Morning journal and courier., 1882-09-06

CABINET OFFICERS IN CONGRESS.
 Mir. Gamaliel Bradford, of Boston, is deep- iy interested in favor of the proposal to give seats in Congress to members of the Cabinet, and urges it's adoption with much force and ability. His latest utterance on the subject Is addressed to the civil service reformers He tells them that they are giving themselves needless trouble because there is not the smallest chance of their scheme being car rled out until it can be produced, as 1t was in England, by powerful Executive, capable of forcing it on an unwilling Congress- by the aid of public opinion. The President, he says. cannot now give up the use of the pat ronage in purchasing the support of members of Congress, because this is the only way he has of saving himself from complete impo- tence. Without offices to bribe Senators and Representatives with, he would be an object of contempt, if not of derision, to the major ity in both houses, and he has at present no means of appealing to the people for support against them. Give him the power of initi ating legisfation in Congress through the heads of the departments and he would, MT. Bradford thinks, have this power of appeal
 Ha could state his case in 8 way that would command attention. The opposition would have to give it's reasons for objection There
 would be real debate the public would be
 interested and it's judgment would be in-
 formed. Members of the Cabinet would be-
 come men of mark, famod either for their
 administrative talent or for their legislatiye
 talent, and the people would know at last
 whom to trust, and whom to look to if they
 wanted anything done. Therefore the thing
 for civil service reformers to do is to go to
 work to get members of the Cabinet admitted to Congress.
 This is plausible, but the New York Post calls attention to some facts which indicate that simply giving Cabinet officers seats in Congress would not work just as Mir. Brad ford thinks it would In France the Minis ters have seats in both houses of Parliament, and are allowed to talk as much as they suit is that the Cabinets have lost all stabili- ty. There have been twenty ,three Ministers of the Interior since 1870, each of whom has on an average filled his place six months The changes, too, are increasing rapidly Within the past year there have been four Cabinets in France, and each successive Cab inet has less influence with the Chambers Moreover, with each change the quality of the Ministers declines, and more obscure men come to the front. In fact, since 1870 a very prominent feature of the work of the French Legislature has been the relegation of dis tinguished politicians to private life Be- ginning with M. Thiers, nearly every con- temporary French statesman of note has been contemptuously dismissed by the Chambers and the French Executive is perhaps the weakest in the civilized world.
 The cause of this the Post finds in the want on the part of the Executive of the power of dissolving the Legislature, in which lies the only mode in which the Executive can effect lively appeal to the people against a hostile or recalcitrant majority. Says the Post. "In France the Chambers cannot be dissolved without the consent of the Senate, and this leaves the Cabinet at the mercy of both of them. If the English Ministry were deprived of this power, the disappearance from intiu- ence and prominence of all tho great political notables, beginning with Mr. Gladstone, would be very rapid-perhaps as rapid as in France" There is much that will bear think ing of in this