The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-14
CONCENTRATION
 OF POWER
IN THE HANDS OF ONE MAN n
 ALWAYS DANGEROUS.
Presi1ent Roosevelt Going . Long Ways h that Direction-Danger
 of Deaucracy Inpelled iron One Source.

: One Source.
 i Washington July 1s.-(special Cor respondence.)-Amon the few mem bers of Congress and other politicians who have visited Washington recently there has been considerable interest in the views expressed by Charles A. Gardiner in his address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society in New York a few days ago. Mir. Gardiner spoke on The Constitutional Discretion of the President and pointed out how tremendously the power of the execu. tive branch of the national govern ment has expanded in comparison with the legislative and judicial branches. Mr. Gardiner acknowledged that the framers of the Constitution intended the three departments to be co-ordi- nate and to act as checks ono on the other. He points out, however. that the executive department is the only one that has expanded to keep pace with the country's growth in power. population and wealth. He illustrates this by showing that if we had main- tained the basis of representation adopted at the time of the formation of the government. Congress would number 1865 members, the Supreme Court 123. and the executive force 41.- 900. Instead of this Congress now numbers 476 members. the Supreme Court 9. and the executive force z40.- 900.
 This disproportionate increase. in MT. Gardiner's opinion. Is fairly repre- sentative of the difference in the growth of power of the three depart ments. He does not hesitate to draw the conclusion that the chief executive of the United States is not only more powerful in law than the head of any I k,,t powerful in fact than any so-called ab. solute ruler.
 MT. Gardiner does not look upon this vast and rapidly increasing power of the President as a danger to the na- ton, even though he recognise the practical tmpossibility of impeaching a chief executive. no matter what his usurpation of authority. But he req sons that no man can ruin the United States in four years and that in she hands of g wise and progressive Presi- dent the country can advance more |rapidly and accomplish more than was possible under our outgrown system of balanced powers in which the ex- ecutive was not supposed to interfere with the legislative and judicial func- tions of the government. He pronoun- ces a panegyric upon the majestic and awe inspiring figure thus presented by I There is no doubt that MT. Gardiner presents . view of the case that is popular with a certain branch of the dominant political party. and particu- .arly with members of the present ad- ministration. While the growth of ex- ecutive power at the expense of other branches of the government has been in progress for many years. there have been more open and deliberate at- | tar fn nA ft yyf ha at four years than for a generation back. There Is no doubt that the President. being by nature a believer in stren- uous activity, Is often impatient at the slow progress of Congress in solv- ing questions that he wishes to have settled. or that his great personal popularity with the people inclines | them to his support when he attempts to take such matters ino his own hands. This tendency is one often dis cussed here in Washington, but the very power of the executive, who can make it very uncomfortable for the ordinary Congressman in Washington if he wants to. usually keeps them from talking about 1t in public with the frankness of MT. Gardiner.
 l In view of MT. Gardiners state ments, however, some oe the Congress men, especially some of the Southern members who have old-fashioned ideas handed down from Jefferson about the least governed people being the best governed and about the dangers of a highly centralized government, have taken occasion to point out how far we have travelled from the paths laid out by the founders of the govern ment They say that the most danger ous feature of the whole movement lies in the fact that power once absorbed by the executive from either of the other branches of the government Is not handed back but becomes van tage point for still further advances. The controversy between the Presi- dent and the Senate over the Santo Domingo treaty and the arbitration treaties is instanced as a case In which | the aggressions of the executive de- partment were resisted. Undoubtedly Q majority of the Senate would have upheld the President except for the | Just fear of It's members that by ab- rogating their right to a share in the treaty making power in these in- stances they would ultimately lose 1t l altogether.
 The tendency of the executive depart l ment of the government to expand at the expense of the other two is in-
 dicated chiefly by the creation of new | and powerful departments and in the
 attempts to establish government by
 commission. The new Department of Commerce and Labor. with its Bureau
 of Corporations, possesses a degree of
 authority over the business interests of
 the country that would be a source of
 tremendous power if 1t were to be ex-
 ercised arbitrarily or unscrupulously.
 Half a century ago hardly a member of
 Congress would have advocated the
 creation of such a powerful bureau un-
 der the control of the executive.s The
 fact that the growth of corporate in- fiuence required the creation of such a
 curb simply illustrates. of coIse, the
 tremendous power that has been put
 into the Presidents hands.
 |
 This question of executive expan-
 sion Is one of the powerful factors in- l volved in the present discussion of the
 merce Commission the power to fix rail
 way rates. The power of railway regu-
 lation Is. of course legislative power possessed by Congress. If this Is turn
 ed over to the Interstate Commerce
 Commission, or any similar body. how
 ever, Congress parts with this much
 more of Its legislative authority. for
 the commission. being appointed by the ! President, is a branch of the executive
 department. and, as creature, Is of
 course subservient to the will of It's
 creator
 | Such a commission, having control of
 the largest single interest in the coun- | try aside from agriculture would be the | most powerful political body in the