The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-12-15

General Grants Administrative System.
What system will General Grant adopt in
the administration of the government? The
system established under Washington and
continued in practice down to the time of John
Quincy Adams-a system which left broad
margin of authority and responsibility with the
heads of the several executive departments in
the matter of appointments, &c. ?-or will it
be the system introduced by General Jackson
of taking upon himself the entire authority
over and responsibility for every appointment
in every department, great and small? We
expect that General Grant will be governed
more by the order and discipline of the army
| than by the petty calculations of the scheming
| politician. He did not seek the Presidency
or desire it, even for one term, and he is not
likely, therefore, to give himself much trouble
to secure second term. We expect, accord
ingly, that in order to attend to the broader
duties of the Presidential office he will take
care not to burden himself with the exhaust
ing business Of settling the claims Of forty or
fifty thousand ravenous Office seekers.
The policy in the matter of the Offices
| adopted by Washington, we dare say, then,
will be Grants policy. To each member Of
his Cabinet, under this policy, will be left the
authority to remove and appoint his subordi-
mates, 'and the minister will be held respOn-
sible only for the faithful execution of the
business of his department, subject to the gen
eral policy Of the administration. If the
Secretary Of the Treasury, for example,
with ample discretion in the choice of his
subordinates, shall fail to come up
to the Presidents mark Of efficiency, with
economy and retrenchment, no excuse of the
or that subordinate will avail. The remedy
will be q new Secretary of the Treasury. So
with regard to each of the other departments
The bulk of the drudgery and the response
bility in the matter of removals and appoint
ments of clerks and messengers, &C., will
fall upon the several secretaries. Having no
ambition for second term, General Grant can
!, afford to adopt this system of relieving him
self of the office seekers and it is our impress
sion that he will enforce it to the fullest practi-
cable extent.
The Jacksonian system of reducing the
| President to mere distributor of the spoils to
the hungry Office beggaIs Of his party has been
| thoroughly tried and has been fruitful only Of
mischief 1t was this pernicious system which
kept Old Hickory himself in hot water from
carried Taylor and Harrison each prematurely
to the grave, and made mockery Of the ad-
ministrations of Tyler, Fillmore, poor Pierce,
Buchanan and Johnson. We do not include
Lincoln in this category, for, if we are not mis-
taken, Mr.. Chase, with the patronage of the
Treasury Department and his greenback
policy, as Secretary, assumed to be the power
behind the throne greater than the throne
itself, and his amiable official master In
dulged him in the pleasing delusion. What
Lincoln did Grant can afford to do in this
matter. He can leave his Cabinet members, if
they choose, to set themselves up for the sue
cession, and give them all as much
rope as they want in distributing
their Offices, holding each member respon-
sible only for fidelity in his trust and honest
cooperation with the President in the general
conduct of the government. Lincoln did this
to considerable extent, and though he was
somewhat troubled with the Blair family his
administration was great success. Johnson
tried the other policy till tied up with the
Tenure Of Office law, and his administration
has been failure. This Tenure of Office law
ought now to be repealed; but, repeal or no
repeal, General Grant, we expect, will attend
to the great duties of his Office and turn over
the paltry squabbles of the Office seekers to his
secretaries.