Arizona republican., 1922-06-27
BY Frederic j. Haskin

WASHINGTON, June 25 Stu
dents of politics in relation to the
American government are claiming
that the United States is beginning
on new cycle Of political life. They
assert that for the next few years,
probably a decade. the senate of the
United States will occupy the domi-
nant position in governmental af-
fairs.
1t is a matter of historical fact
that since the foundation of our gov
ernment. we have passed through a
continuous series of cycles, the DOM
inant leadership shifting from the
legislative to the executive branch
and back again. The development
now discerned is a variation of the
usual in that it is the United States
senate, rather than the entire body OF
congress, which has forged to the
front. Heretofore the succession has
been between the executive branch,
headed by the president and the con-
greSs as a whole.
To trace the development in recent
times, the close Of the nineteenth
century was a period of legislative
control These cycles are determined
by a variety of factors, but the one
which brings about the leadership of
the congress is the existence of one
or more great national issues In
the close of the nineteenth century
the issue was the tariff. Such ques-
tions as tariff and taxation are IN the
hands of the congress- 1t alone can
enact tariff and revenue laws.
Following the Cleveland panic, the
country was in the mood for high
protective tariff, and this turned the
public attention to congress, the tar
iff framing body. The Mckinney
tariff was enacted and the congress
was the focal point of the peoples
thoughts.
Roosevet's Domination
Then came the rise of Theodore
Roosevelt Here was a personality
of extraordinary force and magnet
ism coupled with a transition to new
issues, The issue of conservation OF
national resources and various other
matters which were more compactiy
handled by executive authority than
by legislative forced attention to the
executive and away from the con-
cress. The White House held the
center Of the stage for years and
congress was an adjunct merely.
The administration of President
Taft was sort of inter-regnun1, the
great executive issues being some
what dormant, but the momentum
of the Roosevelt period carried over
until the election of Woodrow Will
son. another dominant personality OF
a type new to the presidency. rms
was followed by the war which. as a
matter of course. focused public at
tention on the president, the COM
mander- in chief of the army ana
navy.
In no previous cycle of American
development was so much power
concentrated in the executive as dur
ing the war. 1T represented the wiz
est amplitude of the swing or power
from legislative to executive. IL Will
be remembered ] ow the congress en-
acted law after law placing IN the
hands of the president practically uIl :
limited authority. Regulation of the
most fundamental character was, III
some instances, imposed by presldeh
tial proclamation rather than by leg
islative enactment Prices were Iikeu
in his name, the railroads were taker
over end operated. and a multltude
of other governmental activities car
ried on.
With the close of the war the pen
dulum started to swing back again
bringing in this case an extraordi
nary 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
about these swings of dominance i
the personality of the chief executive
1t will be remembered that with tne
treaty signed at Versailles, the presl-
dent fell i'll and was forced to retire
from public notice and from a con-
spicuous place before the people. 20
incidentally, the treaty went to thf
senate for ratification and for the
first time in its history the senate
became alone the central point OF IN
terest
The constitution provides that tht
treaty making power shall rest in the
executive and the ratification poWei
in the hands of the senate. But II
this case, the senate went beyond
mere consideration and the @g o.
its advice and consent. 1t proposed
and enacted reservations, It assumed
indirectly the treaty making rathel
than the treaty -ratifyir9 r~~rer In
stead of merely taking the completed
treaty and deciding whether or no
it should be consented to. the senate
practically rewrote the treaty. Whel
it finally was ratified ii was treat,
so different from that which th'
president had signed that when i
was returned TO the White House III
pigeon-holed It, never sending 1t Il