Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-06-28

| spite or mis- somewhat stormy nrSt TERM
he was still more or less of a popular
idol, and there was little opposition to
his denomination. The question Of the
| choice of a candidate for vice president
was still open, however, and a nation
al Democratic convention-the first
known to our political history-was
called to meet at Baltimore to discuss
it, Jackson pushed Van Buren to the
| front, but even the generals great pop
ularity did not disarm the hostility
| felt in certain quarters toward Van
Buren, on account of his attitude to-
| ward the United States bank and some
| supposed aristocratic leanings. So In
order to make the path to the vice
presidency difficult a resolution was
| adopted that "two-thirds Of the whole
number of votes in the convention
shall be necessary to constitute a
choice" Van Buren, carried off enough
votes to secure this nomination, and
| from that day to this, although occa-
sional attempts have been made to get
rid Of the two-thirds rule, the party
still clings to 1t as a traditional meas
| ure Of safety.
Fate of Vice Presidents.
OF the twenty seven vice presidents
of the United States six, or nearly
one quarter Of the whole number, have
died in office, five are still living, elev-
en- were senator's before they were
chosen vice president, two were sena-
tors before and after, and two entered
the senate for the first time after re-
tiring from the vice presidency.
More than once when a vice presi-
dent has succeeded a president through
the latter's death in office the question
has been raised by constitutional soph-
lists whether the successor became
president actually or only nominally.
On one such occasion a leading news
paper insisted for awhile on styling
him the acting president" The con-
stitution provides merely that in case
of the removal Of the president from
office or his death, resignation or in
ability to discharge its powers and du-
ties those powers and duties shall de-
volve upon the vice president.
This provision is so broad as to leove
still unsettled the question whether the
preside6cy itself passes along with the
responsibilities falling to the lot Of the
second in command. 1t is easy enough
to answer that If the president dies, re-
signs or is removed the man elected
president ceases to be president and as
his successor, resworn as a prelimi-
nary to take up the reins Of govern
ment, the vice president becomes all
the president there is. In such a stu
alton certainly no one would be in a
position to contest with him the title
and rank any more than the compen-
sation of the higher office.
Unique Question.
But what happens when Mr.. Roose-
Welt goes to Panama or Mr.. Taft to
Mexico? What happens when presi-
dent steps aboard a foreign warship In
one of our ports or returns the cere-
monial call of a distinguished visitor
in Washington, not at his hotel, but at
the embassy of his sovereign? In any
of these instances, no matter how short
his stay, the president puts himself
actually or constructively outside Of
the Jurisdiction of the United States
and could not perform under the for
eign flag a presidential function which
would be technically valid. In those
intervals do the powers and duties OF
the president devolve automatically
upon the vice president and return also
automatically, to the president as soon
as his disability ceases to exist?
Undoubtedly, were a serious case to
arise under such circumstances, re-
auiring instant action by the chief ex-
ecutive officer of our government, the
vice president would be justified in
acting. The same would be true If the
| president were stricken down with an
illness which deprived him temporarily
of his bodily or mental powers.
Seat at Cabinet Table.
And this calls up the fact that
great deal has been said for and
against a proposal to give the vice
president a regular seat at the cabinet
| table. The principal arguments raised
against it hinge on the circumstance
| that there is no separate portfolio
which could properly be assigned to
him and hence that he would have no
| independent administrative duties;
| that he would be nondescript among
| functionaries with well defined spheres
of activity, stranger in the midst OF
an official family circle, a single idler
| i'm a group of busy men. Against these
objections is set up the idea that by
virtue of his office he is supposed to be
an understudy to the president, al
ways prepared to take the latter's place
at an hours notice; that, in order to
do this acceptably, he must be in con-
| slant touch with what his chief is do
| ing and understand the motives actu-
ating every item in the administrative
program.
The detached attitude of the vice
president toward the rest of the ad-
ministration may not be chiefly ac-
countable for the sighting regard In
which his office is commonly held. II
he attended the cabinet councils, even
though only as a spectator and COM
mentator and without having any vote
or other direct responsibility, he would
be in a better position to serve as an
interpreter for the administration when
necessary, could consult with the ad-
ministration's spokesmen in the SEN
ate and could like the heads of the
executive departments, take a perfect
ly becoming part as a speaker in cam
paigns as an authorized representative
of the president
Wanted Him to Be Brief.-Repre-