Our Government: Local, State, and National: Idaho Edition Part 15

Presidential Appointments.--It would be quite impossible for the President, personally, to oversee all of these appointments, and so a large percentage of them is made by officials in the different departments. There are, besides the amba.s.sadors, consuls, and judges of the Supreme Court, some 7000 so-called Presidential officers, whose appointments must receive the sanction of the Senate. More than one-half of these are postmasters of the first cla.s.s[47]. Among the most important of these officers are the Cabinet, interstate commerce commissioners, district attorneys, and all military and naval officers whose appointment is not otherwise ordered by law.

[Footnote 47: Those who receive an annual salary of $1000 and above.]

Official Patronage.--In making his appointments the President is largely dependent upon the advice of the head of that department under whose direction the officer will come, or upon the recommendation of the representatives and senators of his party from the State in which the office is located. This official patronage, through which political a.s.sistants in a State may be rewarded with a Federal office, has become so burdensome that many Congressmen complain of it and desire to be freed from its exactions.

Senatorial Courtesy.--There has grown up an almost invariable custom, known as senatorial courtesy. This demands that if the office to be filled is located in a State, the appointment be not confirmed unless it receives the sanction of one or both of the senators of the State concerned, provided they are members of the same political party as the President.

Action of the Senate on Nominations.--All of the nominations sent by the President to the Senate are submitted to appropriate committees, as, postmasters to the Post Office Committee, amba.s.sadors to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The report of the committee is considered in secret session, and the nomination is then voted on. If the vote is adverse, the President must make another nomination.

The Spoils System.--During the first forty years of our government there were only seventy-four removals from office. The opinion was general that there were a large number of strictly non-political offices in the departments and elsewhere, the holders of which should be regarded as agents or clerks whose duty it was to a.s.sist in carrying on the business of government. Therefore the best results could be secured, it was believed, only as these positions should be filled by persons the most competent, who might hope to retain the office so long as they gave efficient service. But with the coming in of President Jackson the "spoils system" was introduced. This system, in practice, provides that political workers belonging to a victorious party may, as far as possible, receive reward for their services in the shape of some office.

"To the victors belong the spoils of the enemy" is the familiar motto of those who have advocated this system. During the first year of President Jackson's administration 2000 officials were deprived of their offices, and friends of the administration were put in their positions. From that time there has been great pressure on every new President similarly to reward his followers.

Civil Service Reform.--While the evils had been pointed out at various times, little was done to remedy the spoils system until Congress, in 1883, pa.s.sed the Civil Service Law, known as the Pendleton Bill. It provides for a Civil Service Commission of three members, not more than two of whom may belong to the same political party. This commission gives compet.i.tive examinations, which are required for testing the fitness of applicants for certain positions in the public service. The number of offices originally included under the act was about 14,000. The President is given the power to direct the further extension of the "cla.s.sified service," that is, those positions that are to be filled by persons who have pa.s.sed the best examinations. In 1913 there were some 284,000 cla.s.sified offices. While much has been accomplished, during the past twenty years, toward reforming civil service appointments, it is to be hoped that a large number of the uncla.s.sified offices will, at an early date, be placed on the list to be filled only after examination.[48] The National government may thus further a.s.sist in the movement for like reforms already so well begun in some of our States and cities.

[Footnote 48: In 1913 there were 100,000 uncla.s.sified or excepted offices. During the year 1901-1902, the civil service rules providing for compet.i.tive examinations were extended by order of the President or by act of Congress so as to include the rural free delivery service, employees of the permanent census bureau, and additional employees made necessary because of the war with Spain. Five thousand eight hundred offices were placed on the compet.i.tion basis in 1911, and 50,000 in 1913.]

Duties of the President.--Section 3. _He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive amba.s.sadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States._

Presidential Messages.--By means of the annual message sent to Congress at the opening of the session, and special messages on particular occasions, the President is enabled to call attention to the legislative needs of the country. The plan of having a message read in each house by the clerk or secretary was introduced by President Jefferson. Presidents Washington and Adams addressed, in person, Congress a.s.sembled in joint session. Various reasons have been alleged for this change. President Jefferson was a poor speaker, and it is said that he regarded the formal address as monarchical. President Wilson read his message before Congress in the special session of April, 1913.

