The Washington herald., 1907-01-16
The President and RrovrsyiIIo

President Roosevelt has materially
improved his position with respect To the
Brownsville affair by the additional evil
dvnce presented In his latest message and
by The revocation of that portion OF his
order Of dismissal which debarred the dis
missed soldiers from civil employment
under the government The President is
rev convinced that the revoked clause
was lacking in validity" being an exer-
else of power beyond the legitimate scope
OF Executive authority. As to the remain
ing portion of the order of dismissal. the
President is clear that it was entirely
within his discretion under the C0nstitu-
tion and the laws. and that it cannot be-
reviewed or reversed saye by another
Executive ORDER
The question of the Presidents right to-
dismiss an enlisted man.iu time Of peace
without the formaIity of ID rial has been
pretty thoroughly thrashed out on the
floor of the Senate during the past two
weeks; and so far as that branch of the
Brownsville case is concerned, we think
there is $50 doubt that the President and
his supporters have much the better of
the argument The army is governed by
two sets of rules. the articles of war and
the army regulations. Being enacted by
Congress, the articles Of war are mart Of
the United States statutes The army
regulations. however, are framed and put
into effect by the President. Now the
articles of war confer on the President the
power 90 dismiss an officer without trial
III time of war and 10 dismiss an enlisted
man without trial at any time Article
under which the President dismissed the.
three battaIions Of the Twenty-dfth In
Iantry reads ds follows.
No enlisted man. duly sworn. shah be DISCHARGED
from the service without discharge in writing
signed By field officer Of the regiment 10 which he
belongs, OF tg the commanding officer when no field
Cflccr is present and u0 discharge shall D. rigl1.
90 sW enlisted man before his term 0f service Is.
expired except hy order Of the President Tie Sec
ietaB Of War The commanding officer of a de-
parment OF by sentence 0f a general caurtmaftiaIv
Commenting on this paragraph. senator
Daniel remarked that it did not import
that the President cannot dismiss or
discharge him Ghe enlisted mani i'm time
OF peace. but it affimativeIy gives The
President. the Secretary of War. the com
u ~ p
tiaF each the same coordinate. concI5-
sive, and equal power" Under the au-
thouty Cf this article of war 252 dis
charges without honor were made during
the past year. some Cf them for offengeg
cognizable by "a court-martiaL
What is the basis, then, Of Senator
Foraker's contention that the President
has exercised power of dismissal not
belonging 10 him2 II is that cne of tb.
army regulations framed by the Executive
IN pursuance OF authority conferred upor
him by the Constitution and the laws of
the land, provides that an enlisted man
cannot he. discharged without honor until
he has been summoned before board Of
officers, who shall determine whether there
is sufficient ground for his discharge Tho
Judge Advocate General Of the army
however maintains that this regulation
applies only t0 discharges al the end of
the term Of enlistment and that lit has
never been regarded as restricting the au-
thority vested in the President and the
Secretary of War I'm che fourth article
OF war II is inconceivable. in fact. that
any regulations fer the army. approved
by the President, and put in effect bv
his order should deprive the Executive
Of power conferred upon him by
statute of Congress Yet that is the sub
stance OF the Ohio Senator's argument
In view Of the strong circumstanUaI
evidence now brought forward to show
that the ammunition used By the Browns
Vile rioters was that supplied to the army
post there, and that IL could have been
hred from no oth& weapons than those
IL the post armory there seems no room
whatever for doubt, if there ever was any. /