The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-11
THE PRESIDENT AS A BOSS
Accused Using Political Methods Accomplish hngsHe This
 Trouble Washgon-Ihat Due to the Suspicion Represents @ Public 0pnion By
By LINCOLN STEPHENS.

ganized is not a At instrument for g President to use. reform 1t, you, who gave 1t to me
 There Is 8 just rebuke for us in that If our representatives aren't what they should be, we ought to send here men who are. But how can we pick out for defeat those Congrcssmen who ought to be defeated If they are all tied up in joblots and voted in a combine? Suppose the President, hav-
 ing recommended his legislation, would waits--saying no more. making no deals-uIl Congress had voted. then suppose that with the poll of voters in his hand he should appeal to us 10 defeat those who in his tudg. ment were not representative, and to re-elect those only who were Wouldn't we reform that House of Representatives?
 But you might not" says the Presi- dent. q am not quoting his Ian guage; that is not permitted
 They have done it wherever that
 method has been tried answered. clting Chicago and Wisconsin, for ex-
 Even so. that course would take time, and meanwhile, what about the
 canal, and the other things that must be done?" You see, 1t comes down finally to a question of the relative Importance of the many things to be done I'd | rather make our government repre- sent us than dig the canal; the Presi- dent would rather dig the canal and
 regulate railway rates. So he makes
 his "deal' with the Speaker and condemn 1t.
 But the Senate dosen't reason that way. The Senate dosen't object to deals. nor to the House combine, nor to the deal with the House combine The mi AA cta ing committee of the Senate has
 made deals with the boss and ring of
 the House combine. That's what the House combine was built for-to
 make it work with the Senate. So the Presidents deal with the combine is not the real reason for the terror here, of that dangerous man." the President. What else is there? The friends of the Senate charge that the President upholds the House combine with patronage. This also is true. The President Is carrying out his part by his deal with all the force of his forceful personality. When the Speaker began to put through the Ad-
 ministration programme, a large num- Der of the Republican members turned insurgents. You have heard a lot about them. They joined with the Democrats to beat the rule" and break up the organization of the
 
 He drove some of his wild horses"
 back into the herd, but his whip was too short for others, so he went up to | the White House, He gave the Presi- dent a list. The President sent for
 the members on 1t, and he used his whip. What is whip?
 Patronage Other things, too. The i President has many resources,-facts 1 arguments, reasons, the authority of 1 the leadership of his party, and he re- lies mainly upon these. of course. But | the friends of the Senate charge that
 he uses the appointive power of the President to compel Congress- men to vote as they don't want to vote. The charge is true. Each case
 that is reported is confused by con- 1 licting testimony, and contradiction, and, indeed, any one case must give a
 false impression. The truth is all that
 we are after, however and 1t is true l that the President does use offices.
 directly or indirectly, to influence
 votes in Congress on administrative measures.