Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-05-20

Especial Washington Correspondence of
The Argus.)
The growing insistenee OF the presi-
dent upon his right to dominate legis-
lation and particularly upon his I'M
qualified and u,ihampered power over
the United States army and navy has
been pretty vigorously discussed in the
senate of late.
1t is matter of notoriety that there
are In existence three letters from the
president to United States senator's
bearing partly upon the Brownsville
incident, partly upon the singular case
of Colonel Stewart of the coast artil-
lery, who has been sent into exile. in
Arizona. In these letters the president
notifies his senatorial correspondents
that if the senate passes MIR. For
aker's bill for the. reinstatement of>the
troops dismissed on account of the
Brownsville incident he will veto the
bill. If congress passes 1t over his
veto, he will refuse to pay attention to
1T. He holds that his power over the
army and the navy as commander in
chief is superior to that of congress.
Beyond conceding congress the power
of making the necessary appropria-
tons for;the support of the armed serv-
ice of the United States he gives ,he
legislative branch of the government
no authority in the premises.
The story was current about the cap
ftal day or two ago that in explain
ing his position on the subject to WIS.,
King Edward VII. was commander in
chief of the British armed forces and
that parliament could not interfere
with his direction of them. The pres
ident is said to have wound up his re-
marks with the statement, I'm this re-
spect / am like the king of England"
One of the senator's to whom this re-
mark was repeated said eXplosiveiy;
Eve all wish. he were more like the
king Of England. King Edward ad-
dresses parliament once at each ses-
sion with 4 very brief speech prepared
by his ministers. He does not bonn
bard the legislative branch every two
or three days with messages covering
everything from race suicide and spell
ing reform to battlcships and forest
reserves. With the title of king, Ed
ward VII. seems to repose some con-
fidcnce in the ability of the English
people to govern. themselves and TO
select members of parliament who
may be trusted to carry outithe popu-
lar will. While he is in charge nomi-
nally of the army and navy, he has
not, so far as / know. put a doctor in
command Of the army or Il surgeon in
command of a navy vessel. While
Edward is content to be king in
name and influence. the government
only Ivy quiet and personal suggestions,
Mr.. Roosevelt seems desirors of being
not merely king, but emperor in fact,
with the'big stick for a scepter."
There is more of this sort of talk
about the. capital than most people
would imagine. The growing autoeracy
of the administration has produced an
undercurrent of shostility to Roosevelt
and his immediate circle that every
now and then breaks out into open
protest. This feeling has not been less
ened by the remark Of Admiral Ev-
ans, the naval pet of the administra-
ton, at San Francisco recently, that
what this nation needs is more bat
tleships and fewer statesmen" Some
of the statesmen remember that the
president threatened to veto their pub
lie building bill unless given his full
programme of four battleships, and
they think Evans took his cue from
this. ''There'll he fewer statesmen -
said one Republican representative in
melancholy tones, "at least fewer Re-
publican statesmen. in the next con
gress if the man in the White House
and his satellites hold to their present
attitude"
The Stewart Case.
This is one of the most curious mys.
teries of government today. Colonel
William f. Stewart is colonel in the
coast artillery service. Suddenly he is
detached from his command and or
dered to an abandoned military pos
in the middle of Arizona, twenty-siA
miles from village or habitation
thousands of miles from the coast OF
any artillery, and is given command oil
exactly one private. who accompanies
him TO attend to his comforts. What
Colonel Stewards crime has been no
body knows! He has been as silent as
sphinx so far as. any public state