New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-06-10
War, the Constitution
Maker
1CourteSB of The New Republic

81
=. republcanism somewhat violent wrench.
vortnnately. the trainers Of the Constitution
r.re not wholly unaware Of the difficulty
.-s;cb they proceeded to meet by comforting
=, tbe President as commander in chief Of
.ss army and navy all the prerogatives of
.,onarchy in connection with war-making, ex-
.,,t only the power to declare war and the
,over 10 create armed forces. The clause of
no Constitution which makes the President
.omrander in chief may accordingly be de-
,,ribed as the elastic block in the closed circle
# consttutionalism; in the heat Of war the
movers it cOnfers are capable of expanding
tremendously. but upon the restoration of nor
nal conditions they shrink with equal rapidly
The true nature of the Presidential preroga-
tive in war time was comprehended by Lincoln
nerfectly. who. when he was confronted with
the argument that some of his measures were
likely TO constitute precedents injurious to lib
er,y. answered the objection to his character
is.ic strain: "Nor," said he, "am | able to
appreciate the danger apprehended that the
American people will, by means of military
arrests during the rebellion, lose the right OF
pubic discussion, the liberty Of speech and the
press. the laws of evidence, trial by jury and
habeas corpus throughout the indefinite peace
ful future which l trust lies before them, any
more than l am able to believe that a man
could contract so strong an appetite for emetcs
during a temporary illness as to persist in
feeding upon them during the remainder of his
bsalthful life" History has amply indicated
Iincon's judgment in this matter, for the di-
rect effect of the Civil War in the way of en-
arging national power or of altering the rela-
tons Of the different branches Of the national
rvernment to one another was comparatively
slight.
viii those Of us who survive be able to say
the same Of the present war fifty years hence?
Probably not at any rate, if the war is pro-
longed For it requires no inordinate insight
to recognize already the beginnings Of what
may well prove to be revolutionary develop
ments in our system.
Despite much that has been said implying
re contrary, it is extremely unlikely that our
.gticipaton in the present war will exact OF
rs sacrifices at all approaching those with
which our forefathers met the war for the
Union. But our participation will be for the
most part, it seems probable, of a different
order and so will produce different results.
The Civil War was war in the most elementary
sense Of the term; our assistance to the Allies,
even though we eventually send a considerable
army abroad, must still be primarily financial
and industrial And this means the regimen
tation Of industry and commerce on a national
scale. Il means, if Congress follows the Presi-
dent in this mater, lodging in the hands Of the
national Executive the power to direct trans
por;ation, TO control exports, TO prevent-in the
Presidents own worG-"all unwarranted
boarding Of every kind and the control Of food
stufIs by persons who are not in any legitimate
sense producers, dealers or traders" the power
to requsiton food supplies to meet public need
and Of the equipment necessary to handle them,
the power TO prohibit unnecessary and wasteful
use Of foods, and finally the power to fix maxi
nun and minimum prices. No doubt many of
the measures suggested in the Presidents state
ment Of Saturday, May 49, which have just
psraphrased, will be of a purely emergency
character and so will pass out of existence
with the war. Yet it is clear that for some of
them, and for others Of a similar nature, the
way had already been paved both by industrial
Development and political agitation long before
our entrance into the war had been thought Of.
Measures Of this description look toward the
permanent reshaping Of both our governmental
and our industrial systems, and the power upon
which they rest will be relaxed only in part, II
a. all, with the return Of peace.
This, however, is but the beginning of the
changes which the war promises to engraft
upon our constitutional arrangements. For the
new faculties with which the national govern
rsrt will find itself endowed new channels
must be provided or else existing channels must
Be niarged. The latter is the more economical
course and already it is being resorted to.
Moreover, we again perceive the stress of the
Immediate exgency striking hands with deyel-
opments which were originally launched much
earlier. In this connection it is interesting TO
refer % a paragraph in Mr.. Wilson's own work,
The State" in which he comments upon the
admnistrativ, powers Of the French Executive
N the following manner: "The Executive Is
expected % shape the laws 20 the cases that
arise and 70 supplement them where they lack
Completeness. The laws are accordingly for
the most part themselves without detailed pro-
Visions. They give the officers Of state who are