New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-09-12
ABOLIsHING THE PRESIDENCY

There is 10 limit to the rights of petition
except the good sense of petitioners which Is
not always a rock to rely upon. Anybody can
petition for anything, however mOnstrous,
ridiculous or absurd-for the abolition OF the
Copernican system, for general division OF
property, for public religious establishment,
for the abandonment Of the marriage relation,
for a special committee on perpetual motion
and the squaring of the circle. Quite num-
Der of clange-loying people, it is stated, have
signed petitions, to be presented to the next
Congress, begging for new form OF govern
ment. We must thankfully premise that these
petitioners do not consider themselves IN duty
bound to pray for the setting up of monarchy,
either limited or unlimited, nor do they suggest
the experiment Of no government whatever. On
the contrary, they would give Us a great deal
Of government of q multifariOus description.
They propose to begin by sweeping away
the Presidency, and with it, of course,
the quadrennial election, Electoral College and
all. The proposition is fearful, for even were
the President no more than a ti2urehead, how
would the bow of the Ship Of State look with
out that ornament But the plan is more por-
tent0us in another regard. Instead OF Pres
ident, we are to have seven Secretaries, con-
sututing a Council OF State, and all of equal
authority in executing the laws. Four of them
are to be elected by the House, three Of them
by the Senate each is to be a member of the
body electng him ; and any of them may be
turned out by the power which selected them,
and if not turned out, they are to hold Office
for two years. They are to have the execu-
ton Of the laws and general supervision OF
the Government. They are also to retain their
rights as members of their respective Houses,
including the right to make speeches and to
have them printed in The Congressional record.
Whatever may be said Of this plan, it must
be admitted that there Is good deal of 1t.
Seven small Presidents all in row, and all
proclaiming and sending messages, and posi-
bly, vetoes, would present an imposing spectacle,
and, at any rate, make the newspapers lively
with intelligence; but whether this would be
better than one man doing the same business,
methOdically and quietly is question. Should
We have anything, after all, except three
houses instead of twol Now, is there any
thing novel in the plan. Did the ingenious
person who hit upon this imposing scheme
never hear of the French Directory, of the
Council of Ten in Venice, of the Thirty
A!henian Tyrant,? Has he read history to so
little purpose that he does not know that,
though there may be safety in multitude Of
councillors, there il only row, riot and rumpus
in a multitude of executive oiiicersf Has he
no idea of the calamity which might befall the
political broth, with seven cooks all seasoning
it to their tastei Better, indeed, is a dinner Of
herbs boiled by one man, than stabbed OK
subjected to seven distinct and separate cook
ings
Looked ut closely, it will he seen that this
Is only q scheme for the delivery OF the country
to the tender mercies Of Congress, with none
to control it, or to interfere for the correction
of its plumbers. The seven Secretaries are not
even TO go out of the CapitOl-they are moth
ing after all but n Joint Special Committee
on the Army, the Navy, the Post-otiice Inter
nal Affairs, Finance, and the rest-and pleas
ant time they would have of it when they
brought in their budgets. The plan is moth
ing but a contrlyance for getting along with
ont any Executive authority at all, and for
doing in a complex way what we have hereto
fore found it perfectly easy to do in a simple
one. 1t is project for giving to Congress I'M
limited power and authority, and for removing
the only conservative feature of our Constitu-
IL
worth word of comment, grave or tr-
fling; and we only refer to it to point out
that our form of government, as at pres
ent constituted, is by no means a bad
one, if only those who control its constituent
parts, will content themselves with attending
to the business given into their hands. We
can have something different if we please. but
we can hardly have anything better. The
trainers of the Constitution in distributing the
executive, legislative and judicial functions of
government, knew very well what they
were about. The President was to see that
due respect was paid to the laws which Con-
gress passed. and which the Supreme Court in
terpreted. 1t never occurred to the fathers that
all the public business could be transacted by
Congress alone, through the machinery of COM
mittees. There never was a better form of
government devised, than that which these
petitioners propose to abolish-and to abolish
without giving us anything to take its place.
The chance is good one of calling public at
tention to the merits of our institutions as
they are and of suggesting to everybody that
a new thing is not necessarily good thing.
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A little book is at hand, from the sharp pen of
Elizur Wright, widely known actuary and