Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-21


the opinion that unless some means
could be devised of easing the ever-growing
pressure upon the Chief Executive, the Nation
would be forced to consider physical as we'll as
mental fitness in choosing its President, and
accordingly seek men of athletic training as
well scholastic attainment
Unfortunately, remarked Mr.. Wilson in eff
feet this is a combination seldom found. All
athletes cannot be scholars nor all scholars
athlete. This being so, Mr.. Wilson ventured
no solution of what was then and is now
pressing problem in our public life, and one
which grows more acute as the years advance.
Mr.. Wilson was himself to become victim of
the overwhelming pressure of the presidency,
and his successor. Mr. Harding to collapse
and die under the strain Mr.. Coolidge aged
perceptibly in the White House After less
than two years in Office President Hoover while
In excellent physical and mental health never
theleSs gives evidence that it is pressure
which the most robust cannot Withstand
scathed
It is interesting to analyze this problem yet
rather disappointing, because an analysis leads
nowhere. Inevitably one arrives at the con-
clusion that there is nothing in the Constitu-
ton which permits of change in procedure
by which the President might be freed of the
countless responsibilities placed upon him. He
cannot divide his responsibility. He cannot in
any way shift the burden part of the burden
to other shoulders. He cannot for an instant
legally escape the ever-preSsing realization that
he is the governing head of vast Nation of
some 100, 600, 900 people, and such the most
powerful individual on earth. He cannot es-
cape the forms and trappings Of the office, its
ceremonial and social necessities, the political
leadership which Is an essential part of the
Office and vast multitude of details saddled
upon him by the Constitution and the law.
INEVITABLY the country will have to con-
slider this problem effectively and find a
solution of it. The presidency is now and for
many years has been too great burden for
any man. As the Nation increases in popula-
ton in resources and in world power the bur-
dens of the Office become heavier. The country
as a whole does not realize it, but to observers
in the Capital it is amazing how each change
of administration increases the work of the
presidency and other executive branches of the
Government. Each Congress imposes new du-
ties upon them. The progress of trade and
industry, the currents of the social life of the
country, the progress Of the great and small
nations of the rest of the World-al of these
factors are reflected in the Presidents office
and. united represent his daily responsibilities
Like so many other constitutional and statu-
tory provisions of our Government the fact
that the President is constantly facing a super
human task represents the conservatism of the
men who set up the Government. Furthermore
1t is eloquent of the tremendous success of this
greatest of all republics. For it is not to be
supposed-ndeed the records do not support
such a supposition-that the Constitutional
Convention envisioned a Nation embracing
100000 square miles, made up of what De
ToSqueville in a fine sentence described as an
aSsemblage of nations. All the political theory
OF the tme-and the founders were men deeply
read in the theory of government-was op-
posed to the view that republic could exist
In other than a nation of limited area and
population. Undoubtedly If Hamilton, Jeffer-
son, Franklin and their conferees could have
foreseen the development of the last century
the great influx of population and the steady
advance of the Nation into position of world
leadership, some form Of divided authority,
some means of easing the strain of the pres-
oency would have been provided.