In  1867,  in  the  struggle  between  the  Republican  party  and  President  John-
son, after  the  Civil  War,  Congress  began  to  use  its  power  of  granting  supplies
to  control  the  action  of  the  executive  ;  it  did  not  threaten  to  refuse  supplies,
but  it  tacked  as  a  rider  to  the  Army  Appropriation  Bill,  a  bill  virtually
depriving  the  President  of  the  command  of  the  army,  and  placing  its  manage-
ment in  the  hands  of  General  Grant.  Johnson  protested  but  signed  the  bill ;
his  veto  would  have  been  useless,  as  his  opponents  could  have  passed  the  bill
over  his  veto  by  a  two-thirds  majority.  From  this  time  the  practice  of
tacking  measures  of  general  legislation  to  the  appropriation  bills  went  on  ;
but  usually  not  on  account  of  conflict  between  Congress  and  President,  but
as  an  expedient  to  get  necessary  laws  passed  that  might  otherwise  have  been
crowded  out.  In  1879,  however,  a  conflict  again  arose  between  the  dominant
party  in  Congress  and  President  Hayes,  and  similar  tactics  were  tried  by  the
former  body  ;  but  the  dominant  party  had  not  now  the  requisite  majority  of
two-thirds :  the  President  resisted,  vetoed  one  appropriation  bill  after
another,  and  the  House  of  Representatives  gave  way.
430  ELEMENTS  OF  POLITICS  Q,ni>s.
the  executive  seems  to  be  carried  too  far  for  convenience  in
the  United  States.  It  would  seem  better  that  the  ministers
should  have  the  function  of  speaking  ^ — though  not  the  right
of  voting — in  the  legislature,  in  order  to  afford  them  the
opportunity  of  explaining  and  defending  executive  acts
that  excite  criticism,  and  co-operating  in  certain  kinds  of
legislation.  The  president  should  have  this  right  also,  in
order  that  this  communication  with  the  legislature  may
not  gradually  transfer  supreme  executive  power  from  him  to
his  ministers.
