The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-10-15
pnv. the supreme Court dIstInctly nlIlrmcd

| thus doctrine:
"rndDr ns rorfhi article Of The Constitution it rests
with CONGRESS t'dccidc what government is the cstab
.hcd oif so ~ic. For MS the JmtoA States cHarnn.
tee u each STATE republican govorumcnt COrgr,s re
must neg, -art decide what government Is established
~ e Si1t before 'an dcteioi wi ihcr t i, reruh.
Lean or not And when Tic senators ant Representa-
rsts NJ State admitted into tho councils of re
Union. the autaonty Of Government under which
they arc rontd rs wei a. i'' ieouoncau character
l. tcco-nnd Nr the proper ccrsfitutoni authority, ana
its d,ri.or B. hnds cNttN other department nj
t Government could NOT Ne guest oned III Judicial
tribunal
Mr.. JOUN SHERMAN. In his recent cam
paipn speech IN Ohio. said in so many words
that for the President to undertake to de-
eide which Of two claimants is the righifu
Governor Of state would be plain act Of
usurpation. aud for once Mr.. JorfN SEER
MAN was entirely right.
Ia his second letter, Mr.. FIELD dis
cus,cs the general relations of the
President to the army. Because the
President *, er o1icio, commandcr-iu-
chief Of the army and navy during his
term of office, has he the right to put the
army md navy 10 such uses as may seem
right IN his own Dyes without reference 20
the will Of the peoples representatives or in
Nat defiance of il ? M. TuLD shows that
such proposition Is as absurd as it Is un-
republican. Tho President can order the
army and navy to dotho-c things, and those
things only. which the law directs or allow.
and - is Congress that makes the law. He
Is purely executive officer Tho Corstitu-
tion explicitly pieces the supreme, ultimate
control OF the land and naval forces in the
hands " Congress. The President Is only
its instrument or organ. Congress has al
ways asserted and exercised this control
MIR. FIELD points out several places in tn
Revised Statutes whore Congress authorizes
OF iprhids the use of the army Ia specified
eases. The President is not king nor any
thing like king and he has no royal pre-
rogatlve. The talk about his having moro
power than the Queen Of England is all de
fusion and brag. A. Mr. FIELD says:
Scarce an attutu,e or distinction. substantial or
ceremonial can ho mentioned IN which the rres.d,
fe iufri ~4tts fa short az the soNCrl an
England There g. indeed, 'i"w OF ths two Offices fi'
t''ine 10 our national irii the PIcN!cut - should
De-. chosen b, the ,unr'ses OF his county, men, the
largest constituency in the world. his the 70
.ncct which they r-ar hm and his Glory the simple dic
ni'y Of tho greatest republican once IN the world"
If this ncw-langled doctrine Of the Prcsi-
dents powers as Commandor-in-Chicf were
to be accepted, Mr.. FIELD thinss-an al
intelligent mon who have read history will
be Of his mind-that It would be better to
have no army at all. Utterly rejecting this
doctrine. he still rsists-and here. again.
all 'Aclligcnt lovers OF civil liberty will
agree with hm--that the army should
ever be a small one" The conclusion 10
which hi.arGument brings him is best nut
in his own forciolc words: " Whoever teaches
thnf any military officer from tho hir-hc.+
10 tho lowest, from the Commandcr-in Chief
t. the scrsean, of guard, can lawfully
command his soldiers 10 enter any place or
do any act which the law-making power OF
his country forbids, should be accounted. IA
he Is in fact, III" enemy at once Of his coun-
try and his race"