New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-06-11
MAKING HIS POWER FELT.
Az .ssENBrYMAN on THE GOVERNORS
PERSONAL RELATIONS TO
GISIATIOE
LEGISLATION

.ome Of hi. per.onaI experiences and obser-
vations a lawmaker He SENDS now Z"
The Tribune one on 1.-The Governor
.onaI Relation. to legislation Like the
Others. IL 4. printed without curtniIment or
correction any kind Tho writer says OF
IN that he "bas NOT drawn upon his magma
Hon. md he "believes that IL contains "A
correct account of the Governors pnrticipn-
ton the most important Iegisintion In
Albany In 1899 and 1900"
The editorial In The Tribune OF June 4, in
which il is said that the Republican party has
no chances to throw away in this State. natural
" leads Republicans thoughts TO the subject OF
the denomination OF Governor Roosevelt That
this is the strongest nomination the Republicans
can make ia hardly open question. and. While
II may be little premature TO go into this
question. .heless the fact that the Governor
should have another term cannot he too well
understood or too often repeated.
Disregarding entirely the question that he Is
better fitted for the position than any candidate
the Democrats can have. because that canci-
date, matter who he is. cannot disassociate
his individuality from the principles of the party
back OF him. the Governors energetic and sue
cessfuI participation in legislative work during
mis- term is one OF the strongest arguments in
favor Of his being reelected. II was but nat
uraI that man OF the Governors temperament
should throw himself into questions arising at
Albany with energy sometimes, in fact with
almost too great impetuosity: but even II he
can be criticised land no doubt he can and will
be), II is only just to judge him by the results
which he has accomplished. and after consider
ing those results criticism will cut very deep
into the excellent work he has done.
The constitution investing the executive power
Of the State in the Governor (Section Of Ar
ticle IV) defines his powers and duties in the
most general manner, as, for example. that He
shall expedite all such measures as may be re-
solved upon by the Legislature and shall take
that the laws are faithfully executed II
is frequently asserted that the Governor ought
take hold OF measure and push IL, but the
limitations to the extent to which the Governor
may interfere with the machinery of the State
Government TO great extent an unwritten
law and one upon which all minds by 10 means
agree. Again, not infrequently the converse Of
this assertion is made namely, that Governor
interferes TOO much in legislation, and in Gov
ernor Roosevelt's case this assertion has been
made more than once But did the Governor fall
in the first. and did he overstep the boundaries
Of his privileges in the second case? Any one
who will glance at the newspaper accounts OF
the legislative work OF the last two years. even
IL he does not go over the daily journal OF the
Legislature. must recognize that the Governor
only Influenced the Legislature by his vigor-
Gus personality, but that he carried measures
through not by political cajoling and promises,
but by sheer moral pressure He has been on
the right side OF important questions, and, know
ing that the people were with him. he used his
power freely. That Governor Roosevelt made a
very marked personal impression the mem
bers OF the Legislature Of the last two years is
to be disputed. Not that all of the members
liked him. but few. If any felt other than that
in dealing with his he would be just frank
with them they were to him. II not more so.
and all felt his energetic interest In political
matters. Then, too, he good fighter. which
is always attractive trait IN politician. and
not at all averse to a sharp controversy with q
member Of the Legislature. but he was also as
generous IN a fight as he was energetic. OF
course. he played politics at times; but even IL
that is so. IT must be constantly borne in mind
that he did actually accomplish the passage OF
many very important bills. some OF which were
not entirely popular In the Legislature. not to
speak of political circles outside Of that body.
AS matter of fact these bills were the most
important measures before the Legislature.
The Civil Service bill was Of course. the Gov
ernor's pet measure. His whole career In politics
has been in the direction Of establishing a real
Civil Service well practical one-not the
Tammany species Of practical Civil Service,
again the ultra radical Civil Service which
puts all public servants matter what places
they may hold. under it's restrictions. The
as is honestly practical. to have State Offices
managed that competent men will be selected
under the Civil Service rules, and that at the
same time political favor shall be excluded from
the control of officeholders. To accomplish this
the Civil Service bill was prepared and intro
duced. 1t was known to be the Governors
measure, and on the statute books will always
be considered his law. II is not necessary to
go into the discussions connected with the pas
sage of the bill; suffice 1t to say It made a
Republican caucus measure and passed by
a strict party vote all except two three Re
publcans voting for II. But the bill drawn
under the personal influence OF the Governor
and he is entitled. above all men in the State
government, TO the credit of this measure 1t is
true that this bill precipitated some discussion
to how far the Governor ought to share in
the preparation Of a bill and how far he ought
to be back of a bill in the Legislature; but as
this measure in line with the provisions of
the Constitution. and an immeasurable improve
ment on the existing law, the fact that the
Governor pushed it can be really only favorably
commented on.
A no less important question for the Governor
arose in connection with the Franchise Tax BILL
This bill had been introduced early in the SEES
sion of 1899 by Senator Ford. but had been
allowed to lie dormant. IN spite OF the authors
efforts to have It passed When the Governor
entered into the arena of the discussion he took
the question UP with his characteristic vigor He
quickly caught the gist OF the bill-that fran
chise is property. that property ought TO be
taxed unless exempt by statute and that this
property was neither taxed nor exempt by stat
ute. Having shown much interest In all que.-
tons relating TO taxation, II was to De ex-
pected that he would take this IN with