Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-05-22
Constitutional Limitation.

And yet if he is deprived of every
what becomes of the argument for
q constitutional Limitation TO sin
gle term? The argument is not that
it is clearly known just how long
each President should remain in Of
fee. Four years is too long a term
for a. President who is not a true
spokesman of the people, who is inn
posed upon and does not lead. 1t is
too short a term for President who
is doing or attempting a great work
of reform and who has not had time
to finish it. To change the term to
six years would be to increase the
likelihood of its being too long with
out any assurance that it would in
happy cases be long enough. A fixed
constitutional limitation to a single
term of Office is highly arbitrary and
unsatisfactory from every point Of
view.
THE argument for it rests upon
temporary conditions which can
easily be removed by law. Presi-
dents, it is said, are effective for one
half of their term only, because they
devote their attention during the
last two years of the term to build
ing up the influences and. above all.
the Organization by which they hope
and purpose to secure a second NOM
ination and election. 1t is this
illicit power, not their legitimate in
fuence with the country. that the adj
vocates Of constitutional change
profess to be afraid Of, and heartily
cradle that any President should be
permitted to determine who should
succeed him-himself or another, by
patronage or coercion, or by any sort
of control of the machinery by which
the delegates to the nominating con-
yention are chosen.
There ought never to be another
presidential nominating convention
and there never need be another.
Several of the states have success
fully solved that difficulty with re-
gard to the choice of their governors,
and federal law can solve 1t In the
same way with regard to the choice of
their Presidents. The nominations
should be made directly by the people
at the polls; conventions should de-
termine nothing but party platforms
and should be made up OF the men
carry those platforms into effect 1t
is not necessary to attend to the
neonle's business by constitutional
Amendment if you will only actually
nut the business into the peoples
own hands.
that that will be done within the next
four wears; for it can be done by
statute. 1t need not wait for consti-
tutional change. That being DONE the
question of the presidential term can
be discussed on its merits.
Presidency Undergoing Change.
"It must be clear to everybody who
has studied our political development
at all that the character of the presi-
dency is passing through a transit
tional change. We know what the Of
Ace is now and what use must be
made of it, but we do not know what
it is going to work into. and until we
do know we shall not know what
constitutional change. If any is need
ed. it would be best to make.
II must speak with absolute free.
dom and candor in this matter or not
speak at all and 1t seems to me that
the present position of the presidency
in our actual system as we use it is
quite abnormal and must lead eyentu-
ally to something very different. He
is expected by the nation to be the
leader of his party as we'll az the
chief executive officer of the govern
-(Continued on Second Paee.