The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-02-24


Mr. Hannis Taylor devoted portion Of
his thoughtful GRAFTON at the celebration
of the thirty-frst anniversary Of the
founding Of Johns Hopkins University TO
an estimate OF the character and public
services Of Theodore Roosevelt, in the
course of which he said:
Those who complain Of his exaggerated ideas a
Executive power may do well 10 remember that when
that power is stretched 10 the utmost is no match
for an adversary which never be crushed except
through the combined efforts Of all the departments
Of the Federal government acting in concert with
tie reserved pOWCTs OF the States How all Of those
powers 10 b. brought into concert and directed
10 a Common end under the leadership Of the man
who is % succeed President Roosevelt is the avcst
question this nation has been called upon TO face
since the end Of the civil War-
no matter from what party he may be taken
Cur next President must be a man Of the larger
mold. with a strong right that can heat men
down IN the mighty conflict just begun. At this
critical moment the American democracy cannot
Afford strong as it may be. 10 change from Au-
lstus 20 AUgustulus; 1t cannot afford to place the
club OF Hercules in Tuny d Herveless hand"
The view here expressed is symptomatic
of the present tendency Of the public
mind 10 concentrate itself upon the Presi-
dental Office as the embodiment of ma
tional power. At no time since the civil
war has popular attention been so strongly
focused upon the White House Prob
ably at no period in our national history
have the people turned so eagerly to the
Executive for the promotion of needful
legislation, for the enforcement of neg
!ec,ed statutes, for the betterment OF the
Federal administration. So strong is the
feeling among the masses that they have
but 20 ask the President for relief ana
j; viii be granted them; that somehow
there is wisdom in the executive not
90 be found in the legislative branch:
that the Presidency is the government it
self, The symbol of the state-sO strong
is this feeling thar many regard it an
Obsession or popular superstition
1t Is feeling, however, well grounded
in the facts Of our daily national life
The Presidency has become the com
manding Office of the republic not BY
successive acts Of usurpation. out by nor
mai increment Of power. now added 20
by legislation, now by the necessities Of
administration or the exigencies growing
ont of foreign relations The Constitu-
ton pUrposely imposed few limitations
upon the Executive power within its CO.
ordinate sphere; it is difficult to conceive
any other course of political evolution
than that which has taken place with
respect To Executive power-an evolution
which, concurrently with the DEVELOPMENT
OF nationalism and the advancement of
I 1r1l. -
the prestige and influence Of the Presi-
dcncy- II should be remembered that
tho constitutional duty imposed on the
President of taking care that the laws
shall bc executed would Of itself have
operated to this end and is so operating
to-day, with the rapid extension OF the
scope or legislative authority into new
fields o. governmental control. No Con-
ErcSs 2djourns without having enlarged
the duties and responsibilities of the
President, and without intrustfng i'm
port2nt matters TO his judgment and dis
erection. Even the expenditure of the
public funds is often-too frequently. we
think-intrusted to the executive depart-
meRts without specific instruction as 10
Their disposition, as the Constitution
seems TO require. All these things tend
TO magnify the Presidential Office
We hear much nowadays about i'm
perialism and monarchism, the growth
Of which in our system of government *
assumed and lamented by a certain class
Of critics. These critics forget that the
administration OF the affairs OF a gov
eminent 70 which more than S0.000O10 peo-
pie owe allegiance. and the execution of
laws applicable over a territory compris-
ing half a continent. cannot be under
taken without the exercise Of an imperisl
power. They ignore the alI-important cir
cmstonce that this power is welded
In behalf of the people, by servant Of
the people. and under prescription ostab-
ished and ordained by the people It
makes ali the difference in the world in
whose behalf the power Of the State is
employed. We have intrusted our Presl-
dent with the power OF 4 monarch. a
power. indeed. greater than that Of some
monarchs; but nc is bound 20 use It for
ihe purposes of the common veal, not
for his personal advantage That power.
stretched 20 The utmost, Mr.. Taylor tells