Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-11
MAY HAVE
LAST POWER WORD
Next Move in President Sen
ate Contest Held Up to
Latter.
by MARK SULLIVAN.

BY MARK SULLIVAN.
The next move in the controversy
pointees to the Power Commission Il
up TO the Senate. Whatever the Senate
does next will be sensational, but yet
will be relatively immaterial. The
really important next step viii come up
in the courts. :.
That the question will ultimately be
decided by the Supreme Court is taken
for granted Just how the question will
get into the courts nobody quite knows
although that is what everybody now
| speculates on. Conceivably, the Senate
may assume the Power Board members
are not legally in ONCE, and on that
assumption may decline to vote the1H
salaries. In that event. the commits
sioners might sue for their salaries. AZ
q practical matter, it Is difncult for the
Senate to omit the salaries Of specific
Government employees from the appro-
priation bills, which are general In
form.
Litigant Might Raise Issue.
Another way by which the question
could reach the courts would be for q
litigant before the Power Commission
to assume that the commission is not
legally in Office, and therefore that tts
acts are void.
The question, stated very roughly, Is
whether the Senate, after confirming
appointees named by the President,
after notifying the President that con-
frmation has been made, after the
President has issued commissions to
the appointees, after the appointees
have taken the oath Of ONCE and after
the appointees have exercised their Of
flcial functions whether thereafter the
Senate can demand that the President
return the names to the SenaVe ano
can reverse or otherwise act upon the
combinations previously given. a. 40
THE senate has a rule that 1t can
reconsider a confirmation within two
DAYS of executive sessions after the con-
firnatiOn IL made.
1.-TWO DAYS of executive sessions" does
not mean two successive calendar days
The two DAYS of executive sessions
NAV be q month apart. One question
involved Is, as it was put rather start
linely by Senator George OF Georgia
whether 1.-The President Is bound by the
rules of this body (the Senate).
Fundamental Question Historic.
The fundamental question, however
Is within the historic field Of how much
power the Senate has over the tenure
Of holders of once appointed by the
PRESIDENT. This question lies In q
shadowy field of constitutional no.
man's-land In which Senate and Presi-
dent have fought and won or lost bat
ties ever since the Government began
Apparently, II the Senate under a RUE
and practice devised by itself can I'M
seat oficials within 1.-TWO days of execu-
tive session" after confirming, 1t can
unseat them after two weeks, or two
years, or two decades.
The theory that the Senate has 9
right 10 q hand In terminating the
tenure of an ONCE holder. while eppar-
emily new and extraordinary, not
so at all. Periodically the Senate nights
to assert the right. The latest occa.
sion when o question in this feld ano
similar to the present question arose
was IN wilson's administration. wilson
removed sunmarily the Postmaster OF
Portland, Greg. The postmaster sued
for his salary upon the theory that the
President had no right to remove him
except with the advice and consent
of the Senate" The Supreme Court
sustained the Presidents unqualtfied
power Of removal. The court, to use
an idion as far as possible from what
the court itself would use, told the
Senate where to get Off"
Nevertheless, that the broad principle
Ia still controverted, and that the pres
ent case constitutes real question, Is
suggested by the fact that in the case
lust mentioned three justices diSsentedr
Brandeis, Holmes and McReynolds.
Senators Interested In POlitic&
This dispatch deals only with the
fundamental question involved. That Is
important and will be heard from at
length. Actually, this aspect was very
little In the minds of the Senators VINO
made the fight against the Presidents
prerogative. During the debate only
handful of Senators listened. The mass
of them were in the smoking room dis
c1IsSing the politics involved. The con-
stitutional arguments were TO . large
extent window dressing" The light
ness of the Senate's care for the con-
stitutional aspect was pointed out by
one Democratic Senator, who, falling
into a genuinely delicious humor, said:
~See how excited are the people in the
gallery and yet how silent they sit with
closed and nodding heads 0aughter)
while all seven of the Senators present
are eagerly and anxiously listening to
every word uttered in this exciting and
peculiarly fascinating debate. uIaugh-
teri p" Why not put a radio broad
casting 00V1ce In LnlS cIlamDeT. MIL
lions of people outside would sit spell
bound. How the children would throw
down their toys and come in from
play and sit enthralled and listen. a"
Uaughter.)
What was 10 the front Of the minds
of most Senators who made the fight
| was the presidential election next year.
The Presidents opponents, whether
with sincerity in some cases or political
strategy In others, insisted that the real
question to which they wished to attract
the country's attention was whether, as
they allege, President Hoover's ap-
pointees were sufficiently partial to the
Government ownership side of the pow
er question. As Democratic Senator
Dill Of Washington put 1t, from his
rather radical Government-ownership
| point of view, "the power issue Is here
to stay until we place In the White
| House q President who viii insist that
the great hydro electric power sites OF
this country shall be used in the inter-
est Of the people"
(Copyrizht, 1917
|