New Hampshire Farmer And Weekly Union

FOR SECRETARY OF WAR.

The nation is regaled just now with daily assurances from Washington that "a strong political appointment" is to be made in filling the portfolio of war made vacant by the resignation of Lindley M. Garrison. The promise would be more gratifying if the word "political" were left out of it. In a time like the present, where a level head, a firm hand and a courageous heart are required for the direction of the war department, the crying need is for a strong appointment without regard to politics. Probably it would be too much to expect President Wilson to apply the non-partisan character of the national preparedness issue to the selection of a man for his cabinet, even though the place to be filled be the vitally important office of secretary of war; but the American people have at least the right to expect that he will shun the Bryan policy of employing a crisis for the reward of a "deserving Democrat," and that, assuming as a matter of course that the appointee will be a Democrat, the best qualified Democrat available for the place shall be chosen - whether he be a Wilson Democrat, a Bryan Democrat, a Champ Clark Democrat, or any one of the numerous other types of Democrat.

This is no time for playing politics with the cabinet. The brand of political gratitude which mistakenly made William J. Bryan secretary of state is not to be tolerated in the present emergency; nor is there any valid excuse or defense for ignoring the requisite qualifications for the position because their possessor may not have been actively identified with the Wilson wing of the Democracy. It is more important, for instance, that the secretary of war shall be in thorough sympathy with the national demand for means of defense than that he be known as an obsequious supporter of every Wilsonian whim. If, as now appears, the President aspired to another term in the White House, about the surest way he could devise for crushing his ambition in that direction would be in the appointment of some political favorite or of some man obviously chosen more for his political influence than for his statesmanly qualities, to fill this important berth

The occasion primarily demands, and should peremptorily dictate, not a "strong political appointment," but a strong appointment nationally. Anything else would lose Wilson more votes than the most influential appointee could possibly gain for him.