[44] There seems to have been at one time a tendency towards a better practice. In 1813 the Senate sought to revive the early custom, in accordance with which the President delivered his messages in person, by requesting the attendance of the President to consult upon foreign affairs; but Mr. Madison declined. [45] _North American Review_, vol. 108, p. 625. [46] _English Constitution_, chap, viii., p. 293. [47] _Atlantic Monthly_, vol. xxv., p. 148. [48] Something like this has been actually proposed by Mr. Albert Stickney, in his interesting and incisive essay, _A True Republic_. [49] State, Treasury, War, Navy. [50] As quoted in _Macmillan's Magazine_, vol. vii., p. 67. [51] I quote from an excellent handbook, _The United States Government_, by Lamphere. [52] "In America the President cannot prevent any law from being passed, nor can he evade the obligation of enforcing it His sincere and zealous cooperation is no doubt useful, but it is not indispensable, in the carrying on of public affairs. All his important acts are directly or indirectly submitted to the legislature, and of his own free authority he can do but little. It is, therefore, his weakness, and not his power, which enables him to remain in opposition to Congress. In Europe, harmony must reign between the Crown and the other branches of the legislature, because a collision between them may prove serious; in America, this harmony is not indispensable, because such a collision is impossible."--De Tocqueville, i. p. 124. [53] _Westminster Review_, vol. lxvi., p. 193. [54] Tenure of Office Act, already discussed. [55] These "ifs" are abundantly supported by the executive acts of the war-time. The Constitution had then to stand aside that President Lincoln might be as prompt as the seeming necessities of the time. [56] _Central Government_ (Eng. Citizen Series), II. D. Traill, p. 20. [57] Professor Sumner's _Andrew Jackson_ (American Statesmen Series), p. 226. "Finally," adds Prof. S., "the methods and machinery of democratic republican self-government--caucuses, primaries, committees, and conventions--lend themselves perhaps more easily than any other methods and machinery to the uses of selfish cliques which seek political influence for interested purposes." [58] Bagehot: _Essay on Sir Robert Peel_, p. 24. [59] H. C. Lodge's _Alexander Hamilton_ (Am. Statesmen Series), pp. 60, 61. [60] Bagehot, _Eng. Const._, p. 293. [61] Bagehot, _Eng. Const._, p. 296. [62] Green: _Hist. of the English People_ (Harpers' ed.), iv., pp 58, 59. [63] _Statesman's Manual_, i. p. 244. [64] Mr. Dale, of Birmingham. End of Project Gutenberg's Congressional Government, by Woodrow Wilson