Note 179 — E. CONFEDERATION AND CONSTITUTION (continued 2)

In 1792, Congress provided that the president pro tem of the Senate should be next in succession, and after him the Speaker of the House. In 1886 (Jan. 19), this undesirable law was supplanted by a new one, placing the succession (after the Vice President) in the following order: Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, Attorney-General, Postmaster-General, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Interior. Cannot the student see on what ground these officers are named in this order? Cf. American History and Government, § 215 and note. This provides securely against any interregnum, and (what is almost as important) against a transfer by accident to an opposite political party.