The Hattiesburg news., 1915-02-12
Williams COMES TO
DEFENSE OF WILSON
TELLS THE SENATE THE NEED OF
THE PRESIDENTS SHIPPING
MEASURE.

| W oohAi5t WI, GU. IA.-lll
speech against the administration ship
purchase bill, in which he severely ar
raigned the president for what he
termed executive" interference with
lslegislation," Senator O'Gorman made
this statement:
Il say now that there would be as
much propriety in president of the
| United States invading the judicial de-
partment as there would be in his
domination of the legislative depart
ment; there would be just as much
propriety If the president of the United
States were to send for the chief JUS
tice of the supreme court and ask him
to come to the White House and dis
cuss pending case as there would be
If he were to send to the senate and
| command some of the senator's to go
down there and take their orders as
to what they should do in this BODY
Being an ardent and consistent sup
porter of the president and his admin
istration, Senator John Sharp Williams
promptly challenged the New York
senator's statement. He said:
THE president of the United States
is part of the legislative power of
the United States. He is made so
by the constitution itself. In the first
place, there is conferred upon him the
power to veto legislative act. He is
thus two-thirds of the legislative pow
er as final arbiter. No legislative ac-
tion can become law without his co
operation; therefore, president of
the United States who was opposed to
pending bill in congress to the extent
that If passed he would veto it, would
be merely wasting the time of the con-
gress and of the people of the United
States not to permit that fact to be
known.
"The constitution further provides
that he shall from time to time give
to the congress information of the
state of the union, and recommend to
their consideration such measures as
he shall Judge necessary and expedi-
ent.
I'm addition to the fact that the
president of the United States is, by
our federal constitution, made part
of the legislative power of the United
States and has the same right to talk
to any other citizen of the United
States about public measures that
have or the senator from Colorado
has.
when the senator from New York
arraigns the chief magistrate of this
nation at this time for talking pri-
vately to senators and members of
congress about pending measures, he
arraigns George Washington to some
extent; he arraigns Thomas jefferson
for nearly every measure that passed
during Jefferson's administration; he
arraigns Andrew Jackson, the demo-
cratic militant, who hardly spent a tlav
without talking to the members of his
party in one or both bodies of congress
about what party policies should be;
he arraigns Lincoln, the father of the
republican party, who, perhaps, next
to Jefferson, held more heart to heart
talks with members of the house and
senate than any other president of the
United States; he arraigns Grover
Cleveland, who pursued the same pol,
Icy; he arraigns Mckinley, who man.
aged the program and the policy of
the republican party while he was
president of the United States, almost
entirely from the White House, by pri-
vate conference with senator's and
with representatives.
Every great president of the Uni
ted States, regarding himself as a part
of the legislative power of the United
States, and as the selected leader of
his party, has considered himself at
liberty to talk to the other integers
constituting the legislative power
about what should be the policy of the
nation.
Moreover, as l have said once be.
fore upon this floor, this country new
er suffered by leadership. This conn
try has suffered by bossism. Leader
ship is the legitimate use by elected
persons, the choice of the people, of
the human intelligence to persuade
other human intelligence to pursue in
harmony common purpose. That
sort of leadership Madison hnd. tbn4