The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-02-09
Mr.. GRIGGS' CRAVE.
His Seat in the Cabinet His
End in Politics Accord
ing to All Precedent.
PREDECESSORS ALL SHELyED
Frelinghuysen and Robson as
Awfull Examples-F on
the List.
PREDECESSORS ALL SHELVED
Isnecial to 1.-THE Jersey City News.nl

Will Oily iidIkeQ Qt6ICG va
The Ex-Governor is the fifth Jerseyman
to be called to a seat in the Cabinet OF
the President Of the United States. and
the first to fill a place in the Department
of Justice. His predecessors. with one
exception, were connected withAthe De-
partment of the Navy. Frederick +.
Frelinghuysen was the appointee OF Presi-
dent Arthur, in 1881. He filed the posi-
ton of Secretary of State until March,
1855, when he retired and Immediately
dropped out of sight as a politician. Prior
to his appointment to the Cabinet he was
a strong card IN the political arena OF
New Jersey. He was Attorney General
of the State and served in the United
States Senate from 1867 to 1863 and again
from 1871 to 1877.
1t is a notable fact that the Presidents
Cabinet has been the political burylng
ground of every man who has entered 1t
from New Jersey, and the result in the
case of Mr.. Griggs will be awaited with a
good deal of interest.
Tine first Cabinet officer appointed from
New Jersey was Samuel L. Southard. He
was a strong political factor in the State,
as was also his father, who was a mem
Der of Congress in 1921. same year
his son Samuel was elected to the tinted
States Senate. where he served with dis
~tinetion until August, 1923, when he was
selected by President Monroe for the posi-
ton of Secretary of the Navy. He served
in this capacity under President Monroe
and President John Quincy Adams, IN
1929, at the close. of the term of President
Adams, Mr.. Southland wanted to fix him
self for the United States Senate once
more, and he came home to look after his
fences, but he found them down. and 1T
was not ar easy matter for him to mend
them. He was popular with the people,
but there were ambitious men in the field
who wanted some of the political honors
that were being passed around so they
set up a game against Southland that ne
couldn't beat. They raised the claim that,
having lived six years at Washington, he
had lost his residence in New Jersey. and
the campaign cry against him was that
he was not an inhabitant of the State. On
these grounds he was declared, by a reso-
luton passed by the Legislature, ineligible
to the office of United States Senator, and
Mahlon Dickerson was chosen in bis
stead.
Dickerson had long been at the game
of politics. He was a Democrat and
in 1915 was elected Governor of the
State. At the end of two years he was
chose for the United States Senate and
Served in tina body sixteen years, when
he was called to the Cabinet of Presi-
dent Andrew Jackson to perform the
duties of Secretary of the Navy. Dick7
erson's wealth. which was large, made.
him politically strong, but nothwithstand-
two, This xula, h. a,a a o1,t ~ the Cob HI
net he was shelved. He remained in the
Cabinet eight years, serving part of the
time under Van Buren,. of whom he
was a great admirer. but in 1898 he lost
faith in Van Buren, and resigned. He
returned to New Jersey and attempted
to take a hand in the political fight, but
he had lost his pull and in 1910 he wit
messed the defeat of his party, which SO
chagrined him that he retired from the
field and never was heard of again in
the political camps.
The next Jerseyman to suffer the blight
of a Cabinet appointment was George
Maxwell Robson, who was appointed
Secretary of the Navy in 1869 by Presi-
dent Grant, and in that capacity he
served through the eight years of
Grants administration In the heydayi
of his p~olitica, caseer Robson was one
of the most popular. men in the State
of New Jersey. He possessed large
means, was a genial mar for any per-
son to meet and his ability as a law
yer placed him at the head of that pro-
fession. At the time he was appointed
to the Presidents Cabinet he was At
torney General of the State. After his
,a+;roy v, N frono thu Cohipat he corxroJ
four years in Congress, when he got the
United States Senator fever and began
to lay wires to capture that plum.
Robeson's absence in Washington had
given his political enemies an opportunity
to make themselves strong, and when he
undertook to put his hand on the United
States Senatorship he found that it was
already covered by somebody else's hand.
He spent a good deal of money to secure
the election, but his dollars were of no
avail, and he was retired. He couldn't
even secure an election to Congress. With
this defeat Robson lost heart, and disap-
peared from the field of politics. He rent
ed offices in Trenton, and attempted to
practice law, but he had little success,
Notwithstanding the fact that he was rat
ed as one of the best jurists in the State.
"A little more tnan q year ago ne Went 10
his grave mentally and physically broken.
The facts above related have given rise
to a good deal of conjecture among OBJ
serving men of the State over the future
of John w. Griggs. The question that
they are asking is:-tHas Griggs been po-
litically shelved?" The prevailing opin-
ion, so far as the politics of New Jersey is
concerned, is that he has been put on a
high shelf where the people will be una
BILE to reach him in the future.
That may no worry the Attorney e
eral, however, because he has said that he
has had enough of politics to satisfy him
and entered the Presidents cabinet more
for the purpose OF paving the way to a
profitable law practice in New Jersey
and New York than anything else. He is
particular to state, however, that he does
not lack in appreciation of the honor that
has been conferred on him by the Presi-
dent in appointing him to his Cabinet.
TONICHT'S EVENTS.
Meeting OF the Montgomery Social Gu