The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-03-05
Power of Head, Of Departments.

Power OF Head, OF Departments.
Fyon, ne N. T. World.
The Times says that General Grant will
give the power Of minor appointments to
ehose heads of departments who have the
responsibility. 1t is asserted that
"He will not consent to be the dispenser o
anall patronage. He VIII not take cognizsnce
OF the psltry business oI once hunting or p 1ne
not give heed to The herd 1f impudent politi-
CLANS who. on the pie. or service ciaIm oae
70 turn the ofice-huniDg stream rom the
White House, and 10 purity the manner OF
making appointments by leaving Ine neeas o,
Janartmpnis TO sCrutinize applications ana
make the erecommenda"obs Oh "ni0n he VIII
act"
NTH tba Law. which already confers on the
beads of the departments the power to ap-
point all clerks, aud on the Postmaster-Gene-
raj the authority to appoint all postmasters
whose commissions are less than one thou
sand dollars. The statute impliedly excludes
ahe President from interference in such mat
ters President Grant will really have nothing
70 do with the appointment of cust0m-house
clerks, inspectors, weghers, and gaugers, who
are nominated by the collector of the district
and confirmed by the Secretary Of the Trea-
sury. II he does meddle with such things,
he goes out Of the path Of law and official
dignity.
But while the statute says these minor
officers shall be appointed by the heads of
departments, it is equally explicit in saying
that certain other officers shall be appointed
by the President. What will Grant do about
that class 2 The Times intimates he will leave
the heads of departments to scrutinize appli-
cations and recommend to him the proper
person. He, says the Times, "will make their
selection of subordinates, from heads Of bu-
resus downwards, duty the consequences OF
which they cannot hope to evade. They will
have the power they should have to insure
efficiency, and the public will know to whom
oensure belongs if the working Of the depart
ments be not as II ought to be-"
That disposes of heads of bureaus, aud, in
our opinion, disposes Of the matter wisely.
Then come collectors of internal and external
revenue. Will the President permit those
Offices to be bestowed by the Secretary Of the
Treasury There is no good reason why the
Treasury Department should not WELD those
commissions as well as the heads of the
bureaus wherein, according to the Times, the
Secretary is to make the recommendations on
which the President is to act.
Will the leaders, the McClures OF the Re
publican party, consent to put such vas
power in the hands of the new Secretary o
the Treasury, even II the Senate consents t,
take off it's iron hand by repeal of the Tenure
OfOfios lawY Will General Grant so abdicat,
control over patronage thus early? We doubt
Grants Administration New Era.
yfons ths ". r Herald.
The country takes a now departure in po
Htical life under the lead OF General Grant
The changes made in the Constitution by tn
thirteenth and fourteenth amendments, AM
which 1t Is proposed to rivet upon our politi
cal system by the fifteenth amendment, de
olaring that the right of the citizen to vot,
shall net be denied or abridged on account o
race or color, make for us new constitution
which supplapts the old one. We have nov
four raoes-the white, the original red, tn,
black, and the yellow-on the great platform
of American progress. To make the thins
complete we have only to add another color t(
our flag. This is the accomplishment Of
great revolution in our theory Of government
nnder which State rights have disappeared
and State lines are rendered imperative. We
have consolidated in one great empire, ex
tending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and
which win extend from the North Pole to the
Equator. 1t will bs the greatest empire the
world has ever known; for even now, in its
infancy, II surpasses in geographical extent,
in mental activity, in material enterprise, all
that Rome ever attempted or dreamed.
A retrospect of the past fifty years of our
progress throws vivid light upon the growth
and the causes Of the overthrow Of the politi-
cal theories which have passed away. Under
the shield of State rights the institution oil
slavery grew to immense proportions as q
social system within the Union. As the lead
ing representative of the two-the political
and the social theory-Calhoun fills large
space in that period. But his social theories
carried our institutions back to the period oi
the middle ages, with its serfs and its feudal
lords. This was the fight Calhoun made and
lost. He had none of the great agents o
modern civilization with him. The rail, the
telegraph, and the modern press were all in
augurated during his time, and these subtle
Influences, planted by Stephenson, Morse
and the Herald, were all opposed to the Cal
houn idea. The result was that he los
ground while we went ahead.
The contest is now ended. A new era com
nences with population that may be prac
tically estimated at any figure between on,
hundred millions and FIVE hundred million
OF people, marching shoulder to shoulde
under system OF political consolidation OF
the broad path OF empire. Their arms ar
the steam engine, the electric telegraph anC
the independent press, and the victories the
will achieve are hey Ond the widest dreams Q
human thought to-day. The last generation
oempassed progress from the slow coach t
the rapid car, from the uncertain sail to tn
certain paddlewheel, aud has served its az
premiership with the electric battery. Wht
ever believes that We stop here deceives hin
self as greatly as did Calhoun when he b
heved he could carry our social and politic
system back to the feudal age.
Significant Resolution in Congress.
From the ~. Y. Herald.
The resolution upon Spain and Cuba whi
unanimously passed the House OF represent