Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1886-03-11
! PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
The President Gives His Views on
the Right of Removals.

Lilo IslR0t VI xk0IuOVdlSs
WASHINGTON, March 2.-The following
rs the message sent to the Senate yesterday
by the President relating to his right to
withhold information relating to suspen-
sioas from Office.
To the Senate of the United States:
Ever since the beginning of the present
session of the Senate the different heads of
departments have been piled with various
questions and requests for papers from CON-
mIttees OF the Senate, from the membe.s of
such committees. and at last from the SEN
ate itself, requiring the transmission Of the
reason for the suspension Of certain officials
during the recess of that body, or for par pa
touching the conduct OF such Offici2lS ar for
all papers and documents fled j. sucb do
partments in relation TO tho manaremeut
and conduct OF the Offices .,eld by such sus-
pended oIficiais, DiIe terms were from
time to time adopt'd in making these re-
quests ana deint ads. The order in which
Ihey succeeded each other and the fact that,
WI. Well niaue - the Senate, a resolution for
thal purpo e was passed in executive session
gives thr right to a presumption which will
supW se, be candidly admitted that from
.h last the Information thus sought and
.uo papers thus demanded is for the use of
~ senate and IT'S committees in considering
ne propriety ofthe suspensions referred to.
DEFENDING nB, GARLAND.
Ihough these suspensions are the execu-
1--WE acts based upon considerations adj
dressed to me alone, and for which / am
wholly responsible, have had no invitation
from me Senate TO state the position which
nave felt constrained to assume in relation
10 the same, or to interpret for myself my
ACTS anu motives in the premises. In this
'.obS ition OF affairs i have fOrborne adj
pressing the Senate on the subject lest
might he accused of thPusting myself unbid-
uen on the attention of that body, But the
ooinihittce on Judiciary lately presented a
published report which censurcs the Attor
ney Gc.rera OF the United States for his re-
lusal to transmit certain papers relating to
hiSpch SONS from Office, and which also il /
correctly Interpret il cvinces Misrepresentation
or the position of the executive upon TIE
question OF such suspensions, and viii,
hope, justify this communication"
the President refers to tr,e resolution of
the Senate calling for me Dustin naners
and the reply Of me Attorney General
thereto, and says':
Upon TINS re solution and the answer there.
20 the ISSUE. is thus stated by the Committee
on ouuIcp Try at the outset of the report The
ht p" at question then is whether it is
III" n house of Congress TO have access to
W Official papers and documents in the
drious public Offices of the United States
created by laws enacted by themselves
JURISDICTION OF coNGREss.
do not suppose that "the public uff:cers
of the United States are regulated or cor
sroIled ID the'r relations to either house OF
by laws enacted by themselves" 1t must be
mat these Observation-Disclosures were created for
me ncnent OF the peopc and TO answer the
Seherai purposes of government under the
constitution and the laws and that they are
lnncumbered by any lien in favor of either
opatch OF Congress, growing out OF ,heir
construction and unembarrased by any obi
gallon to the Senate as to the price of their
creation.
The complaint of the committee that h.
cess TO Official papers in the public Offices is
denied the Senate is met by the statement
that at no time has il been the disposition
or the intention of the President or any de-
partneht or the executive branch of the
Government I" withhold from the Senate
Oiiiciai ooc'!ments or papers filed in any of
ahe pub'.c offices. While it is no means
CONCEDED that the Senate has the right I'm
any case TO review the act of the executive
N removing or suSpending public officer
upon Official documents or otherwise, 1t is
considered that documents and papers
OF that nature should, because thew
are Official, be freely transmitted to the
SENATE upon It's deinan0, trusting the use of
me same Tor proper and legitimate pur-
poses TO the good faith of that body, and
Enough no Such paper or document has been
specfica.iy demanded i'm any of the hume
r0us requests and demands made upon the
ueGartments, yet as often rs they were
H'und in the public offices they have been
furnished in answer to such applications.
The President continues
The letter of the Attorney Genoral in re
Spouse to the resolution of the Senate i'm 70
gard TO the particular ease mentioned I'm the
committee report was written ut my sup-
Eestlon and 10y my direction There had bcen
no oHlciai pagers or documents fled in his
repartmep, relating to the case within the
period Specified in the resolution. The letter
WIS ip.ended, by its description of the docu-
Nepss ana papers remaining in the custody
OF the department, to con0ey the IDEA that
Uley were not official, and it was assumed
the resolution called for information paperS
and documents of the same character MS
were required by the requests and demands
winch preceded it, and every thing that had
Deen written or done in behalf of the Senate
from the beginning pointed to all letters OF
a private and unofficial nature as the
OBJECT Oft of the search, if they were
provided they bid been presented to The ex.
ecutlve With view to their consideration
upon the Question of suspension from office.
against rne transmission of such papers and
SSocunlcnts have interposed my advice and
direction.
THE PAPERS UNOFFICIAL.
4. TEls has not been done, as is suggested in
me committee report. upon the assumption
'on my part that the Attorney General or any
other lead of a department lis the servant
OF inc President and is to give or withhold
SopeS of documents in his Office according
20 the Will of the executive and not other
wise, but because / regard the papers and
monuments withheld and addressed to me or
Omcial ana private, rot infrcquently conf
eential and having reference to the per-
Snrmance OF "a duty exclusively mine. con-
slider them i'm no proper sense as upon the files
or the department, but as deposited there
Tor my conven ence. remaining still com
p.ctely under my control. l suppose if de-
Sired to take them into my custody might
do so with entire proprietv and Il l saw tit to
destroy them no one could complain.
Inc papers ana documents that are now
the object of the Senate request consist of
letters aud representations addressed to the
executive or intended for his inspection.
Ihey are voluntarily written and presented
10y PRIVATE citizens who are not i'm the least
.pstigated thereto by any Official Invita- on
or at all subject to official control While
some OF them are entitled TO executive con-
sideration many of them are so irrelevant
or in the light of other facts so worthless
that they have not been given the least
weight in determining the question to which
they are supposed 10 relate.
Are all these simply because they are pre-
served to be considered official documents
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 developed,
such as would be satisfied with my selec-
ton? Am to submit TO theirs at the risk
of being charged with making a suspension
from office upon evidence which was not
even considered? Are these papers to he re-
garded as official because they have not only
been presented but preserved in the public
Offices? Their nature and character remain
the same whether they are kept in the exec
utive mansion or deposited in the depart-
ments. There is no mysterious power of
transmutation i'll departmental custody nor is
there magic in the underlined sacred sOlem-
nifty of different files. If the presence of
these papers N the public Offices is a stumb-
ling block in the way of the performance of
senatorial duty, it can he easily removed.
described derive no official character from
constitutional and Statutary. or other re-
ouirement, making them necessary to the
performance of the official duty OF the ex-