Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-06-28

In no previous cycle of American
development was so much power
concentrated in the Executive as
during the war. 1t represented the
widest amplitude of the swing of
power from legislative to executive.
1t will be remembered how the Con-
gress enacted law after law placing
in the hands of the President prac-
tically unlimited authority. Regu-
lation to the most fundamental
character was in some instances,
imposed by Presidential proclama-
ton arther than legislative enact
ment. Prices were fixed in his name.
railroads were taken over, operated
and multitudet of other government
tai activities carried on.
With tho close of the war the
pendulum started to swing back
again, bringing in this case an ex-
traordinary difference.
As the taxing power lies in the
Congress as a whole, so does the
power of ratifying treaties lie in the
hands of the United States Senate.
One OF the elements which brings
these swings of dominance is the
personality of the Chief Executive.
1t will be remembered that with the
treaty signed at Versailles, the
President fell i'll and was forced to
retire from public notice and from
a conspicuous place before the peo-
pie. Coincidentally, the treaty went
10 the Senate for ratification and for
the first time in its history the
Senate became alone the central
point of interest.
The Constitution provides that the
treaty making power shall rest in
the Executive and the ratification
power in the hands of the Senate.
But in this case, the Senate went
beyond a mere consideration and
the giving of its advice and consent.
II proposed and enacted reserva-
tons. 1t assumed indirectly the
treaty making rather than the treaty
ratifying power. Instead of merely
taking the completed treaty and de-
Gliding whether or not it should be
consented to, the Senate practically
rewrote the treaty. When 1t finally
was ratified it was a treaty so diff
ferent from that which the Presi-
! dent had signed that when it was
returned to the White House hs
pigeon-holed it, never sending it to
the other ~signatory powers. Recent
ly it is reported that the treaty as
ratified has been entirely lost.
A Senator Becomes President
Now the curious result of this
poisoning into the limelight of h
Senate was hal for the first time in
American history a member or that
body was elected to the Presidency.
The prominence which the senate
achieved brought it's members into
prominence and so when the time
came for election. ii was to the Sen
ate that the people turned for a
President. The Senate's experience
in holding the whip hand caused IL
to undertake things which previ-
ously it had left for the Executive
or for the Congress as a whole. BY
resolution calling upon executive de-
partments for special reports or for
special action or information, it ar
roeated to itself functions which be-
fore that time had been otherwise
taken care of. 1t conducted investi-
| cations and generally proceeded as
a ruling body.
The development of the domin-
ance of the Senate went eve fur-
ther. From outward appearances,
il seemed after the inauguration,
that instead of sending one of its
members 10 the White House. the
| Senate merely had annexed the
White House as a part of itself.
President Harding laid down his
famous doctrine that he did not ia
vor one-man government. but that
he would be guided by the col
leagues in the Senate to his Cabinet
and also John w. Weeks, a former
senator. He maintained a sort OF
unofficial or kitchen cabinet COM
posed almost wholly of senators
The whole atmosphere or the ad-
ministratio1 was a Senate atmos-
phere. -,
How far this development will
proceed is a matter for conjecture
1t is not improbable that the Sen
ate half of Congress will lose Its
dominance, but political students
are convinced that the legislative
branch of the government as a
whole Is in the saddle, as opposed
to the executive branch, for some
years to come. The fact that the
two fundamental issues before the
country today. taxation and credit,
are congressional functions. lends