The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-10-03
FRENCH TALKS To
HISTORY STUDENTS
CONGRESSMAN COMPARES AD-
MINiSTRAlION OF WASHINGTON
WITH PRESENT DAY

Upon invitation of Professor j. C..
Brosnan, professor Of history, at the
University of Idaho, Representative
Burton l.. French occupied the morn
ing hour of the class that is studying
American history. This group is
right in the midst of Washington's ad-
ministration and it had been suggest
ed by Professor Brosnan that Mr..
French give such side lights on the
! events of the administration as would
appeal to one who is especially inter-
ested in modern government and then
to give something of closeup on the
presidential office of today.
Mr. French declared that people are
so given to follow precedents in all
walks of life and especially SO in
government that the responsibility of
President Washington in establishing
precedents touching the office of
chief executive was of the highest
Importance to the American people.
He contrasted briefly the organiza-
ton of the American with the govern
ments of Great Britain and France
and pointed out that the president of
the United States, under our constitu-
tion, is a far more responsible officer
than either the king of England or
the president of France-that his
powers are more analogous to the
powers of the prime minister of Great
Britain and premier of the French
Republic-what the cabinet officers,
aside from their eligibility to sue
ceed to the office of president that
was provided for in 1886, are of CO.
ordinate standing, each officer having
his particular field over which he
presides.
He contrasted this situation with
the situation in Great Britain and in
France where the prime minister is at
the head of the cabinet, the other cab
met officers being responsible to him.
He said that in the United States all
cabinet officers are responsible, not
to the secretary of State, who has
sometimes been called our premier"
but are responsible to the president
Interpreting the Constitution
Considering the events of Washing
toms administration, he cited the def .
mite cleavage in public sentiment
touching the powers that should be
conferred upon the different branches
of the government such as the execu-
tive, the legislative and the judicial
branches and the powers that should :.
be conferred upon the federal govern |
ment in contra-distinction to that re- /
served by the states or by the people, !
and he said that in spite of the langu-
ages in the constitution, both groups
took the liberty of interpreting the
constitution in the most favorable way
to support the particular opinion of
the respective arrivals To illustrate
the lecturer enumerated the essen
tial events of the Washington admin
istration, but indicated his conviction
that the events could not be measur-
ed by their immediate apparent i'm
portance, but by their importance as
establishing precedents.
He classified the treaty of Washing
tons administration with Spain with
regard to the Mississippi river as a
fiscal matter that, if not disposed of
then, could have been disposed of
probably as well few years later.
The Algiers treaty under which we
undertook to pay tribute to the Bar
barry states for a time, he declared,
was humiliating yet probably neces-
sary pending our recovery of strength
sufficient to resist the demands of the
pirate nations.
He denominated the Jay treaty with
Great Britain as a treaty that could
in extreme weakness He pointed out
that one of the by-products of the
consideration of the treaty was the
opportunity it gave to President
Washington to assert the independ
ence of the chief executive from the
house of representatives in treaty
making matters and to establish for
the executive head of the administra-
tion the definite responsibility that
most administrations have followed
since.
Whiskey Rebellion Important
Mr. French, in passing over the ad-
mission into the union of such states
as Vermont Kentucky and Tennessee
declared that of far greater import
ance than these acts or even more
than the subduing of the Indians in
the northwest territory was the out
come of the Whiskey Rebellion in
Western Pennsylvania. He said that
to reach this conclusion one must
consider not the immediate circum-
stances but the effect on the govern
ment from that day to this. He said
he recognized that when the govern
ment made a show of force the re-
bellion promptly subsidized and that
those who were resisting the United
states nau even ulSpeTSeu Dy the time
the soldiers of the government had
reached the scene of the disorder. Yet
he said, the outcome of the rebellion
was to establish forever the suprem-
ecy of the federal government touch
ing the powers of taxation conferred
upon the government by the constitu-
ton. If vacillating course had been
followed at that time it might be that
the plain powers
conferred upon the government by the
it would have taken
years for the federal government to
have attained the financial independ-
ence that was necessary for the sue
cess of our nation.
In this connection he regarded as
Of tremendous importance the estab-
Continued on page four)