The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-07
UNEXPECTED OBSTACLES.

plexion, it is considered more than like
ly that 1t will have Republican recogni-
ton hereafter
UNEXPECTED OBSTACLES.
How unexpected an obstacle may prevent
the selection OF man the president would
like to appoint to a position in the cabinet
was illustrated at the time of Mr.. Windom's
death. President Harrison wanted to make
Senator Aldrich secretary of the treasury
because he knew him to be better Informed
ABOUT tar1H and currency questions than al
most any other man in the Republican party
But Rhode Island had Democratic governor
II Mr. Aldrich resigned from the senate to
accept cabinet place. the governor would
appoint Democrat to succeed him. The
governor was ready to guarantee the ap-
polntment OF sound money, protection DEM
ocraL. put PRESIDENT Harrison concluded it
would not be safe to risk the control Of the
senate, SO he picked out Calico Charlie,
Foster for the place.
The objection which prevented the appoint
ment OF Senator Aldrich then stands in the
light OF Senator Thurston today Nebraska
went Democratic at the last election and
II Mr.. Thurston resigns from the senate to
take place in the cabinet his successor
will be Democrat-which will account for
any tears Mr.. Thurston may shed in the next
four years.
services, and the ability, and the availability
OF all the good Republicans who are com
mended to him for cabinet places, he will
sort them out by sections Then he will be-
'front.' of him. Here is Smudgett in the
New England heap he will say ''Smudgett
is the most eminent Of the New England
candidates. He helped to make that big ma
Jority in Massachusetts. He would make an
excellent secretary Of the navy. In he goes
One hole filed and one section satisfied
smile and rub his hands together and CON
graduate himself after the fashion of little
Jack Horner.
And here is New York he will continue,
nfp0r 1cfxy DfotAi
concilable Milhollandites eliminated Let me
see. Jorkfns is about the strongest Candidate
there. He would make fine attorney gem
eral. In he goes And the president-elect
will chuckle as he sees the second hole filled.
AND here Is Indiana" he will say Minis
| think, is the only man in Indiana really
available. and must recognize Indiana. Let
me see Minis is a lawyer. He doesn't know
anything about the army or the navy or
finance He's not business man, so he can't
run the rostoffice department He's ignorant
OF agriculture. | can't make him secretary
OF the interior because he's a corporation
lawyer. Hang it! The only hole he'll fit is
that OF attorney general. I'm awfully sorry,
yorklns, but you'll have to come out of that.
In goes Minis" And the president-elect will
knit his brows and study the field again.
FURTHER COMPLICATIONS.
Minis is all right now" he will say. "but
seem to lit in anywhere but in the derart-
ment Of justice. It's a deuced shame, Jor-
klns, but you'll have to go back in the heap.
Now, what else have we in New York There's
Bildads. He's not SO good a man as Jorkins
but he was brought up to milk COWS and
feed hogs, and he ran for congress as the
make q good secretary of agriculture" Then
with less confidence than before I'm you 60
temporarily at least"
And SO the game will proceed. But if it is
complicated on the third move what do you
think it is on the seventh or eighth? By that
time the shifting has become procession
with perhaps one or two pegs firmly fixed in
place Sometimes the eighth hole does not
receive its peg till the Sd of March.
A complication in the game is the OCCASION
al splitting OF peg. The president-elect
knows hundreds of men who are yearning
for cabinet places, but these are not always
the men he wants. When he picks out the
man he wants, the man may decline TO ac-
cept the appointment. That has happened in
dozens of cases. Chauncey Depew would not
take Blaines place in the Harrison cabinet.
Senator Allison has declined offers of cab
met places from several presidents. Senator
Gray has declined twice to go into the cab
met of President Cleveland.
. Until four years ago it had been the Gus
tom of the president-elect to hold back the
names Of the cabinet people until March or
8. Mr.. Cleveland inaugurated q new system.
AS fast as his cabinet choices accepted he
gave out their names. This was hard on
the newspapers with guessing contests and
pc ntees of great strain. 1t is hard to be a
cabinet member-elect and not be able to tell
any one about it.
HANNA MAY HAVE IT..
If Mr.. Hanna wants to oe secretary of the
treasury, he can have the place. Nothing is
too good for Mr.. Hanna these days. He
could fill, besides, the peculiar position of the
presidents personal friend and there is al
ways one such in the cabinet. In the case
of Mr.. Cleveland Mr.. Lamont is the personal
friend. He would never have been cons;d-
cred seriouslySefor cabinet pos ten by any
one but Mr.. Cleveland. and Mr. Cleveland
gave him the place because he wanted some
confidential terms. In the Harrison cabinet
was Attorney General Miller His appoint
ment did not please any one in Indiana and
politically it was poor one, but Mr. Harri-
son wanted confidential friend In the cab
met, and Mr.. Miller answered the descrip-
ion. Incidentally it should be said in jus
tice 10 Mr.. Miller that he filled the at
tcrney generals place very well.
Mr.. Hanna has told his friends again aud
again that he would not take a seat in the
nothing to gain by holding Office, and he has
no taste for it. Mrs. Hanna, too, is much
opposed to 1t. But business men all over the
country are urging him to change his mind.
So far as anything is determined about the
cabinet, it is the understanding now that no
treasury. The shadow Of Wall street is over
every man from New York, and the talk
about Cornelius Bliss is the widest specu-
lation The treasury portfolio will go west of
Pennsylvania. and Mr.. Allison could have it,
If he wanted it.
Unless conditions change, TIE representative
of the South In the :, cabinet will
be H. Clay Evans, of Tennessee He was
the most conspicuous candidate for the vice
presidential nomination at ST Louis and
wanted Hobart nominated Evans withdrew
gracefully and with no display of i'll feeling