The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-02-19

of the State In 1851 he became the Republican
candidate for Governor, and was elected, being
re.eIe cted I'm 1859. When the wal broke out but
cipbt months Of his SECOND term as Governor
rem aiued. and OF It's close be was sppoinie bJ
PRECEDENT Lincoln Minister to Rome. Alter
abroad tor a yesr he resigned. aud on
returnipe 20 the United States was sppointei TO
tho posltion ci FIrst Assistant Postmaster
General. From this po ition he was elevated by
p iesidcnt j. thnson 10 a seat IN the Cabinet "a
Postmas ster. General on the resignation Of eK-
Governor william nennlsoD, OF OHIO, July H.
1866. The new Postmasler-General, with the
va ( patronage ut his disposal was Obliged 10
submit 10 the Johnsouizino process, and he has
been one of the stoutest advocates OF "my
policy" in the expiring Cabinet.
President Grants Cabinet
presents a fruitful theme for speculation, but
one quie az fruilless a. il is fruitful. BY his
resOonse to the Congressional committee which
officially informed him of his election on the
18Th inst, he showed his determination To IN an
tan. until his induction into office, his retOenoe
uron the subject. although Wendell Phillips
regards silence under such circumstances as fat
disloyalty, aud the great throng OF Cabinet.
makers consider 1t an obstinate interference
with their schemes. Notwithstanding the silence
of General Graut, however, there are few in
dicatlOns of his course the safety OF putting
faith in which cannot be questioned. II Mr..
seward is not re aimed rs Secretary of state and
ancs Adams n6r asn Hass
Wendell Phillips. nor FRI derrick Douglass is
rendered the position, the Cabinet-makers are
assured that somebody else will be invited to
accept the office. And a similar assertion can
be safely yentured ia connection with the head
of each of the other departments.
General Grant has likewise emphatcally de-
clared that he Will not even inform his future
Counsellors of their good fortune more than
two or three days before he sends ia their names
TO the Senate. This course on his part Is not
without preceden-. When Nr. Lincoln lett his
home at Springfield, Illinois, on February IL,
1861, tor Washington, it was generally under
stood that he would select his Cabinet princi-
pally from among his rivals for the Presidential
nomination. Yet the only thing that was theu
definitely known to the public was the selection
OF MIR. Seward as head OF the State Department,
although it IS said that before starting from
Springfield, Gideon Welles had been definitely
assigned to the Navy Department, and Edward
Bates to the Attorney y-Generalship. General
Cameron had, at first, been thought of for the
Treasury, but not until about the lst of March
was he finally, turned over 10 the War Office,
and the other positions provided for. The
Washington National HteiiigeRcer, on February
26, 1857, announced the probable Cabinet of Mr..
Buchanan, and but slight changes were subse-
quently, made in the programme then an.
probable Cabinet of Franklin Pierce was semi
officially announced, but the list was a very
weak one, and was completely upset by inaugu-
ration day. As early as February IT, l849 it
was announced that John J. Crittenden of
Kentucky had declined to enter General Taylor's
Cabinet through fear that Henry Clay would
make this preteXt for embarrassing the admin
of this year that the probable composition of
Taylors Cabinet was announced, and even then
the programme was found an impracicable
one. President Polk arrived in Washing ton
Feb. l3, 1S45, but did not decide upon his Cabi-
net until after March /. In General
| Harrison's case. however, the National
| Intetigtncer on February 13, 1871, four days
| after Harrison's arrival in Washington
announced sem-oticlally the future Cabinet
| and no change whatever was subsequently
made in the list then promulgated. That Mar
tin Van Buren would go into General Jackson's
Cabinet was generally understood long before
the 4th of March, 1929, but no authoritative
| announcement of the remaining Cabinet officers
was made until February 27. The list published
on that day BY the National Iatetdgencer was
changed in only one particular, that of the
accepted Jacksons Cabinet in 1887, as he found
it, making but one change for several months
after his accession. With these facts before the
public, it will be seen that General Grants
course in regard to his Cabinet appointments is
not so extraordinary as is generally supposed.