The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1901-12-06


permitting the oath-taking on aliel
soil But had he desired to visit Cub:
Immediately after his installation 1t
might have done so without such legis
lation.
Kings, Queens and Presidents o
foreign States are generally unre
stricted by such rules, written or un
written. Several reigning monarch'
visited England to attend Queen Vie
torias funeral. The Queen hersel
travelled extensively in France, ant
was not loath to venture into Other
countries. King Edward VII recently
visited his invalid sister in Germany
The President of Mexico for a while
contemplated a visit to the Pan A meri
can Exposition. He might have done
so with propriety, had he seen fit.
Our Presidents cannot delegate theil
powers to any one, not even to theil
Vice Presidents. 'In case of the re
moval of the President from office, OF
Of his death, resi- gnation or inability
only, can his duties devolve upon
the Vice President. A desire fol
pleasure or rest could not be inter.
preted as ''inability" to serve the nation
Congress has never prescribed how
this inability, mentioned in the Con.
stitution, should be determined. While
Pres dent Garfield lay i'll a controversy
arose as to whether the Vice President
should assume the functions of"acting
President" This General Arthur re-
fused TO do so long as the President
retained spark of life. Some high
authorities interpreted this 'inablity"
clause of the Constitution to refer
solely to permanent iisahlement. Dur
ing his sixth week upon his ath-bed
Mr. Garfield affixed his signature to a
State paper.
The unwritten rule torbidding
travel by the President will doubtless
be made a dead letter by fast improv-
ing conditions of transit. In the days
Of the early Presidents, when there
were no railroads, steamboats,, tele-
phone or telegraph lines, and exit from
this country necessarily entailed dan
gers. hardships and serious delays
which meant months, when reckoning
from the seat of government. But to-
day President might travel through
Central and South America or Canada
equipped with a veritable Executive
Mansion on wheels, and mig hit transact
his official business en- route without
neglecting any of the details Of his Off
cial routine. With the perfection of
wireless telegraphy and telephones it
will before long he possible for him to
so travel by sea and keep always in
touch with public affairs. Thus would
lie command "the Ship of State" in the
literal sense of the word. Once in the
Old World, even today, he might sue
cessfully perform his duties by aid of
the cable.
CANNOT ENTER SOME WASHINGTON
The President must not enter any
foreign embassy or legation. This is
another unwritten law. The official
residence of an Ambassador or Minister
accredited to Washington is foreign
territory, technically, if rented; but
actually, if owned 10y its government.
Our laws have no hold upon diplomats
or their attaches detailed here. Their
abodes enjoy immunity from our legal
processes. Seven foreign countries
own their embassies or legations in
Washington. The patches of land
upon which they are built are exempt
from taxation. To all intcnts and pur.
poses they are foreign colonies, although
none is more extensive than an acre or
two France lately purchased an open
,,f I.
capital for the purppse Of building 2
legation thereon The boundaries oil
this lot are lines over which it would
he deemed improper for the President
to step Another reason for this rule
forbdding the Presidents presence at
a foreign diplomats abode is founded
upon the apprehension that his accep
lance of such hospitality might make
him indebted To his host. a pruden,
Judge would not accept hospitality
from rival attorneys conducting a case
before him
President Arthur was accused O
breaking this rule also. He was sale
to have been a frequent visitor at the
German legation, with whose Minister
he was upon warm terms socially. Bu
had it been proven and brought to al
issue that he had so straycd from thu
Presidential confines limited to his pre-
decessors he could not have been i'm
peached for|s action.
, THE PRESIDENTS FORMAL CALLS MUS
BE FEW.
1t is considered improper for tn
Chief Executive to 90 aboard ioreigl
warship, even when anchored in on
harbors and when flying the colors Q
a friendly State. Every mai! and splin
ter of such vessel is, TECHNICAL,
speaking, foreign territory. In tn
event of a deeply devised plot aimee
at us, when least sn>pecting, by fol