The Washington times., 1901-09-21
FOR AN ACTING EXECUTIVE
Suggestion to Make the Vice Pres
ident Useful Official.
Samuel d. Archer Urges That "His
Supreme superfiuousness" shouid
Have Actual Duties to Perform
To Take the Place of the President

the President the arduOuS laDOrS now
performed by the latter officer alone, and
frequently taking the position of acting
| President in the absence of the Presi-
dent from Washington?
This question is asked by Samuel B.
Archer, Secretary and Treasurer of the
Tariff Commission League. of New York,
| who is in the city in the interests of his
league and its tariff reform bill. but at
the same time not uninterested in n num-
ber of ether matters. among them the
lack of duties devolving upon the VICE
President, according to the present usage
and custom.
| Mr. Archer answers his question with
| the statement that there is nothing IN
| law or common sense to prevent the sec
ond officer of the Government from de-
veloping into a useful executive at any
| time. and every reason why he shouiu
| do so at once.
| In discussing his somewhat starting
| proposition. startling in its simplicity, MI.
| Archer said last night;
..The office of Vice President has al
ways been somewhat of a joke in this
| country to every one except its occupant
| The man who takes the position is for
gotten by the world. His one duty IS to
| act as President of the Senate. and this
tenn in large measure. When he performs
this duty himself he does very little The
President of the Senate does not appoint
its committees or exercise any important
power. He is simply a presiding officer
His name is not mentioned once week
''The results Of this are several. One is
that the Vice Presidency, being a politi-
cal graveyard. 1t is frequently difficult to
get good nell to take the place. President
Roosevelt did not want the position, but
it was practically forced upon him. Some
of the men that have held the office have
been extremely second-rate timber. If one
of these men had been thrust into the
Presidency by the death Of the Executive
the result might have been disastrous.
and it might have been laughable.
The Constitution provides broadly and
generally that the Vice President shall
become Acting President during the in-
ability of the President to perform the
duties of the office The Constitution does
not state anything that the Vice Presi-
dent shall not do. The duties of the
President of this country are becoming
more arduous every year. 1t has been
said Of more than one President in recent
years that his life was being shortened
by his work and worries.
las a matter of fact, whether this is
the reason or not, there is now living but
one ex-President. A part of this vast
work and responsibility should be dele
gated to the Vice President The Consti-
tuition does not prohibit it, Moreover the
President should have the opportunity to
take vacation now and then as the
President of a bank does, without taking
his office and his duties with him The
Constitution should be construed to al
low this.
When Secretary Hay leaves Washing
ton one of the Assistant Secretaries be-
comes Acting Secretary, with power to
perform any and all the duties of Sec
retary. Secretary Hay is unable to per-
form his duties when away from them
The same inability should be construed
to exist in the case of the President The
White House should remain in Washing
ton and not follow the President on his
vacations or trans-eoDtinental trips.
II is perhaps question to what the
trainers of the Constitution exactly in
tended the position of the Vice President
to be. The ordinary use of the word car
ries with it the presumption of duties to
be performed. The vice president of a
railway or bank, or any other business
concern. has well-defined duties. If it be
supposed, notwithstanding this, that
new meaning for the word was created
by the trainers of the Constitution and
that tncy intended the Vice President of
the United States to be- as benjamin
Franklin called him. His Supreme Su-
perfiuousness there is stiii no reason
why the old order of things should not
be changed. A hundred years ago the
President of the United States did not
have SO much to do as he does now. Per-
haps it was not asking too much of him
to perform all the duties of Executive, all
the time. without intermissien. Condi-
tions have changed since then, and the
duties of Vice President may well be
changed. too.
The matter VIII be very simple one
The President viii suggest to the Vice
President the portion of his present duties
he desires to give up. He will request the |
Vice President to take charge of them, |
The Vice President will be very glad to |
accept the change. Nc one can doubt |
this. He will have an Office in the White |
House or in some other building in WASH |
ington ard viii be ready to become the |
Acting President at any time that the |
President is i'll or out of the city
mo change in the law will be required |
As ] have said nothing in the Constitu- |
tion prohibits the Vice President PERFORM |
ing some useful work. |
'''rhe advantages of this change, in ad-
dition TO the fact that it would relieve the |
President, are that it would give the Vice |
President the best of training for the al |
ways possible contingency that the Presi- |
dent may die, and that it would make the |
office more attractive and secure for it
q better average class of men.
Both of these facts are obvious. The
same man having had two or three years |
of training in the duties of the Office is
better fitted to fill it than he would be
without any training. And It is not to be |
doubted that with the prospect of import
ant duties to perform that will make him
quite as conspicuous as a Cabinet officer |
and probably more SO. it would never be
difficult to find good many to accept the
Office OF Vice President that could not be |
persuaded to do so now. 1t is even DOS |
sible that parties might find it advisable
frequently to put promising Presidential
candidates in training as Vice Presidents
before eieyating them to the higher Of |
flee
zone change in the law will be adyis-
able whenever n President decides to take |
this step OF asking the Vice President to |
cooperate with him. 1t should be enacted
that whenever the President dies and the
Vice President takes his place. the Senate |
shall Immediately elect an Acting Vice |
President. This law would be wholly |
within the constitutional power of Con-
gress.
''As to the present duty of the Vice
President that OF President of the SEN
ate. he could still perform II. as far as |
the title Is concerned at least, simply |
1elegating to the President pro tenn a |
little more of the actual work of the Of
fee"
Mr. Archer also has proposition for