The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-02-10
THE DECIDING ACT.
The Law of the Land Does Not Oblige
the President to Give His Reasons for
RcmOvaIs

The Law of the Land Does Not Oblige
the President to Give His Reasons for
Removals.
1t is. not generally known that origi-
nally the requirement of confirmation of
the executive appointments Of the
President by the Senate did not, in
practice, exist, whatever may have been
the theory held by Congress. 1t is true
that originally confirmation by the
Senate was applied, but only in the
cases of quite small number of the
principal officers. In the meantime,
however, the Senate has been constant
ly extending it's claims to the prin-
ciple Of confirmation, until they now
include considerable portion of the
whole executive offices of the Govern
ment, some one hundred thousand in
number.
Now, in view of this enormous stride
toward the assumption of purely exec
utive functions on the part of the Sem
ate, nothing can be clearer or more
certain than that the President is COM
PEELED to make his appointments with
an eye to the favor of the Senate rather
than to the welfare of the public serv-
ice And when to the evil of the de-
privation of the Executive of power
which naturally and scientifically ap-
pertains to his branch of the Govern
ment are added the political jobbery
and mutual trading which have in the
past influenced that body, and which
the Civil-Service act was designed to
reform, the evils and the tendency to
political debauchment by the present
Senatorial practice can readily be per-
ceived.
There was one period, however, in
the history of the country when this
domination of the Senate in appoint
ments passed into desuetude and, in
deed, into state of aim st abject abey-
ance. This was during the civil war.
The necessities of the then situation re-
stored the President to his natural and
scientific place in the Government, and
compelled the Senate to abdicate it's
virtually usurped and absolute execu-
tive powers and to accept obediently
| the nominations of the Executive. At
that time, in fact, both houses of Con-
gress attempted to solve problem
which no Legislature, from that of the
long parliament of Cromwell to the
revolutionary assembly of France, had
ever successfully COPIED with, and most
signally and abjectly failed therein.
The war once ended, however, the
| Senate, through the unpopularity of
| President johnson and the instrument
tally of the Tenure-of-O Office bill, was
again enabled to seize the power which
had been wrested from its grasp by
means of President Lincoln's over
mastering astuteness and the favoring
circumstances which environed him.
| Just now a contention has arisen be-
tween the President and the Senate.
The Senate claims, under the Tenure
| of-Office act, that the President is
bound to submit to it his reasons for
removal of officers. This act author
ICES the President. sin his discretion y
to suspend any officer during the re-
! cess of the Senate. But, at the same
time, it is by no means in any portion
of it mandatory on the President to
state his reasons for removal. Consc-
! quently, if the President should refuse
TO give those reasons, technically this
refusal, it would naturally follow, gives
| the Senate no just cause for refusing
| confirmation.
In the meantime the public will
watch the outcome of this contention
between the Executive and the Senate
| with no little interest ChicAqo Nears