The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-11-27
President, or Kinge
PORTLAND.

President, or kiuZs
Will Congress take measures to diminish
the accumulated power which has been SUI
fered to fall into the hands of the Executive?
Nobody will be so bold as to deny that the
office holders of this republic ought to be the
servants of the people and not the pensioners
of party. For the suitable discharge OF
public duties we want honest, capable men.
To secure their services, the service must be
honorable and reasonably permanent. 1t can
neither be honorable nor permanent, if the
tenure OF office is suffered to depend upon the
caprice of political inqusitor. We have
Just witnessed the disgraceful spectacle of an
open and fragrant attempt to control the cleo
tons by the use of executive patronage The
power which has been so abused should be,
and we believe will be, promptly revoked
The objections commonly urged to this I'M
portant reform are two. First, that 1t is oto-
plan to expect or undertake to make oi po-
litical offices anything more or better tnah
political spoils: that patronage is an mdls-
pensable means of carrying elections; and
that facts stubbornly refuse to justify the fine
theories about honorable, independent OFF,
cials. attending to their official business and
responsible to no human authority for their
opinions. To all this, we have to reply, that
the facts are fortunately on the other side. 1t
has just been proved that patronage is not an
in lispensable' means of carrying elections
No such description is known to other gov
ernments. During the administration of the
first six Presidents the power Of removal was
exercised in this country with great modera-
ton and discretion. Washington, in eight
years, made only nine removals. The num-
Der was somewhat enlarged under Jefferson,
but with an express disclaimer of the right to
remove for differences of opinion. 1t was
Jackson who after this power had lain unus-
ed for forty years, seized upon it after an ex
citing canvass as weapon of partizan VEN
geance, and Mr.. johnson has just given us
new illustration Of its dangerous availability
What we desire, therefore, is nothing Utopian,
nothing new, but simple return to the COM
mon custom of other good governments and
the early practice of our own. This power
slumbered fer forty years, dangerous posi-
now been for less than forty years danger
Gus fact; and recent developments of its
character sufficiently justify the demand for
its abrogation.
In the second place, it is enormously be-
ieved that the constitution confers this mole
than regal prerogative upon the President
This, if it were true, would only be reason
for amending the Constitution; but it is not
true. The opposers Of the constitution, be-
fore its adoption, contended that 1t vested the
control of the Offices in the President, and
ought therefore to be rejected Its friends adj
mitted the full force of the argument, but
took issue on the fact. The consent of the
Senate" said Hamilton, would be necessa-
ny to di5place as well as to appoint. change
of the chief magistrate Therefore could not oc-
cason SO violent or SO general q revolution in
the officers of the government as might be ex-
pected ifhe were the sole disposer of the of
fees" Our ablest statesmen have concurred
in the opinion, tha5 this is the only sound in
depreciation of the constitution. Webster and
Calhoun, Clay and Benton, all alike upon ex-
animation of this question, have been COM
PEELED to say that contrary to their anticipa-
tons they have found no warrant in the con-
stitution for the arbitrary exercise ofthis pow
er by the President.
The common belief, shared by the men just
named until by careful investigation they had
discovered its error, arises from the decision
OF the First Congress- in the debate upon the
bill for organizing the Department of State.
A clause of that bill, affirming the power of
removal in the President without the coon
Grafton of the Senate, passed the House by
"a to 20 and the Senate by the casting vote of
its presiding officers. This decision was little
more than an expression of confidence in
Washington, who was then President Mad
ison, who favored the bill, said expressly that
President who should abuse his power
would be liable to impeachment for malad-
ministration. Il contend" he said, "that the
wanton removal OF meritorious officers would
subject him to impeachment and removal
from his high trust" 1t is not the constitu-
ton therefore but an act Of legislation by
which this vast power has been granted. Elk
perience has shown that it should not be en-
trusted to the hands OF any one man. The
body which conferred the privilege has power
to revoke it, A bill for this purpose was intro
duced at the last session by Senator Hender
son, and we expect to see that bill or another
covering the same ground, taken up and pass
ed soon after Congress convenes. lifts passage
should deprive us of the aid of political adj
uanfurprs sO muoh tha hpttar IF tha npmo-
cratic party would make distinct issue in
favor of this form of political corruption, it
would be better still.