Evening star., 1917-02-27
Would CURB RIGHTS
OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Group in Congress Thinks
President Seeks Powers
Above Lawmakers.
OPINION OF Mr.. FEss

From the mass OF congressional
comment on President wilson's address
to the joint session Of the House and
Senate yesterday. one clear fact was
evident today. There is considerable
element on Capitol Hill which is frank
ly jealous of the Presidents power.
1t is the belief of this group that
President Wilson. acting according to
his expressed opinion that the Presi-
dent is the real representative or
the people and that Congress merely
represents districts. has been quietly
and .'popularly" reaching out Tor e1l
the authority upon which he couid lay
MS hands since the date of his inaugu-
ration.
They point to the resignation OF Ger
tain of the cabinet who held strons
opinions counter to those held by the
President and to the power ne mas
welded over Congress itself, in support
of their contention that the Chief EX-
ecutive is putting into practice an al
legged belief that 1.-The President should
accumulate all of the power he can lay
his hands upon.
Believe He Fears New Congress.
There is no doubt in the minds of
this group that President Wilson's plea
for blanket" authority. as voiced yes
terday, was born of a dread that the
next Congress will not be as amenable
to his will as has the Sixty-fourth. And
they maintain vigorously that. while
there is no doubt as to favorable act1oh
upon each issue as the President pre-
sents it. no one branch of the govern
ment has the right to delegate its
power and responsibility to another
Congress. they say. should act with
and not through the President,
One of the clearest expressions or TINS
point of view was made this morning
by Representative Fess of Ohio. spon-
sor of the bill calling for an extra ses-
sion of Congress-, who said to a repre-
sentative of The Star:
The President in his address yeSter-
day indicated that it is not possible al
this time to ask for any specific power,
and that necessity required that he
seek general authority to cover any
condition which may arise he tod
US frankly what he wanted.
PERSONALLY, / am opposed to disar-
ranging the coordination of hte three
distinct departments of our govern
ment. There iSDnot another country IN
the whole world where the drift of
power is not, at the present time. from
the executive to the people. Here In
the United States alone the drift is the
other way and Congress yields its au-
thority to the President.
Has Political Theory.
president Wilson has political
theory. expressed in 1909 In his lectures
to Columbia University. that the Presi-
dent is the real representative of the
people and that Congress merely rep
resents districts. This theory and the
fact that he has also said that he be-
lieves the President should grasp al
the power he can makes me fearful to
delegate to him the general authority
for which he asks.
Furthermore. / believe that it would
be exceedingly cowardly for Congress
to delegate to the President its power
and responsibility, even If it had the
power to do SO. which I doubt.
There is no need at the present time
or any other time for passing over
blanket authority to President Wilson.
The Sixty-fifth Congress will cooper
ate with the President in securing the
honor and dignity of the nation. There
isn't the bit of a doubt as to what we
will do when the issue comes up.
Il am sure that the SiXty-fifth Con-
gress ought to meet early, share the
responsibilities of the hour with the
President. maintain its constitutional
right of power over war and not jeop
ardize either the present or the future
by revolutionary processes such as the
granting of blanket authority to any one"
Purpose Of Extra Session.
Commenting upon his resolution call
ing for an extra session of Congress,
Representative Fess said:
II have introduced this resolution
! calling upon Congress to meet on April
| to insure the country from any in
| Jury through lack of power and at the
| same time to share with the President
| the responsibilities which may come,
| There are abundant precedents Tor my
| action, we have the constitutional right,
| and | shall press for action in the near
| future"