Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-08-27

The Feecntipe Department of the Gore,7,-
ment Conducted. on q Strictly Coastitu-
tional Basis. ,.E
Washington Cor. New York Tribune, Aug 20. !
The barometer, of public feeling has risen
rapidly to-day. The President is unquestion-
ably gaining ground. He is by no means up
to the point yet from which he fell SO sudden
ly last Monday, but he is steadily working out
of the condition which then threatened COM
plete collapse of the vital powers. The best
that can be said with strict truthfulness is,
that the President is turning the corner be-
tween life and death, and turning it the right
way. One thing seems certain, though: the
drain upon the slender stock of vitality cannot
go ON many days longer. He must either
mend decisiyely or fail The hard struggle is
almost over. Thank Heaven! no one need be
without hope that it will end in safe aud rapid
cOnvalescence.
One of the New York papers says to-day
sthat on account OF the disability OF the
President an undue share of power devolves'
upon chief of the cabinet" This is a mis-
leading statement, and doubtless grows out
of misapprehension quite common in the
country, of the situation here. The chief of
the cabinet referred to Is, of course, Mr..
Blaine. Neither he nor any other member of
the administration is exercising any undue or
extra constitutional power by reason of the
Presidents illness. There is no acting Presi-
dent. No executive function which the con-
stitution says shall be performed by the Pres
ident has been performed by any other officials
since he was shot. What then, it may be ask
ed, has become of the executive department of
the government? In all the ordinary routine
administrative features it is going on as
smoothly as ever under the direction of the
several members of the cabinet, each having
all needful authority of law to manage his
own branch of the service. Not one execu-
tive act in 100 is required to be done by the
President. The great mass of regular govern
ment business is dispatched by the heads of
departments and their subordlnates.
As to acts which necessarily devOlve upon
the President, they await his recovery. For
tunately in time of peace and during re-
| cess of Congress, these acts can be postponed
without any great detriment to public inter-
| terests. The appointing power, except in so
far as it is delegated by law to the heads OF de-
| partments, is in state of complete suspen-
| sion; but this fact occasions no trouble, ex-
cept to applicants for Office. Where vacan-
cies in Presidential appointments occur, by
death or resignation there is usually deputy
| or some other officer who is authorized by law
| to perform temporarily the duties of the Of
| flee. In the cases of pOstoffices where there
are no deputy postmasters the pOstoffice de-
partment is authorized to send special agents
| to take charge until the vacant postmaster
ship can be filed. If the Presidents prostra-
tion should continue until the meeting Of
| Congress- contingency wholly improbable
there would be no stoppage of any part OF the
government machine. Mr. Blaine is not the
chief of the cabinet in the sense of having any
authority in any department other than his
own, and all his colleagues will bear out the
statement that he has not shown the least
disposition to 60 beyond his strictly legal du
| ties.
The condition of the cabinet deprived OF its
chief is, OF course, an abnormal one, but 1t n as
| lad to no discords. Every member minds his
own business, and all are drawn together il
close sympathetic relations by the calamity
which menaces the nation. There are no reg
ular cabinet meetings, but informal gather
ings are held every evening at the White
house, for conversation about the condition
of the President. The wives of the cabinet Of
fcers are usually present with their husbands
and Mrs. Garfield frequently goes into thu
room and stays few minutes. These gather
ings last half an hour or an hour, Sometime
some matter of government business is men
toned, but it is for suggestion and advice ,ant
not for action, as at O regular cabinet meet
ing. The question has more than once beel
mooted in converse ion between the member
of the cabinet as to how the inability of th'
President to discharge his functions could b
) constitutionally ascertained and declared, 81
that the Vice President could temporarily per
form his duties. Itappears to be the unanimou
opinion that Congress alone has authority t,
say that the inability clause in the constitu
ton shall go into effect, and the Vice Presiden
shall assume executive functions, In only
few of its provisions in the constitution self
executing; most of its features take effec
only by means of statute law. There is n
law to say under what condition the Vic
President shall act as President, and it is hel
: that the President himself has no power t,
call in the second officer of the government t
act in his place in the absence of statut
empowering him to do so. If the disabilit
of the President shall continue until the mee
: ing of Congress, it would be the duty of tbs
body to pass an act authorizing the VicePre
ident to exercise, for the time being, the pow
er of the chief executive, and carefully prt
viding proper mode of ascertaining whe
The President became capable of resuming b
functions.
a No one has any serious apprehensions o
q this score. Indeed, there is no good reaso
: why the Vice President should not act ten
!. porarily as President, under proper statutor
5 | limitation. The transfer of power from tt
E | first to the second officer of the governmeI
and back again need not make any more di
8 ficulty than is occasioned in the office of
great railroad company when the vice pres
| dent does the presidents work for tim
r while that officer goes off for vacation tou
8 The vice president does not remove all th
: conductors and station-agents, or change tt
| rolicv of the road