The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-02-16


prorogattves which attached 10 1t IN this
country, by trnmmclling tho Chiof Magis-
trato with an accountable Cabinet, and de-
clarlng his slightest official act invalid
unless cOuntcrBigned by n Minister The
Same motives which determined this cur
tailmcnt OF privileges prompted also the
bcstoHal Of ono remarkable prcrogativo
which has wisely bron donicd TO an AmoH-
can President, namely, the right ~ dissOlv-
ing the popular branch Of the Legislature.
But this apparent contribution tO the weight
and dignity OF the Executive was coupled
with provision that disclosed It's ycritablc
purpose by requiring tho assent Of tho Sen
ate, a body of which the rcactioaists had
ground TO suppose they had acquired per-
mancnt control.
But notwithstanding the limitations "
Presidential authority under the present
French Constitution were. rs n matter OF
history, the result Of accident, yet they
were moro or less openly approved by
THEIRS, and they have since received the
deliberate sanction Of most French Rcpub-
Leans. Although liberal aud progressive
ideas have gained the mastery Of the STAT,
and although their cxponcnts will soon be
is no probability that the present relation
between the executive and the legislative
arm will be materially altered. Tho Pres
idcnt will continue to bc a cipher in the
Commonwealth, because. under the existing
administrative structure Of France. he must
either be reduced to practical nullity or in
vested with pcrilous prcpoudcrancc As
the sinister experience of French Cunstitu-
tion makers has moro than once attostcd.
nothing IL more fallacious and fatal than n
superficial analogy; and it would be
the height of rashnoss to confer for
single twelvcmonth ON President
Of France such powers as have been
welded for well nigh n hundred years
by his American comtcrparts. without ca
tastrophc Let US try to con ,cive a state OF
things in this country equivalent 60 that
elaborate organization which makes IL inn
possible to reproduce under French con-
ditions the cquipoisc Of powers assured by
the Federal system. suppose that our con-
stitucnt States had lost the last vcstige OF
Independence. and that even in our minor
territorial subdivisions, from counties and
cities down to the smallest township,
scarcely a trace Of self government sur
vivcd; that the existing hierarchy Of Fed
eral onlceholdcrs. considerable az it is. were
| swollen 10y the vast acccssions from those
multiplied sources, so that not only The Cow
| crnor aud other executive officers of every
State and county, but the Mayor Of every
city and the sclcetmcu ~ every town we're
appointed by the central power that not
only the Federal but the State Judiciary,
every Judge, marshal. sheriff. state and
district attorney. prosecutor uf the pleas.
and justice of the peace got his commission
from Washington and finally, that all the
| immense patronage Involved in the collcc-
| tiOn and disbursement not only ~ national,
hut OF state, municipal, county, and
| township revenue, were 10 loo lodged
IN single hand-supposc that this
tremendous leverage Of corruption and
aggression were conferred on our Chief
Magistrate and we shall comprehend what
our Constitution would mean transplautcd
in French soil. In view Of the heritage of
Capitalization. whose germs. indeed. may bc
traced far back in the dRcieR rhyme, but
which received its inordinate development
under the Convention, the Directory, and
the First Empire, and which Is now rooted in
the habits and traditions OF almost cen
| fury, II must appear impossible that an in
| dependent Executive and an Independent
Legislature should cOeXst in France. One
or the other must he sacrificed, and we can
not expect Republicans 10 hesitate upon the
choice.
Thus it is that French republic seems To
| be inevitably committed not to Prr-idcn-
| tal system of the American type but to n
| Parliamentary government, under which
administrative powers are practically cNcr-
! cised boy committee Of the lower House
But this experiment 81 strictly Parlla-
| meutary ri-ime-ofa Commonwealth where
! the Legislature appoints the Executive is
! being tried ia France at an extreme di-ad-
vantage, because history attests that ma
! tional assemblies in that country are unit
sually likely 10 be unstable. capricious.
| and unruly The French nation has Lot
! learned to expect much from parliamcnt-.
AMI therefore there is little or no check
| on their iudscrctions