Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1920-07-06
scandal and the firmer entrenchmen.
of the exploiters?

scandal and the firmer entrencbmo,.
of the exploiters?
The president, under our pova-,
ment, be it remembered, is tho oh;..
executive. 1t is his duty to see tbot
the federal laws are enforced on,
that the departments of the govarn
ment function properly. Beyond that
his province does not extend exco,,
under certain unusual conditions e..
which the Constitution makes snoc,.,
provision. BY reason of the yerv
great responsibility of his Office ava
the fact that he has been elected bv
the people and is supposed to senaa
their desires, his influence upon leg.
islation is naturally considerable
Yet, he can only make recommends.
tions in legislative matters. Hin
office is purely executive. An idear
of truly democratic government IN
popular choice of public policy with
an almost autocratic fulfillment ~
that policy by the chief executive. Il
is not a matter of autocratism on the
part OF the president, but a proper
official determination to carry ont
the public will as interpreted. Whero
a chief executive may err, of course.
is in substituting his personal will
for that Of the public, and the con-
stitutional safeguards that have been
set up against this have been very
rarely disregarded; we might saw
almost never with anything like &C.
rious results. President Wilson.
while possessing that firmness Of
character and that fine determine
ton, without which no man is truly
great and no man can be properly
equipped for the presidency, is no
usurper of prerogatives, no violator
of the constitutional limitations set
up about the great Office he has filed.
Applying their very early cam
paign propaganda concerning a cabi-
net for Mr.. Harding, If he should be
elected president, the republicans
even mention the names of certain
conspicuous members of their party
who would be included in the presi-
dents official family. To attempt.
openly, to climb into the presidential
chair on the backs of a number Of
named prominent public men who
are to tell president what to do aud
when to do it, is new trick in poll
ties, but it is not practicable because
it does not inspire confidence in the
one who is to do the climbing. Con-
corning the mon who are mentioned
as quite certain to he in a Harding
cabinet, haste is made in saying that
none OF them have been consulted.
Without this explanation each one Of
them would. without a doubt. have
disclaimed any such anticipations.
With 1t, what assurance is there that
a solitary one of them would be In a
Harding cabinet?
Considering the names mentione6
1t is easy enough to see that TIM
have been used, without authority. to
develop confidence without warrant,
and to please and unite the various
factions in the republican forces that
are now 1T loggerheads. 1t is morally
certain that many of the men named
would never be invited into the cabt-
net by Harding. that others would
not accept II asked. and that II by
any means they we're placed at the
heads OF the various departments
there would be fine state Of turmoil
and conflict in ofiicial circles.
Guest Of Mrs. Miller.-Dr. and MRS.
Miller have Mrs. M. A. Christoh OF