The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-05-28
Committee
GOVERNMENT
CONDEMNED
Stimson Condemns the Present
System
Secretary Of War Praises the
.. H.. President
Address Before Law Academy
Of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, May 2S.-Government
by congressional committee was con-
demned last night by Henry L. Slim
son, secretary Of war In President
Taft's cabinet, as wretched and i'm
possible system, handicapping eff1cien-
cy and patriotism and promoting self
ishness and corruption. First aid cor
rective methods, Mr.. Stimson asserted
in an address before the Law Academy
OF Philadelphia, may be divided into
| two classes, fiscal and general legis-
lation, somewhat as follows:
Fiscal legislation-A law should be
enacted giving the president the right
to introduce into congress a budget of
| expenses for the coming year as well
| as proposals of new legislation, if any,
through which necessary revenue
might be obtained; cabinet officers
should be given a. statutory right to
| defend from the floor of the house and
the senate the portions Of such a
budget coming within their respective
departments; both houses should be
forbidden by law to add items to such
budget, except with the presidents
concurrence-or the president should
be permitted to vote individual items
in the appropriation bill.
General legislation-The president
should be permitted to introduce bills
into congress; these bills should be
given preference on the calendar over
all other bills except appropriation
bills, and amendments to them should
| be allowed only on the floor Of either
house; cabinet officers should be given
| the right to appear on the floor Of
| either house and discuss bills of gen.
eral legislation so far as they affect
their respective departments.
| Of these proposals, Mr.. Stimson
said:
mo one of them would require con-
stitutional amendment with the possi-
BILE exception Of the proposal to give
| the president the veto power over
items in the appropriation bills, and
even for the existence of this power
there can be made strong argument
from the constitution. Such power
4 exists today. in the state constitution
/ of New York" .#: -.
Incidentally, Mr.. Stimson asserted
! that President Wilson, by reading his
| message in the house of representa-
| tiVes, had finely V1ndicated the theory
| Of cooperation between the legislative
| and executive departments of govern
ment, land made a return to the
sound precedent Of Washington; but
| in order to make the reform perma-
| nente and effective there is needed the
careful construction of machinery by
which cooperation will become nor
| NAL and natural and not dramatic and
extraordinary
At the outset of his speech Mr..
Stimson said he wanted to dissent
from two methods commonly suggest
ed for remedying the present legisla-
tive system. One was that 1--WE don't
get good enough men to go to con-
gress"; the other was the referendum
as a normal and everyday method of
legislation. OF the first method, Mr..
Stimson declared his belief that men,
bers of congress and the state legisla-
lures were, on the average fairly rep
resentative of the character Of Ameri-
can business life about them; the NOR
al standards which they maintain are
rather higher than the moral stand
ards of the world about them.
II believe that the fact that their
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