Show written for this paper THE CABINET 18 ISM by frank 0 carpenter washington MOTON D C january 13 1897 HO are the il 0 1 0 famous men C 0 who are to help do d O Q mckinley run 0 0 00 chis his administration A score of well known politicians have been suggest ed but only a few are as the slates made up are liable to be broken there is ls no more un rr rig than abair a cabinet before the when president 0 of a first firs t cabinet was announced 4 4 the appointments were surprises bad been an WW god bot a single siggle secretary As it was the with certainty certain va illi iet was chan changed gA alexander lexander ed rapidly T after stew he an n rated g been named for secretary detary the treasury could not serve accord which prevents a mer law from holding that position under abt of footo 3 WO rawlins his secretary if t died in the september following of the a borie boric who was secretary wa WY served three months and then Si ked AGrant Grant to allow him to resign loohs cabinet ministers were not 5 htoy known before he came cam e in and akey ere changed very rapidly there 41 W some of the members of the C shael ctet were arranged tor for at the time of convention by the promises of some of friends and I 1 have heard it W that peon pennsylvania sylvania went for lincoln t chicago 1 in 1860 1860 on condition that attoa w cacao cameron ameron was to go into the this deal was made without w knowledge cledge of lincoln by david DOVI WB and ancl leonard swett lincoln did au AM like it and it was long before he add consent to let cameron have the place yee ire he finally gave him the war department Patt ment alter after the administration beala akan he be did not like him as secretary of w war and wanted to get rid of him he su succeeded in doing this through leon conard ar d swett and thurlow weed ludge dge Grog grosscup acup who was a partner of alae swett told me the story he says that weed made cameron think that he was boing going to 1 lse so both his reputation and hi health gadth by conti continuing n ui in the position weed eted came irom from now new tork york to see cam L a eron As he met him he started back and exclaimed my god senator are you sick you dont look at all well old senator cameron who had a constitution ol of iron and who you know was over eighty when he died replied that he was in his usual health but weed went on well you dont look it you have lost soWe some weight since I 1 saw you last and your color is not good I 1 fear yo you are working too hard cameron 0 mrs cameron was present when this last remark was made and she said she agreed with mr weed that her husband was working too hard alter after dinner that night mr weed advised cameron to to get out of the department he told him he thought the war was going to be a failure he said it would end only in the loss ol of thousands of lives and millions of property and that cameron as 84 secretary detary ol of war would be cursed from one end of the united states to the other after some time cameron became alarmed and said but suppose I 1 want to get out mr W weed eed how can I 1 do it without deemi seeming r g to be either a coward or a failure to this weed replied that he did not know but that he would take a walk and think it over and see if some arrangement ran gement could not be made As he went out he spoke to mrs cameron again about her husbands husband Is health and she told him that she wanted mr cameren to leave the cabinet in an hour or so mr weed returned and told simon cameron that he had hit upon a good plan and that was for him to accept the mission to russia but 1 I re plied cameron it has not been ordered offered tome to me As to that said weed 1 I know that I 1 can fix matters with secretary seward and you will get your appointment this will give you a good excuse f for or resigning to this cameron consented weed saw seward and the president and the appointment was made general charley grosvenor told me once a curious story as to how gar fields cabinet was formed he denies that blaine forced himself upon garfield he says garfield felt very frie friendly noll y to blaine and that he had thought of him as secretary of state even before he had written his bis letter of acceptance saying one day what a a splendid chief of staff jim blaine would make garfield in fact said general it grosvenor wrote out his first cabinet slate the night he was elected it was at half halt past ten when he be got a telegram irom from chester A arthur assuring him that new york had given him majority general swaim who was with garfield at mento at the time said as they looked over the telegram that settles et e it general you are elected b but ut before you go to bed sit down here and make out a cabinet general garfield laughed at this his but finally consented saying well swaim let us see how near we are together you sit down at that table over there and write out a cabinet when you have finished turn your paper face downward upon the table I 1 will do the same here and we will turn the papers over together and compare thern them both then sat down and began to write when they had finished they found that the secretary ot ol state on broth both slates was james G blaine and allison was as upon both for or the of the treasury of the others all but one were changed before the