Milford chronicle., 1924-09-05
OUR WAsHINGTON LETTER
by NaLlOnal Editorial Association
Special to Milford Chronicle


Special to Milford Chronicle
Washington, Sept. Sew people are cogniz
ant of the mighty forces that are now at work
shaping a legislative program which will have
direct effect upon the present system of Gov
ernment 1t is said that behind the movement
for control of Congress is the broad problem of
readjustment of constitutional balances settling
all doubts as to the governing body of the Ma
tion. Those watching the developments say that
the Congress which convenes in 1925 will deal
with the growth of executive power, the judici-
airy and the prerogatives of the Federal legisla-
tive assembly. Accordingly it is argued that the
personnel of the new Congress- which will be Sc
lected in November, becomes vital matter in
its relation to legislative tendencies. The ex-
tent to which the Government machinery would
be remodeled can not yet be definitely settled.
1t is obvious, however, that regardless of the
outcome of the election, there will be many de-
bates in Congress dealing with this century-old
controversy of constitutional limitation-"How
powerful is the President and the Supreme
Court?"
Some of the political parties now seeking pop
ular favor have directly and indirectly refer
red to this question Whatever may be the So
luton of the problem, it is clear that the var
ious agitators must first win the support of the
public to their plans.
Stepping outside the controversial area it will |
be found that many congressman and Senators /
are resentful of the growth of the Presidents |
power during and since the war period At |
present, it is almost impossible to actually de-
fine just where the Presidents powers begin and
end. 1t is not much a partisan matter as a
struggle for supremacy between the executive
and legislative branches of the Government 1t
seems that the principal complaint is founded
On the belief that under present conditions the
executive and the judicial branches have neu-
ralizng effect upon the legislative. And, many
legislators are working with the idea in mind
hat the sovereign authority of Congress should :
,e made clear. s
1t was the late Woodrow Wilson, in a special t
tudy of American politics undertaken several Il
ears prior to active participation in national
fairs, who said that the balance of judiciary
gainst legislature and executive could be con- L
dered as one of those ideal balances which are !:
be found in books rather than in the rough Il
ealities of actual practice. 1t his conten- :
on at that time that the national courts are for
lie most part in the power of Congress. He
ated that even the Supreme Court is not be-
tive privilege to increase, whenever the legis-
tive will so pleases, the number of the judges
ION the supreme bench"
Keeping in mind the fact that Mr.. Wilson ex-
essed these views as far back as the year 1883,
hen he was recognized as one of the Nations
remOst authorities on political science, it is
gnfcant to note that he believed that Gail nice
IS of constitutional restriction and even many II
DAD principles of constitutional limitation have
nTnT and CTTuhI iyod n
stem of congressional control set up which
res a very rude negative to some theories of
lance and some schemes for distributed pow n
5, but which suits well with convenience, and IL
es violence to none of the principles of self 8
contained in the Constitution" Per- ii
ps, his experiences as the Chief Magistrate Y
y have brought a revision. 1t is worthy of
Le that the wartime President had more pow III
than any other man. Hi
t is generally known that considerable legis- q
ion has failed of passage because Congress O
very shy about comforting authority upon III
? Federal body not directly subject to its con- g
|. Those who favor the retention of the powers lg
possessed by the Chief Executive say that "
S essential that this authority should be main 81
ned in the interest of good Administration lk
ere are some who will undoubtedly make po- "
cal capital from this issue but in a broad N
Sc it is not party question A multitude of lH
ledies have been prescribed but none have u
n accepted 1t is said that the inevitable ten M
cy of every system of self-government is to Id
1t the representative body. 1t is the various 81
expectations of the Constitution that produce 10
tion in government. 10
special report from the Department of Agri- &S
ure issued this week shows that the farm IH
duct prices are higher now than they have ~
q during the past AZ months. According to %E
report they are reaching the pre-war parity lM
other commodities and the rise in grain M
es is regarded as most helpful. M
is reported here that organizations through M
the country taking an active interest in az
,osed tax legislation. Not satisfied with the m
isions of the recent tax law there is a move mi
t under way to make further revisions of rs
income taxes. The business interests feel lf0
the maximum surtaxes should be reduced in llO
r to induce men Of wealth to invest their &&
S in stock of manufacturing corporations in l0
of in taX-exempt securities. 1t is notice (yy
in the majority of districts that candidates 81
e-election to Congress are avoiding the tax bI%