Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-08-10
THE ACTING PRESIDENT.

IL is difficult to make any legal JUS
tiication OF the fact that Mr.. Blaine,
Secretary of State, instead Of Mr.. Ar.
thur Vice President, is acting presi.
dent of the United States now, while
MIR. Garfield is unable to discharge the
duties of the Presidency. This last
fact cannot be disputed. No one claims
that tho President is able TO perform
his official functions. He is not able
to attend to business Of any kind, pri.
vate or public, nor can he even attend
to his personal wants For nearly a
month this has been the case and bids
fair to be 30 tor more than month TO
come. Since, then, Mr. Garfeld's con.
dition is admittedly within the words
of the Constitution which consign his
duties to the Vice President, the ques-
tion is wherefore the latter is not sum
moned to assume them. Certainly, ii
there are any Presidential duties to be
performed, the President being unable,
the Vice President is the heir to them /;
and il there are none TO be performed
they are nevertheless at any time liza.
BILE TO arise, and it is the duty of the
Vice officer to stand ready to discharge
them.
There cannot be said to be an hour
in which no duty devolvcs upon the
President of this great country. There
is need of constant Executive supervi-
sion though no work is done. 1t was
not in the contemplation of the Con-
stitution that the Chief Magistracy
should be practically vacant for even
a day; and nothing could be clearer
than the injunction upon the Vice Pres.
ident to act as President whenever the
President should be unable to act /;
there is no limitation as TO the time or
the cause of the disability. The fact
Of disability, and that alone determines
the question.
And it is Just as clear that the Vice
Presidents power to act as President
ceases as soon as the President becomes
able to perform his duties. He takes
his place when and while he is disa-
bled and as the President confessedly
Is so disabled now, il is seemingly i'm
possible to say wherefore bis duties
have not devolved upon Mr.. Arthur.
The Constitution does not, TO be sure,
say how the Presidents disability is
to be determined but that fact ought to
create no embarrassment now, when il
is not denied on any hand that Mr..
Garfield is disabled. BY that fact Mr.
Arthur becomes acting President, and
he should assume the Office 1t would
indeed be better that the Cabinet of
Mr.. Garfield should call upon the Vice
President 10 assume the Presidents
place during his illness a thing they
show no disposition to do; and natur-
ally, when we consider that they are
now, without a chief, in reality their
own bosses, having no one TO make
them afraid of administering their de.
partments just as they please and then
Blaine, the head of the Cabinet, being
himself practically President, is not
likely to see the necessity Of another
But the law imposes upon another the
responsibility he usurps; and If the
country is TO be directed under the
Constitution, as perhaps would be wise,
the Vice President should step to the
front and the Secretary of State to the
rear --Ldacdsier Inteliigener.
Our esteemed contemporary "tGlks"
constitutionally right, but we would
rather be without u President and lot
the Cabinet run "the machine" than
to have that pronounced scoundrel,
Chester A. Arthur, in President Gar.
fields place-Uide Hayes and John
Sherman.