The Portland daily press., 1899-11-03
TaE vICE-PREsIDENCY.
lN. Z. Post.

occasionally mooted from the beginning
Of the Republic till now, whether the
Vics Presidency has not come to be. like
the electorate. q supernuous Office. John
Adams found In the anomalous status
of the Vioe-PIesident a target for his
satire. describing his rs "the most In.
significant office that ever the mind Of
man contfived or his Imagination con-
ceived," and inquirinR "whether the
trainers Of the Consti tuition had In view
the two Kings Of S parta or the two Con-
power while he held 1t, and the other to
be nothing" Nevertheless, In those
early days, the Importance of the Vice.
Presidency was recognized In n very prac-
teal manner by the election to 1t of
younger and mere vigorous men than
thoss elected to the Presidency; Adams
was three years younger than Washing
ton. jefferson eight years younger than
Adams. and Burr thirteen years younger
than jefferson. Not only was 1t deemed
natural that the heir presumptive should
be a man with better chances OF life than
the ancestor, but paok OF everything else
lilo affairs which he would acquire In the
second rank would be- Of great value to
himself and to the country on his pro.
m otion; for, until Burr's political COL
lapse towards the Gloss OF Jstferson's first
term, the Presidents understudy was re-
gularIy chosen to succeed him.
With the departure from this practice
the decadence Of the Vioe-PTesidsncy may
be said to have begun, and IL was has
tened by the convention system OF NOM
mating candidates for both the greater
er and the lesser office, with its incident
ais OF los-roiling and playing upon se,-
tional prejudice. As the utilitarian view
of the Vice-Presidency waned. and tbs
ornamental or at test the factional view
took its place, the average age Of the
Vice. Presidents increased. The idea
seemed to be tnat the office was q sine
cure through which retiring politicians
could pleasantly bow themselves out Of
public life, or by the gift Of which some
restless element In party could be ap-
peased. In recent years, therefore. the
rule as to age has come 70 be the very
reverse OF that which prevailed at first.
Wilson was ten years older than Grant,
Wheeler three years older than Hayes.
Arthur a year older than Garfield, Hen.
drioks eighteen and Stevenson two years
older than Cleveland, and Morton niDe
years older than Harrison. Hobar;, who
was year Y ,ungsr than Mckinley, was
the first exception to the rule of seniority
In quarter century. All this goes to
show how far the Vice Presidency has
drifted in actual practice from the ideal
of hundred years ago.
The prestige of the Office received yet
more direct blow from the enactment OF
the presidential succession law Of 1886.
The law OF l792, which still survived,
provided that in case Of death. resigna-
tion or his ability of both President and
Nica. ha dnfias nj ha A..
dency should ps IS first to the President
of the Senate, and then to the Speaker
of the House of kepresen tatiyes. The
Forty eighth Congress had expired In
March, the Forty ninth was not to as
semble till December, and Vice President
Hendricks had died in the int ryal. As a
matter OF course, no Speaker had been
elected; the presidency pro tempore of
the Senate had not been filed for the
new Congress, and, although the Senate
Is continuing body. there was grave
uncertainty in the minds OF many Sena-
tors whether 1.-the President pro tempore
of the late session could properly continue
tinue to execute that office without new
election. The situation was rendered all
the more serious by the circumstance
that the Senate WAS controlled by the
Republicans, whereas the popular cleo
tion of 1884 had decreed the transfer Of
executive power to the Democrats When
Mr.. Sherman for its president pro tenn
pore, and until the following January
MIR. Clevelanu's life was all that protect
ed this expression of the popular Will
from reversal. The more thoughtful
members of both houses of Congress
realized the unwisdom OF leaving the
law rs 1t stood, and new stat1te was
enacted, passing the succession through
the Cabinet in the order OF the creation
of the several depar tment3 presented
there, beginning WITH the Secr tiry of
stats, ana ending with the Secretlry OF
the Interior, tls Depai ment of Agricul-
ture net having at that time been raised
to Cabinet dignity.
Although four Presidents and five
Vice. Presidents have died in office, and
the government has been carried on fer a
t-tsl Of thiity years under only one of
the two executive heads provided by the
Copst tlon, it has never needed to put
either of Is succession laws into opera
tion; the chances. therefore, are ut least
fair thst it migt never need to do so Ia
the future. But since the method Of
sslet thug Weep re sident no longer has
reference to the special quaiitcatl tlODs of
the man chosen, and since the chief places
in the Cabinet are given to the men who.
Of the whole mass Of citizens, are most
nearly in accord with the policy and
purposes of the President, the question
recurs with force, whit thsr the Vice-Presi-
dent Is MT now supernuity, and u
rather dangerous one. The cases of Tyler
and johnson are too familiar to call for
more than a reference. Even so conser-
vative an administration as Arthur's
caused a political oonvulsion which. un-
der some other conditions easily corcsiv-
able, might have put perilous strain
upon our institutions.
MIR. Hobart is an exception to the gen.
eral rule of Vice-Presidents in more re.
spa than N fba m naff nf ~ of
years. lie WAS chosen. II Is true. on the
sectional rather than on personal
grounds; but. thanks to the complete
control of the party at the time by MIR.
McKinley's campaign manager. 1t was
not necessary to beat the bushes of the
opposing faction for candidate. The
two men represented the same ideals as
far as they Represented any. During the
summer and autumn OF 1896 they were
continually in consultation. and In the
the years that followed MIR. Hobart
shared the Presidents councils as prob
ably M other Vice. President has shared
them In more than haIf-century. II
Mr.. Mckinley had died In office, Mr..
~ Hahart unnld hasa ~. sooas1aa IN his r,lara