The President's Official Advisers

From tho Xew York Evening l'ost, ïltii. The President devoted a great part of his timo yesterday to a consultation with tlioso membors of his Cabinet who could be gathered in "Washington, concerning the policy which the Federal Oovevnment shall pursue in Louisiana. The telegraph reports that his advisers consisted of Secretaries Fish and Bristow, Attoriiey-General Williams, Postmaster General Jcwell, and a young man nomed Cowan, who is an Assistant Socretary of the Interior. The two gentlemen first named are the only ones in whose counsel on the momentous questions at issue the country will place mucli confldence. The Postmaster-General has boen absent lrom the country until a recent day ; the Attorney-General subjected himself to mistrust two years ago by his partisan opinions in Louisiana matters ; and Mr. Cowan is an obscure young man, who has come to public notice very seldom, and generally in connection vith Indian " rings." We cannot forbear the ungracious duty of calling public attontion to this sad example of the error of constituting a Cabinet in great part from men whose ability, if it exists, is unknown to the people. The gayest trifler must grow grave in the presenco of tho questions which must be answered in respeet to Louisiana within tÜe next five days. They concern the very nature of our government as soriously as any which were asked in the earlier days of the rebellion. Mostofthe questions raised in the course of reconstruction have aífected only the shingles or sheathing of our political structure. - These shake tho hoaviest beams of its framowork. It is with no shade of disrespect to President Grant that we assert tliat the country doos not feel assured of his capacity to deal wisely with the Louisiana queetion without assistance from trained statesmen and constitutional lawyers in maturing his judgnient. We trust that his own mudest estímate of his abilities will serve him in good stead at thia time ; and our great regret that he has not surrounded himself with such a Cabinet as graced tho tration of almost every one of his predecessors, is tempered by tlie fact that in Secretary Fish he possesses at least an adviser of experience and conservativo discretion, and in Secretary Bristow one of honest intellectual acuteness. The Nation is hopeful as to the business outlook. " The news as to the condition of the harvests all over the world is very good. There is every reason to anticípate a year of cheap food, and, as the goneral revival of business doponds, iu the long run, on cheap food, it is not unreasonable to beliove that we have seen the worst of the dull times, which certainly could not well be duller than they have been luring the past few months. A oomparison of prices of 1873 and 1874, made by the Economist, shows a considerable fall in leading commodities jince last year, and, prices being now :'avorable to consumers, we may fairly nfer that the iinproved tone in thè ron trade, which is attraoting attenion iu England, is prophetic of imwovenient iu other branches of busue.sM, lioro as well as thero,"