Being, then, the elected representative of a definite political party, his acts are expected by those who have elected him to be used towards continuing their party in power, and thus the person from time to time holding the position of President becomes a distinct vehicle for the exercise of party political warfare instead of being an impartial administrator.
His veto being thus supreme, all legislation has to be conducted with a view to what will meet, or will not meet, the personal views of the President, as has been most plainly shown in the framing of Tariffs for Customs and Taxation.
This written constitution of the United States, admirable though it may have been thought at the time, and an improvement upon the then existing state of things, was born over a century ago, in the times of autocratic government, and though thus out of date, it has remained ever since practically unchanged; in fact, with the exception of the amendment respecting slavery, it is identically the same.
During this same hundred years, as civilization has advanced, education enlightened the masses, intelligence expanded among the people, and experience been gained, there has grown up that marvellous form of self-government under which we Canadians and our brother colonists live—the British Constitutional Monarchy. In this British Empire, in the colonial parliaments, as in the Imperial Parliament, the King or Sovereign represents all the people, not a party, and is the permanent chairman of the nation. The will of Parliament, tempered by his continued counsel, is his will. The ministers of the Crown, who, with the Premier as their head, form the Executive, are elected by the people, and sit in the same House of Commons with the other elected representatives. Debating with them on the issues of the day, they are responsible to their fellow-members for the measures which they introduce;[165] and when they fail to carry these measures, and cease to secure the support of the majority of the people's representatives, as then sitting in Parliament, the ministry must resign, and is succeeded at the call of the sovereign, or in a self-governed Dominion, of the Governor-General, by another Cabinet, which shall represent that majority; or, should the matter be considered of sufficient importance, the whole Parliament is forthwith dissolved by the Sovereign, or his representative, as the neutral and unbiased centre of impartial power. All the members return for re-election by their constituencies, and the question at issue is quickly submitted for decision by the ballots of the electors. Thus the acts of the Premier or chief minister, and of his Cabinet, and also of the party of which he is leader, and the whole Parliament, are at once subject to the opinion of the people without waiting for the completion of their term.[166]
Further, indeed, than this, if a member of the Cabinet should die or resign during the term of any parliament his successor must, upon his appointment, return to his individual constituency and be re-elected, so that the opinion of the people may be taken upon the general policy of the Cabinet and upon his own special fitness for his appointment.
The Governor-General of Canada, as also the governors in the other self-governed colonies, does not, as so many of the people of the United States imagine, govern the country, acting with absolute power under the direction of the Government of Great Britain; for in every way, except for the purposes of imperial advice and the declaration of war, Canada is practically an Independent Dominion, as sings the empire poet,[167]
"Daughter am I in my mother's home, But mistress in my own."
By virtue of his office, a Governor-General represents the person of the sovereign of the empire in the local government in his portion of the British realm, and is the connecting link between the mother parliament in Great Britain and the parliament in the colony. He can influence but does not direct, he can advise but does not determine, for as has been well said of the British Monarchy: "Le Roi regne mais ne gouverne pas"—The King reigns, but does not govern. As in the parent kingdom the Sovereign is secured in impartiality by the grace of birth, so in the daughter realm the Governor-General is dissociated from all local entanglements or party feelings by virtue of being selected for his particular abilities and appointed from another portion of the Empire by the central source of honour and power. The distinctive flag (65) of the Governor-General of Canada is the "Union Jack," having on its centre the arms of Canada, surrounded by a wreath of maple leaves, the whole being surmounted by a royal crown.
65. Flag of the Governor-General of Canada.