The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1917-05-03
Where Does Congress Come In?

w ACAC l|OCS OVA4S4 OBS COll1O III
Mr.. Balfour reached Washington on
Sunday afternoon. The following
morning he called at the white house
and, the evening of the same day, he
was entertained at dinner there. The
company was a varied one. At the
board sat the Britishers, a Canadian,
the the cabinet, officers of the army
and navy, John Shelton Williams and
w. P. G. Harding, Samuel Gompers,
Barney Baruch, Julius Rosenwald,
and Howard Coffin-all representative
Of something or other, but mostly
chosen from that group with which the
president delights to surround himself
The vice president was there, and the
speaker of the house; but no senator
or other representative thrust his legs
beneath the presidential mahogany or
ate of the three or less courses which
are now so fashionable in Washing
ton dining circles.
Yet it was congress which voted us
into the war, which granted the bill
lions which Mr.. McAdoo is about to
distribute with his crown princely hand,
and which, at that very moment, was
debating the President s proposals for
selective CONSUMPTION. The appointees
Of the President were there in force;
but of the representatives Of the peo-
pie there was none-Champ Clark to
the contrary Notwithstanding
Nv poIfo,,p oa,,Jd bar11x- hox,a fai 4
to notice this. He comes from a
country where the Parliament is, the
last repository of power, where neither
prime ministers nor any other cabinet
officers can exist without parliamentary
sanction, where the hand that holds the
purse strings controls all the destinies
Of the nation, where, of late, even the
hereditary chamber of the lords is
impotent before the representatives
Of the people.
In theory it is the same here, where
the lower house Of congress originates
taxation, where both houses exercise
joint powers in declaring war, where
the upper chamber has negative upon
the president s power Of appointment
and upon his functions in concluding
peace.
Yet the supreme body of congress
saw Mr.. Balfour and his associates only
by proxy or by stealth, In congress
there are diplomatists the equal of Mr..
Lansing, fnanciers the equal of Mr..
McAdoo, sailors the equal Of Mr..
Daniels, business men the equal Of Mr..
Redfeld, lawyers the equal of Mr.. Gre
CORY, soldiers the equal of Mr.. Baker,
farmers the equal of Mr.. Houston, la
boring men the equal of Mr.. Wilson.
But none Of them was deemed worthy
to break bread with Mr.. Balfour--and
the president, to say nothing of John
Shelton Williams and the others.
Just where does congress come m?
received its full recognition when it
has voted money into the hands of Mr.
McAdoo and power into the hands of
President Wilson? Or is congress still
a coordinate branch of the government,
with rights and privileges which ex-
tend even to social affairs and to coun-
ellis which involve the action of the
country in international relations? Mr..
Wilson and Mr.. Balfour may confer
till the cows come home, but whatever
they conclude must be sanctioned on
Capitol Hill and at Westminster before
it can be translated into action.
Westminster was represented at the
president IS board; Capitol Hill was not.
Mr.. Balfour, when he returns home,
can tell the commons about his visit at
Washington. But who is to tell con-
gress? Where does congress come ing
Or has congress been politely bowed
out?
If the government takes over the