The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-21
poWERs on NE pREsIDENr.
A Considerable OF the Points Made In
Recent Notable Address.

! To THE EpIroR or TIN SuN-Sir. An
! address on the Constitutional powers Of the
! President before the bar Association on
/ Wednesday Is notable for it's revolutionary
/ extravaganza
It's contention that the vote choosing n
/ President is the sanction by the people OF
/ any and all acts he may perform in line
| with the issues made on his side Of the cam
| paign. above and beyond any act of Con-
] gross, OF the courts and of any oonstltu-
| tional provision Is ri9tous extravaganza.
| 1t destroys the fundamental tripartite
| division Of the Government. 1t makes
| the Presidency an unlimited dictatorship
and the judicial and legislative functions
J so unimportant as 10 be almost needless,
| except In minor matters. II ignores the
| written requirement that any radical change
| In the fundamental law can be made only
! by a formal and direct amendment to the
| Constitution in the manner prescribed
| While it ". in q sense, true that the recent
election indoreed Mr. Roosevelts poll
| oies that endorsement Ia chiefly moral OF
! academic; IL is in no sense a constitutional
amendment; It confers no new legal power.
have often contended that the written
and unwritten Constitution amply warrant
all the policies declared by President Roose-
welt That address goes to the extreme
| position that even If 1t were true that the
| Constitution did not warrant. even II it for
babe those policies, the popular vote for
President would justify them, Constitution
or no Constitution. This is revolution.
Primarily the election is TO choose man
TO be the President; the tissues are largely
I'D cdp'dndun and incidental. In fact,
as believe. the last election was ohoioe
between the persons rather than between
their respective policies. Suppose the cleo
tors had chosen Mr.. Parker. the majority
OF whose voters favored free silver and sur
render Of the Philippines. Is there a single
intelligent man who believes that such vote
it may have been as close as Hayes's-
would enable Mr.. Parker without Con-
gressional act at once to give up the Philip
pines and establish free silver7
While the President, and he alone is the
Executive, the whole genius Of our Govern
ment rests upon the partition OF Govern
ment powers among the President, the
judiciary and the Legislature. Each is
supreme In its own domain.
grant that the lawful powers OF the
President are very great; but they do not
rest only upon his personal discretion. He
cannot say sic poio, sic jubeo." His dis
erection is limited, az with court of equity.
things in the discretion of the court are
to be interpreted as within legal dsore-
ton His duty Of supporting the Con-
stitution cannot be done as an act Of mere
personal will. 1t must operate in the ways
provided by the Constitution, that U.s. by
law-either by a self-executing provision
Of the Constitution or by an act Of the Con-
! 30 anpnathinO OrdaraH mr.
permitted. or not forbidden, by the Con-
| stitutiop.
The address appeared TO hold that most
Of the acts of the Preri lent are lawful by
nero force Of the Constitution. On the
contrary. but for the great body of statute
law the President would be almost power
! less without Congress he cannot get
| dollar for any purpose.
How can he act as 70 reduction OF repre-
sentadon? By the Constitution, Congress
establishes the ratio. How can he ascertain
the extent Of discrimination in suffrage
except by a oensuslike investigation in all
the States? And this cannot be done ex
cept at great expense Of time and money.
! He cannot act except upon testimony, and
| only by act of Congress can the money be
| obtained for such costly evidence
Inc BTetlueuL ulusL HupIlolt bHc NolbsNi-
! tuition in respect to Federal regulation Of
/ interstate commerce. But inc power TO
| regulate is expressly conferred upon the
Congress The time when aud the means
rest with Congress And the Presidents
power In respect 10 the commerce clhuse
! lie dormant until an act Of Congress provides
/ appropriate means.
| 1 believe in jealous insstence by the
President on all Of his Just powers. and that
the Congress and the judiciary should be
equally jealous as TO their just powers |
do not blindly worship the text Of the Char
ia Maxima Of 1883; it must be construed
with the pre-existirg unwritten Constitu-
! ton, and their provisions must be construed
and applied elasticaly, under the exigen-
! cies OF the present and under the all-con-
: trolling principle that the general welfare
! of the people ia the supreme law For that
! end the people ordained the Constitution,
and any policy, law, provision or construc-
| ton which is inimical 70 the general well
/ fare may justly be deemed 20 be -uncon-
! stitutional' and Ineffective
No writer has gone further than this cor
! respondent in favor Of the evolution Of
A broader nationality. The necessary
! breadth can be obtained within the borders
! OF tine present Constitution by competent
| judicial construction, There is no need Of
extravagant ascription Of power TO one
/ department over another The national
| trinity Of diverse powers constitutes the
ono entity Of the Federal Government, and
among them the judiciary can find every
power needed TO advance the national and
| international welfare.
JOSEPH CULBEBrsos CLAYTON
! New YoRK Jan 70.
The Tcrinonv OF 4 saloon Keeper.
] u el.N--sI-. I q aslnon-