Enforcement of the Laws.--The most important duty of the President is to see that all laws pa.s.sed by Congress are faithfully executed. Laws are useless unless they are enforced, and it is chiefly for the performance of this task that the Executive was originally created. It is not contemplated that this duty shall be performed by him in person, but through officials who are directly responsible to him. The United States marshals and their deputies exercise a wide influence in seeing that the laws are enforced. They usually act under an order from a United States court, but may, at times, act without such a writ. If necessary, the President may send the army and navy of the United States or call out the militia of the States to overcome any resistance to Federal law.

Each State possesses the power of enforcing its own laws and is of right protected in the exercise of this prerogative. In case of an insurrection, however, the State militia is sent by order of the governor to suppress it. Should they fail to restore order, the legislature, or the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), applies to the President for military aid.[49] If the uprising has interfered in any way with the carrying out of the laws of the nation, the President may, at his discretion, send troops to suppress it without having been asked to do so by the legislature or the governor. There was a notable ill.u.s.tration of this point during the time of the Chicago riots, in July, 1894.

[Footnote 49: Article IV, Section 4. _The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence._]

President Cleveland _vs_. The Governor of Illinois.--In addition to destroying property belonging to the railways centering in Chicago, the striking employees prevented the free movement of the trains. Mr. Altgeld, then governor of Illinois, did not provide against these abuses, and President Cleveland ordered the United States troops under General Miles to suppress the rioting. The President, who was severely criticized by Mr. Altgeld, justified his sending the troops on the following grounds: (1) that the processes of the Federal courts could not be executed; (2) that the transportation of the United States mails was obstructed; and (3) that the laws on interstate commerce were not enforced.

The United States Supreme Court took the same position as President Cleveland in a case which grew out of these riots. Mr. Justice Brewer, in delivering the opinion of the court, said: "We hold that the government of the United States is one having jurisdiction over every foot of soil within its territory and acting directly upon each citizen; that, while it is a government of enumerated powers, it has within the limits of those powers all the attributes of sovereignty; that to it is committed power over interstate commerce and the transmission of the mails, and that these powers have been a.s.sumed and put into practical exercise by the legislation of Congress."

SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS AND REFERENCES.

1. What have been some of the most important treaties entered into on the part of the United States?

2. For the treaty made at the close of the Spanish-American War, see Rev. of R's, 18: 258, 371, 515, 631; 19: 11, 261, 262, 266, 267.

3. In what ways may a treaty be abrogated? Harrison, This Country of Ours, 140, 141.

4. May a President have many of the privileges of private life?

Harrison, This Country of Ours, 177-180.

5. What are some of the official cares of the President? Harrison, This Country of Ours, 162-177.

6. The overworked President. McClure's Mag., 28: 483-492; Rev. of R's, 25: 464-466.

7. Secure a copy of the last report of the Civil Service Commission, and also Manual of Examinations for the Cla.s.sified Service of the United States, and look up the following:--

_a_. How many persons are included in the civil service of the United States?

_b_. What proportion of them is included in the cla.s.sified service?

_c_. Does the law of 1883 seem to have brought about satisfactory results?

_d_. What offices have been included in the extension of the Civil Service Law?

_e_. What is the nature of the questions asked in the examinations? i

8. The Fifteenth Annual Report of the commission (pp. 443-485) contains an account of the appointments and removals by the various Presidents from 1789 to 1883. Also an account of the growth of civil service reform in the States and cities of the United States, pp. 489-502.

9. May a man be fitted for political preferment and not be competent to pa.s.s an adequate examination?

10. For other articles on civil service reform, see _(a)_ The Civil Service and the Merit System, Forum, 27: 705-712. _(b)_ Some Popular Objections to Civil Service Reform, Atl. Mo., 65: 433-444; 671-678. _(c)_ Roosevelt, An Object Lesson in Civil Service Reform, Atl. Mo., 67: 252-257. _(d) _George William Curtis and Civil Service Reform, Atl. Mo., 75: 15-24. _(e)_ Rice, Improvement of the Civil Service, N. Am. Rev., 161: 601-611. _(f)_ Roosevelt, Present Status of Civil Service Reform, Atl. Mo., 75: 239-246. _(g)_ Roosevelt, Six Years of Civil Service Reform, Scribner's Mag., 18: 238-247. _(h)_ The Purpose of Civil Service Reform, Forum, 30: 608-619.

