El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-30

] a n
Prbably a hundred letters of days
/ Nc may be answered by a single form
! iettF, without even engaging the at
/ fenfpn Of the secretary TO the presl-
! "a Several hundred of the remain
| Js- fill be distributed to the various
! dena kments and perhaps less than
| baIf Fill reach even the secretary 70
~ esident. OF those which do, the
/ sacre+lry makes digest and when the
nresiIit has a moment of leisure his
J sssc-a+.Ay gives him their substance
/ ana 7-Aeives instructions as to the
/ ~eDIias 40 be made. Letters are often
/ addresef6 TO the president and MS
wife M ked personal and private
b,1t +bek marks are necessarily dis
regardett Only letters initiated by
inffr7are PERSONAL and political friends
reach fbMDresident unopened.
81 All Sorts of Pleas.
ProbabTN no other official in the
world REQ yes more begging letters
than the ~ 4asident of the United States
1t is estimt ted that in many instances
the lettersV of this nature received in
the course ~ a single day ask for as
much as 81 900 in the aggregate.
Often the otter writing procltvities
of the bega ars are stimulated by
jokes which, the Washington CORE
spondents sol petimes perpetrate upon
the presidenE When Mr. Roosevelt
first enumerated his celebrated antirace
suicide doctrine. some humorous news
paper Ws<lter sent out story to the
effect that the president had received
IS ~h~aby carriages. 1t was published
bfoaocasL and hundreds of poor fami-
,-Nages.
Writing to the president has be-
eoFfle more general in recent years
thaF formerly. 1t is said that during
the I Grant administration the eXecu-
tive Nforce used to play croquet during
the Hul hours of the day and only
upon tine arrival of the mail would be
summPned 10 the executive offices.
q = = a-A al na.nar nd
the waist amount Of routine business
make 3he heaviest demands upon the
time OK the president. During the
first thrfe or four weeks of his admin
istrat1onA ne may have to shake hands
with from $4,000 to 5000 people.
Unless hei learns to grip the hand of
his visitOE before the visitor grips
him, he IS Asure 10 have a badly swol-
len arm 4he president may transact
the business Of his office at any place
he may elecf, and there is nothing to
prevent his spending the major pOr-
ton Of mis- Ntime elsewhere than in
| Washington. Congress once asked
president Grant to advise IL as to what
part Of his duties were performed out
side of the District OF Columbia. He
replied in polite, but none the less
congress business. Never since then
! has this right been questioned. There
( is nothing in the constitution which
prohibits the president from going be-
U
/ but Mr.. Cleveland was the first presi-
] dent to do so. On a fishing trip he
I went beyond the three mile limit in
I the Atlantic ocean.
Can Veto Congressional Acts.
J Aside from the great power accru-
! ing to the president through his right
/ to appoint all Of the admins ira tive
/ officers of the government and to
! supervise the expendituru~ OF tH5, bill
/ lions Of dollars appropriated by cont
/ gress, and beyond the prestige which
/ his office gives him. he possesses the
/ power which, -prior to the administra-
/ ton OF Arizona and New Mexico,
/ amounted to the legislative influence
/ Of IA senators and 65 representative,
! tnls many votes being required in
{ addition TO a majority to override his
] veto. The only method by which the
! president can be thWarted in his pur-
/ pose by congress, so long as he keeps
! within his constitutional powers is
Z by It's refusal to appropriate the money
/ ne needs for carrying out his plans.
/ AS commander in chief of the army
! ne has the right to handle it as he
! sees fit But congress controls the
appropriation for the support of the
army, and it provides that this money
snail be available only when the army
IS handled in specific way. This
I same check upon the president is
used in other instances.
The person Of the president is in
I ylolable during his term of office
Theoretically he cannot be arrested or
restrained by any official, even should
I he commit murder The only remedy
( against him while president is the
| cumbersome proceedings of impeach-
ment. Even in these proceedings he
! cannot be compelled to answer, to at
tend, or to do any other thing which
| IN the slightest degree might Interfere
| with his personal liberty. This is
/ upon the theory that such restraint
would restrict either the negat tive or
the positive powers of his office and
I enable other individuals to circumvent
/ the supreme authority of the cOustitu-
ton. In practice, however. the presi-
dent may be arrested and otherwise
restrained Gen. Grant was once ar
rested by a negro policeman for fast
driving. He commended the officer
Tor doing his duty. put up $50 cOllat-
eraI and forfeited ii in the police court
next day.
Courts Respect President.
AS far as the courts are concerned
the president may also do as he
pleases. Interested parties have sought
to restrain him from doing certain
! things by Injunction proceedings. or
compel MIN to do other things by man
damus, but the courts have uniformly
refused to take any action hampering
the discretionary power of the presf-
dent Congress and the president often
I clash, but the judiciary and the presi-
/ dent seldom do. In one instance chief
justice Marshall handed down an Opin-
| ion with reference to an indian tribe,
! which did not suit president jackson
l who declared: John Marshall has
made his decision, now let him enforce
it,"
While many people complain that the
| president is q poorly paid and poorly
housed chief executive considering the
size and Importance of the American
nation, nevertheless he manages to
I'VE IN style which would be pleas
ing TO the average American citizen
The annual aDDrOpria tfOn Fo- tho