THIi GARDEN ISLAND TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 1917
' THE SPEECH OF
SENATOR STONE
(Special correspondent of The (!arii;:n
Island.)
Washington, D. C, March 16th.
The speech of Senator Stone in
opposition to the hill to grant Pres-
dent Wilson the authority to arm
merchant ships and employ such
"other instrumentalities" as he
might deem expedient in our in
ternational affairs, was delivered
on March 2, hut was not printed
in the Record until March 15th.
A careful reading of the speech
tends to the conclusion that the
abuse which has been heaped upon
Senator Stone and those who sup
ported his contentions, which led
to the defeat of the bill, was not
justified.
, A notable feature of President
Wilson's Administration has been
the encroachment of the executive
upon the legislative branch of the
Government. Especially has this
been true in regard to, our interna
tional affairs. In Mexican matters
President Wilson took the initiative
without advising o r consulting
Congress and onlv went to that
body when necessary to obtain
funds or to obtain endorsements of
his acts.
In dealing with the European
situation, Congress has been prac
tically ignored save when the Pres
dent has wished to get Congres
sional approval of his poiicy.
The effort to pass the bill autho
rizing the President to arm ships
an 1 "employ other instrumentali
ties,' in the opinion of a great
majority in Congtess, was in reality
an effort to take from Congress the
Constitutional right to declare war
and place it in the hands of the
President. Very shrewdly the bill
was pushed under the slogan
"stand by the President." just as
shrewdly .as his reelection was ef
fected by the slogan "he kept us
out of war."
Before passing a final verdict
upon the twelve "willful men"
everv citizen who has read the at
tacks made upon them in the press
of the country should also read the
speeches, some of them delivered
durine the consideration of the
neutrality bill in the Senate.
Here are some extracts from
Senator Stone's speech which indi
cate that it was not pacifism or pro
Germanistu that influenced his ac
tion: He said:
"I believe the bill to be not only
violative of the Constitution des
tructive of one of the most impor
tant powers vested in tne Congress,
the war-making power but that
its passage would set a precedent
fraught with future danger to our
form of government and to public
liberty. Moreover, and aside from
the question of its constitutionali
ty' and purely as a matter of pub
lic policy,' I would regard the bill
with grave apprehension, as being
wholly wrong in its possible, if not
natural, tendencies "
"I have said that an act in the
language of this bill would be un
constitutional. I have heard men
say in substance that they agreed
with me-about that, but that they
intended to vote for the till any
how. Whv? Because, they said,
the President advised it. and they
had faith in him. That was the
philosophy of Tim Cambell. who
protested that the Constitution
should not be permitted to stand
between friends. Adopt thisCamp
belltonian philosophy and vott will
open an easy wav, as it certainly j jn that wav to the Con?r'?e? V"M
would be a very accommodating : y0u hare him do so? Be not de
way, for construing the Constitu-! ceived , Senators; this bill if enact
tion; but it is a way no Senator is cd , would confer power upon the
authorized to adopt. The Consti-1 President to initiate war; if he
tution vests the war-making power
alone in the Congress. It is a pow
er the Congress is not at liberty to
delegate. Moreover, I am personal
ly unwilling to part with my con
stitutional responsibility as a Sena
tor to express my judgment upon
the issue of war whenever and
however it may be presented. I
believe this law would coi'trnvt i:e
the Constitution
'IliisuiJ ihut this powi :: . i.
granted, would not authorize the
President to initiate war; but I say
it would. Theie is the issue. The
power to be granted is granted in
terms too broad, too sweeping to
be misunderstood or miscontmed.
No limit whatsoever is placed up
on the"instrunientalities and meth
ods" that the President may em
ploy, and no dirc'etion whatsoever
is given by Congress as to the
manner in which this authority
may be exercised. The President
would be given an absolutely tree
hand to employ any instrumentali
ty and to. adopt anv method he
saw fit to protect "the vessels and
the citizens of the United States in
their lawful and peaceful pursuits
on the high sens." It would be
left entirely to him to determine
whether or not a vessel or a citizen
interfered with was, in fact, in the
circumstances of a given case, en
gaged upon a lawful and peaceful
pursui. The President would de
cide that for himself; he would be
the sole arbiter of all such ques
tions; and determining all such
questions for himself, he would be
made the sole judge as to the "in
strumentalities" o r "methods"
that he might employ to avenge or
to punish whatever he might de
clare to be an offensive under this
law. He might adopt, for example,
retaliation as a method both of
punishment and of prevention. The
language fs abundantly broad
enough for that. He might con
clude to send war craft on the
high seas as a "method" of stop
ping submarine activities; and in
the execution of that method, he
might direct the use of necessary
force to drive the submarines
which are war vessels of a belli
gerent power from the commercial
paths of the sea.
