Chapter 57 Fifty-six. Yuan and the National Congress are at odds

When the Kuomintang's second revolution failed, Yuan seemed to be quite lenient to the enemy. He put the responsibility for this incident entirely on the Kuomintang leaders and the Kuomintang soldiers in the independent provinces and regions. Therefore, the Kuomintang can still exist, and the Kuomintang members can still attend as usual Congress; and the Kuomintang also accounts for a considerable majority in Congress, which is really an extremely interesting phenomenon.It was difficult for everyone to understand at the time, because Yuan was not such a graceful and open-minded person.But soon, this suspicion was dispelled. It turned out that Yuan wanted to use the Congress to elect the official president. If there was no Kuomintang in the Congress, there would not be enough quorum. That's why he was so "magnanimous."

Yuan was very upset when the presidential election law was promulgated by Congress. He believed that the power to promulgate laws should belong to the president, and the legislature should not directly promulgate them.It's just that he had to make compromises at that time, waiting for Congress to elect him as president, so it was inconvenient to show dissatisfaction; and because he had to take office in a very short period of time, rushing to take office on Double Tenth, so he didn't have time to argue.But after officially taking office as the president, the first thing to do is to fight for the "right to promulgate the law" with Congress.

At that time, the Drafting Committee of the Organizational Law of Members of the Senate and House of Representatives in Beijing resolved the eleventh chapter and one hundred and twelve articles of the draft at the Temple of Heaven, and submitted it to the Constitutional Conference for deliberation.Fearing that the Constitution would be harmful to him, Yuan clearly declared: "All laws and regulations must be promulgated by the President before they can be effective."Less than a week after he took office, that is, on October 16, he proposed to the House of Representatives a bill to amend the "Convention Act". The full text is as follows:

Acting for consultation: check the "Provisional Constitution", which was originally established for the provisional government. It has been 20 months since it was promulgated and implemented.Its fundamental organization in the country is solidly established as a result of the implementation of the "Convention Law", but the political renewal of the country is also hindered by the results of the implementation of the "Convention Law".In summary, during the interim period, the government was at the top left and the right was at the top, and the people were frowning at the bottom; as for the major domestic and foreign issues, the interests were hanging in the balance, and the gains and losses were only equal. The haggardness of tens of millions of compatriots in dire straits is getting worse day by day.All of these are all due to the shackles of the "Yuefa". ... The president of this university testifies that based on the experience of twenty months of reading, there are various facts to support any obstacles arising from the "Contract".The reason why the official government is different from the provisional government is that it is not the first official president, but it can be regarded as the beauty of the Republic of China in the world. It must be politically reformed to satisfy the expectations of our people, and then we can clean up the chaos. The hearts of those who want to rule.Whether politics can be refreshed or not, it must start with the addition of the "Convention Law"; if the post of chief executive in the "Convention Law" is not completed, in fact there is no hope of unifying government affairs; "Chapter Four of the regulations on the duties and powers of the President has already found various difficulties in applying to the provisional President. If it is applied to the official President, the difficulties will be even greater.Going forward with all these difficulties, if the pain only affects the president, how can it be difficult to remedy the gaps and deal with each other; Seek protection from contempt.This President is bound by the "Contract" for one person, just as important as the lives and property of our 400 million compatriots, who are also bound by the "Convention"!The president has no name, and his body remains to this day. He will never dare to maintain the false name of the "Convention Law", and those who have nothing to say about the mourning of our people will suffer the real disaster of implementing the "Convention Law".According to Article 55 of the "Provisional Constitution", the President has the right to propose amendments to the "Convention Act". At the beginning of his appointment, he will propose an additional amendment to the "Convention Act" that should be added and amended, and attach it article by article. There are reasons for discussion.Except for the "Convention Law" that was promulgated earlier, if it is necessary to make discretionary amendments according to subsequent laws, for example, the word "temporary" in each article should be deleted, the word "Senate" should be changed to "National Assembly", and the rest The facts have been changed, and all articles and items should be deleted. In addition to being discussed and resolved by the Congress, a bill to amend the treaty will be proposed accordingly, and the list will be revised for consultation with your court.The matter is urgent, and I hope that a resolution can be made as soon as possible.

The "Contract Amendment Bill" proposed by Yuan to the House of Representatives is to change the responsible cabinet system in the "Interim Constitution" into a presidential system; at the same time, there are three items that should be amended and two items that should be added.What should be amended is that the original "President may formulate official systems and regulations, appoint state officials and diplomatic envoys, declare war, negotiate peace, and conclude treaties with foreign countries; but all must be submitted to the Senate for resolution or obtain the consent of the Senate." The proviso allows the President to exercise the above powers without the consent of Congress.What should be added is: "In order to maintain public security and prevent disasters, the President may enact a decree with the same effect as the law when he meets in the Congress. In case of emergency, the President may use the decree as a temporary financial punishment." It is to expand the power of the president. requirements.