inauguration and allison you know would not accept it was some time after this before robert lincoln was selected as secretary of war and lewis P morton was on garfielda Gar fields slate for the of the navy until almost the eve of the inauguration P garfield was the first president under whom senator allison refused a cabinet place I 1 understand that he has been uppermost in president mckinless McKin leys mind as the head of the state depart ment but that the president elect has wanted to know whether he would refuse or not before he offered the position I 1 get this from men very close to mckinley senator allison told me once that he be could not take the interior department under garfield because he did not want to antagonize governor kirkwood of iowa who was then a leading candidate it was on account of the ambitions of clarkson another iowa man that he be refused the of the treasury under harrison the story of the manner of this refusal has never been told senator cullom who was one of the actors upon the occasion is my authority said he to me the other night it was just after I 1 had been elected to the senate and some weeks before president harrison had come on from indianapolis to washington to be inaugurated augu rated I 1 had to go west to thank my legislative friends tor for their support and on my way I 1 intended to stop and call upon the president elect when I 1 got on the train I 1 found senator allison there he was also going west and we rode together during the journey he told me that president harrison had asked him to come out to see him and that he wanted him to be his bis secretary ot of treasury senator allison told me that he could not accept the position and that he was going out to refuse it As we drew near indianapolis I 1 noticed his becoming more and more restless he evidently did not like the job of having to refuse harrison at last he said I 1 now cullom I 1 have been thinking how you can help me in this we will call upon harrison together and I 1 will see that he talks to you first you can thus prepare his mind for my refusal you can tell him that I 1 have come out tor for this thi s purpose and he will not be so surprised when I 1 speak this I 1 promised to do continued senator cullom when we got to indianapolis we went direct to president harrisons house houie it was about dinner time when we arrived and we at once sat down to the table after dinner was over when we were out in the smoking room and had about finished our ci cigars ars mr allison said now mr president senator cullom is anxious to get away this afternoon he told me that he only wanted a few moments with you and if you vou dont object I 1 will let you get through with him first I 1 will go into the other room and finish my cigar and you can have your conversation here this was assented to by president harrison and allison betit into the other room wela well continued senator cullom after we were alone and had gone over the general topics of the occasion I 1 directed the conversation to the cabinet and nd then said general harrison during our trip out here senator allison took me into his confidence he told me you had offered him the of the treasury and he also told me that he had decided he be could not accept it he asked me to say this to you during our interview and to tell you that he thought he could serve you and your administration better in the senate than in the cabinet As I 1 said this president harrison pushed his head to the front and asked me it that was true I 1 could see that he was much disturbed he said but little further however the conversation changed he soon recovered himself and talked on as though nothing had happened I 1 know that allison did refuse the place then but I 1 have not had a word with him nor harrison about it from that day to this during a call upon senator sherman the other night 1 asked him about the talk which was being published about him as mckinless McKin leys prospective secre secretary tiry of state he told me that he had received no offer of the state department as yet and he had no knowledge that mckinley thought of him in that con lection tion he told me that he did not know that he would care for the position il if it were offered him and that he thought he should like to finish his career in the united states senate I 1 doubt however whether he yet knows his own mind on the subject he realizes the greatness of the position and that he might there have a chance to make his mark on the diplomatic history of our nation the place would be a fit climax to his long life of public service and with his magnificent mansion he could make his administration a great social one he has been at the head bead of the committee on foreign affairs of the senate for many years and would make a more efficient secretary of state than any man now talked of he has never before had a chance to be at the head of the state department though the treasury has been twice within his grasp the first time was when salmon P chase was appointed more than a generation ago when sherman was still in his forties lincoln gave him to under stand that he could have the place but bu sherman was then in congress and wanted to be speake the house he failed in this but got to be senator shortly alter after hayes was elected he wrote