Evening star., 1925-10-01
One Chief Executive.

One Chief Executive.
President Coolidge has called in an
| impartial observer to inquire into the
facts in the controversy between the
Shipping Board and former Admiral
Leigh C. Palmer, president OF the
Fleet Corporation, over the operation
| Of the Government-owned ships. In
his effort to improve the administra-
tions Of the Governments shipping
| business. the President selected Ad.
! miral Palmer nearly two years ago to
head the Fleet Corporation. and his
selection was acquiesced in by the
Shipping Board. Members Of the
| board criticizing Admiral Palmer have
sought to bring about a return to the
| old system, whereby the board itself
was the real director Of ship opera
tions.
Some members Of the board have
been quoted as declaring that the
| Shipping Board Is an independent Of
fee of the Government, established
by Congress and responsible alone to
Congress. The inference clearly is
| that the President oversteps his au
thority when he seeks to impress
! upon the board his policies with re-
gard to the operation Of the Govern
ment-owned ships.
The Constitution Of the United
States, Article II, section l, says:
THE executive power shall be vest
ed in a President of the United
States"
The Constitution makes no excep-
| ton regarding the operation Of mer-
chant ships or any other executive
| function of the Federal Government.
| The entire executive power is in the
President, the Chief Executive Of the
Nation.
The operation Of the Government
owned ships is purely an executive
function. If it can by law be taken
from under the jurisdiction of the
President of the United States and
placed in an Independent board, as 1t
is now claimed by some members Of
the Shipping Board, the operation OF
the United States mails could be simi-
larly transferred to an independent
agency and. indeed, every other exec
utive function Of the Government
coming now under the direction OF the
President.
So much for the Constitution. The
merchant marine act. passed by Con-
ha noto Sh
of the Shipping Board. primarily as a
regulatory body, similar to the Inter
state Commerce Commission. It also
provides for the establishment Of the
Emergency Fleet Corporation through
which the operation of the Govern
ment ships Is to be handled. But Con-
gress. certainly without expecting a
clash between the board and the Presi.
dent, made the Fleet Corporation sub
servient to the Shipping Board.
The Shipping Board has been COM
pared to the Interstate Commerce
Commission, an Independent regula.
tory and semi judicial agency of the
Government. Undoubtedly ip the ex
ercise of it's regulatory and semi-judi-
cial functions the board properly is an
! Independent Government agency. The
Interstate Commerce Commission op-
crates no railroads, however. Presi
dent Coolidge Is seeking, as he has
since he first came into office, the So
luton of the shipping problem, which
has been serious since the slump in
the shipping business following the
war He Is anxious to see a perma-
nent American merchant marine de-
veloped, both for the sake of Ameri
can commerce and for the purposes of
national defense. 1t Is unlikely he
will be turned aside from such a
course. His most recent step, the ap-
pointment OF II. G.. Dalton to investi-
gate the troubles Of the board and the
Fleet Corporation and to report to
him, is entirely consistent with his
desire to aid in solving the shipping
problem.