The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1881-02-25
THE AMERICAN AND ENGLISH CAB.
NETS.
Communion. ]

| Youths Companion
In the interval between the presi
Dental election and the inauguration
of the successful candidate, editors and
politicians amuse themselves with
guessing whom the incoming President
will elect as his Cabinet advisers. Some
times these guesses turn out to be
justified by the event; but more often
the Cabient appointments, or at least
some of them, come upon the country
as surprise.
. While weare waiting to see whom
President Garfield will appoint, let us
consider what the Cabinet really, is,
and how far it resembles and differs
from the group of the same name in
England.
In both countries, the Cabinet, as a
body, is unknown to the Constitution,
and is not officially recognized by the
law. The name "Cabinet' never oc-
ours in formal public documents; it has
gradually come into use, from the fact
that, in England, the Kings advisers
were wont to meet and consult him in
his private cabinet.
Each Cabinet officer, however, is
officially recognized in both America
and England-not as a Cabinet officer,
but as the chief of one of the great
| departments of the executive admins
tration. ..
In this country, such an officer is
known rs a HSecretary"-the Secret
ary of State, of the Interior, and so on.
! In England, the title of Secretary is
used for the five highest administrative
officers, those of Foreign Affairs, Home
Affairs, the Colonies, India and War.
The Office corresponding to our Sec
retaryship of the Treasury, ,on the other
hand, is in England divided between
two high officials-the first Lord Of the
Tresury, and the Chancellor of the
Exchequer; the officer known to US as
the Secretary of the Navy is called in
England the First Lord of the Admi-
ralty.
In England, moreover, there are
several Cabinet officers unknown to
our own Cabinet. These are the Lord
High Chancellor, the President of the
Board of Trade, the Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster, the President of
! the Council, and the Lord Privy Seal.
In the United States, the members
of the Cabinet are nominated by the
President, and are approved and con-
! firmed by the Senate. The President
can also remove any one of them at
any time. But in England, the Cab
u
Minister, subject to the approval of the
Queen and, though he can remove
them, the English Cabinet usually
comes in and goes out Office in "a body.
There arc other notable differences
between the two Cabinets. In United
States, no Cabinet officer can sit in either
House OF Congress. In England, no
man can sit in the Cabinet who is not
a member of either the Commons or
the Lords.
With us, the Cabinet officer has two,
and only two, functions as tho chief
of an executive department, and as an
adviser of the President on matters of
general policy With tho English, the
Cabinet officer adds a third junction
to these two for he is a parliamentary
leader, and in the Commons or Lords,
defends either tho policy of his own
department., or the general policy of
the Ministry of which he is a member.
While in the mother country, a Cab
inct always goes out of power in body,
when the House of Commons
casts vote adverse to its proceedings;
in the United Sta:es tho position of the
Cabinet, as whole, is quite unaffected
by any vote OF either or both Houses of
Congress.
Each English Cabinet officer has his
own rank and dignity, while the
American Secretaries are officially
equal. The salaries of these officers,
moreover, differ widely in the two
countries. Our Secretaries get eight
thousand dollars year. The English
Prime Minister receives twenty five
thousand dollars n year; SO do the
Chancellor of the EXchequer, and the
five Secretaries of State. The Lord
High Chancellor has fifty thousand
dollars year and a pension, when
he sctires, of ten thousand dollars
year for life. The lowest salary re-
ceived by an English Cabinet member
is ten thousand dollars, which is the
sum received by the President of the
Council, the Lord Privy Seal, the
President of the Board of Trade, and
the Chancellor of the Duchy of Ian
caster.
From these differences some idea
may be derived of the contrasts which
appear between the institutions..of the
ancient monarchy of England, and our
own still youthful republic.
COTTON FACTORIES IN TIE SGiITH.