Daily national Democrat., 1861-03-31
How Federal Appointments are Made.

The editor Of the Cleveland Piaindealer,
desrous of becoming henefactors to Repub-
licans in pursuit Of office, gives the follow
ing explanation of the way in which appli-
cations are treated at Washington. 1t is said
to be very correctly detailed:
The country having become so extended
ropulous, and SO many patriots IN 1t, 1t has
been found totally impracticaOIe for TIE Pres
ident, or even the Heads OF departments. TO
attempt to decide upon the merits of candi-
dates They cannot personally know one in
a thousand of the applicants. They are
obliged to refer all local appointments to the
highest officer of the Government or repre- =
sentative OF the people in or near each local
ity and consequently Congressional Repre-
sentatives are considered the best referees A
member Of Congress is supposed to know
personally the prominent men of his party
in his own district, and the ones most proper
to appoint Members, too, are always vii =
ling to take the responsibility of these ap-
pointments, which is a great relief to the ap-
pointing power. If he errs, his constituents
can call him to immediate account, and this
course is the safest, under all the circumstau-
ces, both TO Government and people Where
there are no administrative representative
in district the Senators are consulted, or IL
Cabinet Minister, if there is one.
Necessity has forced upon the Government
this policy, and the cases will be very rare
where a local appointment is made in Con-
gressional district against the wishes of its
representative. So, nearly all the Govern
ment appointments can be agreed on at home
withour petitions, and without going to
Washington at al. But if an applicant
chooses to make out his case on paper, and
take his chances among the pigeou-holes at
the Capitol, his papers, if for Presidential
appointment, should be directed "To the
President Washington, d. e..
The President win probably never see said
papers at all. They will he opened, and if
applying for post Office, will be filed in the
Postotiice Department. If for a Collector
ship, in the Treasury Department, etc 1t
would be as well to direct all such papers
directly to the Heads of the Departments
where office is sought. A clerk in each of
the Departments takes charge of all such pa
pers folds them and files them in "a desk set
apart for the Stale from whence they came
After the President is inaugurated and his
Cabinet confirmed he calls them together,
daily, for awhile, to consult and determine
the policy of his administration then the dis
pOslilOH OI Jne Offices III hccOfUuuce Win tllat
policy. If radicalism is to he repudiated,
these radical men can make themselves scarce,
as all appointments, above a certain grade,
are made 10y the President, acting with the
advice Of his Cabinet, and the consent of the
Senate. This preliminary question of policy
may sweep away nine-lenths of all the ap-
plcations on file in the Department.
1t is customary to set apart n day to con-
slider the appointments for each State. When
Ohios turn shall come, the Departments will
be notified to send all applications to the
White House to be considered hy the Cabi-
net Each bundle is first examined by the
clerk, and briefs, noting the contents, are
prepared to accompany each bundle These
briefs only are examined in CabiRet Council
unless perhaps, a letter from some distn-
guished person mentioned in the brief, should
be called for 10y some particular member.
The brief that contains the recommendation
from the Representative of the District where
the office is located, is the one that will carry
the appointment ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred General appointments, such as
United States Marshals, Attorneys, will be
governed, generally, by Cabinet Ministers,
where there is one, and where not. hv Uni
ted States senators Petitions although as
the moral law, without these endorsements
are not worth the paper upon which they are
written. Cabinet Ministers, Senators and
Representatives are the really and politically
recognized umpires of nine-tenths Of the Fed
cral patronage.