San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-07-25
IN THE PUBLIC EYE.
THREE CABINET MEMBERS WHO ARE
CONSPICUOUS.
The Other Five Are Seldom Heard From.
characteristics Which Make Sherman,
Gage and Wilson Prominent-A Study Of
the Administration.
Especial Correspondence.l


administration is unique in several par
ticulars, and one of these is the incon-,
spicuousness Of its cabinet officers. |
Three months and a half have passed
since the cabinet was chosen, and only
three members of it have been in the
public eye at ALL These three are Secre- |
tary Sherman, Secretary Gage and Sec
Rotary Wilson.
By the way, it was said at the time
the cabinet was chosen that in announc-
ing the appointees before March Ma.
jor Mckinley was establishing prece.
dent. On the contrary, he was follow
ing the precedent set by Mr.. Cleveland
four years before. Mr.. Cleveland made
known his selections for cabinet places
as fast as they were made. In follow
ing his example Major Mckinley sim
plified cabinet guessing a great deal,
because with the filling of the treasury
Office long line of possibilities was
wiped of the slate, and the choice of
secretary of war put out of consideration
dozen men who were aspirants for
that position. With New England g rep
resentative chosen, too, it was evident
that all other New England men could
be eliminated. And SO, gradually, the
field of possibilities narrowed to the last
| choice. I
Usually the unexpected happens in
the making of cabinet. Major McKin-
ley stuck more closely to the familiar
figures than did many of his predeces
sors. When Mr.. Cleveland chose Mr..
Olney to be his attorney general, the
country said with one voice, "Who is
| Olney?" When General Harrison put
W. H. Fl. Miller in the same position,
people wondered, and they read his
biography with interest. Even Mr..
Proctor, who was secretary of war un-
der Harrison, was almost unknown out
side New England, though he had been
governor of Vermont Mr.. Cleveland
first secretary Of war, Mr.. Endicott Of
Massachusetts, belonged to a family IA
nous in colonial history, but ne was in
no sense a public man before ne went
into the cabinet, and he has never been
public man since he left it.
Major Mckinley followed the beaten
track more closely than his predeces-
sors. All the men to whom he offered
cabinet places, excepting Mr.. Gary,
were at least fairly well known in ma
| tional politics. From Mr.. Sherman down
| they had been more or less in the pub
lie eye at some time in the last 10 or / IS
years. The one most remote from any
| participation in national affairs, after
Mr.. Gary, was Mr.. Wilson of Iowa,
who served his last term in congress IA
years ago.
An Unknown Quantity. -
The public experience of the members
of a new cabinet does not argue neces-
sarily their peculiar fitness for the
places they are to fill. Some of the most,
eminent members of the house or SEN
ate have been disappointments in thel
cabinet. Mr.. Bayard is the most con-
spicuous recent example. As senator
from Delaware Mr.. Bayard commanded
the admiration Of the whole country.
As secretary of state he was criticised
and openly abused by many members of
his own party. His failure destroyed his
chance of being president.
On the other hand, the unknownl
quantity may develop amazing value.
The inexperienced Mr.. Olney proved the
star member of the second Cleveland
cabinet Brusque, unapproachable, Mr.,
Olney commanded admiration which,
rose above personal prejudice. ]
Mr.. Olney's successor is at the oppo,
site extreme in point of experience. Mr..
Sherman served in the senate longer
than any one else ever did. Before he
entered the senate he was a member of
! the house for six years. Mr.. Sherman's
experience has been more in the domain
of finance than of foreign affairs, though
he was at the head of the foreign rela-
| lions committee of the senate for many
| years. He has been chairman of the
ways and means committee in the house
and of the finance committee in the SEN
ate. When he left the senate, he became
secretary of the treasury. His term was
! in a most important period Of the coun-
try's financial history, the period Of the
resumption Of specie payments and the
| refunding of the national debt. Hunt
| ington's picture of John Sherman,
which hangs in the rooms of the cham
Der of commerce of New York, was
painted to commemorate the resumption
of specie payments.
After his service in the cabinet Mr..
Sherman wanted to become the chair
man of the finance committee again,
but he was placed at the head of foreign
relations. The committees of the senate
are graded in importance in the minds,
of senators. In the first rank are the
committee on appropriations, the com
mittee on finance, the committee ON for
eign relations and the committee ON the
judiciary. By virtue of his long service
Mr.. Sherman was entitled to one Of
these committees when there was va
cancy. 1t CHANGED that the foreign rela /!
tions committee lost its chairman first,
so Mr.. Sherman was put at the head of
that committee, and that is the way he
| became interested particularly in for.