The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-08-16
One Raw of Promise.

One Ray of Promise.
With view to extracting whatever
of sunshine may be squeezed from the
gloomy situation at Washington, we
venture to suggest as one ultimate
benefit that no future president will
soon attempt to initiate Grover Cleve-
lands interference with the constitu-
tional prerogatiye of an American con-
gress by debating to either branch of
that body, through the thin artifice OF
personal communications, what it may
and what it may not do 1t was worth
much to this nation to have the pres
ent intermeddling executive taught q
properconception of his duty, albeit in
the teaching the business interests OF
the country were put to grievous afilic-
ton.
The one weakness which many
students have professed to discern il
our constitution is directly in line
with the arrogant assumption Of au-
thority for which Mr.. Cleveland has
been SO soundly rebuked by his own
party. "It is only question of time u
wrote one of these European critics,
"when the ambitions of an execu-
tive clothed with such extraordinary
authority and opportunity as are
vested in the American president will
lead to the establishment of a despotism
in which, under whatever name he
may choose to mask his imperialism
the American chief magistrate will be
essentially an emperor" Yet at nc
prior time IN the history of our repub.
lie has the likelihood of one man sue.
cessfully leveling the limitations of the
presidents Office seemed less than it is
today; a fact for which we must partly
Thank Mr.. Cleveland's own conceit and
The Democratic senate's superior politi-
cal generalship.
"Tariff' controversy" said the New
York Tribune on the day before the
tariff settlement was reached, and con-
sequently before the full measure OF
this rebuke had become known, "is
unsettling enough even when there are
two legislative houses to be brought
into harmonious relations; but confu.
sion becomes worse confounded when
the president, instead of remaining in
the background, interposes his vanity
obstinacy and self-opinionated policy
between the warning chambers and
seeks to force both to surrender alb.
jectly to him before arranging COM
promise with each other. The inter
ference of the president with congress
in its constitutional functions has been
unwarrantable. His action is indie
fensible. The situation has been need
lessly complicated by his arrogant as
sumption of an authority with which
he is not armed by the constitution
and which he is employing with all
the self-will of an imperious nature
and with all the resources and pres
tige of his great office" All the more
significant, then, in view of this de-
served arraignment, becomes the pres
idents subsequent defeat.
1t is no longer the humiliation sim.
ply of a self-willed egotist, who
through q chain of accidents had be-
come intoxicated with his own unac-
countable political successes; it is nc
longer the triumph Of one faction to 9
temporary fight, albeit the faction
which is somewhat the cleaner of the
two, that presents itself in the collapse
of the Cleveland edict. 1t is the con.
spicuous vindication of the constitu.
tional rights and privileges of co-ord
mate branch of the government; and 0
new exhibition to the world of the
strength and stability of the system
ordained by our fathers.