Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1886-03-05
Presidents Message.
Relating to the sensts's Demand fl
the s.Papers."

~ sue AScAsss~ssA ~.
the =. Papers.''
WASHINGTON, March 1.-The Presi-
dent Ut SPECIAL message to the
Srntte to-day in regard to its de
nands for papers. Following is tue
message:
To liz Senate ofMc Cnued .Statcs:-
Ever me- the beginning Of the pres
cut =, ssi"n of the Senate, the d fer
en- beads of Iepar ments attached
% the .xrcut!v, bianch of the Gov
eminent nave been p'leI with various
.ques's and demands from co'u-
nit ees of the Senate, from members
If such committees, and at last from
the Senate itself, requiring the trains
miss on of the reasons for the sus-
pensluL Of rtaln officials during
he recess of that body, or papers
touching the conduct of such officials
~ for IL the papers and documents
relatin to such suspensions, or tor
all IT,, documents aud papers filed
III such departments in relaiio1 to
the infringement and conduct OF the
offices held by such suspendtd
officials. d fferent terms have from
time to time been adopted III making
these requests and demands. Tue
order in which they succeeded each
other, aud the fact that when made
by the Senate resolution for that
purpose was passed in executive
session, have led to the presumption,
the correctness of which will, sup
pose, be candidly admitted, that
from the first to last the informa-
ton thus sought and the papers
were demanded for use by the Sen
ate and it's committees in consider
lng the propriety Of the suspensions
referred to, though these suspensions
are my executive acts, based on con-
siderations addressed to me alone,
and for which 1 am alone wholly re.
sponsible.
] have had no invitation from the
Senate to state the position which l
have felt constrained to assume in
relation to the same, or TO interpret
for myself my actions or motives in
the premises. In this condition of af.
fairs l have forborne addressing the
Senate upon the subject, lest l might
be accused of thrusting myself I'M
hidden upon the attention of that
body. But the report of the Com
mittee on Judiciary of the Senate,
lately presented and published,
which censures the Attorney Gen
eral of the United States for his re-
fusal to transmit certain papers re-
la,ing to a suspension from Office,
and which also, if l correctly inter
pref it, evinces a misapprehension Of
the position of the executive upon
the question Of such suspensions.
will, I hope, justify this communi-
cation. The attitude of the Senate
from tho beginning pointed to all
the letters and papers of u private,
unofficial nature, as the objects OF
search, if they were to bo found in
the departments, and provided they
had been presented to the executive
with O view of their consideration
on q question of suspension from
office. Against tho transmission OF
such papers and documents, have
iuterposed my advice and direction.
This has not been done, as suggest
cd in the committees report, on an
assumption on my part that the At
torney General or any other head OF
q department sis the servant of the
President and is to give or withhold
copies of documents in his Office &C.
cordine to the will of the Executive
and not otherwise" but because ]
regarded the papers and documents
withheld and addressed to me or in.
tended for my use and action as
purely unofficial and private and not
infrequently confidential, aud hav-
ing reference to the performance OF
q duty exclusively mine, I consider
them in no proper sense as upon the
files of the departments, but as de.
posted there for my convenience,
remaining still completely under my
control. I suppose if 1 desired to
take them into my custody I might
do 80 with entire propriety, and if
saw fit to destroy them no one could
complain.
The papers and documents that
are now the objects of the Senate's
questions consist of letters and rep.
reservations addressed to the Execu-
tive, or intended for his inspection.
They are voluntarily written and
presented by private citizens who are
not in the least instigated thereto by
any official invitation or at all subject
to official control. While some Of
them are entitled to executive con.
sideration, many of them are so ir.
relevant, or in the light of other
facts, SO worthless, that they have
not been given the least weight in
determining the questions to which
they are supposed to relate. Are all
there. simply because they arc pre-
served, to be considered official doc
uments and subject to the inspection
of the Senate =? If not. who is to
determine which belong to this class
Are the motives and purposes of the
Senate, as they are day by day de.
veloped, such as would be satisfied
with my selection? Am I to submit
them at the risk of being charged
With making suspension from office
on evidence that was not even con-
sidered? Are these papers to be re.
garded as official because they have
not only been presented but pre-.
served in public offices2 Their ma.
ture and character remain the same
whether they are kept in the Execu-
tive Mansion or deposited in the de-
partmsnts There are no mysteries
Of ;transmutation in departmental
custody. nor is there magic in the
defined and sacred solemnity of de-
partment files. If the presence Of
these papers in public Offices is q
| efumhlino hlOck in the wav of the