Norwich bulletin., 1920-02-24
WASHINGTON AFFAIRS
Especial to The Bulletin, !,

of renewed distrust of the presidents ability to act with calm judgment
 and discretion, and the filing in con-
 gress of many bills to determine under what circumstances the vice president | should assume presidential duties, ac- l cording to the Constitution. The clause reads "in case of the removal i of the president from office, or his
 death, resignation or inability to dis
 charge the powers and duties of said office, the same shall devolve on the vice president question of who | shall determine when such inability
 exsists has never been brought up but under the present circumstances,
 where the president has been absent i from his executive olive fifteen months, either through absence from | the country or illness, the matter of
 interpretation is of great moment.
 A number of resolutions are now be-
 l fore congress, most of them naming
 the supreme court of the United States
 to be the determining body, as that 1 is strictly non partisan and the court to which matters of constitutional in- depreciation would naturally be re-
 ferred. Until the president himself gave evidence that he was personally attending to official business congress refrained from action, but now the matter is likely to be pressed to a finish. The president still remains in strict seculsion, a three minute inter
 view with the three labor union men last week. being the only exception made. It is understood that the ''in- terview. that consisted of the hand ing of a paper by the president to the leader of the little delegation and the
 single remark by the president T still have some punch left" Dr. Dercum, the alienists from Philadelphia, who has attended the president since his parlaytic shock last September and Dr. Grayson were at the white house
 most of that day. Since then no one has gained even glimpse of the presi- dent. The air is again full of rumors and there is great distrust as to his ability to deal with the diplomatic
 and domestic matters now agitating the country and the korld. The demo- .l cratic leaders are much perturbed over the situation. They are without a leader on the eve of selecting delegates I for the national convention, and at the moment when the peace treaty
 is tumbling down on their hands. The
 adn1inistra tion spokesman Senator Hitchcock is in an embarrassing posi- I ton. He neither can, nor dares at
 tempt to, explain what the president l will do regarding the treaty, as he
 can't obtain it first hand and if given
 second hand might be later repudiated , by the president, as were MT Lansing s
 acts Its a bad mixup. The latest speculation regarding the treaty points to the failure to secure the needed 64 votes to ratify and that the Knox re-
 solution declaring peace, or one drawn along similar lines, will be adopted by congress within a. few weeks or pos !, | cib Than thn league can be revived or left for the president to withdraw, as the case may
 be. There is so much pressing nation
 al business waiting and the senate is in
 no mood to waste weeks in useless discussion and rehash of a situation that has undergone no change. MT Hitchcock will permit no alteration in article X, speaking for the ad- l ministration last ditchers and the [ majority of Senators will. not consent to it's adoption as it stands. That : would seem to end it for the present
 Although over night predictions are , still built on pretty shaky founda-
 tions. And all Washington is watch
 ing for another move by the president either in the way of cabinet appoint
 ments statements or repudfation oi l some of the acts of cabinet members r during his illness, or the treaty.
 It is strange that in the more than 2 : century that the constitution has beer 9 in force this is the first time that 2 = president has been in a condition tC 2 make invoca ton of the law probable f When Lincoln, Garfield, Mckinley anC E others who died in office were ineap-
 able of performing the duties of the
 office, the time between their seizure
 and death was no short that no neeC of presidential action. Now the coun-
 try is demanding something be done to clarify tke law should another ex. 9 ergency arise, and the matter is tS 3 be pressed to finish, according tt s present plans. Many informal lega 2 opinions have been given regarding Q the interpretation of the constitution
 ;tS to when and how and on what au o thority the president shall assum :, the duties of president, but they diff y fe~ widely. Naturally a vice -presiden would decline to step into the shoes 0 2 a president until he knew they woult t fit. Mir. Marshall has gracefully side ,. stepped whenever the subject has beel h broached, although he is an excellen n constitutional lawyer and has probabl. f given the matter more study than -ha V any one else. But all through tn 2. long illness of the President and hi J. President has conducted himself witt . great tact and discretion, and it Y unlikely he can now be drawn int If any other phase of his office eXeep @ that of presiding officer of the senate n unless authorized to do so by som
 act of congress or the supreme couri
 Visitors to the capitol, who happa
 to pass the congressional barber sho I, on the street floor, at a time of da II .vhen legislation lags, often hear Oar kie hymns and old time plaHtatio
 melodies sung in a way that make
 tk em stop and listen; and if they ar IS guilty of 'peeking in they stop stI el longer. They are apt to see severs O. the most dignified and inlluenti'
 ] leacers of congress, includ:ng Speake .e G!liclt and floor leader Monde. ,+ stretched back in barber chairs, wit Y faces lathered, humming CT siagn: hastily, as the father an1 razo, ina
 permit It I.3ust be exp4a;1>I Ina " i'rince, the coiored barber w!o beat = t:zl4 W; h l:piifted razor anl strop
 n cae:r ltader ill one of the .nany CUioI
 ell clurenea here. More oVer lt:s CGl
 cred assistants have the real dark s@inE Q their songs. Tn2y beg.a | ,. humming saftly, but soon the gfta
 marble corridor rings with oltl tin 'l melodies. It's grown to ha5:t fc
 G.is.t, Mnadcil, Hamilton of 9licuIsal
 MoaAhan cf Wisconsin, Ups''lw { 1t Georgia, and half dozen or mol t. others, all with good voices of the > own, to drop in for shave about tf l., same time. Upshaw is a Georgi
 member of congress and revivaliSi