Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-11-15
without going into the inner merits of III

without going into the inner merits of the
controversy between the Postmaster General
and Senator Hampton, the fact that there has
been any controversy whatever furnishes text
for some interesting reflections on the respect
i've functions of the executive and legislative
branches OF the government. Alexander Ham
IltOn, in the Seth number OF the Federaisf, lays
down the law on this point as understood
by the authors and trainers Of the constitution.
1t will be-" he says, 1.-The office OF the
President to nominate. and with the advice and
consent OF the Senate to appoint There Will
of course be no exertion Of choice on the part
of the Senate. They may defeat one choice OF
the executive and oblige him to make another;
but they cannot themselves choose-they can
only ratify or reject the choice he may have
made. They might even entertain a prefer
enee TO some other person at the very moment
they were asserting to the one proposed,
because there might be no positive ground Of
opposition to him and they could not be sure,
if they withheld their assent, that the subse-
quent nomination would fall upon their own
favorite, or upon any other person in their esti-
nation more meritorious than the one re-
jected."
The italics, which are here repro
duced just as Hamilton directed them
TO be made in his own copy sent
to the printer, serve to intensity the prln-
ciple that the President, and not the Senate,
was made the choosing power, and that the
function of the Senate to be limited
strictly TO that of an accessory after the fact.
How far we have got away from the language
of the Constitution, and from the spirit OF it
also as manifest in this testimony of the man
largely instrumental in putting it together. Is
shown by the way the White House
and the departments are daily besiesed
by Congressman in search Of pleasant places
for the favored few among their constituents.
II is obvious that President or cabinet
officer, not knowing everybody In the country,
would often wish to consult men of intelli-
genee and responsibility from some particular
section, and would choose members OF Con-
gress for his advisers but the invitation would
come from him more becomingly than from the
other parties to the conference. The custom
of forcing counsel, unasked, upon the President
has grown to such proportions that We see
state delegations split in twain, their public
usefulness impaired by their private lack of
harmony, because aSenator has been consulted
as to some local appointment instead of Rep
resentative, or vice versa.
This is all wrong. The people pronounced it
so in 1851, when they supported Garfield
against an antagonistic senatorial combination.
Indeed, there may be degrees of comparative
improperly in the abuse ITSELF 1t is more
proper, on general principles, foI Rep
resentative to present and urge the claims of a
friend than for a Senator, because the Repre-
sentative has nothing to do with the matter
afterward, whereas the Senator must sit as a
Judge upon a case in which he has appeared as
it were, as counsel for one of the parties.
The talk of which We hear great deal now
adays, about a war to be made by Congress on
the President, is not only foolish but revolu-
tionary. No power or authority is conferred
by the Constitution upon Congress which would
warrant it's entering the lists with the Presi-
dent and Withholding appropriations, or reject
ing worthy nominations or INJECTING personal
snubs, or voting needless resolutions of in
quiry. otherwise striving to embarrass his
free actions. as u means OF indicating dissatis-
faction with the policy which he pursues in re-
spect to appointments.