Norwich bulletin., 1916-11-01
POLITICAL
My Conception of the Presidency.
 By Charles Evans Hughes.


 On the eve of election day the American people are entitled to a summary of the things I have stood for in this campaign, as they are the things stand for as President.
 No man can tell in advance what unexpected demands the next four years may present but one whose con- upon fundamental principles can des- cribe with entire sincerity how the problems of administration would be approached and in what spirit they would be solved.
 A man charged with the duty of reaching desired goal knows that the road to it is found. in following the path which sound judgment and clear vision open up step by step. l can show the road 1 expect tn travel.
 I propose first of all to start right. The, President is primarily an execu- tive. It is his supreme duty to attend to the business of the nation, to safe guard its interests, to anticipate its needs to enforce its laws.
 The first act of a President who takes this view of his duties is to call about him the ablest cabinet the coun- try can furnish, men who can deal with the tremendous international and domestic problems which will confront us in the next four years. My conception of the Presidency
 
 Wilson. I look upon the President as the administrative head of the govern ment- He looks upon the President as primarily the political leader and lawmaker of the nation.
 In the two departments of govern ment most closely touching our for eign relations-the Department of State and the Department of the Navy he chose men whom he knew to be wholly unequal to their duties. Ad- ministrative obligation was subordin- ated to political exigency. I can as- sure the country that any .administra- ton under my direction will stand up- | on sound administrative ground with the ablest cabinet the country can supply.
 Across the road we are to travel this next four years, even though we and courage, serious hazards are thrown like breaks in a roadway made by torrent1al rain. These all rise put of the war torrent which has overwhelmed Europe. The first has to do with our foreign relations. It is the Presidents duty to safeguard the interests of our own nation and to preserve the friendship of every oth- CT nation.
 No man is more determined than to maintain the peace which the Uni ted States, Spain, Sweden, Norway and all the American republics now enjoy. But I should seek to maintain that peace by q firm and courteous in sistence on the rights of our citizens at home and abroad.
 r An American in Mexico is subject to Mexican law, but he is an American still and is entitled to the protection of his own government in his lawful business. For one I shall never con- sent to a policy which leaves Ameri- cans helpless against the lawlessness of any country in which they have a | right to do business.
 There confronts labor in the next four years a condition more serious than any that American laboring men l have been called upon to face. When | this war began over a million Ameri- can working men were seeking vainly | for employment. When the war ends and the developed energies of a new Europe are thrown into comercia1 pro- | duction, our nation will face com petition such as 1t never knew. i One of two things must happen either millions of men will be seeking work in vain or else there must be