The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-12-07
Something Like Wilson.

The President feels deeply on the sub
iect of the agricultural bloc and the
way it exercised it's influence on the max
ing If the tax bill and here is his rebuke {:
4 believe the political party in power
should assume responsibility, determine
upon policies in the conference which sup
plementS conventions and election cam
paigns. and then strive for achievement
through adherence to the accepted policy"
This was the doctrine of Woodrow
Wilson. too, except that the latter be-
lieved in the function of the elected
President as the party leader and initia-
tor of party policies n view which Mr..
Harding also shows signs of accepting.
More Authority Desired.
The President made it clear that he
had no desire to encTOach upon the legis-
| lative branch of the government or 10
! dictate" to congress. but his message con
/ tains the following requests for more
Authority and power to the executive than
! Is now possessed:
First, the right to negotiate with for
eign governments concerning the funding
Of war debts. Mr.. Harding promises that
/ no viii submit the agreement reached to
congress- but must not be hindered by
congress during the negotiations.
! Second. the right to ignore those pr0vi-
sions of the merchant marine act of 1920
passed by a previous Republican congress
which requires the United States to de
nounce certain treaties that conflict with
THE authority of our government to grant
reductions on imports carried to our
shores in vessels flying the American
| flag.
Third. the right of the executive to
| handle the permanent tariff law when il
! Is passed so that rates may be adjusted
TO meet unusual and changing conditions
| which cannot be accurately anticipated. "
Controversy Expected.
Unquestionably there will be a contro-
! verSy over each one of these requests
| Already congress has shown tendency
| to balk at the grant of power in the first
! case. Contention over the second has
| been going on for several months. The
attitude of congress on the third point
| has not yet crystalized, though the advG-
! Gates of high protection see in it menace
/ to the permanence of the rates which NAV
be granted them. The whole thing will
afford test of Mr.. Harding's influence
with congress. His political friends are
/, predicting that he will win out because
| they say that as the congressional cleo
! tons Approximately will be held next
| NOvember-the tendency of members will
/ be to fall back on party lines and the sup
! port of Republican executive in seeking
denomination or reelection. On the other
! hand. the agricultural group keep talking
about supporting Republicans and Demo
Gratis irrespective of party lines provided
the agrarian idea of legislation is in the
candidates platform.
An Executive Matter.
| Aside from the purely political phase
/ of Mr.. IIarding's address, the statement
that no permanent readjustment can be
affected without consideration of our in
escapable relationship TO world affairs i'm
finance and trade" attracted most atten-
ton by those who studied the text of the
document. Mr.. Harding struck boldly at
those who have been arguing that America
! could get along without the rest of the
world and pursue a policy of national
aloofness. But here again Mr. Harding
, made a plea for executive power TO deal
with intricate questions affecting other
nations of the world and based his argu-
ment upon the constitutional rights of the
, chief executive.
I'm the MAN, he said, 'the contribu-
ton of this republic to restore normalcy
in the world must come through the mi
tiatiye of the executive branch of the gov
eminent but the best of intentions and
most carefully considered purposes would
fail utterly il the sanction and the CO.
operation of congress were not cheerfully
accorded 7 am worry cl1ra wa bo 80