'The bill is broad enough for
that. Possibly such an act might
be considered as a very proper and
salutary thing for the President to
do; but to do it would be war. If
the President should so direct, act
ing under this proposed law, who
would say him nay? But anything
done of that nature or along those
line?, or any act done which would
be the equivalent thereof, would,
as I said, not only be an act of
war, but it would le the very es
sence of war in fact; and the Con
gress would have by their own act
rendered ' themselves hopelessly
silent and powerless. The Con
gress would have abdicated and
surrendered in advance all chance
of passing upon the questions ad
judicated by the President leav
ing everything to him, Thy would
have surrendered their constitu
tional light and lost Itieir oppor
tunity to determine whether or not
the facts upon which the President
acted would justify a declaration
of war or warrant the inaugura
tion of war by a definite act of
war. Under this bill all such ques
tions would be left to the President
alone The Congress would have
already divested themselves even
of the poor privilege of saving that
they 'approved or disapproved of
President's course. After the be
ginning of war it would certainly
be too late to speak. They might
find the country in the midst of a
war begun by the President under
colorable authority , and it would
then, as I have said, be too late
for Congress to disapprove or re
ject, and any attempt to do so
would be fruitless. All they could
do would be to approve. In the
nature of things they could not
disapprove. Being in war, iwe
would have no other alternative
but to go on and fight it out to the
bitter end. Would anv President
surrender h.s constitnt lcnai powers
tlimilil sn dfsir nr dcterminp mul i
to do that supremely solemn thing I
without first submitting the choice'
of war or peace to the Congress." !
"Th question here presented j
rises above mere faith in any Pres
ident or anv man; it is not per
sonal; it is fundamental. Pres- j
idents of the United States come'
, i . . , ... 1 1
aim go, ;jih uie eoiisinuiion suouiu ,
.endure unchanged as the people!
made it, except onlv as the people
themselves may alter it. We h;ie
no authority to change it; we may
lawlessly vitiate it, but we have no
authority to change it. It is our
duty to maintain it unimpaired as
the one great safeguard of Amer
ican institutions and of our liber
ties. ,
"Let me speak even more speci
fically. The war power is vested
alone in Congress. It is so ex
pressly written i n the consti
tution; it ha been so decided
by the Supreme Court. Thomas
Jefierson said: 'Congress alone is
constitutionally invested with the
power of changing our condition
from peace to war.' So said Wash
ington and Jackson and Lincoln
and Webster and all the great men
of the United States whose deliver
ances should be taken as authori
tative; but we of this day are up
on the eve, seemingly, of enacting
a statute clothing the President
with power to change our condi
tion from peace to war without
consulting the Congiess, a thing
Thomas Jefferson said could not
constitutionally be done."
For Supervisor
To The Public: I beg to an
nounce that 1 will bo a candidate
to succeed, myself as county super
visor from the Koloa district, and
invite the support of voters at the
primary election to be held April 7,
next.
W. 1). McHhypk,
Homestead, Eehrunry "JO, 15)17.
FOR SUPERVISOR
To The Public: I beg to an
nounce that I will be a candidate
to succeed myself as county super
visor from the W'aimea district,
and invite the support of voters at
the primary election to be held
April 7, next.
T. Brandt.
Wainioa, February, 10, 15)17.
FOR SUPERVISOR
To The Voters of Kawailian Di
tnct: I respcetlully announce my
self as acandidate for supervisor on
the Republican' ticket at the coming
election. I request all voters of
Kawaihau district to give nie their
support and if favored with the
nomination ami election l promise
my best efforts ill the interest of efli
cient and satisfactory county gov
ernment.
Thanking all voters in advance
for their support, I am,
Respectfully,
FitKD Mkxdks.
Kcalia, February 2(5. (tf )
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Parcels Post will bring such
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1917 SUPER-SIX!
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Enlist Today
in the ranks of loyal, thrifty
folk, who are prepared to
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You may not be called to
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tle front. But Great Britain's
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Every man. womtn and
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Statt a savings account to
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Bishop & Company
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kvkr ythinc1 in thk
Silvkr and Gold Link,
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MKRCHANPI.sk OF THK
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