The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1878-03-14
From the New York Times. !
The Presidents Position.

ODc OF Iue w hsnlDBtOu
states that the friends of the President
are chagrined at the want OF respect
shown toward his veto Message by the
Senate. The House, it seems, is accus-
toned to do rude things, and its con-
temptuous Indifference therefore excites
no surprise. But the more dignified SEN
ate was expected to act differently. 1t
has usually treated a veto with at least a
pretense of consideration, always discuss
ing ii respectfully, and deferring that
proceeding until the document has been
printed In the present instance the
Senators were as ill-mannered as the
demagogues of the House, and the court
iers who hutter in the sunshine of the
Executive mansion are grieved in conse
quence. They protest that the Presi
dent has been cruelty used by the oppo
nents Of the bill, and particularly by
sympathizers with his Administration
The complainants forget, apparently,
that those who are supposed to occupy
the latter relation in an especial degree
in either chamber happen to be siren
uous supporters of the new law, and are
themselves aggrieved by the Presidents
disregard for their wishes
Personally mortifying as the incident
must be, it will not be without com
pensating advantages il it lead the Presi-
dent and that small and select circle who
constitute his friends to reflect upon the
helplessness of the Administration as re-
CARDS both the course of legislation and
the outside currents OF public opinion.
There have been Presidents and Cabinets
who toward the close OF the four years
term have found themselves deserted by
the party that created them, and despis-
ed by the party that had profted by their
policy. Such a state OF things before the
expiration OF the first year is, however,
unprecedented and that must be mar
velous self comp mplacency which ignores its
existence or its lesson. The jolly miller
of the Dee ght be happy while boast
ing that he cared for nobody and that no
one cared for him. but the President can
not afford thus to coniound isolation
with independence. The old song de-
scribes his position, nevertheless. He
chooses his own path and follows it,
never pausing to seek counsel and never
condescending to profit by it, and the
result is that with three years Of service
still before him, he stands all but alone,
with scarcely a soul who cares enough
about him to ask whittier he is going
or what he proposes to do. When he
does speak, as i'm his remonstrance
against the Silver bill, his words are un-
needed Having decided upon an at
tempt to conduct the business Of the
Presidency with proud indifference to
party, and with a sublime unconscious.
ness of the value Of friends, he is left to
realize the embarrassment and humilia-
tion which he has brought upon himself
To what extent this position is attrb-
utable to want Of familiarity with prac
tical craftsmanship or to actual inability
to discriminate between partisan sub
serviency and the proper conditions of
party allegience, others may determine.
The truth is that the. President
though entering office with a just sense
of its responsibilities has from the first
been unable or unwilling to comply with
the terms essential to success He began
as Jealous reformer and a model con.
cialtor, and he has persisted in trying to
play both parts in spite of accumulating
proofs that, SOLITARY and alone" he
could not be effective in either Now
and then a man appears upon the public
stage whose genius or force redeems such
an effort from ridicule President Hayes
was not cast in this mold. The misfor-
tune is that he is unable to comprehend
deficiencies which to others are plain
enough. Needing help, he refuse 10 ac
cept it when rendered disinterestedly.
He seems to suspect those whose party
record should place them above suspicion,
and to reserve his confidence for persons
notoriously untitled to receive them. At
every step, consequently, he has blunder-
ed Enemies have multiplied while
friends have disappeared The only ac-
complished fact in the policy he marked
out-the withdrawal of military authori.
ty from the South-has in its attendant
circumstances been so woefully msman-
aged that il has brought him neither
IL = ns.vl
form has been so belied in practice that
il has become contemptible The reform
element in the Republican Party turns
from the method pursued and from its
results in disgust and the devotees of the
old system laugh at pretensions whose
fruits are as bad as the worst Of those for
which apologies have been considered
necessary And now comes tho financial
question, with the President playing fast
and loose with important principles, and
speaking with so little authority in re.
gard even to the nations honor that not
a Senator utters syllable in his behalf
or pauses to think of the objections he
has urged.
What does the President propose to do
about it2 How do the unseen friends
whose indignation the telegraph is fash
ing over the land propose to improve the
situation2 We apprehend that the No
hammed who prophesis at one end oi
Pennsylvania avenue will call in vain to
the marble pile at the other end. Will
he, then. discover his powerlessness as
against Congress in time to render the
discovery useful to himself or the peoplei
There are persons who imagine that the
country could get on very well without a
President, and who, meanwhile, would
reduce that official to the grade of a de
partmental chief Mr. Hayes scared SO
high in his inaugural fight that he is not
likely to accept this modest estimate OF
his vocation. What influence, however
can have in Congress. who has cut adrift
from party and has not corporars guard
to help him when vital questions are un.
der consideration in that body? True
his function is to execute the laws, not
to make them But the head of an Ad-
ministration, being also as he ought to
be, the head of a great party, should
WELD an influence that would be felt in
the partys councils and in legislation
He cannot otherwise contribute to the
settlement of grave questions as they
arise or to the formation of the national
policy of which he should be the acknowl-
edged exponent. This standard OF duty
President Hayes cannot attain so long as
he cherishes the isolation which reduces
him to a nobody, and so perverts the
idea of independence as to render friends
and enemies indistinguishable.
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