The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-07
GEN. GRANTS IGNORANCE OF POLL
TICS LED HIM INTO A GRAVE
ERROR.
rKINLEY WELL EQUIPPED.
Things He VIII Have to Consider
Some Likely Candidates for
appointment.
Special Correspondence Of the CHOKE.


that Mr.. Mckinley, not he, would
choose the cabinet.
Some people believe Mr. Hams will
have good deal to do with making
the next cabinet in spite of his dis
claimer, for, while it is true that the
appointment Of the cabinet members
is in the presidents hands. it is true
also that cabinet making is so delicate
job that not even so experienced a
politician as Maj Mckinley would an
dertake it alone
The president-elect must put in the
cabinet men he can trust. He must
appoint to each place man who is
fitted especially for the duties Of that
place. He must recognize all parts of
the country in his selection. He must
be careful not to offend unnecessarily
one or two factions in a state where
the party is divided He must take
into account the services done to his
party by the men available for appoint
ment, and especially their services in
the campaign In which he was elected.
When he has sifted out the ambi-
t1ous and the available by this process.
he sometimes finds himself at a loss
Tor material where at first he was en-
barrassed by too much of it.
HIS FRIENDS WILL ASSIST HIM.
In the sitting process he has the as
sistance Of his friends, because 1t is not
to be supposed that the president elect
Will know the qualifications of all the
men in the United States who are avail
able Tor cabinet places. Maj. Mckinley
has the advantage of a much wider
acquaintance with public men than al
most any president elect entering on
MS f1rst term of office, but even he must
make some inquiries and consult with
his friends, Mark Hanna among them.
Benjamin Harrison had a wide ac
quaintance with public men. but he
consulted his friends and advisers
about his cabinet selections More
than that he talked with the leaders of
his party from the different states
about this man and that man and
cautiously weighed the merits of each.
For example, though he had known
Gen. Noble in the army. he made yery
careful inquiries about him before he
decided to make him secretary of the
interior. He was concerned chiefly to
know whether Gen. Noble was inter
ested in corporations as a stakeholder
or an attorney. He said the selection
most difficult task he had to perform
The best example in history of the in
ability OF the president elect to follow
his own desire and even his own illdg-
ment in choosing a cabinet was the
appointment of Mr.. Blaine to be secre-
tary of state in the Harrison cabinet.
Mr.. Harrison did not want to appoint
him. Mr.. Harrison's closest friend.
John G. New, of the Indianapolis
Journal, was bitterly opposed to the
appointment Yet Mr.. Blaine was APP
pointed.
= What can do?" said Gen Harrison
when Mr.. New stormed and protested.
look at these" He pointed to an
armful of letters and kilograms from
every part of the country urging the APP
pointment of Blaine.
You'll live to regret it," said Mr.
New, and he was right
Maj. Mckinley and Gen. Harrison
both know public men in every part of
the country. Maj McKinley's ac-
quaintance is perhaps more extended
than Gen. Harrison's was, because Gen.
Harrison had been out of public life
some time before his nomination.
Grover Cleveland, when he was elected,
knew hardly any of the national poll
ticians outside New York. The late
Justice Lamar, whom he put at the
head Of the interior department, he had
never seen until Mr. Lamar went to AL
bany to urge the appointment of H. D.
Money as postmaster general. Mr.
Manning, whom he appointed secretary
of the treasury, was his closest politi-
cal friend, but he knew Mr.. Villas, his
postmaster general, only through his
work in the campaign. Mr.. Whitney,
his secretary of the navy, was well
known to him, of course, as an active
New York Democrat, but he knew Mr..
Bayard, his secretary of state, only as
a leading member OF the senate And
this was true Of Mr.. Garland his at
torney general. His secretary OF war,
Mr. Endicott, was a stranger to him,
and, for that matter, to most of his
party.
What was the result Of this haphaZ-
ard choosing of a cabinet by man who
was too headstrong to accept advice
even where he knew he was ignorant?
Mr.. Bayard was a conspicuous disap-
pcintment. Mr.. Lamar was so little
qualified for his position that the presi-
dent put him on the supreme bench at
the first opportunity. Mr.. Garland
brought the Pan-E'e2tric scandal on the
administration and has been a lost
quantity even in state politics ever
since. Mr.. Endicott was a neutral sec
rotary of war. The hits made for the
administration were scored by Mr.. Man
ming and Mr.. Whitney, the presidents
friends, men whom he selected because
he personally knew them to be quail
fed for the service.
5CLEVELAND'S SECOND CABINET.
At the beginning Of his second ad-
ministration Mr.. Cleveland had a wide
acquaintance with public men, and if
he made any errors in his cabinet Sc
lectionS they were due to bad judgment
and not to ignorance.
Garfield and Hayes were both in &C
tive public life when they were elected
to the presidency, and both were we'll
qualified to choose the members of
cabinet, but Gen. Grant was notorious
~ unacouainted with public men, ex-
cepting those who had been in the
army, and his blunderS brought scan
dial and trouble on his administration.
No one held Grant responsible for the
sales of post traderships or the work
of the whisky ring, but If Grant had
been better politician and had shown
better judgment IN choosing cabinet
these scandals would not have cast a
blight on his administration.
Making cabinet is puzzling occu-
patton In the first place, as / have
said, certain sections must be repre-
sented in it. That is party necessity.
Senator Hill told me once the story Of
convention which was run by lot
of amateur politicians in Elmira. When
they brought him the ticket, he said:
ut will be beaten. All your nominees
are from the same ward And 1t was
beaten. The president cannot choose
all his cabinet nominees from one state
or from one section Of the country it
he wants to keep in touch with his
party all over the Union. Usually he
gives one place to New England, one or
two places to New York, one to the
south, one to the middle states, one to
the northwest and one TO the middle
western states. The Pacific coast al