New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-03-21
MORE SELECTIONS.

The appointment of Ex-Governor Porter, OF
Tennessee, for Assistant Secretary OF State, Is
in many respects creditable to Mr.. Bayard, Dy
whom the selection seems to have been made,
and to the Administration. Whether IL Will DC
found politically advantageous to the ADMINS
tration, however, is another matter. III
the bitter fight of factions In Tennessee, Gov
ernOr Porter has been an active and influential
leader, and he has many enemies as well as
friends His service for several years as presl-
dent of a railroad company did not increase his
popularity in a State where hostility to the
corporation is perhaps as strong as Ill any other,
and questions arising between the railroads anu
the State, in respect to the old railroad depts,
have placed him in antagOnism with many OF
his own party. Among business men, TOO
great deal of bitterness arose from the capture
of the Nashville and chattanooga road by the
Louisville and Nashville some years ago, ana
Mr.. Porter's subsequent service, as representa-
tive of the Kentucky corporation in control OF
a Tennessee road, naturally caused some irrlta-
ton. Nevertheless, his public record is so
honorable that his selection for prominent
official position entities Mr. Bayard to credit.
If is to be noticed, however, that Governor
Porter was not selected for any position in the
Treasury Department, or where his wei-known
opinions in regard to reputation would have
weight. AS q determined advocate OF public
faith. and an opponent of the repudiators OF
Tennessee. he has made himself so far unpopu-
lar with his own party that his selection may al
most be said to represent the opposition rather
than the Democracy in that State The diiier-
ence of opinion was so wide, at all events, that
~1o1 IL could NOT no
elevated to any Office in Tennessee by election
for some years past.
Mr. Atkins of Tennessee. who has been APP
pointed Indian Commissioner, is a man of very
different stamp. He is one of the old-fashioned
pro-slavery Democrats, who was member oil
Congress in 1853, and on the Breckenridge
electoral ticket in 1850. was lieutenant
colonel in the Rebel army. and then member
of the Rebel Congress for three years, ana, ac-
oording to the fashion prevalent In the Southern
States. was afterward transferred by the Dem
ocrats to that of the United States to assist In re-
constructing the Union. He was chosen by Mr..
Randall chairman of the Committee Oh Appro-
priations, and, while his integrity has by no one
been questioned, he is fine representative OF
| the bigoted, narrow, penny -wise-pound-foolish
stinginess which SO many Democrats mistake
| for economy. 1t was under the leadership OIL
Mr.. Atkins that Congress contrived to push
over into the next year again and again the ex-
penditures for necessary branches of the public
service, in order to permit false claim of Dem
ocratic economy in the. elections, while Other
branches of the public service were seriously
crippled by inadequate provision. II he car
avoid it the Indians will not be robbed, and II
may be added, il he can avoid it they Will mo-
| be fed.
The friends of Mr.. Randall continue to go tt
the front, it will be observed. There is con
siderable shrewdness shown in the selection O
men to have charge of the bureaus ant Offices
through which the greatest number OF appoint
ments can be controlled. and the greatest mum
Der of contracts and jobs distributed. TIT
Tilden- Randall party evidently proposes to sur
round Mr. Cleveland with such influences tina
its hold upon him cannot well be broken.