Year: 1869

Generai Grant and HI Cabines--Ths Con.


aict in Censrea.


The politicians at Washington have been
thrown into high state Of excitement over a
few positive utterances Of General Grant in
reference to his Cabinet. He said the other
day that Pennsylvania shall have q member,
and straightway the visiting committee Of
Pennsylvanians were SO elated that they jumped
out Of their boots. He told them that he had
singled out his Pennsylvanian, good man
and republican, but that he would be, per-
haps, more surprised than anybody else at his
appointment. But the name of this important
parsonage the General could not for
the present disclose. A tub to the whale
How it amuses him! Guess the name of the
lucky Pennsylvanian if you can; apd they are
all guessing at a solution Of the important
conundrum.


But the New Workers. are not so much in
terested in this mysterious Pennsylvanian as
in the New York man, or in the question
whether New York, after voting Seymour, is
or is not to have man in the Cabinet. They
sound the oracle, but the oracle does not
respond. They say, ''You have intimated, Gene
raj, that perhaps all of the johnson Cabinet
are to have a ticket of leave except SchoHeld,
and that you want him awhile for some special
army service. We thus understand that Mr..
Seward retires to Auburn. But we have
another New York man in Johnson's Cabinet
Evarts by name. What of him?" The Gene
raj is reticent 'sEvarts, you know, Gene
raj, was appointed by Johnson for his
services to Johnson. Is not Evarts,
therefore, to be checked for the Tennessee
train with the rest of Johnson's baggage?"
The General looks up to the ceiling and puffs
his cigar. What does this mean? When the
General looks down as he puffs his cigar he is
in doubt; but when he looks up as he puffs a
slow and heightened discharge of smoke his
mind is made up. The philosophy of the thing
is transparent. But how are we to know
whether it is yea or nay from an up or down
puff when the smoker says nothing? Evarts
belongs to the Seward Weed Morgan -Blatch-
ford Raymond Fenton-New York clique,
and, as we come down town, their house is
the halfway johnson house between the Union
League and Tammany Hall. Hence to the
radical Fenton-S Spencer clique this question Of
Evarts goes to the root Of the matter. It is to
be feared, however, that between johnson and
Morgan, as between two stools, Evarts will
come to the ground, though the question is
not settled. We only know, to dead GER
tainty, by the peculiar puff from General
Grants cigar, when cross-examined, that his
mind is made up on Evarts, and that beyond
this Evarts and New York are still in doubt,
including the lawyers dinner to Evarts, which
Grant attended.


What else? The General has made 1t known
that except Schofeld, for a limited and special
service, his Cabinet will be made up of
civilians. Admiral Porter, therefore, will not
be called upon to throw open his fine house
in Washington for Cabinet receptions. General
Sherman will doubtless require his big house
in town for his receptions as the active head Of
the army. But this policy of General Grant
of having Cabinet of civilians entirely does
not tally with General Blairs idea that
Grant will give US military des-
potism, Ia Cromwell or Napoleon, and
that when he gets into the White House he
win stay in as long as he lives. On the con-
trary, in detaching his Cabinet from the army
and navy he evidently desires to avoid the
slightest shadow Of q suspicion of dictatorial
administration. In this view Cabinet of
& ol, -
view such Cabinet from soldier whose
whole public career has been identified with
the army is a most remarkable fact and in
dicative of mind that can readily adapt itself
to the broadest change of circumstances as q
faithful public servant.


So much we know. It next appears that in
his recent gratifying conversation with the
Pennsylvanians General Grant pretty broadly
limited that as under the Tenure of Office law
he could remove no ofice-holders without ex-
posing their characters to the ruin, perhaps,
of their prospects in any other calling, he
would probably make few or no changes while
tied up by this law. This hint will be apt to
bring the new Congress to the repeal or to
some very material notifications of this
law. We suspect that very serious OBJ
lection among the orthodox radicals to the
House bill Of repeal lies in these facts
that it is Buffers bill and that the radical junta
are determined to clip the wings Of Butler.
Condemned as fishy on the money question,
they are inclined to think him 6shy on other
questions, and that he meditates a conserva-
tive bolt and q new party movement under the
lead Of Butler. They fear that his uncon-
ditional surrender to Grant means mischief
and that too many republicans Of the House
are disposed to follow him. Butler, therefore,
must be headed of. Hence one good rea-
son for the snuffing out Of his bill. It means
that Butler is not to be understood as stand
ing In Congress In the shoes Of Old Thad
Stevens.


In this attitude the new Congress--mainly