New-York tribune., 1912-02-28
%Utterance OF a Leader

United States.
%Utterance OF Leader
Continuing, Senator Rayncr said in part:
If proposition Of this sort had been ad-
vanced BY an ordinary agitator or by an
the people would understand that II was
utterly meaning less. and II would Involve
no actual danger to the repubHc. VIC Hlust
realize, however, That TINS - the H'lcIa,c,
of a political leader who occupies to-day
as prominent place before the pubnc as
any one in the country, who Is gitted WIN
tremendous power, who commands great
popularity, and who for seven years oCCu-
pied the position of President Of the United
States and who is now candidate again
Tor the. Office ~
People who regard this merely as MP
pant and impulsiVc utteranCe OF "A candidate
for public Office who IS trying TO attract
public favor are making a great mistake
In my judgment the eX-Presldent has been
over this proposition Tor years
and. contrary To his usual custom. 1t ~ the
result OF profound study and investigation
upon his part of the judicial history of TIA"
He has always been hostile 10
the decisions Of the courts whenever they
conflcted with his own views, and he has
over and over again. In private ana IN
public. given expression to his opposition
to them.
Mr.. Roosevelt's Motive.
Now. there is a motive for all this. and
there is a cause for this attack upon the
you what ~ is. n arises from tho fact that
when Mr. Roosevelt was President he was
not allowed TO influence and control the
decisions Of the courts, and they declined
TO pass under the domination of his arhi-
trary and imperious will. OF course, judges
are only human. they have made mis-
takes and their adjudications are not d.
vine; but one thing they have done 10
their eternal credit, and that is that they
have stood~as a barrier between him and
usurpstIon.
During the whole Of his administration
he had an idea lingering in his mind that
II was the duty Of the courts 10 carry out
tho policy Of the executive branch Oi the
and this belief was connected
with another idea, and that was that so
far aE executive functions were concerned,
he was absolutely supreme, unlimited by
the speciicat tons Of the instrument that
CT eated them.
In order 10 do away with a great deal
Of unnecessary Intermediary process" the
Senator said he had written a few amend
ments 10 the Constitution for the ex-Pres-
ident which he would like To tender him
"if he IS again called To he throne" The
from which he read at
length, would invest I'm the colonel all the
powers Of government, legisls tive. exec.
utite and judicial, in order that he might
properly govern the people. who have
called upon me to preside over t.. ir des-
tinies," etc. He continued:
I believe that there are large number
of Mr. Roosevelt followers in this coun-
try who would to-day favor vesting in him
sutocratic power Our institutions under
went radical change under his adminis-
tration. He inaugurated a new era of con-
stitutional thought. He announced over
and over again, In defiance of the unbrokcn
decisions OF the courts, that under the gen
eral welfare clause Of the Constitution Con
tion that tended 10 the general welfare OF
the nation
Make no mistake. am not eYsggerat-
ing the situation. He Is perfectly sincere.
and his motive is not 2 corrupt one, and
he will do this because he is possessed with
a mad fancy that this Is and ought 10 be
an executive government. That the powers
Of the Executive ought TO override those
of the legislative and judicial branches Of
the public service; and what he proposes
is not by constitutional amendment be-
cause he knows he cannot procure II. but
by all the patronage ana al the power ana q
practically 10 force upon the country an in
depreciation of orr organic law that Will
level its distinctions and mutilate and OBJ
Itferate Its checks and balances
He will then. in the pursuit of his own
Unsuitable ambition, possess degree NJ
sutocratic power that no President of
these United states has ever attained or
would have ever dared TO exercise. except
at the risk of impeachment
Speaking for my country, and not for
my party, speaking for the autonomy and
stability of our institutions. speaking for
the Constitution in all of its parts. II we
are 10 pass in again under his yoke. with
his outstretched arm under his latest ut
terance hanging over the seat OF justice,
the refuge and bulwark of our institu-
tions. ready TO strike II down with a
wanton attack upon its integrity. then in
my Judgment. IL would have been better
tf the Constitution had never been framed
and its authors had never attempted by
an apportionment of constitutional func-
tions almost perfect in their allotment
10 construct an indissoluble union Of in
destructible states.
MORE DELEGATES FOR TAFT