incompetencv is attributable TO one more
than another of the subordinate members of the
Administration? In England, the Ministers con
stitute Her Majesty's Government; and parlia-
mentary vote of want of confidence in the Min
listers is legitimate demand tor their removal.
In the United States, however, the Executive
Government is, in contemplation of the COnstitu-
tOn the Presidents. He is the party responsible
for its policy and acts; and whatever department
may seem to fail to come up to the line of its
duty. il is he, and not his Secretary, who is
chargeable.
There is, however, an opinion, unfortunately
prevalent, that the President HIMSELF amiable
and honorable as he undoubtedly is, does not
come up TO the standard of ability required in the
Chief Magistrate of nation like ours. under pres
ent OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES his Administration there
fore lacks the unity which would be given to it
by u statesman Of commanding intellect-that,
in short, each head of department is sort of
petty sovereign, ruling his own domain, in con-
formity with his conceptions of his own and the
public interest," or, at least, that the Cabinet is
divided into cliques, each of which has its own
views, plans and ambitions. Such belief is cal
culated to shake the confidence of the people not
only in one member of the Administration, but
in all and Of those especially who are aware of
the ncongruity of the materials of which it is
composed
Whether the Secretary of War is in reality
more culpable than his associates in the Cabinet,
is question not so easily answered. Perhaps he
has fallen heir to some of the odium which, of
right, belongs to the Others. Right or wrong, he
seems to have been pitched upon to bear huge
amount Of sin; and if half is true that is alleged
of him by newspapers and politicians, he is GER
tany a most unfit man to hold the place he
| cupies. If all the errors, mistakes, and weak
nesses of the Government could be gotten rid of
| BY throwing overheard Mr.. Cameron, the thing
ought 10 done at once; and perhaps, as he is the
one upon whom the lot has fallen, the expe iment
| should be tried.
There is, however, something more that sug-
gests itself in this connection. There is grow
ing belief in the general incompetency of the
Government to carry out the programme to which
| it is pledged. The contract is huge one, the
largest, we sincerely believe, taking the circum-
stances into consideration, ever undertaken by a
| Government in modern times. To restore this
Union and reimpose the Constitution and laws
upon the people of all the States, will require tai
ents for war and for government far SUI erior to
those possessed at least to those exhibited, by Mr.
| Lincoln and his Cabinet They are not the men
of the times. They men who grew, niatured,
eliminated and stopped in a condition that is past.
Who is that coming man whose footsteps are
audible, though his face is not seen, and beneath
whose tread the ground shakes, no one can tell.
He is not of them nor with them; and whoever he
may be, the hearts of the people are already going
! forth to bid him welcome