The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-01-06
General Grani,s Cabinet.
From the N. y. World.

FTon he w. r. WoTtd
The interesting Washington letter which
we printed on Monday supplies better grounds
for oonjeoturing the composition Of the new
Cabinet than were previously possessed by
the public. We now know General Grants
estimate of quite q number Of promi nent men
who might be supposed to have Cabinet aspi-
rations. We may safely assume that Mr..
Sumner has no possible chance to be Sscre-
tRry of State; that Mr.. Seward has no possible
chance of a temporary continuance in that
office; that none of the politicians who are
affiliated with the Seward and Weed clique, or
with the Morgan ring, are likely tO ind grace
in the eyes of the new President.
BY far the most important position in the
Cabinet is that of Secretary OF the Treasury,
and it is clear enough from General Grants es-
innate OF Senator Morton that that gentlem IN
is not destined to fill it. The dislike watch
the President elect expresses for politicians
for that responsible station may perhaps be
considered as squirting towards Commissioner
Wells. 1t cannot be denied that Mr. Wells
has some important qualifications for that
office. His integrity is above suspicion, aud
he is quite free from all nglements or atlia-
tions with rogues who wish to rob the Trea-
sury. In making appointments to subordi-
nate places, he would look solely TO honesty
and capacity. Mr.. Wells would briog to the
office another important qualification which no
man in the country eau rival. H7
has been engaged, for the last
three or four years, in the diligent
study of our revenue system, with miud
unencumbered by the administrative details
which engrOss the time aud exhaust the
strength of executive officers. lls probably
understands the present fiscal condition of the
country better than any other mau in it;
! his mind being stored with the most recent
| facts, and al the freshest results OF
! financial investigation in other countries
as we'll as our own. The drawback to such
an appointment would be thai M. Wells ha
never been in a position to test either his
strength of will or his executive talents.
| The chief duties of the Secretary of the Tea
sury are administrative; he his a vast
and complex machine to superintend,
and needs to be man of indomitable energy,
quick perceptions, ready insight into charac-
ter, prompt decision, and great aptitude for
the despatch of business. The daily routine
| Of the Treasury Department is a kind of em.
ploymept in which Mr.. Wells has had no
training or experience; and if General Grant
appoints him he will take u great deal upon
trust. But in all qualifications except execu-
tive energy, he is perhaps as lit a man as
General Grant can find in the Republican
party. If General Butler had Mr. Wells
probity and financial knowledge, or Mr. Wells
had Buffers activity, penetration, and know
ledge OF men, either would make an admirable
Secretary of the Treasury. AS between the
two, with their actual qualifications, Mr.. Wells
ia clearly entitled to carry the day.
The language of strong praise in which
General Grant speaks of Senator Fessendsn
may perhaps authorize the expectation that
he will offer him one of the most important
positions in the Cabinet. The administrative
teebleness (partly, we may suppose, the con-
sequence of infrm healthy which Mr.. Fessen-
den exhibited as Secretary of the Treasury
would be no solid objection to making him
Secretary of State, an Office which does not
make such constant drains upon nervous
energy. Mr.. Fessenden has never been cre-
dited with a very extensive knowledge of
foreign affairs; but Seward and Sumner, being
quite out of the range of choice, Mr., Fsssenden
is as good an appointment as General Grant
can make, if he m axes the mistake of passing
over Charles Francis Adams, by all odds
the fittest ablest, and best equipped states
man in the country to be intrusted with our
foreign relations.
Until these two capital plsces-the Trea-
sury and State Departments-are disposed Of,
the country will feel comparatively little in-
terest in the other Cabinet appointments. If
the War Department should be bestowed upon
some distinguished soldier, and the Navy
Department upon an eminent officer in that
branch of the public service, the people would
recognize the fitness of such selections and
give them their approval.