Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 3, Number 6, DeMotte, Jasper County, 22 June 1933 — A Dictatorship? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A Dictatorship?

by LEONARD A. BARRETT

In the judgment of a large number of persons, the representative form

of government in our country seems to be breaking down. The unprecedented power which congress has vested in the President makes it appear as though we are now functioning under a dictatorship. Comparing our country with Italy, some persons have loudly and even boasting ly acclaimed

that there is very little difference between the power vested in Mussolini and in our own President, both being that of a dictator. The interesting thing about this criticism is that it is not only very obviously true when judged by only a cursory evaluation of the facts, but when dispassionately studied in the light of the real facts, the criticism is found to be very untrue. The power vested by congress in the President is practically the same as was vested in Woodrow Wilson at the time this country entered the World war. By means of this extraordinary power, the President was able to mobilize an army and get things done more speed Uy; he was able to eliminate all red

tape by not having to refer details to congress. So, the power now vested in the President is by no means a new or untried experiment. It has been exercised before with great advantage and to the best interests of our country. It also should be remembered that there is a very important difference between the status of this power in Italy and the United States. In the case of our President the power can be returned at any time to congress by a two-thirds vote. There is also no question but that if this invested power were directed toward dangerous ends it would be revoked instantly. The condition in Italy is quite different. Only nominally can it be said that Mussolini is responsible to the king. He is the government with no probability of a recall of that dictatorship, except by force, as might be created by a revolution. In our country it is an emergency measure only, and we can be sure will be voluntarily returned to congress when no longer needed. There is not the slightest possibility that the citizens of our country would ever tolerate, even for a moment, any substitute for our representative form of government. Let no person fear that the Constitution of the United States will ever become impaired. ©, 1933, Western Newspaper Union.