Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-03-16
A Live Vice President.

rsry, who describes that official as sim
ply one who is on the shelf waiting for
another mans shoes. And the said cor
respondent goes on to say further, with
great truth and force: Properly, he has
no influence in the government, no au-
thority. He is merely contingent who
may develop into greatness in the case
of Presidents death. His duty Of pre-
siding in the Senate is simply monotony;
for, while the upper house has code Of
rules, they can scarcely he styled even
landmarks. Everything in that body
proceeds by courtesy and unanimous con-
sent, which is scarcely ever denied when
asked Thus It Is that the rules are Of
little account, and to repeat a few
parrot phrases each day while in
the chair Of the Senate makes up the
dull record Of the Vice Presidents off,
cial life. He has no patronage save four
petty ppOintments-One of the most
important. the restaurant keeper of the
Senate; another private secretary; a
third private messenger; and fourth
telegraph operator He is not even
permitted to take part in the caucuses of
the political party which he may repre-
sent. When such conferences are called,
the Senators only are permitted to attend
them, and the officer who is by courtesy
entitled the second man of the nation, is
obliged to put his pride in his pocket,
his hat on his head, and leave others to
shape the policy of the party, one Of
whose standard bearers he was in q great
campaign. He is not even intrusted
with the making of a conference COM
mittee. More than one Vice President
has chafed under such restraints"
This pen picture will be everywhere
recognized as strictly correct, and so
entirely is the unimportance of the Vice
Presidency acknowledged by common
consent, that it has of late years become
a universal practice for political parties
in making a selection for the second
place on their tickets. to choose men
without any regard to their fitness to
succeed to the Chief Magistracy of the
republic, but only because they may
possess sufficient local influence to give
the ticket some strength, and entitle the
nominee to an honorary position in the
party. No wonder capable and ambi-
| e
the honor, and that more than one Vice
President has been known to chafe under
the restraints imposed upon him by his
office.
Our present Vice President, Hon. Chss-
ter B. Arthur, however, it seems, has
made up his mind to he an exception to
the ordinary run of Vice Presidents. 1t
is stated that he does not propose to
chafe, or to quietly allow himself to sink
into insignifcauee; for it is rumored in
Washington that he has no idea Of being
q dummy, but that he cOntemplates es-
tablishing a court of his own 10 that city
| in opposition to that of the White
House, and that he will attempt to
make himself the centre of a political
influence which will make him a
power with 1.-The administration.
This determination of Vice President
Arthur, if the report be true, has more
significance in it than that he merely
wishes to prevent himself from sinking
into oblivion. 1t will be remembered
that he was accorded the second place on
the Garfield ticket for the purpose of
cOnclhatlng the Conkling Grant anti
Hayes faction of the Republican party.
He thus occupies a more important posi-
ton than is usually the lot of Vice
Presidential incumbent, for he really
represents powerful wing of his party
as completely as Garfield represents the
other more powerful faction. To keep
up the strength of this wing, and to
maintain the COnkling Grant stalwart
influence unimpaired is undoubtedly the
motive power which incites DIR. Ar
thur to his novel determination, and the
idea has, no doubt, gained strength be-
cause of the fright given to the stalwarts
by the conservative utterances of Presi-
dent Garfield in his inaugural.
Arthur is the possessor of considera-
BILE wealth, having filled the lucrative
position of Collector of Customs at New
York for many years, with great profit
to himself. He can, therefore, we'll
afford to maintain a Vice Presidential
court, especially if the festive Apollo of
New York lends his curls, his means
and his handsome presence to making
such court attractive. In this way, while
Mr.. Arthur may not possess any consti-
tutional influence in the government, he
may be able to be sufficient of a power
behind the throne to entitle him at least
to the respect of the administration.
And then, if within the next four years
his chief should die, he can step into the
Presidential Office with following which
viii enable him at once to inaugurate
vigorous administration, strictly in &C
cOrdance with his own views and ideas.