CABINET

a body of official advisers of the executive authority of a state. It usually includes, if not all, at least the most important members of the Government. In the United States there does not exist any constitutional provision for a ‘cabinet.’ However, the heads of the several administrative departments of the Government compose the cabinet of the President of the United States. They are appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate. They do not, as in many foreign systems, hold seats in the Congre . They are responsible to the President, who, in turn, is responsible to the people for the acts of the Government, though cabinet members are subject, within certain limitations, to impeachment by Congre . In the order of succe ion to the President, as provided by Acts of Congre , they are: (1) The Secretary of State, (2) The Secretary of the Treasury, (3) The Secretary of War, (4) The Attorney General, (5) The Postmaster General, (6) The Secretary of the Navy, (7) The Secretary of the Interior, © The Secretary of Agriculture, (9) he Secretary of Commerce, (10) The Secretary of Labor, i In Great Britain the cabinet is a committee of leading members of the two Houses of Parliament nominated by the Crown. Its membership is generally restricted to statesmen belonging to the a majority party, though under exceptional conditions—as during and after the World War—members of minority parties have become members of so-called Coalition Cabinets. Only the heads of the most important administrative departments of the Government are included in the cabinet. The head of the cabinet is known as Prime Minister or Premier. The King is constitutionally obliged to take the cabinet’s advice. The cabinet is collectively responsible to Parliament. ment office, where the letters of obnoxious or suspected persons were secretly opened. The practice was in vogue from the XVII. cent. down to the Napoleonic period.