Wilmington Journal

A New Idea.

We notice that the Washington Union of the 31st alludes to the idea thrown out in various quarters with reference to the power of the President to adjourn Congress under certain contingencies. The Union says that this idea was thrown out in the House of Representatives on the day previous, by Judge Crawford of Georgia, in the course of a few remarks submitted by him, on his resolution to elect a Speaker on the principle on which a President is elected by the House of Representatives—each State having one vote. The Constitution gives to the President the power to convene Congress on extraordinary occasions, and to adjourn it also in case of a disagreement between the two Houses as to the time of adjournment. The following is the clause in the Constitution to which reference has been made:

Art. 2. Sec. 3. "He (the President) shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he may think proper," &c.

We confess that even if under this clause, the President could adjourn Congress, we could see no practical result for good likely to flow from the exercise of such power, since he could not dissolve the House, and no matter when that body might meet again it would be composed of the same members.

The fact is, that the thing now appears to be narrowed down to a point—a general resignation, or perhaps Banks. Will there be this general resignation? We think even that questionable, since it must be evident to many members that the result of a contest in the districts for which they now occupy seats, would be to unseat them. Take for instance, Pennsylvania. In that State the very great majority of the districts from which Free Soil and Know Nothing members were elected fall before last, went last Fall, by very decided majorities for the National Democratic candidates. It is indeed a marked indication of the relative confidence of parties in the verdict of the country, that all, or nearly all, these propositions for resignation and a submission to the judgment of the country come from the Democratic members, and that they are uniformly rejected by the opposition of whatever shade.