Evening star., 1933-02-23
The Political Mill
By G. Could Lincoln.

By u. Could Lincoln.
President-elect Roosevelts cabinet
the selections now generally accepted
as correct-follows precedent in one
particular, at least. Mr.. Roosevelt has
picked for his cabinet men and one
woman who supported him strongly for
the presidential nomination and later for
election. Other Presidents have done
the same-with few exceptions, in
cluding Abraham Lincoln. There are
two ways Of looking at the matter.
One is that a President must surround
himself with cabinet officers who are
in entire sympathy with his personal
program of legislation and executive
action in order to obtain the best re-
suits. The other is that, in times of
emergency, it is wise to have all the
elements represented in the immediate
circle of presidential advisers, including
representatives of political factions that
have not been friendly to the election
of the President. Mr.. Roosevelt, like
many of his predecessors, has followed
the first course. The members of the
new cabinet are and have been devoted
to the advancement of the political
career of Mr.. Roosevelt since he became
a candidate for the presidency. 1t is
to be presumed they will do all they
can to advance the policies Mr.. Roose-
'velt lays down in the future.
When Mr.. Roosevelt was first elected
President last November the cabinet
makers Immediately began to speculate
on the makeup of his cabinet. Few
of the final selections of Mr.. Roosevelt
were included in the list. There was
talk of John w. Davis, James V. Cox
and Newton D. Baker, of Albert c..
Ritchie, Bernard M. Baruch, and even
of Alfred E. Smith. The suggestion
was made that Mr.. Roosevelt would be
able to persuade these outstanding
Democrats, or some of them, to enter
his cabinet in the present time of
emergency. None Of them are, nor, SO
far as has been learned, were any of
them approached.
There is no intention here to reflect
on the cabinet selections of Mr.. Roose-
welt or to suggest that they do not
measure up, but merely to call atten
ton to the fact that the cabinet was
not made according to the spectflca-
tions originally in the public mind.
The President elect has gone to the
Senate for three of his cabinet officers
Hull of Tennessee. Walsh of Montana
and Swanson of Virginia-alI men of
ability. Senator Hull's selection to head
the State Department encourages the
belief that Mr.. Roosevelt intends to
tackle the job of breaking down trade
barriers through international agree
ments. No one has been stronger
in advocacy of such policy than Mr..
Hull. The appointment of Senator
Walsh is recognition of his legal
ability and the strong place he has
built for himself in the public mind.
His selection is particularly pleasing to
the progressives in both parties who
supported Mr.. Roosevelt in the cam
palgn. They deemed the Attorney
Generalship a key position IN the
cabinet from the progressive point OF
view. Senator Swanson knows the
Navy like a book. Furthermore, he Is
friendly to the Navy and to national
defense.
With the exception of New York,
which has three members of the new
cabinet, none of the populouS Eastern
and Northern States has been recog-
nized IN the Roosevelt list. Massachu-
sets, New Jersey. Pennsylvania and
Maryland are cut of the reckoning. The
South has three members of the cabi-
net-Hull of Tennessee, Swanson of
Virginia and Roper Of South Carolina.
The West and Middle West have the
four other cabinet offices. Dern of
Utah is to be Secretary of War; Wal
lace of Iowa, Secretary of Agriculture
Walsh Of Montana, Attorney General,
and IckeS of Illinois, Secretary Of the
Interior. The three New Yorkers are
Woodin, Secretary OF the Treasury;
Farley, Postmaster General, and Miss
Perkins, Secretary of Labor.
X X X X
Two surprises in the Cabinet makeup
are Dern as Secretary Of War and Roper
as Secretary Of Commerce. Former
Gov Dern had been mentioned many
times for the Office of Secretary Of the
Interior, it is true, but he had not been
put forward as head of the War Depart
ment. Mr.. Dern was early on the
Roosevelt band wagon in the pre-
convention campaign. Indeed, he was
candidate for the vice presidential
nomination to run with Roosevelt Mr..
Roper, who served as Commissioner of
Internal Revenue in the Wilson admin
istration and who was at that time
also an Assistant Postmaster Genera;
and vice chairman of the Tariff Com
mission, also was an enthusiastic sup
porter Of the nomination of Mr.. Roose-
welt. During the hectic days Of 1924,
when the Democrats were striving
nightly in Madison Square Garden to
nominate a candidate for President, Mr.
Roper was a leader of the McAdoo
forces. He also has been an ardent dry
and supporter of national prohibition.
y x X
For the first time woman Is to grace
the cabinet circle as cabinet officer.
Miss Frances Perkins, according to re-
ports, has been the choice of Mr. Roose-
welt to be Secretary of Labor for months
In the first place, it is said, he wanted
to break another precedent and put a
woman in the cabinet, and in the second,
he had great confidence in the ability of
Miss Perkins-who happens to be the
wife of Paul Wilson, but who continues
to use her own name. She Is Sociologist
and has been member of the New
York Industrial Commission and for the
last three years of the State Industrial
Board Probably no cabinet officer will
be more closely watched than Miss
Perkins she is taking over the Office
of Secretary of Labor despite the pro-
tests of many leaders Of organized labor,
who did not want woman and who
did want a recognized leader of labor
in that Office She is taking over the
Office, too, at a time when there is
tremendous unemployment in the Nation
and when labor troubles are possibility,
unless, indeed, times take turn for
the better.
Three Of the members of the Roose-
welt cabinet are former Republicans
they may even claim to be Republicans
today. They are Harold l.. IckeS of
Chicago, who Is to be Secretary of the
Interior, long a progressive Republican
and believer in the Roosevelt policies
with regard to power and public utili-
ties; william H. Woodin of New York,
to be Secretary of the Treasury, and
Henry A. wallace of Iowa, an adherent
nf a1Io4..,n.,4 ,,1ox, e.. go.