Philip Dru: Administrator Part 18

By now they had come to Newport News and the launching of the battleship was made as Gloria christened her _Columbia._ After the ceremonies were over it became necessary at once to return to Washington, for at noon of the next day there was to be dedicated the Colossal Arch of Peace. Ten years before, the Government had undertaken this work and had slowly executed it, carrying out the joint conception of the foremost architect in America and the greatest sculptor in the world. Strangely enough, the architect was a son of New England, and the Sculptor was from and of the South.

Upon one face of the arch were three heroic figures. Lee on the one side, Grant on the other, with Fame in the center, holding out a laurel wreath with either hand to both Grant and Lee. Among the figures cl.u.s.tered around and below that of Grant, were those of Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas and Hanc.o.c.k, and among those around and below that of Lee, were Stonewall Jackson, the two Johnstons, Forrest, Pickett and Beauregard. Upon the other face of the arch there was in the center a heroic figure of Lincoln and gathered around him on either side were those Statesmen of the North and South who took part in that t.i.tanic civil conflict that came so near to dividing our Republic.

Below Lincoln's figure was written: "With malice towards none, with charity for all." Below Grant, was his dying injunction to his fellow countrymen: "Let us have peace." But the silent and courtly Lee left no message that would fit his gigantic mold.

CHAPTER XLI

THE NEW NATIONAL CONSt.i.tUTION

Besides the laws and reforms already enumerated, the following is in brief the plan for the General Government that Philip Dru outlined and carried through as Administrator of the Republic, and which, in effect, was made a part of the new const.i.tution.

I.

1. Every adult citizen of the United States, male or female, shall have the right to vote, and no state, county or munic.i.p.ality shall pa.s.s a law or laws infringing upon this right.

2. Any alien, male or female, who can read, write and speak English, and who has resided in the United States for ten years, may take out naturalization papers and become a citizen. [Footnote: The former qualification was five years' residence in the United States and in many States there were no restrictions placed upon education, nor was an understanding of the English language necessary.]

3. No one shall be eligible for election as Executive, President, Senator, Representative or Judge of any court under the age of twenty-five years, and who is not a citizen of the United States. [Footnote: Dru saw no good reason for limiting the time when an exceptionally endowed man could begin to serve the public.]

4. No one shall be eligible for any other office, National or State, who is at the time, or who has been within a period of five years preceding, a member of any Senate or Court. [Footnote: The Senate under Dru's plan of Government becomes a quasi-judicial body, and it was his purpose to prevent any member of it or of the regular judiciary from making decisions with a view of furthering their political fortunes. Dru believed that it would be of enormous advantage to the Nation if Judges and Senators were placed in a position where their motives could not be questioned and where their only incentive was the general welfare.]

II.

1. The several states shall be divided into districts of three hundred thousand inhabitants each, and each district so divided shall have one representative, and in order to give the widest lat.i.tude as to choice, there shall be no restrictions as to residence. [Footnote: Why deprive the Republic of the services of a useful man because his particular district has more good congressional timber than can be used and another district has none? Or again, why relegate to private life a man of National importance merely because his residence happens to be in a district not entirely in harmony with his views?]

2. The members of the House of Representatives shall be elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and shall serve for a term of six years, subject to a recall at the end of each two years by a signed pet.i.tion embracing one-third of the electorate of the district from which they were chosen. [Footnote: The recall is here used for the reason that the term has been extended to six years, though the electorate retains the privilege of dismissing an undesirable member at the end of every two years.]

3. The House shall convene on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January and shall never have more than five hundred members.

[Footnote: The purpose here was to convene the House within two months instead of thirteen months after its election, and to limit its size in order to promote efficiency.]

4. The House of Representatives shall elect a Speaker whose term of office may be continuous at the pleasure of the majority. He shall preside over the House, but otherwise his functions shall be purely formal.

5. The House shall also choose an Executive, whose duties it shall be, under the direction of the House, to administer the Government. He may or may not be at the time of his election a member of the House, but he becomes an ex-officio member by virtue thereof.

6.(a) The Executive shall have authority to select his Cabinet Officers from members of the House or elsewhere, other than from the Courts or Senates, and such Cabinet Officers shall by reason thereof, be ex-officio members of the House.

(b) Such officials are to hold their positions at the pleasure of the Executive and the Executive is to hold his at the pleasure of the majority of the House.

(c) In an address to the House, the Executive shall, within a reasonable time after his selection, outline his policy of Government, both domestic and foreign.

(d) He and his Cabinet may frame bills covering the suggestions made in his address, or any subsequent address that he may think proper to make, and introduce and defend them in the House. Measures introduced by the Executive or members of his Cabinet are not to be referred to committees, but are to be considered by the House as a whole, and their consideration shall have preference over measures introduced by other members.

7. All legislation shall originate in the House.

III.

1. The Senate shall consist of one member from each State, and shall be elected for life, by direct vote of the people, and shall be subject to recall by a majority vote of the electors of his State at the end of any five-year period of his term. [Footnote: The reason for using the recall here is that the term is lengthened to life and it seemed best to give the people a right to pa.s.s upon their Senators at stated periods.]

2. (a) Every measure pa.s.sed by the House, other than those relating _solely_ to the raising of revenue for the current needs of the Government and the expenditure thereof, shall go to the Senate for approval.

(b) The Senate may approve a measure by a majority vote and it then becomes a law, or they may make such suggestions regarding the amendment as may seem to them pertinent, and return it to the House to accept or reject as they may see fit.

(c) The Senate may reject a measure by a majority vote. If the Senate reject a measure, the House shall have the right to dissolve and go before the people for their decision.

(d) If the country approves the measure by returning a House favorable to it, then, upon its pa.s.sage by the House _in the same form as when rejected by the Senate,_ it shall become a law.

3. (a) A Senator may be impeached by a majority vote of the Supreme Court, upon an action approved by the House and brought by the Executive or any member of his Cabinet.

(b) A Senator must retire at the age of seventy years, and he shall be suitably pensioned.

IV.

1. The President shall be chosen by a majority vote of all the electors.

His term shall be for ten years and he shall be ineligible for re-election, but after retirement he shall receive a pension.

2. His duties shall be almost entirely formal and ceremonial.

3. In the event of a hiatus in the Government from any source whatsoever, it shall be his duty immediately to call an election, and in the meantime act as Executive until the regularly elected authorities can again a.s.sume charge of the Government.

CHAPTER XLII

NEW STATE CONSt.i.tUTIONS

I.

To the States, Administrator Dru gave governments in all essentials like that of the nation. In brief the State instruments held the following provisions:

1. The House of Representatives shall consist of one member for every fifty thousand inhabitants, and never shall exceed a membership of two hundred in any State.

2. Representatives shall be elected for a term of two years, but not more than one session shall be held during their tenure of office unless called in special session by the Speaker of the House with the approval of the Governor.

3. Representatives shall be elected in November, and the House shall convene on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January to sit during its own pleasure.

4. Representatives shall make rules for their self-government and shall be the general state law making body.

II.

1. The Senate shall be composed of one member from each congressional district, but there shall never be less than five nor more than fifty in any State Senate.

2. Senators shall be elected for a term of ten years subject to recall at the end of each two years, by pet.i.tion signed by a majority of the electorate of their district.

3. (a) No legislation shall originate in the Senate. Its function is to advise as to measures sent there by the House, to make suggestions and such amendments as might seem pertinent, and return the measure to the House, for its final action.