It is a dangerous power, like the power of suspending the writ of Habeas corpus, or the power of declaring war, or the power of reckless and extravagant public expenditure, never to be exercised if it can possibly be helped.
Hoar warns against the dangers of certain governmental powers that should be exercised cautiously.
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More from George F. Hoar
This Treaty would make us a vulgar, common place empire, controlling subject races and vassal states, in which one class must forever rule and other classes forever obey.
It will be better for his reputation that the chapter of that history which relates to him shall be written by a historian with a full and clear sense of those faults and infirmities, concealing nothing, and extenuating nothing.
Self-seeking political adventurers and demagogues have not been slow to take advantage of this feeling for their own purposes.
However any political antagonist might dislike him, every antagonist must respect him, and nobody could laugh at him.
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