Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-11-05
Our Very weak Administrator.

Having by our free and independent suf-
frago aided to elevate the Hon. Abraham
Lincoln, late of Springfield, in the State of
Illinois, to the Office of President Of these
States-united or disunited as the case may
be-and having been in the receipt of the
patronage ofhis Administration, directly and
indirectly, to the amount of some thirty.fve
dollars, we trust that a sense of gratitude, to
say nothing of those feelings of interest
which every one must possess in an officer of
his election, will prevent US from indulging
in any remarks touching his Government
that are unjust to him or .derogatOry to our.
selves.
1t is the practice Of our cotemporaries-
one of them especislly-to pass by the Pres
ident, and lay the blame of those acts of the
Administration which are thought to be
wrong, i'll judged, or illegal, upon the heads
of the executive departments through whose
agency they were performed. By these
means they are able to preserve the appear.
ance of friendship 10 the Government, while
actually contributing to its discredit. How
far this species of loyalty is acceptable to
the President, there are, perhaps, no means
to ascertain; but in the esteem of the fair
and honorable, it will have little to recon-
mend it but its cowardice.
If the Administration is, in fact, go con-
structed that an attack upon the head of
department, charging it with dishonesty or
incspacity, is not an attack upon the head Of
the Government, then either our institutions
have undergone a violent change, or we have
stepped out of them, and are progressing in
our path to glory or the reverse, without
their assistance. The theory of our Consti-
tutien aDds, that the President is the Admin
istration. All the executive acts of the Gov
ernment are his acts. They are all performed
under his authority, and virtually at his
command. Whatever they show of ability
or inability, of integrity or the opposite,
they show in him-he being the only party
that is legally, and therefore the only one
that is publicly, responsible.
In times of war or Of civil disturbances,
the thing of the first Importance to any
country is an able, respectable, and
courageous administration. At such times
the fate of the whole seems to hang upon the
Executive; and in proportion as he is equa
or unequal to the exigency, the good or i'll
success of its cause may be predicted. L
we will search all the histories of the world
we shall find this lesson most plainly taught
that in times of great commotion, the
character of the man upon whom it devolveG
to dictate the policy of the contest, deter
mines the result. Cromwell, William O.
Orange and Washington won in character
Charles the First, James the Second and
Lord North lost in character. The common
sense of fitness is as well content when i
looks at the men as when it examines thu
merits of the causes in which they were en-
gagged.
The President of the United States is 6
gentleman who will be more distinguished
upon the page of history for his amiable
weakness than for any other quality. Hi
best friends and most intimate associates vii
hardly claim for him praise for any highe
attribute than the absence of bad intentions
As respects knowledge of or a capacity for
public affairs, he has neither to any appre
ciable extent. At a time when the wants o
the country demand the strongest man a
the head of his Administration, we have th'
weakest; and this fact, now almost uni
versally admitted, is one that is calculated Il
awaken the gravest appreh0nsions. We ma,
ignore human nature as much as we please
but we can not escape it we may disregard
the lessons of history to our hearts content
but they will be lessons nevertheless Moth
ing but foolish counsels ever did come from
foolish counselors; and weakness the heac
willne fail to produce weakness through
out the system.
Ia There m Nation Among Use