The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-17
MODERN STATUS OE
 CABINET OFFICIAL Is Looked Down Upon by Unit
 ed States Senators SOME CHANGES ARE NOTED Secretary of State no Longer Succeeds to Presidency and Cabinet Has
 Become Stepping Stone
 to the Senate.
SOME CHANGES ARE NOTED
BY WALTER WELIMAN.

It is a common saying at Washington that members of the cabinet are moth. ing but clerks to the President" In a sense this is true; they are simply the as sistants to the executive; they are his creatures, they are subject to removal al his will, they are, of course, compelled tc obey his orders while they remain il office.
 In the United tSates there is no minis try" in the sense the word is used il Great Britain. At the British capital ths ministry is the government. It is respon sible, not to the crown, but to the direc representatives of the people, the parlia ment The American system is more lik' the German, wherein the ministers are re sponsible to- the crown, and to the crowr alone. At Washington the government is composed of the legislature and the ex- ecutive-the House of Representatives anc the Senate forming the first branch, whil, the President alone is the other.
 The cabinet does not exist as a consti. tutional entity. The very word "cabinet'' is a misnomer, burrowed from England and used because it Is convenient. Tn, constitution did not create the cabinet no 
 the only reference in the constitution tc the ministers of the President Is that found In the provision that the President shall have the power to require the opin ion in writing of the principal officer il each of the executive departments upor any subject relating to the duties of theil respective offices Congress has created the departments of the American govern ment by statute, and naturally as a bus. mess expedient, provided that each de partment should have a chief. Save in $ few instances Congress did not even de. fine the duties of>these chiefs and made no attempt to retain control of them oi to hold them to any responsibility to the national legislature. The conspicuous ex. ception Is found in the case of the secre- tary of the treasury. He is in sense all officer of the Congress, certain duties and responsibilities are imposed upon him by statute, as, for instance, his annual re- port concerning the finances, and special reports when called for, must be made to Congress and not to the President.
 Appointed by President.
 All the heads of departments are ap- pointed by the President subject to con- frmation by the Senate But so are all other executive officials above certain grade. In the case of nominations for heads of departments confirmation is rarely or never refused by the Senate Practically, therefore, the heads of de- partments are the personal appontees oi the President. They are responsible tc him alone and he is responsible to Con- gress and to public opinion for the con duct of the executive branch of the gov ernment with which hehis charged by tho constitution Though heads of departments are commissioned for four years, actually they hold office at the will of the Presi. dent. At the slightest intimation from him that a resignation is wished for it is immediately forthcoming. Changes arc relatively frequent. Thus, in eight years President Grant had five secretaries oi war, four postmasters general, five at. torneys general President Roosevelt, ir four years, has had four postmasters gen eral and four secretaries of the navy.
 In the American government there ar, nine executive departments and a vas number of bureaus and commi ssions many of them existing independently, responsi ble only to the President, but most oi them organized under one or the other o the departments. The nine heads of de partments are: Secretary of state, secre tary of the treasury. secretary of war attorney general, secretary of the navy postmaster general secretary of the in terior, secretary of agriculture, secretar, of commerce and labor
 Washington. Had Four.
 President Washington began in 17ss witt the first four onlys the others have beer added from time to time by act of Con gross. Still more departments are likely to be created in the near future, such as secretary of mines and mining. secretar, of insular affairs. CWe Americans have colonies" but retain our prejudic, against the word), and perhaps others The scope of the duties of these officials is pretty well indicated by their titles. But there is no provision of law fol what we know as the cabinet Custom has firmly established the practice that al of the heads of the departments shall gc to the Presidents house or office at stated times, usually on Tuesday and Friday o1 each week (and oftener if requested) fol what is known as cabinet meetings" Al Presidents adhere to the custom; and tho cabinet, and its sem-weekly conference are now firmly planted in the unwritter law of the republic. But if were to hay, President who did not wish to have cab