The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-02-24
In the Difficult Task OF Cabinet
Building He Has Generally
Relied Upon His Own Com
mon Sense.
KNOX AND HITCHCOCK
HIS CHIEF ADVISERS
In Appointing Them Early, He
Hinted Their Advice Alone
Was Wanted, But Hint Not
Generally Taken.
BY Sheldon S. Cline.

BY Sheldon s. Cline.
Washington, Feb. 24.-As the time
approaches when the makeup of Mr.
Taft's Cabinet will be officially n
nounced, party leaders are coming to 3
realization that the President-elect
has gone about the job Of cabinet
building in a strikingly independent
manner He has failed utterly to. e
to prominent Republicans in Congress
for advice, and, SO far as is known
except in the case of the Secretary
ship Of Agriculture, Mr.. Taft was the
first to discover" the men who will
MI the various portfolios.
or course. huge quantities of ad-
vice have been voluntarily given the
President-elect, and in all instances
Mr.. Taft has been polite. He early In
pounced the selection Of Senator Knox
to be Secretary OF State and Mr.
Hitchcock to be Postmaster General.
and made it plain that their selection
had been made public at once so that
the President-elect might advise with
them regarding other appointments.
This ought to have been sufficient no.
tice that Mr.. Taft did not care for In
asked advice, but the hint was not &C
cepted In all cases.
System Used by TAFT.
Aside from Messrs. Knox and Hitch
cock 1t cannot be said that any man
has been really advised with regarding
Cabinet appointments. Mr.. Taft has
drawn from many sources information
about men he had under consideration
and those who have been called upon
to furnish this information have been
very willing to have the public under
stand that the P~resident-elect had
sought their advice. For example, If
Mr.. Taft had John Jones. banker. of
Chicago, under consideration for Sec
rotary of the Treasury. he probably re-
Quested William Smith, also of Chica-
go, to call upon him, then would state
the case about like this: Among the
men | am considering for Secretary
of the Treasury is John Jones, of your
city. Understanding that you have
- Wa oAS " 6ASoC q SCdl .
and having confidence in your dis
erection, I would like to ask if you
know of anything concerning him, per-
sonally or in a business way. that
would be a sufficient reason why l
should not appoint him. l shall re
gard any information you may give
me as confidential and l shall expect,
OF course, that you will regard my re.
quest for information as confidential
Information Wanted.
No one will blame Mr.. Smith great.
~ II he swelled upsome at the thought
that the Prestdent-elect was seeking
his advice about Cabinet appoint.
ments; but it was information, not ad.
vice, which Mr.. Taft wanted.
Undoubtedly Mr.. Taft has sought
the advice of Senator Knox. and 1t is
highly probable that the seeking OF
advice ended there. MI. Hitchcock
has been invaluable as the procurer
and supplier of information, political
and otherwise. and has sounded out
men to whom the offering of porto.
los was contemplated, out it is not
likely the P~resident-elect has actually
sought his advice on other than the
political phases of prospective appoint
ments.
The story was current a few days
ago that President Roosevelt had TAX,
en- a hand In Cabinet making to the
extent Of registering a protest against
the appointment of Senator Hemen.
way Of Indiana as Secretary of the
Treasury. The story looked bad on
its face. and the best information oh
tainable is that Mr.. Hemenway was
ntver under serious consideration 70,
the Treasury. For one thing. Mr.. Hem
enway failed last fall to secure re-elec
ton to the Senate, and while it is
quite the proper thing to care for Con
g%ressional lame ducks" places are
not ordinarily found for them in the
Cabinet.