At this time, the constitution-making of the National Assembly had entered the third reading. Therefore, the members thought that the official constitution was about to be completed and the "Interim Constitution" was about to be abolished. There was no need to amend the "Interim Constitution", so they ignored it.Yuan's fierce face was revealed at this time, and on October 22, eight people, including Shi Yu, Gu Ao, Rao Mengren, Li Yuan, Fang Shu, Cheng Shude, Kong Zhaoyan, and Yu Yuchang, were appointed to attend the constitutional meeting on his behalf, and sent to the unanimous constitutional meeting. The message is as follows:

Acting for consultation: Check the "Congress Organization Law" and read: The Constitution of the Republic of China was drafted and agreed by the Congress of the Republic of China.The National Congress of the Republic of China organized the Constitution Drafting Committee of the Republic of China and the Special Constitution Conference.The President of the Republic of China is deeply concerned about the pains of the founding of the Republic of China and the difficulty of construction. Regarding the constitutional bill that is related to the foundation of the country, he hopes that it can be completed as soon as possible, so that the republican politics can develop.However, the "Temporary Agreement" states that the President has the right to add and amend the agreement.Since the constitution is established, the responsibility for its implementation rests with the president. Before the constitution was enacted, the covenant had the same effect as the constitution. If the president is given this privilege, the use of state power will easily involve bias; and the governance of the country Rise and fall in chaos, each with the rise and fall of the fundamental Dafa.Since the President is the head of state representing the government in charge of government affairs, if he cannot have a certain expression of his will on the laws that are related to the prosperity and prosperity of the country, so that those who discuss the laws can compromise, the dangers arising from the fundamental laws of the country are bound to be brewed in the future. Invisibility, or even the inability to remedy, is it the original intention of the country to formulate the fundamental law?The president of this country has been appointed as the interim president for more than a year. The administration is full of joys and sorrows, and he knows it better. The suffering of the people is more real.Now that he is in the position of President, he will be responsible for implementing the constitution drafted by the National Congress of the Republic of China in the future. If he sees that there are difficulties in implementation, and it will affect the rise and fall of the country's governance, he dare not speak for himself.The founding of the Republic of China, the president of our country was lucky to deal with it. Now that he is elected by the people and shoulders this important task, he has nothing to say about the constitutional ceremony of the fundamental organization of the Republic of China. The Suzhi of the Republic of China.The President hereby sincerely makes a statement on the Constitution of the Republic of China, and hereby orders the State Council to send members Shi Yu, Gu Ao, Rao Mengren, Li Yuan, Fang Shu, Cheng Shude, Kong Zhaoyan, and Yu Chichang to represent the opinions of the President; When your association holds a meeting, or holds a constitution drafting committee, or holds a constitutional review meeting, it is hoped that the State Council will be notified in advance, so that the member can attend the statement at any time.Correspondingly consult Minggui, please check the photos.

Yuan Shikai sent eight members to the Constitutional Committee and asked to attend as non-voting delegates. The Constitutional Conference believed that the nature of the committee was different from that of the Senate and the House of Representatives. There is no legal basis for sending representatives to attend the meeting. At the same time, according to the drafting rules of the Constitution, other than the members of the two houses, other government personnel not only cannot participate, but also should not attend the meeting. Therefore, government members are refused to attend as non-voting delegates for this reason.

At this time, the Beijing Congress was already a plaything in Yuan's hands, and Yuan could do whatever he wanted, and the Constitutional Conference was also ready to accept Yuan's "expansion of presidential power."For members of Congress, the only hope left is for Yuan to maintain the dignity of the appearance of the Congress, maintain his personal status as a member, save face, and follow certain procedures to formulate a constitution that Yuan can agree to.Unexpectedly, Yuan did not leave any room for it, and openly sent personnel to interfere in the constitution-making, leaving no room for the Congress to accept it, so he firmly refused to receive the Eight Representatives.

Yuan was furious about this, so on October 25th he sent a telegram to the military and civilian chiefs of each province to oppose the draft constitution. The text read: "The formulation of the constitution is related to the survival of the Republic of China. How to deliberate carefully and strive for completeness; the Kuomintang has many saboteurs, and at the beginning it was a named political party, acting as a minion, endangering the country, and overthrowing the government. The facts are all there and cannot be denied. The Constitution Drafting Committee , Members of the party account for the majority of them, and they heard that the draft constitution drafted by them is very harmful to the country....The president of this country has been entrusted with the heavy responsibility, insisting on the purpose of protecting the country and saving the people, and it is true that this violates the constitution of the republic and affects the The rise and fall of the country's chaos is huge, so why dare to keep silent? The "Provisional Constitution", the president has the right to propose amendments to the constitution; and when the United States negotiated the Constitution, Washington acted as the speaker of the Second United Conference of Independent Colonial Representatives, although he was few Proposed, and the provision of 30,000 people in the House of Representatives is actually what Washington advocated; when France formulated the constitution, Mamai Mahon was elected as the official president, and ordered the Minister of Foreign Affairs Brole to submit a draft constitution to the National Assembly, which is the current French constitution. The original bill. This law, the first president of the United States and the news of the Constitution, have precedents that can be cited. The special commissioner went to Congress to state his opinions in order to do our best to protect the country and save the people. There are many fallacies in the draft. On the one hand, it has been agreed to gather foreign legalists for public discussion, and it should continue to be reported at any time. The civil and military chiefs are all part of the country, and each is responsible for safeguarding public order. It is not convenient to know that they share interests in the fundamental law of the country. In other words, we hope to study and discuss each item one by one, and reply quickly within five days of the telegram, so as to make a choice."

As early as October 8, Ni Sichong, the governor of Anhui, had sent a telegram calling for the disbandment of the Kuomintang: "Anyone who is in the party's important positions will be expelled back to his hometown." Absolutely ridiculous... Although Xun is not talented, he punishes the rebels and commits himself to the country, and he will die." Jiang Gui, a veteran of the Huai army, scolded members of Congress as public enemies of the people and young men.Some people advocate the dissolution of the National Assembly and the Legislative Affairs Bureau as the constitution-making body. All these shouts of beating and killing forget one fact: the President Yuan they support was produced by this "enemy of the nation" Congress.