The New York herald., 1921-02-24
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY "a. 1921.
The Harding Cabinet.

The Harding Cabinet is now SO
nearly complete that we may speak
of 1t as a whole. 1t would be folly to
claim that the announcement of the
various men for the different depart.
ments Of Government has stirred the
people generally to a state of warm
and enthusiastic commendation. On
the contrary, there seems to be an
attitude of lethargy and feeling of
disappointment tantamount to a
shrug Of the shoulders and an out
burst of "Oh, Hell!'
This Is the impression we get
from the people we meet, from the
many letters we receive, and from
the utterances Of the press generally.
The opposition newspapers are pro-
nounced in their criticism, while the
Independent and Republican news
papers are notably calm in their ex-
pressions of Endorsement or disap-
pointment.
IF the public and the press ex-
pected the Harding Cabinet to be
an all star Cabinet they expected
too much. There is no recent prece-
dent to justify any such expectation.
1t is the opinion of THE New YORK
HERALD that the Harding Cabinet is
not worse than the Cabinet of any
President in a quarter of century.
It Is the opinion of THE New YORK
HERALD that considered as whole
It is every bit as able. every bit as
worth while. The reason for the
criticism of and disappointment in
the Harding Cabinet is clearly due to
the fact that the country and the
press had come to believe that Sen
ator HARDING, elected without DO
ntical commitments to any one, would
commander to his service, for his
Cabinet, men of distinctly bigger tim
Der than had characterized the Cabi-
nets of his predecessors for some
ways back.
The Harding Cabinet, with the ex-
ception of Herbert HOOVER, is dis
dnctly Republican and Republican Of
the original vintage. Mr.. HOOVER
isn't quite the same thing. He has
been known to have Democratic SYM
pathies In some respects. Considered
IN a political sense, he does not qualify
in the Harding Cabinet Few men In
America are as strong with the people
of the whole country, however, as
HERBEBT HOOVER. They believe in him
and have come to see him as a man
of exceptional ability. His appoint
ment adds much popular strength to
the Harding Cabinet.
In a general way Mr.. HUGHEs, as
Secretary of State, will rank well
with JOHN HAY of the first Roose-
Welt Cabinet and with Mr.. RooT of
the last Roosevelt Cabinet and with
Mr.. KNOX Of the Taft Cabinet. The
two Wilson administrations have
had no man In the office Of Secretary
of State who lives In the same world
with Mr.. HUGHEs.
Mr.. MELLON, slated for Secretary
of the Treasury, Is a man of very
great ability. He is a distinguished
and outstanding example of Amer
ica's captain of industry-an able,
clear headed banker and sound bust
ness man of exceptional capabilities.
He should prove a big figure at the
head Of the Treasury department.
But considered In popular sense
Mr.. HARDING might have done better.
If It Is true that Mr. MELLON Is the
richest man in America with the ex-
ception Of JOHN -. RocKEFELLER,
isn't the same unwarranted preju-
dice likely to manifest itself against
him that has obtained against Mr..
RocKErELLER and most of our other
men of vast fortunes7
Another man of distinguished per
sonality and ability is former United
States Senator JOHN w. WEEKS. He,
too, is a sound business man and an
able banker. In addition he is a