The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-23
THE FEDERAL IDEA.

/ EG0GhNG lOGAs
Those who had the pleasure of meet
ing and hearing Secretary Garfield dur
ing his brief stay here were interested
most in what he had to say about 1.-The
federal idea" as evolved by this admin
istration. Although his speech as re-
Iating to this particular subject was
necessarily brief, 1t carried weight be-
cause it touches on a subject which
concerns significantly the whole theory
of Roosevelt's administration of the
law
II his listeners understood him fully
the secretary has little regard for state
lines in executive affairs. Unfortunate
ly his terms were too general TO jus
tify an exact definition of his beliefs,
but it was inferred that he is in en-
tire accord with the president and the
statement of the presidents theories by
Secretary Root If this assumption is
correct-and his official position war
rants 1.-THE administration is fully
committed to the new federal idea"
an idea much more comprehensive and
far-reaching in its devotion TO central
iZation than the most ardent broad
constructionists of an earlier day ever
dreamed of.
For instance: the presidents Indian
apolis speech conveyed the suggestion
that any transportation line carrying
United States mail might be subject to
federal supervision under the post
roads provision OF the constitution.
That is to say, a street car line wholly
within a single city would be subject
to federal regulation and supervision if
it carried one mail daily To put a
more extreme case, a country road
wherein a mail was carried by fed
eral carrier would be under federal
control if the presidents theory were
carried to its ultimate logical conclu-
sion.
The trouble with the president and
such spokesman for him as Mr.. Gar
field is that they would achieve by ex-
ecutive construction Of the cOnstitu-
ton what no previous administration
has ever dared to do under the con-
structiOns set forth by the supreme
court of the United States. Secreta-
~ Roots speech was SO frank that it
intimated the president would seek fur
Their construction Of the constitution,
If necessary, to carry out his own theo-
~ OF the executives powers. In other
words. the law as established by re-
peated rulings of the supreme court is
10 find a new exposition sought by the
chief executive, whose only right and
power is to execute the laws as he finds
them.
II is TO be expected that a Repub-
lican administration viii construe its
powers as broadly as possible. That IS
a legacy from the days of Hamilton
But this IS the first national admins
tration OF any political faith to defy
the construction of the law by the su-
preme court, to carry its executive au-
thority into legislative and judicial
realms, TO suspend the laws enacted by
congress and traverse by executive or
ders the statutes Of the United States.
If President Roosevelt and such cab
met officers as Mr.. Root and Mr.. Gar
field believe that the laws should be
changed the path is plain, and ample
provisions have been made on legal
lines for the attainment OF such
changes Their aims may be above
criticism, their motives entirely
worthy, but the methods followed have
been a defiance of precise and man
datory provisions OF the organic law
which they are sworn to uphold.
In academic phrase Mr.. Garfield
dwells on the greatness of the nation
and the litteness of the state. No pa
triotic citlzen-and most citizens are
neutrality-suspicious. the national au-
thority. It were superfuous to assert.
as Governor Cutler does, the willing
ness of the people TO obey the nations
authority But it is not a question of
greatness or Itteness; it is a question
of right and wrong.
The critics of the federal idea" OBJ
ject to the presidents notion that a
thing is right because he wishes it. or
that il is wrong because he opposes it:
they object most strenuously to the
practical working of the presidents
theory that he is not as completely
subject to constitutional limitations as
the humblest citizen.
washington did not find it necessary
to eriticise a federal court as Roose-
Welt did in his comment on the decision
of Judge Humphrey. because Washing