The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-05-26
Another Break in Cabinet

The retirement of Mr.. Dickinson,
the secretary of war, is the second
break in the cabinet of President
Taft. AS administrations go, the
present cabinet has thus far been
compact and stable, although it
has been by no means a thoroughly
popular group of ministers, and
there has been criticism enough to
shake it to pieces on more than one
occasion. The cabinets stability
during the past two years can be
mainly accounted for by the presi-
dents unusual loyalty to the men
whom he asked to share with him
the burden of government; a "born
politician" in the office of the chief
executive would long since have
sought to gain popularity or increase
his political strength, by making
over the so-called official family. But
Mr.. Taft has made no change, on his
own initiative. Those who have
gone, Messrs. Ballinger and Dickin-
son, chose their own time for resign
ing.
The events of the past two years
have demonstrated that the original
Taft cabinet has contributed nothing
to the popular strength of the admin
istration; and it is as true to-day as
it was year ago that no member
of it has made a reputation of the
first order. Some of them have been
worse than negative quantities.; they
have scored positive failures, or have
aroused antagonisms exceedingly
hurtful to the president himself. Of
Secretary Dickinson it may be said
that, while he has done the admins
tration no harm, he has brought to it
no strength. His official career has
been, in the public eye, uneventful
and colorless. Besides, he is Dem
ocrat. There is no possible reason
for condemning him on that ac-
count, but the presence of a Demo-
crat in Republican cabinet has
probably been source of political
weakness to the administration. 1t
has all Long been impossible for the
President to make so much of Mr..
Dickinson as an adviser as his great
abilities justified, because the mass
of the Republican party would not
view the establishment of a strong
Democratic influence in a Republi-
can administration with approval.
The result has been a very able
lawyer, naturally belonging to the
conservative wing of the Democratic
party, cooped up in the War office,
which many other men could have
administered no less efficiently and,
| at the same time, perhaps, have
brought to the President some acces-
sion of political strength.
The appointment of Mr.. Stimson
of New York as Secretary Dickin-
sons successor reminds us that
when the President does have an op-
portunity to change the personnel of
his cabinet he makes his new selec-
tions with a much surer political
touch than was the case when the
cabinet was first formed. The ap-
pointment of Mr.. Fisher as secre-
tary of the interior was an excel
lent stroke in neutralizing the an
tagonism Mr.. Ballinger had arous-
ed among the protagonists of con-
servation. Mr.. Stimson comes also
from the more progressive wing oi
the Republican party, and Mr.. Roose.
velt's fervid support of him wher
he ran for Governor of New York
last autumn insures the cordia
commentator of the selection by
the Roosevelt following. These two
appointments tend to relieve the
administration of the weight of the
| criticism that however progressive