"On'y wan class is iligible f'r Attorney-gin'ral. To fill that job, a
man's got to be a first-class thrust lawyer. If he ain't, th' Lord
knows what 'll happen. Be mistake he might prosecute a thrust some day,
an' th' whole counthry 'll be rooned. He must be a man competint f'r to
avoid such pitfalls an' snares, so 'tis th' rule f'r to have him hang
on to his job with th' thrust afther he gets to Washington. This keeps
him in touch with th' business intherests.
"F'r Sicrety iv War, th' most like wan is some good prisident iv a
sthreet-car company. 'Tis exthraordinney how a man learns to manage
military affairs be auditin' thrip sheets an' rentin' signs in a
sthreet-car to chewin' gum imporyums. If Gin'ral Washington iv sacred
mimory 'd been under a good sthreet-car Sicrety iv War, he'd 've wore
a bell punch to ring up ivry time he killed a Hessian. He wud so, an'
they'd 've kep' tab on him, an', if he thried to wurruk a brother-in-law
on thim, they'd give him his time.
"F'r th' Navy Departmint ye want a Southern Congressman fr'm th'
cotton belt. A man that iver see salt wather outside iv a pork bar'l
'd be disqualified f'r th' place. He must live so far fr'm th' sea
that he don't know a capstan bar fr'm a sheet anchor. That puts him in
th' proper position to inspect armor plate f'r th' imminent Carnegie,
an' insthruct admirals that's been cruisin' an' fightin' an' dhrinkin'
mint juleps f'r thirty years. He must know th' difference bechune silo
an' insilage, how to wean a bull calf, an' th' best way to cure a
spavin. If he has that information, he is fixed f'r th' job.
"Whin he wants a good Postmaster-gin-'ral, take ye'er ol' law partner
f'r awhile, an', be th' time he's larned to stick stamps, hist him
out, an' put in a school-teacher fr'm a part iv th' counthry where
people communicate with each other through a conch. Th' Sicrety iv th'
Interior is an important man. If possible, he ought to come fr'm Maine
or Florida. At anny rate, he must be a resident iv an Atlantic
seacoast town, an' niver been west iv Cohoes. If he gets th' idee
there are anny white people in Ann Arbor or Columbus, he loses his
job.
"Th' last place on th' list is Sicrety iv Agriculture. A good, lively
business man that was born in th' First Ward an' moved to th'
Twinty-foorth after th' fire is best suited to this office. Thin he'll
have no prejudices against sindin' a farmer cactus seeds whin he's
on'y lookin' f'r wheat, an' he will have a proper understandin' iv th'
importance iv an' early Agricultural Bureau rayport to th'
bucket-shops.
"No Prisident can go far away that follows Cleveland's cabinet
appintmints, although it may be hard f'r Mack, bein' new at th'
business, to select th' right man f'r th' wrong place. But I'm sure
he'll be advised be his frinds, an' fr'm th' lists iv candydates I've
seen he'll have no throuble in findin' timber."
OLD AGE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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