The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-29

south, selecting John G. Carlisle of Ken
lucky for Secretary of the Treasury, Hill
larry A. Herbert of Alabama for the navy
and Hoke Smith of Georgia for the in
terror.
Three of the 10 men in President Will
sons cabinet are credited directly from
the southern states, two others were born
and have spent most of their lives in the
south, and one is from border state.
Jesephus Daniels, Secretary of the
Navy, is from North Carolina; James G.
McReynolds. the Attorney General Is from
Tennessee, and Albert S. Burleson, the
Postmaster General, is from the Lone
Star state.
The Secretary of the Treasury is cred
tied to New York, but as everybody knows
1t was only short while ago that Will
liam G. McAdoo entered New York fresh
from Georgia, with nothing to build on
but big idea and plenty of nerve to
back that idea up.
Secretary of Agriculture David S. Hous-
ton comes into the ca binet from Missouri.
border state. but he is a southerner by
birth and training. He was born in North
Carolina, was graduated from the South
Carolina college and was president of the
University of Texas before he became
chancellor of Washington university in St.
Louis
Taft's Official Family
As contrasted with this impressive list
of southerners, Mr.. Taft's official family
contained at the close of his administra-
ton not a single man from the south The
nearest approach to it was Secretary
Maggie. who was from st. Louis. He was
native of Texas At the beginning of
Mr.. Tafts administration the war port
folio was given to Jacob NJ. Dickinson.
a democrat of Tennessee, but he quit the
! no int hafa tl,o f1,,,
The speaker of the House of Represen-
tativs is southerner, coming from Mis-
souri, and being born in Kentucky; the
leader of the House is a southerner, born
In Kentucky and representative from an
Alabama district, most of the leaders of
the majority in the Senate are from the
south. and President Tafts wish ex-
pressed on southern soil has rolled around
with vengeance.
What applies as to southern influence
In the important places in the government
also applies to the minor places. South
erners for the first time in a good many
years are coming in for their share of the
minor jobs, although the northern demo-
Gratis have no right to grumble.
Has Tried to Be Impartial
Sectionalism has played no part with the
President in making his selections for gov
ernment places, large or small He has
tried to follow the rule laid down to be-
gin with and base his appointments soley
on merit. and has passed the pie plate
impartially to the north and the south.
However, the fact that there have been
SO few southerners In important offices
under republican administrations, in spite
of the fact that they have held onto an
unimpaired representation in the national
conventions, has served to emphasize the
selections that are being made from the
south by democratic administration.
In the treasury department, Secretary
McAdoo has drawn on the south for his
assistance which in the past administra-
tions almost invariably came from the
north, and usually from the big money
centers like New York In selecting his
first assistant, the man who handles the
finances of the, government, especially in
its relations with the banks, Mr. McAdoo
selected Virginian John Shelton Will
liams, a banker of wide experience.
Another southerner has charge of the