sherman that he be wanted him to be secretary of the treasury and sherman once said to me that he took the position on largely because he wanted to carry our his resumption policy he told me that he did not find the work especially hard though his term in the treasury depart ment was one of the most exciting in our history still the state department and the treasury promise to be among the hard bard working positions of the next adminis tra ration tion most secretaries of the treasury have complained about the work folger and manning and windon are popularly supposed to have died from overwork in the treasury I 1 called the other day at the state department to see Secre olney and ask him about the work of his office he would not talk but I 1 could see that he thought he had plenty to do whether overwork in the state department caused groshams Gre shams death is a question I 1 am told that he did not like the bustle of public affairs and it is related that when he was postmaster general he be grew sick of the position and wanted to get out of it one day it is said that he be entered the house of a friend in washington and throwing himself upon the ed 1 I would not be a cabinet officer again for fora a salary of 4 a year 9 still it was after this that he be accepted the portfolio of the treasury and later on consented to be president Clev elands secretary of state one of the greatest annoyances that gresham had was the office seekers and place hunters these are numbered by legions about the post office department and also about the treasury postmaster general wilson tells me there are now 70 cod postmasters in the united states and I 1 doubt not that thousands of them will be changed by mckinless McKin leys post master general the congressmen will dictate to him and it is safe to say that he will earn salary the worst thing with gresham was that he was so good hearted that he had given out many letters commending others for office and when men came to him and showed him his own recommendations asking that they be given places he found it hard to refuse I 1 have heard similar stories of tom corwin who was you know secretary of the treasury way back in Fill mores time corwin was so good natured that he would sign anything one day a chronic office seeker laid before him an enthusiastic becom emendation men dation for the appointment ot of the bearer to a place in the treasury it was dated some years back and had been given en while corwin was in congress As the man asked for office and pointed to the letter corwin said that is a very good letter and did that not get you an appointment no 10 replied the man it did not well returned secretary corwin it that letter was not strong enough to get you a place under secretary ewing it certainly is not strong enough to give you an appointment under me and he thereupon had the man shown out senator cullom told me that he did not know that mckinley was thinking of him as his secretary of the interior and that it was hardly safe to say whether he could take the position or not it if it was offered tor for it might not be offered since then I 1 see he has been called to canton and it may be that he is to be the next secretary of the interior though I 1 believe henry C paine of wisconsin is looked upon as almost sure to have this position the interior department is a much more important place than it gets credit for I 1 chatted with senator her henry ry bl teller about it the other night he was you know secretary of the interior under arthur and he made one of the best secretaries that we have ever had said he the interior department needs one ot of the very best men of the country I 1 think it is by all odds the most important office in the cabinet the man at the head of it has to settle more values than the supreme court and he does more business than the secretary of the treasury the treasury is to aarie extent an executive department before the interior new questions are always coming up its head has to deal with the development of the country and with the disposal of our public lands he has all the pensions to handle and our great patent business goes on under him the secretary of the interior should be a scientific man as well as a good practical business man he should be a man well acquainted with the united states and he should above everything be a western man during my administration I 1 settled one case of more than and cases involving enormous sums were always coming up there were legal questions questions presented every day or boand so and 1 dont see how any man could bean be an efficient secretary of ef the interior without a good knowledge of the law I 1 visited this afternoon the room in the white house in which are to be held the secret councils of malor major mckin te leys y s administration the cabinet roon room is on one e the second floor of the white house just at the bead of the stairs be tween the library which will probably form mrs mckinless McKin leys sitting room and the large room over the east room and the green room which will be the presidents office and in which president deat cleveland is now spending the last days of his bis administration further on is the private secre room the whole suite on the east side of the second floor constituting sti the business portions of |