The Arkansas advocate., 1834-01-17


 quire of me an account of any communi-
 .;, cs:.: ;:.s;: :;.. ,nase to the Heads of Departments. acting as a Cabinet Council. .As well might i be re- quired to detail to the Senate the free and private conversation have held with those officers on any subject relating to then dti- ties and my own.
 Feeling my responsibility to the Ameri- can people, am willing, upon all occasions to explain to them the grounds of my con duet; and am willing. upon all proper oc- easlons, to give to either branch of tine ie- gislature, any information in my possession that can be useful m the execution of the appropriate duties coniided to them.
 Knowing the constitutional right of the Senate, shall be the last man, under any circumstances, to interfere with them.- Knowing those of the Executive, shall, at all times, endeavor to maintain them, agreeably to the provisions of the CoDsti- tuition, and the solemn oath have taken 10 support and defend 1t.
 am constrained, therefore, by proper sense of my own self respect, and of the rights secured by the Constitution to the Executive branch of the Government, to decline compliance with your request.
 ANDREW JACKSON.
 The Message having been read,
 Mir. CLAY rose, and said, that the call to which this message was a response, had been made upon the President after full de- liberation. The right to make it was found- ed upon the presumed act of the President. It was founded upon the fact of the promul- gation of the state paper einanatifg from the President relating to the depcsites of the public money of the people of the Uni ted States, with the Presidents assent and direction. That paper had been phi iished to the world, with the sanction of the Pres- ident. Hwas now in the fuii possession of the people of the United States. It had been published to make an impression; and 1t had made a deep impression OH their minds. But still 1t had been published on authority alleged by the Editor ofa newspa- per, to be derived from the President.-- Whether the paper was, in fact genuine; or, if genuine, whether t was promulgated with the Presidents sanction, were questions re- specting which we had no evidence, but that which the assertion of the. Editor,the paper itself, and concufring circumstances, aford- cd. In this situation, 1t was by fMr. C.) himself, and he supposed by those who yo- ted with him in supporting the call, deemed due and respectful to the President, due to the Senate, and due to the whole country, to appeal to the highest source Of inforna- ion in relation 10 this subject, and to re- quest an authentic and official copy of the paper itself.
 This call was in conformity with estab- lished usage, co-eval, he MT. O. believed, with the Government. Whenever either branch of Congress desire pnbhc paper, :.. ;s,,--essiypr ot: or proceeding from the Executive, if has called for it. Innumera- ble instances of such calls are to be found III ihe iournais of the two Houses.
 In this case, the President refuses to comply with the call; and, undertaking to judge of the rights of the Senate, and of the rights of the Executive, pronounces that the call is not one which the Senate can con- additionally make, or with which it is his duty to comply. Whatever sincerity and strength may exist in the opinion of the President, they cannot be greater than those which are entertained by him, (Mr. e. and he has no doubt by the majority of the Sen ate, that they have right to an official copy of the paper. He had expressly disclaim- ed all right of intervention between the President and his confidential advisers Every such purpose was, and is, distinctly disavowed. If the document had remain ed confidential, 1t would not, and could not have been called for. It is because it had ceased to be confidential, and has been made public by the authority of the presi- dent himself: because he has broken the seal of confidence, and published to the world a highly important state paper, affect ing the custody and safety of the Treasury of the people of the United States, and the immediate if not the sole cause of the most important act ever performed by the Exec utive of the United States, that the call has been made. And is 1t come to this, that the whole world, including the people of the United States, may be put in possession of such paper, and that an official copy of 1t shall be denied to a coordinate branch of the Government?
 But, MT. C.. said, 1t was not necessary, nor was it his purpose to proceed any fur ther in this matter. He desired the highest and most authentic evidence of the paper in question. Ii has been applied for, and IS refused. And now, by all the dictates of common sense, and according to all the rules of evidenceerespeeted here or else where, he was at liberty to use the best eyi- dence in his power; and he should hereafter use. on all fit occasions, copy of the doc-