The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1913-03-27
Missouri and the Cabinet


Houston AS secretary of agriculture
| by President Wilson brings the
missouri succession" down to dat".
There are some interesting facts IN
connection with Missour's cabinet
history.
The state has been represented IN
three Of the nine depaItments-now
ten with the addition of labor; IL has
never had n secretary of state, trea--
ury or navy; it has never had sec.
rotary OF war who actually served;
it has never had an attorney general
or postmaster general. Incidental
ly, 1t has never had "A vice president,
and has had but one president pro
TEN of the senate-David X. Atchi-
son, in Sj2j4-and one speaker,
Champ Clark. 1t has had five secrc.
taries of the interior, two secretaries
of agriculture, one secretary Of war
by appointment and one secretary
OF commerce OF labOr-uine cabinet
ofiices in the ninety-two years OF its
existence, including Mr.. Bates 1t
had been state ~ years before
1t had even an appointment to the
cabinet. and this appointment was
declined. 1t suffered an eclipse Of
twenty.seven years more until the
Carl Schurz appointment In 1877, hut
after aperiOd Of fifty six years WITH
out actual representation aud only
one tender of Office, it has been re-
presented in every administration
but one since Hayes, inclusive.
Every cabinet officer which Mis-
souri, has furnished In the last sixty
three years has been from st. Louis,
even Edward Bates, who declined
the war portfolio after being con-
trmed by the senate. Bates was
the first MissOurian To be hunorcd
with n cabinet appointment. Presi.
dent Taylor named him in 1850 to hc
secretary of war, and when he re.
fused tn serve Mr.. Conrad Of
Louisiana was given the place. 1t
was twenty-seven years before an
other Missourian was similarly hon
ored, Carl Schurz being appointed
secretary OF the interior by Presi- |
dent Hayes in 1877. There was an
interregnum of almost eight years
during which Missouri was without
representation in the cabinet-the |
joint term Of Garfield aud Arthur
and almost the whole of the first
Cleveland term. In 1889, however.
in the closing months of his admin
istration, Cleveland named Norman
J. Coleman secretary OF agriculture,
when the department was raised
from commission. As soon as
Cleveland retired, In 1889, to make
way for Harrison, the latter appoint
ed General John w. Noble secretary
OF the interior, and since that time
there has not been an administration
which has not had MissOuriau in
the cabinet. The state had the uni
que distinction Of representation in |
two administrations credited TO the |
same year-Mr. Coleman and Gene
raj Noble, as explained. Mr.. Cole.
man served only n brief period be-
fore being succeeded by "Uncle |
Jerry" Rusk Of Wisconsin, the Har-
rison appointee.
President Cleveland seems to have |
been partial to Missouri, for when
he returned to the presidency at the |
election of 1892, he appointed David
II. Francis secretary of the interior
in the closing year of his admins
tration to succeed Hoke Smith, |,
Francis being succeeded the follow
ing year in the Mckinley cabinet by
Cornelius Bliss of New York. Bliss
was succeeded two years later, in
1899, by another Missourian, Ethan
Allen Hitchcock, who served during
both the second Mckinley and the
Roosevelt administrations, retiring
from the latter to make way for
lanes r. Garfield. In the Taft adj
Missouri was repre-
scented by Charles Nagel as secre-
tary of commerce and labor The
state Is again honored by President
Wilson in the appointment OF Pro-
lessor Houston to the agriculture
department.. Kansas City journal.