Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1908-07-17
INFLUENCE LIMITED
President Is POwerleSS TO Leg
iSlate Individually
Is HEDGED BY RESTRICTIONS
Only Ambition Should Be to Prove
Worthy of Confidence of Country
men--Bryan's Conception of the
Worlds Highest Office


Worlds Highest Office
William j. Bryan has written an ar
ticle entitled MY Conception of the
Presidency" for the July IS issue of
Golfers Weekly Mr.. Bryan says:
The presidents power for good or for
harm Is often overestimated. Our gov
eminent is a government of checks and
balances; power is distributed among
different departments, and each official
works in cooperation with others.
In the making of laws, for instance.
the president joins with the senate and
house; he may recommend, but he is
poweress to legislate, except as ma
jority of the senate and the house con
cur with him. The senate and the
house are also independent of each
other, each having veto over the other,
and the president has veto over both.
except that the senate and house can.
by two-thirds vote, override the presi-
dents veto. The influence of the presi-
dent over legislation, is therefore. linn
tied; he shares responsibility with a
| tives.
Even In the enforcement of the law
he is hedged about by restrictions. He
acts through an attorney general
(whose appointment must be approved
by the senatel and offenders against
the law must be prosecuted in the
courts, so that here again the RESPONSE
bility is divided. In the making of
important appointments. too. he must
consult the senate, and is, of necessity,
compelled to exercise care and discre-
ton
The most important requisite in
| president, as in other officials, is that
his sympathy shall be with the whole
| people rather than with any fraction
of the population. He is constantly
called upon to act in the capacity of a
judge-deciding between the opportuni-
| ties of those who seek favors and the
rights and interests of the public. I'm
less his sympathies are right the few
are sure to have an advantage over the
many, for the masses have no one to
| present their claims. They act only at
| elections, and must trust to their rep
| resentatives to protect them from all
| their foes.
Second, the president must have
knowledge of public questions and the
| ability to discern between the true and
| the false he must be able to analyze
| the conditions and to detect the sophis-
| tries that are always employed by those
who seek unfair advantages. He must
tbn cto
| against the influences that are brought
| to bear in favor Of special interests. In
| fact, the quality of moral courage is as
essential in a public official as either
right sympathies or trained mind.
A president must have counselors.
| and, to make wise use Of counselors, he
must be open to convictions. The presi-
dent is committed by his platform to
certain policies, and the platform is
binding; he Is also committed to certain
principles of government, and these he
is duty bound to apply in all matters
| that come before him. But there is q
| wide zone In which he must act upon
his own judgment, and here he ought to
have the aid of intelligent, conscientious
and faithful advisers.
The law provides these, to a certain
extent in giving him cabinet, and the
vice president ought to be made men,
Der Of the cabinet ex-officio in order,
first, that the president may have the
benefit Of his wisdom and knowledge
Of affairs, and, second, that the vice
president may be better prepared to
take up the work Of the president In
case of vacancy in the presidential
office.
There ought to be cordial relations
also between the president and those
who occupy positions Of influence in
the coordinate branches of the govern
ment, for our government is not a one
man government, but a government in
which the chosen representatives of
the people labor together to give express
sion to the will Of the voters
But the presidency is the highest DO |
sition in the world, and its occupant
is an important factor in all national
matters. II he is a devout believer in
our theory Of government. recognizes
the constitutional distribution of DOW
ers, trusts thoroughly in the people and |
fully sympathizes with them In their |
aspirations and hopes, he has an op- |
portunity to do a splendid work; he oc- |
cupies a vantage ground from which |
he can exert wholesome influence in |
favor of each forward movement.
The responsibilities of the office are |
so great that the occupant ought to he |
relieved Of every personal ambition. |
save the ambition to prove worthy of |
the confidence of his countrymen. For
this reason, he ought to enter the posi-. |
ton without thought or prospect of a |
second term.
Two Boys and a Girl Drowned
Three children were drowned at |
Danforth, Me-, by the capslzing of