Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 April 1873 — The New Secretary. [ARTICLE]

The New Secretary.

Again has Massachusetts been honored in the appointment of one of her sons to the most responsible position in the council of the nation. The selection of Judge Richardson to fill the place made vacant I by the resignation oft Secretary Bout well is not only a strict following out of the rules of civil-service reform, but it insures to the country a tried and experienced servant, whose labors have entitled him to the confidence of the country, and whose record in the past is a sufficient guarantee of his official eondtict irrthe future. In taking this step, President Grant has again aftimied- thyright- to control his own :i[ipoiiitments, and denied the right of politicians to interfere with the laws which were expressly framed in regard to them. Prominent -Congressmen, who a few months ago were patriotically rampant in regard to civil-service reform, have, since the resignation of the Secretary, hung round.the White House with their, little axes, urging that in this especial case the law he set aside, and their candidates, the best mid fittest men in the country, lie given die position. The pressure was strong, and it was confidently believed by -seme of the more sanguine that the President must give way. He read the perilions, listened to the arguments,and acted. Tlie.country indorses that action, and hails its result with undisguised satisfaction. During Judge Richardson’s official term of service as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury he proved himself eminently fitted for the position. It was evident that Mr. Bout well, in selecting him to fill a place of- almost equal responsibility with his own, had not acted from a feeling of friendship alone, as was charged by “the opposition, but from a knowledge of his peculiar capabilities for the performance of the particular and difficult duties of tin: department. Those inimical to that selection were fond of saying that Judge Richardson was merely the shadow of Mr. Boutwell, and that, were the Secretary to he suddenly taken away, the country would be financially ruined. ‘ And yet, at various times, during the temporary absence of that distinguished official, Judge Richardson held the reins and carried out the policy of the department with a firm hand and most excellent judgment. In 1871 he was sent abroad by the department upon one of the most peculiar and difficult errands that has ever fallen to the lot of one occupying his position. In the summer of that year he set up, in effect, a branch of the United States Treasury in London, for the sale of 5 per cent, bonds in the European market. His financial project, which- in -the hands of nine men out of ten would have proved a disastrous failure, through the energy and foresight of Judge Richardson, resulted in a complete success, and compelled an acknowledgment of his ability from the grumblers of his .own party, and the chronically .dissatisfied members of the opposition. „ There is no reason to suppose that the financial affairs of the nation will not be conducted as ably during the present as in the past Administration. The appointment gjves tlie wprld assurance that there will be no sudden and disturbing change in the policy of the department, but that it will be a consistent, and faithful followirig out of that laid down by Mr. Boutwell, whose honesty and financial wisdom few will feel disposed to question.— Boston Globe.