North Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1867-current, 1869-10-27

| ''o''oA va h'o Pooitiou, oHu ~ Hcitucr 81
pledged ror of sufficient power in the rad
ical councils as to be likely to prove 9
turbulent member of the administration
1t is to be observed that Grant has from
the first retained an intimate friend in the
war Office, and that the man whom he has
now appointed to be secretary of war is
an officer whom such distinction elevates
from comparative obscurity.
Such men, with the exception of Scores
tary Fish, (whose resolute abilities may
still, however, be exercised on the side of
a Chief contending against unworthy oods)
are, in certain sense tpartially hidden
from their own consciences), Grants
tools.
The president was outwitted il the mat
ter of selection Of a secretary Of the treas
| ury after Mr.. Stewart ceclined. He was
outwitted doubly. In the first place, he
had put his trust in Mr.. Stewards finan>
cial experience, opinions, convictions, of
which Mr.. Boutwell, has none. In the
second place, he had confidence in Mr..
Stewards fidelity to the trust offered him.
as Gnancer, and lover of his whole
country. and nothing more. Mr.. Bout.
we'll. aside from his emptiness Of prereq
uisite knowledge Of finance, was and is
fanatical radical in politics, to whose hon
est but lop- sided brain there is nothing
worthy which is not radical. lie was
adroitly wedged into the cabinet, and
stays there, and will not easily be got rid
OF. Through Secretary Boutwell, and
Commissioner Delano (another official
bound neck and heels by party shackles)
congress actually has at its command the
enormous patronage of the treasury and
internal revenue departments. This fact
has not yet, of course, come home duly to
the president, for the contest between his
! administration and the party has not fair.
ly begun.
All things save the southern elections
and the Cuban difficulty have been in truce
during the summer; and the president has
taken rs little interest, and meddled as
little, in those affairs and in Boutwell's
schemes; as he we'll could. His fondness
for "loafng' and his uneasy dread Of
political pestering have induced him to
put of or intrust to his cabinet whatever
he was not actually compelled to attend
to.
1t is, in fact, nothing more nor less than
bore to this military president to famil-
iarize himself with the business Of, and to
slit the numerous questions of policy
which arise in connection with, his great
Office. lie seems to be fitted neither by
intellect nor by inclination for the analysis
Of such questions. It must be considered
that in the career in which he distinguish
ed himself-that of a soidier--t was simp.
~ necessary for him to command, when
no question was raised and the order was
obeyed. But. as president, he is surround
ed by men, and continually appealed to by
others, who claim the right to raise ques--
tons as to the prcpriety of his wishes.
This, while it annoys and perplexes him,
is something which he cannot escape, and
which he has learned the good lin one
sense) of submitting to. If he had not
allowed Secretary Fish, for example, to
ovcrrule his own crude designs in respect
to the Alabama claims and Cuba, the
United States might, thus early in Presi-
dent Grants administration, have been
either the object of hostile European
coalition, or the laughing stock of gods
and men. Bv occasionally putting in his
clumsy oar, and manifesting his old, dull
obstinancy at times, as in the case of Sick.
les, Grant has made his sluggish PERSONAL
ity felt by the cabinet and the country
For the rest, he has (believc me) kept
saying to himself that it Will be time
enough to put his foot down next winter.
No one who has studied the signs of the
times can have failed to see that Grants
manifest contempt, and even hatred, for
the professed politicians of the republican
party have won him perfect host of con-
verse enemies. The congressional majori'
ty are not merely disappointed, they are
disguised with him. And the leaders, es-
pecially-the men of brains in the party
-reciprocate for the president s incapacity
all the contempt which he has for their
palaver and chicaue. The other day,
Grant and his old friend Sherman, in con-
versation together, were understood mutu.
ally to scof at the whole crew of trick.
sters, neither appearing to be aware,
meanwhile, that he was discussing his
own family affairs. Feelings like these
are destined to lead to open discord. The
approaching winter session of congress
will inevitably initiate the strife.
Congress is determined to rule or ruin
MS hitherso-with Grant, if he consents /;
without him if he objects. And Grant,
too, has an intention, as yet vague, gloomy
and unspoken, to work out his own will.
His is slow, strange nature, in which
IDEAS are Matched like eggs, after long
brooding. When he sees that the con-
gres<ional politicians, whom he despises,
are bent on either making a tool OF him
or doing what they please in despite Of
him, he will be angry.
Unless the president and his military
friends manage to effect u diversion in
some way, or, rather, unless some incon-
ce:vable luck should arise and win the
country to his side, one may anticipate
the result. In an open fight with con-
gress Grant would make ridiculous show.
How different such q contest would be