Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-12-11

Vice-Presidential
Problem
By FrederxJ. Hsskin

President of the United Stste. may live,
brings 10 mind again the peculisYitier of /
that position which John Adams described /
"a "the mont iusigrifcant Office that ever |
the mind n man contrived or his irnag- /,
nation conceived
The vioe-presidentisl chair il indeed the /
Joker Of our sys,ern Of government. Mr.. |
Bryce says in his monumental work ON |
the United States, the Vicc-Presldsnt II
"aut Caesar aut nullus. That s, ne
does not become President his Job AMOUNTS
20 nothing at all. IL is true that ~
grandiloauentIy referred 70 in the pubho
prints as the "second highest executive
officer in the United States Government,
but he is not really an executive officer az
all. He executes nothing. The only oecu-
patton which h been provided for him
that If presiding over the Senate, and y ~
ono Of singilarly little importance. FOR
the President Of the eennte has none u
the power which belongs 10 the Speaker
Of the House. lie has no control over the
course Of legislation, he appoints no com
mitteemen In fact, he does very little
except rap on bis impressive rostrum with
little mallet and say The gentleman
from Arkansas has the floor" And then
he il stating fact rather than rendering
decision He has very little 10 Say 90 20
who shall occupy the floor or how long.
The absolute superfuity Of the Nlce
President o. a part of the government -
suffciently proved by the fact thst during
IS wears. in all Of the nations hietor.5
there hae been no Vice President. he hrs
either died OF resigre ed on account of ~
health or succeeded 10 the Presidency
And re- wheels of government turned Just
AS we'll without Vice President
-. 4paupn poarTror
The Vice President can be regarded
ONLY "a a man held IN reserve "a case
something happens 10 the President, and
doomed n the meantime 10 futile exist
/ tenco on an inadequate salary u he ab-
/ srrdity of the thing, Of course, hes N the
/ fact .hat the trainers of our Constitution
/ should have provided no adequate occll-
/ nation for A position which obviously calls
! FOR big man, If it is 70 be other than a
I source OF danger.
For while the Vice President amounts
/ n precisely nothing II the President lives
/ be becomes the most important man ~ the
| country If the President dies. And
experience be taken as guide there =
/ ligt about one chance ~ six that the f'resl-
dent will die or be killed, and the wee
pras;dant 10 called upon n serve he
should then, by all means be man q
been such a man This means no dis
respect 10 Vice Presidents, pest present
ar nroanective No doubt some Of them
have hean. are. or will be great men. But
Il ls obvious that q Job which mean. four
Gears or perhaps eight years Of futile
raitiny. FIVE chances out OF SIX, v not
calculated 70 draw mrn Of energy and am
bition. The ambitious man especially
alvav. nae in mind the parable about the
father Who had two sons. One Of them
went 20 ses and the other became Woe
President. Neither Of them was ever heard
Of again. =.
Tfa man of high ability takes the Vice
Presidency, he may be regarded 8. a
rnartyr 70 the cause, or -lse zan
Pu+ il 0bvious that not many good men
are going either 20 ulartye thsrnseives q
10 take such long chnnc-s Of getting into
he DresideutiaI chair Everyone knows
that Roosevelt. the livest occupant ne
Vice Presidency ever had, was put there 20
ge+ him out of the way, and that he re-
sisted this form Of retirement with AL his
might. Thus the Vice Presidency, ou lts
nature, tends 70 defeat us orn purpose
which il 10 provide Sd adequate successor
20 the President IN case c his death -
+, office.
How much better Il would be i the
Secretary % the State succeeded th'
President in case q death. The positloI
calls for a big man and glves nm some
thirg 70 DO Furthermore ne Is 8 n1eInnel
Of the Cablret and IN close touca with th'
: policies Of the administration, chosen De
Z cause he agrees with them, Ano therefore
! -,-as,nsbiv qualified to carry them out
IRE Wee President is not even a mrmbei
~ The ca ablnet, and he might cherish view
oDDosed 10 those Of the President wlthoG
ever having 70 reveal the fact sc VIC
. President.
HIs SOCIAL DUTIES.
: Rut n recent wears certain duties hsv
: 9evolved upon the Vice President, Sc
have gwen hlm al occupation when Z
necessary Il not important. he has oe
r. -orue. especiallv during the ad-MlnlstTa
r ton which = Just drswlns 20 az end,
I sort Of social representative OF the Fresl
> 3an+. taklr z ouerous burdens Of entertain
r isg and beir z entertained OF the shoulder
= of The Chief Executive, much as the vii
- ~ 3 busy man of affairs represents bl-
~ .ess and receptions. Official eater
the administration Is the way Vice Pres
n deat Qarshall IS SAID once 70 have de
II scnbed himself
IA Commissions from MINOR countries, II
r mutations az La1ln-Ameucan Journalist
- and pOutlCid0S, NkSAbAIlS OAlcAAbaA4 'A 2
are snonx the guests % whom the I,C
President must function as host Al
the VIM want 20 see the President
course, bat espec silly since the war ele
waited the United States into the posltc
Of hrst money power Of the world, 4
number Of such visiting individuals 81
delegations makes II inplSs.he Tor =
President to SEQ any considerable part
them. Here IS place where an aSslSta'
President IS really needed He 5 as
T needed to address congresses Of this Al
4 thst, and societies for the prevention
so-and-so, the various organisation
Daughters and Sons, and sn OF the 4
:. Vulnerable other aggregations which CO.
# vene. orate and resolve. IL IS lmportal
! mat the good will Of these Affairs shou
i be won for the administration. Someol
i representing the administration must :
Il up before them, and say all the prop
i things from Ladies and Gentlemen
x Il thank YOU.
i Someone, too, must apPease the socl
i yoracity of the wives Of politically Y
X portant miuonalres who own houses
i Washington and want 70 do official 5
y coety Hence the Vice President al
! Mrs. Domegood were the guests last ev,
! : r thov.s