New Ulm review., 1913-04-16

i tt sDOOvOS Aa4 +s
Washington, b, q. APR. Il, 1913.
These srs surely red.ls.ssr dsys for
tho visitors IN Washington Of whom
there srs not : few st this time Of the
year, With suffrsgettss In frequent
psrsdes and q special session just
under way there 10 afforded ample
entertainment for the most exactinR.
JUST the other day the President rode
to the Capitol 70 deliver 10 person his
message 70 the specisl session Of
Congress called TO revise the tariff.
That wss red-letter day Of the first
order. Not for over . century had .
President appeared in person before :
joint sssemblsge Of tho House and
Senate to deliver his message.
Il Is true that MANY said shat It
could not be done with propriety.
Yet It was done, and % we'll that every
one praised the doing. When the
announcement was made that President
Wilson would again overturn custom
by appearing st the Capitol there was
hum Of comment from one end of the
Capital to the other. AT the House
end most Of this comment wAs Of the
favorable sort. But over in the north
wing Of the Capitol. where the Senate
sits, it was quite different. Many Of
me Senators had their serious
: doubts'' % to tho wisdom and
especially the "propriety" of revivin.
. custom long ago fallen into disuse.
Not since November u, 1900, these
critics asserted, had : message been
delivered BY the President In person.
There was no logical reason, they
said, tor return to this almost-for.
gotten practice of tho fathers. To
revive It would be TO establish .
dangerous precedent. II would mean
encroschine upon the rights, domains
and prerogstives Of the legislative
branch Of the government. Much In
this fashion they argued.
Senator John Sharp Williams Of
Mississippi was among those who
opposed. In the Senate be said: 81
for one much regret that the President
had chosen to take this course. OF
course, whether this course be pursued
or not it is not going to materially
affect the legislative interests of the
American people. But the Old
Federalist custom in imitation rf the
English custom of making "speeches"
from the throne, when it was once
disused, fell by unanimous consent
into subsequent constant disuse and
ridicule; and it did SO because the
common sense underlying the method
of sending written communication to
Congress was obvious and plain to
every body, and because of the fact
that 1t was so much more in accord
with American Republican institu-
tions than the old observance, with
its pomposities and its cavalcadings,
had been. The President is acting
both within his right and his power.
He has . perfect right to communicate
with Congress in either way-either
by void of mouth or by written
message"
Yes, history was made on Capitol
Hill on the afternoon of Tuesday,
April 8. The President came and it
was all over in less than ten minutes.
he read his carefully prepared
message of twelve hundred words
from the clerks desk directly in front
of the Speaker and the Vice President.
II was all done SO simply, yet so i'm.
pressively, without any show or osten-
tstion, that there we're none to censu re. |
Some had expressed misgivings and
direful apprehensiOns AZ to the con-
sequences Of the revival of custom
80 long dormant, and which in its day
bad been viewed with disfavor as an
attribute of royalty. Bnt that pre-
quickly took wing as the
President, speaking in q quiet con-
tone, proceeded With his
Introductory remarks, stating that be
lad come as human being trying to
cooperate at first hand with other
,uman beings in common service.
That opening sentence ut once e-tab.
ished new bond of sympathy and
'eI stionship between the Executive
Ind legislative branches of Govern ,
nent. The gap between the Capitol
md White House had been bridged 10 {
;ut few sec"nds'time Congress and ;
he Chief Executive had been brought '
Ogether on u common human footing. q