Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-05-03
THE EIGHTH CHAIR.
An Historical Review OF the Expansion Of
the Presidential Cabinet.

the Presidential Cabinet.
II may safely be taken for granted
that there will never again be less than
eight members of the Presidents Cab
met. The wisdom of having "A De-
partment OF Agriculture has been
questioned by many, but this is road
upon which there seem TO be no steps
backward. The department has been
created, and the future tendency will
undoubtedly be to enlarge its sphere
so as TO render it more worthy of the
name rather than to reduce it TO its
former position.
The addition of another to the FIX
ecutive Departments is in itself an in-
cident OF considerable importance. 1t
is interesting to trace the process OF ex-
pansion that has gone on slowly since
President Washington began his first
Administration one hundred years ago
with a Cabinet OF only four members.
or one-half the new number. The
State Department, which was original
ly known as that Of Foreign Affairs
was the first TO be established. The
War Department at that time OF
great Importance, included the navy
also. which was not erected into
separate department until 1898. The
Treasury, which was then small
bureau with few clerks, gave small
promise OF the great development ii
has since undergone along with the
growth of the country, but without, it
should be remembered, departing
materially from the system devised by
the genius of Hamilton. The Attorney
General was a member of the Presi-
dents Cabinet from the beginning, but
the Department OF Justice was not
formally created until 1870, when the
necessity Of uniform construction and
application OF the laws, which had
been impossible Heretofore, with sew
eral law officers acting Independently
of each other, could not be longer ig-
nored. 1t is an interesting fact, as IL
Illustrating the slowness with which the
Government first organized itself, that
the delay Of the Presidents Inaugural
ton from March TO April 80, 1889,
owing TO the hardness OF members OF
Congress in reaching their posts, was
| more than exceeded by the delay in
creating the departments and setting
them in motion. The first nomination
made TO fill one OF them was that
of Hamilton as late as Septem-
Der II, 1889. The other places were
ha
Office of Postmaster-General was estab-
! lished at the time the first Cabinet was
! formed, but the department was not
constituted until five years later! Even
! then the Postmaster-General was not
considered a Cabinet officer, and it was
not until 1929 that he was invited by
! President jackson TO Cabinet meetings,
which he has ever since attended. Up
to that time he had been considered
subordinate OF the Treasury Depart
ment In the tenth year OF the exist
ence OF the Government the navy was
erected into a separate department.
Then for a period Of half a century
there was no further expansion, but
by that time various branches Of the
public business, related especially to
domestic affairs, had grown TO such
point as TO suggest the formation Of
new department in imitation of those
OF internal affairs. or Of the interior
under European governments. In
1849, therefore, the Home Depart
ment was created, for that Is
the title given in the act, which
seems, however, never to have
been used 1t took patents, the census
and public documents from the State
Department; the public lands, mines
and mining and judicial accounts from
/ the treasury; Indian affairs from the
| War Department, and pensions from
the war and navy. To these have
been since added the public surveys,
the Territories, the Bureau OF Educa-
ton. the Pacific railways, ETC., until
the interior has now become one of
the most important of the depart
ments.
The effort to enlarge the Department
Of Agriculture by adding several bu-
reaus now under other departments
was defeated in Congress. The crea-
ton OF the department. however, In
creases by one the influential body
known in practice as the Presidents
Cabinet, but not known under any
name to the law, and it is likely that,
in course of time, other bureaus, whose
work is related to agriculture, will De
merged in tn. Y. Tribune,