The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-10-22
and which he has not dfsavowed.

and which he has not disavowed. It states that in the early part of this year, while Republican legisIa- ton pending in Congress was opposed
 by certain Republicans the President felt it to be his duty to the party and to the country to withhold federal
 patronage from certain senators and congressman, who seemed to be in opposition to the administrators ef- forts to carry out the program of the party platform.
 The President feels that the value of federal patronage has been greatly exaggerated and that the refusal to
 grant it has probably been more use~
 full to the men affected than the ap~
 pointments would have been. In the
 preliminary skirnishes in certain
 states like Wisconsin and Iowa and elsewhere, he was willing in the in-
 terest of what the leaders believed
 would lead to party success to make
 certain discriminatiors; but the Pres
 ident has concluded that it is his duty
 now to treat all Republican congress-
 men and senators alike, without any
 distinction. He will now follow the
 usual rule in Republican congression
 al districts and states and follow the
 recomm mendations made by Republi- can congressman and senators, of whatever shade of political opinion.
 only requiring that the men recOm-
 mended shall be good men, the most
 competent and the best fitted for the particular office.
 The people have long heard that this was the way in which business was managed at Washington. Now they know it. The President of the he calls the usual rule'' and that it was a few months ago his duty to his party and his country to withhold federal patronage from certain Re- publican senators and scongressmen, because they opposed the policy of the administration. Patronage then is club to enforce a and Iqerease the ie not to be held bound to examine for himself as to qualifications for minor offices. He will take the word of the 1ocaI representatives of his party and follow their dictation.
 There is nothing new in this. It has been done by many, to some ex- tent, I supposed, by all his predeces- sors. But it is wrong in principle. It is not what the framers of the Con- stitution contemplated. They thought that the activities of the federal gov ernment would be so limited that tn he President and his cabinet officers could themselves maintain some per- sona1 acquaintance with those from whom selection would naturally be
 made for any important official ap- pointm ents. With the growth of the country, this has become impossible. Hence the Presidents threw off the responsibility senators and con gressmen- Hence bad men, and weak men, and inefficient men, get in. Hence also the President can and does use his power of nomination to influence legislation, and thus the
 
 dependence of the members of the legislative department. What is the remedy? To prevent the President from following the mendations of his party sup porters? That cannot be done. | Practically there is no other way. He cannot know personally one out of a | hundred of those for whose appoint l ment he is responsible
 The remedy is to reduce or cer- tainly to stop increasing, the extent | SoIa left to the states. Congress has enormously multiplied of late years the number of crimes against the United States. This enormously mu1- tiplies the number of officials to de- tect evasions of the new statutes. It CT of the President to favor certain men or certain interests by directing prosecutions against them to be dropped, or forbidding them to be brought. We have got to the posi- ton, in some sort, which the Stuart kings of England assumed, of pre- laws, of dispensing with the execu- ton of some of them, altogether.
 A few years ago there was a Wall street panic. The biggest corpora -ion in the country, the United States Steel Company, had a chance to buyl 1p the control of a rival corporation, money in it for them. It was prob ably a good thing that they should ouy it, for the Wall street world, where a whole row of hanks were shaken and tottering. But it would De contrary to the Sherman act. The United States SteeeI Company man ; lgers hurried on to Washington, if we can believe the newspapers, got he assurance of President Roosevelt hat they should not be prosecuted f they made the purchase and broke he law. They made the purchase. They broke the law. They have not ,een prosecuted.
 A nation with an executive magis- rate able to cross the path of jus ice in this way, must take especial ,ains that it's laws-the execution of which he may dispense with shall be ew- Then only will the occasions vhen he can exercise such power be CIV. The states, if the Democratic l arty prevails, will soon be re-occupy- ng their ancient fields.
 A courageous member of the Eng ( sh House of Commons, 100 years t go proposed and carried through his resolution: That the powers of T he crown had increased, were in reasing, and ought to be diminished. c The Democratic party wants to put t at Washington who will t ot fear-in the face of Republican V pposition, in the face of the illusion | hat we call the New Nationalism-i c rho will not fear to declare thereJ s nd to vote there that the powers of t he federal government have iD-