11. What was the Tenure of Office Act of 1867? Why did it become of great importance? Is it still in force? Wilson, Division and Reunion, 267, 270-271, 297; Harrison, This Country of Ours, 101-103.

12. What were the chief points discussed in the President's last annual message?

CHAPTER XV.

THE CABINET.

Formation of Departments.--The Const.i.tution nowhere mentions the President's Cabinet. It was taken for granted, however, that departments similar to those found in the Cabinet would be formed. The Const.i.tution declares that the President "may require the opinions in writing of the heads of the executive departments," and again, that "Congress may vest the appointment of certain inferior officers in the heads of these departments."

In 1789 the first Congress created the Departments of State, War, and Treasury, also the office of Attorney-General. President Washington's Cabinet consisted of the officials whom he appointed to fill these four positions. The Navy Department was added in 1798. While a Post-Office Department was established in 1794, the Postmaster-General was not made a member of the Cabinet until 1829. In 1849, the Interior Department was created by grouping under it certain duties which had belonged to other departments. The Department of Agriculture was made a Cabinet position in 1889. In 1903 the Department of Commerce and Labor was authorized by an Act of Congress, and in 1913 the Department of Labor was created.

Members of the Cabinet receive an annual salary of $12,000.

The President and His Cabinet.--One of the first official acts of a President is to send to the Senate, for its approval, the names of the men whom he desires shall const.i.tute his Cabinet. This is now a mere formality. The President is himself the one most interested in the success of his administration and is of right given complete freedom in selecting his immediate advisers. While the views of the members of the Cabinet usually have weight with the President, he is not obliged to take their advice. Indeed, in some instances the President has carried out a line of action which was against the wishes of the secretary of the department affected.

THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

The Secretary of State.--The Secretary of State is commonly called the head of the Cabinet. He is first in rank at the Cabinet table, and occupies the seat of dignity at the right of the President. Under the direction of the President he conducts all negotiations relating to the foreign affairs of the nation; carries on the correspondence with our representatives in other countries; receives the representatives of foreign powers accredited to the United States, and presents them to the President. Through him the President communicates with the executives of the different States. He has charge of the treaties made with foreign powers, and negotiates new ones. He has also in his keeping the laws of the United States and the great seal which he affixes to all executive proclamations, commissions, and other official papers. During the year 1909 the department was reorganized in such a manner as to create a division of Latin-American affairs and divisions for Far Eastern, Near Eastern, and Western European affairs.

The Diplomatic Bureau.--The United States, in common with other nations, sends representatives to the foreign capitals. They are the agents through whom the Secretary of State communicates and negotiates with other powers. Such affairs are conducted through the Diplomatic Bureau. The United States has now about thirty-five amba.s.sadors and ministers. Our representatives at the courts of England, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Austria, Mexico, Brazil, j.a.pan, and Turkey are known as amba.s.sadors. The amba.s.sadors to these countries receive a salary of $17,500 each.

The social demands made upon our amba.s.sadors are great, and they are also obliged to provide for their places of residence. The salaries paid are not sufficient to meet these necessary expenses, and are small in comparison with those paid by the European nations to officers of the same rank. Thus, the English amba.s.sador at Washington receives a salary of $32,500. Besides the English, the German, the j.a.panese, and some other nations have provided houses for their legations.

The Consular Bureau.--A consul is sent by the United States to each of the chief cities in the consular districts into which foreign countries are divided by our State Department. These consuls, of whom there are three grades, consuls-generals, consuls, and consular agents, look after the commercial interests of the United States in those districts. They make monthly reports on improvements in agricultural and manufacturing processes. These reports also give information regarding good markets for our products and of the best markets in which to purchase foreign products.[50]