Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-02

/ ~
! w EkN owes much to Grover CleVe-
! IM WX land. That distinguished Dem
ia WlN ocrat in his first administra-
! Ig1sEG tion succeeded in firmly es-
tablishing the independence OF
the executive. In his second admlnls-
tration he did much to destroy the IN
! dependence of the legislative branch OF
! the government by forcing congress to
take action against its will, albeit 1oI
! the sake of what Mr. Cleveland deemed
to be the best interests of the nation.
| These things were not accomplished
without a struggle, and the name Oh
Grover Cleveland goes down in history
with congress.
Mr.. jefferson was the first president
to remove men from office for political
| reasons Gen. Jackson was the first TO
appoint men to office for purely pollti-
cal reasons and frankly to avow the
| reasons therefor. Mr.. Johnson at
! tempted to follow in the footsteps of
these distinguished men, as had all the
presidents since jackson. But con-
gress, having more than two-thirds
majority in opposition to johnson, ig-
| nored his Vetoes and practically de-
stroyed the appointive power of the
| president by the tenure of office act.
| That law was modified as soon as Cen
! Grant became president, but it was
I
| senate in claiming a supervisionary
power over executive suspensions and
removals from office.
/ Cleveland came into office in 1886 as
1 the first Democratic president since the
/ Civil War. The new administration
was supported by an enthusiastic ma
jorlty in the house of representatives.
/ but the senate was Republican by a
majority of eight. Under the Old
/ tenure of office act the president was
required to report suspensions from
| office to the senate for its approval
on July H. 1885, George NJ. Duskin.
| district attorney for the southern dis
/ trict of Alabama was suspended from
office and John d. Burnett was des-
! ignated as his successor. MIR. Burnett
assumed the duties of the office at
once. When congress met in December
Mr.. Burnett's name was sent to the
/ senate for confirmation.
The Republican majority invoked the
ghost of the tenure-of f-office act, think
! ing thereby to save something IRON
! the wreck of party defeat by prevent
| ing the wholesale dismissal of Repub-
| lican oqice- holders. The suspension of
| Duskin was made the test. The senate
demanded that the attorney general
send the papers in the case to the sem
the papers relating to Burnetts fit
ness tor the position, but with none
| showing why Duslxln was removed. lie
| intimated that they We're not in his
possession. The senate then adopted an
adroitly phrased resolution asking the
president, through the attorney gen.
eral, for the papers. Whereupon Mr..
Cleveland came back with a message
to the senate which was a declaration
of independence, a defiance and
challenge, all in one. 1t was the first
of those remarkable state papers for
which Mr.. Cleveland became famous,
and ranks with such documents as
| the tariff message and the venezuela
message. Referring to the demands OF
the senate, the president said:
my oath to support and defend the
constitution, my duty to the people
who have chosen me to execute the
powers of their great office and not re-
! linquish them, and my duty to the
chief magistracy which L must pre-
serve unampaired in all its dignity and
vigor, compel me to refuse compliance
/ with these demands"
Senator Hoar and other Republican
! leaders attacked the president with
| fury, declaring that he was the first
to interfere with the plain rights OF
either house of congress, and compar-
| ing him TO King Charles l. But 1t de-
!
/ pired by limitation in December and
there was nothing to fight about The
senate went on talking, and the Re
publicans had a great deal of fun
quoting from Cleveland's speeches on
| civil service reform and contrasting
them with six hundred and forty-three
suspensions from office during the first
summer of his administration. But
the president had won the fight by his
boldness. The senate has not since
called into question the right of the
president to suspend or remove FED
eral appontees from office. In the
next session of the same congress what
remained of the tenure-of- f-office act
was formally and completely repealed
In 1893 Mr.. Cleveland came to the
white house for n second term, the
only president to return to office after
a season in retirement. He found a
large Democratic majority in the house
and the senate was also under Demo-
| cratic control The country was in
sore distress. there was great finan-
| cial panic, banks were breaking, fac
| tories were closed, men were starving,
and the whole people cried aloud for
| relief
| Everybody agreed that the financial
system of the nation needed revision.
| Some said to coin more silver others
| were equally certain that the thing to