New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-06-07


Of an American Institution. BY henry
Barrett Learned. $40, PIP. xii. Al New
Haven: Yale University Press.
The formation of the chiefs Of the eX-
ecutive departments of our government
into a cabinet" was in reality matter
Of growth, not of establishment under
the Constitution or by statute law. The
term constitutional advisers of the
President, often applied TO its members
collectively. is, therefore. not exact.
Congress established in 1871 the Offices
of Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Super
intendent Of Finance, Secretary at War.
and Secretary Of Marine, the latter post
being for q while merged with that of
the Superintendent Of Finance. Wash
ington, on his own initiative. called
these chiefs Of department together as
council I'm 1892. The practice thus
esta blished 10y him, matter Of eXpedi-
cncy and increased efficiency, was con
tinued by his successors. the word cab
met coming into use in this connection
in 1893. when Madison employed 1t cur
rently, while Jefferson still varied in his
writings between council and con
clave' beginning with August of that
year, however, he, too, definitely adopted
the term, as is witnessed by the subse-
quent entries in his "Anas.'
The first reference in Congress to the
Cabinet" collectively as the Presidents
council was made I'm February, 1902
BY the close Of Jefferson's administra-
ton its functions We're fully understood
by the people at large. The term did not,
however, gain place in the language of
the Federal statute law until February
%, 1907 when President Roosevelt
signed an act OF Congress increasing the
salaries of the Speaker the Vice Presi-
dent and "the heads OF Executive De-
partments who are members OF the Pres
idents Cabinet" Representative James
r. Mann, Of Illinois, objected to the use
Of the word because there was nowhere
in the statute law recognition of the
Presidents Cabinet as such. Repre-
sentative Littauer Of New York, who
had introduced the bill. pointed out in
reply that the expression could not be
misunderstood, since 1t Designated a
perfectly well known and real institu-
ton" The word was allowed to stand
by both Senate and House. But there
has never been either constitutional or
legal provision requiring the President
to consult or summon the Cabinet. 1t
remains TO this day what It was at the
beginning. a purely customary body Of
advisers.
Mr.. Learned traces the evolution of the
Cabinet from its earliest beginnings.
Neither in republic nor in an au-
tocracy, he points out, can one man lit
orally govern alone. From the begin
ming Of history the autocrat even has
had need Of body OF advisers, "privy
council Of some kind or other. Neither,
on the other hand, can a government
exist without an executive head. In
this country 1t was pointed out as early
as 1774 that the Continental Congress
would be like {: legislative without an
executive" No provision was made for
this executive in the Articles of Confed-
GRAFTON. The presiding officer Of the
Congress during sessions was presi-
dent only in name. and the Committee
of States appointed to act during recess
accomplished nothing. The
plan Of placing the different branches OF
executive work under responsible heads
was carried out in ISL the continued
administrative weakness of the govern
ment during the entire period from 1915
to 1883 led t. the recognition of the need
o. supreme executive head Jefferson
had been one Of the most urgent advo-
Gates Of the adyisabiIity of making the
distinction between the legislative and
the judiciary, on the one hand and the
executive on the other. IS sharp as POS
sible. Before the heads Of departments