The Glasgow courier., 1920-02-27
Root Charges Democrats Have Great.
ed Dictatorship-Should Decent
ralize Executive Powers.

Elihu Root outlined at the repub
lican state convention last Thursda,
in New York the platform on whicl
he believes the party should 60 to tn
pollslin November. Most striking O.
his proposals were:
Decentralization Of the executiv,
powers which have made the presi
dent "more autocratic than any SOY.
ereign in the civilized world"
Ratification of the peace treaty with
senate amendments, 'long before the
presidential elections"
Reform of the league Of nations
covenant by congress of nations at
the call of republican president i'm
mediately after March A, 1921, to es-
tablish "the rule of public right, rath-
er than the rule Of mere expediency."
Radical governmental economy and
the adoption of an executive budget.
Limitation of the right to strike
at point where it conflicts with self
preservation of the community; es-
tablishment Of labor tribunal with
power to enforce its mandates.
Revision of the system of taxation,
(which involves the tariff"
Americanization and elimination of
a "lot of BolsheviE or Bolsheviki SYM
pathizers from public office"
Universal military training.
Restore Liberty.
"Nore important tAan ALL" Mr..
Root said, "is the necessity that we
shall restore our republican form of
government with the liberty of the in
dividual citizens preserved by limita-
tions upon official power and put an
end to the dictatorship which was Gre
ated in order to carry on the war. By
series of statutes unprecedented in
scope and liberality, with singleness
of purpose and patriotic devotion
worthy of all praise, the American
people conferred upon the president
powers broader and more autocratic
than were possessed by any sovereign
in the civilized world. Our capacity
for effort, our fortunes, our liberty
of conduct, our lives, were freely pla- i
ced at the disposal of an executive
whose authority was so vast that its
limits were an imprecation.
"The authority was exercised by the
president, by his heads of departments,
by bureau chiefs, his government
agents, and his personal agents, be-
cause the people of America were
ready for any sacrifice to win the war.
War Powers Continue.
"Peace has come, in fact, if not tech
nically; but the war powers of the
executive still continue. They should
be brought to an end. 1t is not sim
pie thing, new conditions have been
created which should be dealt with
at the same time by new statutes
adapted to the conditions of peace, and
subject to the limitations upon the
power of our constitutional system.
"There is a double immediate pur-
pose to be served. One, to restore
the habit of freedom. It is dangerous
for people to acquire the habit of
bowling to presidents without limits.
They soon become subservient, and
their character essential to degener-
ates. The other to stop a multitude
Of interferences, ill-judged though we'll
meant, with the natural course of bus
mess through which alone natural laws
can operate to restore normal condi-
tions."
The appeal of President Wilson in
October, 1918, for the election of a
democratic congress, he declared, "was
a demand for the continuance of su-
preme power by the election of con-
gress which would submit itself to the
orders of an executive acting at once
as party leader in politics, and die
tator in government. It was the in
stinct of American democracy that re-
PEELED the demand"
Defies Authority.
The presidents defiance of the au-
thority of the senate to advise upon
the covenant of the league of nations
and to give or withhold its consent
to the ratification of the League of
Nations and to give or withhold it's
to the ratification of the treatv
it," he continued, "was an :
assertion of right to continue the same 1
autocratic powers" 1t was challenge |
to the right of any officer of the Unit I
ed States government to exercise his I
powers in any way which had not the
of the chief executive. s