The National tribune., 1907-05-16
CABINET FACTS
4. 4 iAND RUMORS.
tcontiff4ed from page one.)

eral exceedingly angry, and he issued
a formal statement SIN SO far as the
publications IN Question reflect on me
personally" the Acknowledgement be-
gan, Il do not care to say anything at
all about them; but they reflect by i'm
plication upon my lsubordinates as well,
since they aRege SIN substance that the
work of the entire Department is lam
guild and ineffective, and II is my duty
as its head to pronounce this statement
a bald falsehood, originating either in
imalice or else i'm gross and wilful ig-
Inorance of the facts
There was more in like vein, but, in
some way or another. Attorney General
tBonaparte seems to have "tumbled" to
the situation. He surprised official
Washington by coming to the city the
morning after these stories were afioat
at 9 a. m. and remained in town till
800 p. m. looking after business in his
Department Then he came the follow
ing day early in the morning, and has
been keeping this up. He continues to
refer sarcastieally to the enterprising
newspaper correspondents who arrang-
ed his retirement to private life, but
nevertheless is making business hum
around the Department of Justice in a
manner unknown heretofore.
More Trouble for the Trusts.
1t seemed as tho the activities in
prosecuting trusts had ceased eltogeth-
er, but when Mr.. Bonaparte began to
wake up his Department he soon an
nounced that he had decided to begin
suit against the Harvester Trust. He
reviewed the evidence in this case, as
secured from the Department of Com
merce and Labor, and it will virtually
be his undertaking. There have also
been other activities in trust busting
within a few days, including a decision
| RI ha
who come from afar with business be-
| fore the Acknowledgement are now able
| to see him, and when the President
| has business to take up with Mr.. Bona
parte he does not have to telephone to
Baltimore and make an appointment
| for him.
Whether the President desired sim
ply to warn his Acknowledgement or
whether he is intent on getting him out
of the Cabinet is not known. Appar-
emily, however, Mr.. Bonaparte will re-
main. Many Presidents in times gone
by have had their difficulties in getting
rid of Cabinet officers with minimum
of personal friction. The late Pres-
dent Mckinley had considerable diff
Guilty in breaking the news to the late
Senator Alger that his services as Sec
| rotary of War We're no longer desired.
While Mr.. Bonaparte got along pref
ty well as Secretary of the Navy, there
| is no Disgusting the fact that he has
been unpopular in Washington, espe-
cially since he became Attorney Gem
eral. 1t Is also fact that the leading
lawyers among Republicans in public
life have little confidence in Mr.. Bona
parties ability to handle the great trust
prosecutions now pending before the
Department. 1t Is conceded that Bal
| timoreans regard Mr.. Bonaparte as an
able lawyer, but he has by no means
| rNt
| land bar for handling cases of anything
like the magnitude of the trust cases.
1t is whispered about Washington.
perhaps unjtistly to the Attorney-Gen en-
eral, that Senator Knox, of Pennsyl-
vania, has been the Administration
most trusted legal adviser since Mr.
Bonaparte became the head of the De-
partment of Justice. Certain it is that
some Of the Assistant Attorneys-Gen
eral have been frequently consulting
with Mr.. Knox on legal questions they
had to consider This might have been
because of Mr.. Bonapartes frequent
absence from, the city or because of a
greater confidence in Senator Knox's
legal Judgment
The President, would not tolerate a
Cabinet officer long on whom he could
not place full reliance. Above every
thing, he could not afford 10 retain long
an Attorney-General who was not look
ing carefully after the Governments
trust cases. Any criticism that might
be made of the AttorneyG General along
that line would be made of the Presi-
dent, and the people would soon be
saying that the President had grown
in his trust-busting program.
To President who has climbed to such
a pinnacle as has Mr.. Roosevelt such
popular comments would be damaging.
Apart from this incident the Presi-
dent Is getting along exceedingly well
with his Cabinet. All are congenial
men to him, and are working In the
most perfect harmony with his plans,
Of none IS this more true than Of the
new Postmaster General, Mr.. George
Won l.. Meyer. He was business man !
by long training before he embarked |
upon diplomatic career, and Is TAX |
Ing hold as a business man in the great |
work of administering that Department. |
The President and others Of Mr.. Meyers |
friends hope that he may make a |
marked success, for there is abundant |
opportunity for the exercise of good !
business judgment. The last Postmas-
who was regarded as really |
a great Postmaster General was John |
Wanamaker, a business man. There |
have been several capable Postmasters-
General since Mr.. Wanainalier's time,
but they have made no particular i'm
preston upon the administration of it's |
affairs. TIE only two business men
among Mr.. Wanamaker's SUCCESSORS,
prior to the assumption of the office by
Mr.. Meyer, were James A. Gary, of
who came in with the Nc
Kinley Administration, and Henry c.
Payne, of Wisconsin, who was one of
President Roosevelt's first Cabinet NOM
nations. But Mr.. Gary served only q
little moro than one year, and made
no remarkable record. Mr.. Payne was
too ill during most of his incumbency
to do his very best, and then Mr.. Roose-
welt expected him to give considerable
attention to political matters.
Wilson S. Bissell, of New York and
William l.. Wilson, of West Virginia,
who held the Office of Postmaster-Gen-
eral in succession during the second
term of President Cleveland, were law
yers. Charles Emory Smith, of Penn
sylvania, who served under Mckinley
Robert J. Wynne, who succeeded Henry
spondent, and Mr"Cortelyou had spent
Gus official capacities here.
So Mr.. Meyer has an unusual oppor-
tunity as business man to take a
business mans view of the Depart
ment. which is the greatest business
organization undef4the Government He
has been giving attention to a lot of
matters calculated to improve the pos
tai facilities to the business public, is
1