The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1908-03-20
SENATOR T|LLMAN
The House q Recording Machine 20
DO the VIII Of the Speaker
President Apes Royalty i'm Speak
ing of My Policies and MY Peo-
ple"-Has Absolute Faith i'm His
Own InfaIlibiIity

ton the session OF the senate today
was devoted TO a political discussion
il which Senator Till nan, or G. c+n
Carolina, and Senator Be seridge. of
Indiara, were the cnice ~ra1tici-
pants
TkC senate considered The ConfCr-
cnct report on the Indian apl.'Hpi'a-
ticu bill and after sOne criticism OF
5 tn. action of the contr.ae; Oh mil.or
PROVISIONS the report was disagreed
10 u another conference ASKED
The house DILL appropriating $403,-
030 to pay the Archbishop of Manila
as representative Of the Roman Ca
/ tholic church for damage to church
property during the Spanish war
WIS also passed.
With a caution unusual for him,
; Senator Tillnlan today read a part
OF his speech in which he denounced
executive encroachment on legislative
power. With this apparent caution
he proceeded to deliver n Of the
most direct and de~nunciatory ad-
( dresses ever heard in that body. He
was given a careful hearing. His
speech was based on his resolution
~instructing the committee On finance
to inquire whether or not the banks
of New York are in the habit or
furnishing permanent capital for
speculative enterprises, etc. The
resolution was adopted.
Mr.. Tillman traced what he term
ed a Swinging of the pendulum
from the regime Of Andrew Johnson,
When congress assumed control al
most to the exclusion Of the preai-
lent from legislative influence to the
administrations that followed, which
he declared witnessed a growth of
presidential power. The dominating
influence and control of the execu-
tive branch, he said, over the legis-
lative and in a less degree over the
judicial branches of the government
were the most marked features Of
American politics.
"It has TAKEN said Mr.. Tillman,
! "just Al years for the pendulum to
swing from one extreme to the 9TH
err"
Now" he said, the house of rep
resentatives has degenerated into lit
tie o than a recording machine to
do the will of the speaker and his
! li~eutenantS." Freedom of debate in
{ the old and true has disappear
ed from that end OF the capitol, he
added. In the senate ~"servility and
cowardice are the order of the day"
he declared, and "the shadow Of the
! executive hangs " all and the
presidents wishes are almost the
only law"
There isl he added, "some show
Of re~sinstance on matters affecting
multi-millionaires and the great cor
porations. The president writes
scolding messages and makes infiam-
matory speeches, appealing to the
unthinking n ignorant masses. He
has the potent influence of the press
at his command; he has used the
newspapers and magazines in ex-
plotting what he calls my policies
with a skill and daring that compel
admiration. With bated breath
senators denounce his radical ideas
in private and oppose in every pos
sible way the measures which he
clamors for by the passive resist
ance of nOn-action. No one of the
! dominant party ,dares lift his voice
in opposition or accommodation, but
tn executive influence is the only
the executive influence to which sen
ate covers in silent resistance.
"The cause of this condition." de-
clared Mr.. Tillman, lis federal pat
ronage." "The theory that the
senate must advise and consent
before appointments are made" he
said, lis Of little or no moment when
senators show such want of courage
and self-respect and bow submits
siyely to the orders from the White
House. The members of the minority
party are, of course, largely ignor-
ed. Appointments in the south where
the democracy retains control are in
the hands of referees who fill the
Offices for the sole purpose of main
tanning political machines. The SEN
ators of the dominant party are
{ afraid to resist the executive will
lest they themselves should fail to
obtain the patronage of their states"
They have also, he declared, a
dread lest they should be forced into
retirement. When clashes have come
between the president and senators
or representatives, the people had in
almost every instance sided with the
president.
THE people, poor simple souls,
reading the special pleas and sophis-
tical excuses of republican editors,
are lead to think the president alone
is honest and patriotic" said Mr..
Tillman. They believe ~religiously
that the senate is corrupt and the
house debauched and that the po-
licies,-my policies'-which are so
exploited in the press must prevail
and become law before any relief
can be obtained. Senators who do not
agree with the executive and who re-
fuse to obey his dictation must be re-
placed by those who will obey.
In the mad rush to placate the
negro vote we may expect to see
before the Chicago convention meets,
to quote a great New England news
paper "the president reviewing the
re-enlisted negro battalion on the
White House green after which there
will be luncheon at the executive
mansion" The presidents action in
that matter was hasty and unjust in
- a.