The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-06-24
Frederick Hask1n's Letter
SENATE POWER IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS

the people Coincidentally. the
treaty went to the senate for Tati-
fication 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 mere consideration and
the giving of its advice and con-
sent. II proposed and enacted res
ervations. 1t assumed indirectly
the treaty-making rather than the
treaty-ratifying power. Instead OF
merely taking the completed treaty
and deciding whether or not it
should be consented to, the senate
practically rewrote the treaty.
When it finally was ratified ii was
treaty so different from that
which the president had signed
that when it was returned to the
White house he pigeon-hOled it.
never sending it to the other sigma
tory powers. Recently it is re-
ported that the treaty as ratified
has been antirely lost.
A Senator Becomes President
Now the curious result OF this
poisoning into the limeIight Of
the senate was that for the first
time in American history a mem
Der of that body was elected to the
presidency. The prominence which
the senate achieved brought its
members into prominence, and so
when the time came for election,
it was to the senate that the peo-
pie turned for a president The
senate's experience in holding the
whip hand caused it to undertake
things which previously it had left
for the executive or for congress
as a whole By resolution calling
upon executive departments for
special reports or for special action
or information, it arrogated 10
itself functions which before that
time had been otherwise taken care
of. 1t conducted investigations and
generally proceeded as a ruling
body.
The development of the domin-
ance of the senate went even fur
Their. From outward appearances.
it seemed, after the inauguration.
that instead of sending one of its
members to 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 best
minds of the nation. He appointed
Albert Fall. one OF his colleagues
in the senate. to his cabinet, and
also John W. Weeks, a former sen
ator. He maintained sort OF IN
official or kitchen cabinet COmpos-
ed almost wholly of senators. The
whole atmosphere of the admins
tration was a senate atmosphere
How far this development will
proceed is a matter for conjecture.
1t is not improbable that the senate
half Of congress will lose its dom
nance, 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
color to this theory.
Congress is at work now upon
the tariff and before long will be
revising the tax laws again Bank
credit and international credit are
questions which will occupy con-
gress for some years, so it seems
more than likely that it will hold
the whip hand again until another
turn of the wheel brings to the
fore some great issue which can
only be handled by the single fig
ure in the White house.
The judicial branch Of the Amer
lean government never has gained
the sort of dominance which the
legislative and executive branches
have achieved. That some such de-
may come, in the course
Of evolution, seems not improbable.
In various earlier civilizations. the
judges of the nations were the dom
inant figures and such a situation
again may arise.