Evening star., 1955-10-02

large. TO start with, would Mr..
Eisenhower ever be able to pick
up the burdens Of the presidency?
And then. how could the executive
branch be run during the inter-
val?
Many decisions legally must be
made BY the President In persOn.
He makes appointments. signs bills
and other documents. Is chief of
] the armed 1orces. All executive
power ultimately u his. And for
practical purposes. only one man
can resolve differences that arise
within any ofacial family the
head man.
The Constitution provides:
IN Case Of the Removal Of the
President from Once. or Of his
Death, Resignation. or Inability to
DfschaYpe the Poipers aud Duties ot
the said Otlce. the same shall de-
volpe on the Vice Presidemt, and
the Congress may by Lam provide
for the Case Of Removal. Death,
Resignation or Inability. both Of
the President and Vice President.
declaring what Oficer shall then
act as President. and such Oficer
shall act accordingly, until the
Disability be reDI0Ded, or . rresi-
dent shall be elected (Italics sup
piled Ed
The Justice Department was
asked by White House ofiicials to
interpret that section and to ad-
wise on what executive powers could
be delegated to the Vice President
during the illness. Attorney Cen
eral Herbert BroWnell hurried home
from his vacation In Spain TO
study the law.
Questions Unanswered
A good many dificulties could be
foreseer. How could II b decided
what powers Vice Prtsidenf Nixon
could assume? Would he be chal-
lenGei n the courts? Would q
rl8 8ts1Gf ls up the executive
branch?
Who was 70 decide Oh the Presf-
dents inability to discharge the
I powers and duties or his once? The
President himself? Consresss The
Supreme Ccurt7
Could Congress by Ian make the
Vice President President9 or could
It declare the presidency vacant and
permit Mr.. Nixon. stiIl the vice
President. 70 carry out the Chief
Executives duties7
Would Mr.. Eisenhower. when his
disability was removed. step back
into the presidency? Does the Con-
stitution imply that special pres-
idential election could be held7
On Monday Washington ufIicials
thought they had . major consti-
tntionaI crisis on their hands, Is
never before IN the Nations his
tory has the executive power been
passed on to 4 Vice President except
on the death Of the President. The
problem Of the interregnum was
left unsolyed during the long In
capacities Of Presidents Garfield
and Wilson.
But on Tuesday the phantom
crisis passed. The solution was
simple. ALI persons concerned
agreed that the President would be
absent from the White House for
only couple Of months and would
be unable to discuss important
policy matters for only two weeks.
Those two months shaped up IS
routine ones. And the Eisenhower
team was ready TO carry on Is
usual.
Foreign Meters
No great foreign conferences, de-
ii1anding the personal attention Of
the President, are scheduled. The
Secretary Of State should be able
B 70 handle the Geneva Conference,
opening October ~, within the
framework OF existing policy.
Two hazards In the foreign field
do exist, however. Secretary Dulles
will miss . certain degree Of flexi-
bility. He cannot strike out Ia any
bold, new direction even if he sees
an opening. And the United states
win have d hard time handling any
unexpected, reasonable offer on tbs
part Of the Soviet Union to settle i
major source Of world tension. But
Developments abroad last week (see
below made 1t unlikely that ten
sions would soon be eased.
Still II the recovery schedule
proves out, Americas delay In fixing
new policy should endure only 4
few weeks.
There was some worry In Europe
that the Presidents absence could
slow up the thaW In the cold war.
Russian leaders put more faith In
persons than III principles, and
lately they have Indicated they
have faith In Mr.. Eiserhower.G
good intentions. His absence could
make American diplomacy more
difiicult.
Domestic Matters
Domestically, this il the doldrum
period. Congress Is not In session.
No immediate domestic crisis
threatens.
Some major decisions viii have
to hang IRE. however.
The budget is being prepared.
and few decisions on requests for
spending In fiscal year 1857 win
have to be postponed.
And vital question of defense
spending during the current fiscal
year viii have to stay unresolved.
As told to the public, the problem
{ Is this: Secretary Of the Treasury
Humphrey believes the budget can
be balanced this year II oil depart
msnts cut spending by ? per cent