Kindred in character was the unprecedented attempt to devolve the
duties of the Navy Department upon a deputy, so that orders were to be
signed “A. E. Borie, Secretary of the Navy, per D. D. Porter, Admiral,”
as appears in the official journal of May 11, 1869,--or, according to
another instance, “David D. Porter, Vice-Admiral, for the Secretary
of the Navy.” The obvious object of this illegal arrangement was to
enable the incumbent, who stood high on the list of gift-makers,
to be Secretary without being troubled with the business of the
office. Notoriously he was an invalid, unused to public business,
who, according to his own confession, modestly pleaded that he could
not apply himself to work more than an hour a day; but the President
soothed his anxieties by promising a deputy who would do the work. And
thus was this great department made a plaything; but public opinion
and other counsels arrested the sport. Here I mention, that, when this
incumbent left his important post, it is understood that he was allowed
to nominate his successor.