Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-02-04
INTERESTING PRECEDENT.
A Letter From Hon. Alexander IL. H. stuart
A Washington telegram to the Baltl-

A Letter From Hon. Alexander u. II. stuart
A Washington telegram to the Balti-
more Sun says:
Hon. Alexander II. Ii. Stuart, who
is one Of the last Of the band of Ameri-
can statesmen now living whom the
old-line Wings delighted to honor and
to look up to as leaders, and who was
regarded as an expounder OF the
Constitution and the laws, wrote, whSn
a member of the Cabinet Of MIR. Fill
more, a letter on the subject OF furnish
ing information concerning appoint
ments to office, which is interesting to
reproduce at this time. The letter is as
follows:
DEPARTMENT OF TIE INTERIOR,
WASHINGTON, November 20, 1852
". d. Wallach: Sir, ~ have reflect
ed upon the subject Of your commune
cation Of yesterday, and have come to
the conclusion that it would not be
proper to permit the letters recon-
mending any candidate for Office to be
inspected. They should, in my opinion,
be regarded as confidential. They
are written for the purpose of en-
tightening the judgment Of the APP
pointing power in regard to the merits
Of the person proposed for Office,
and | can see no more reason for
calling on the head of department to
show what written testimonials were
before him than to require him to state
what oral communications were made
to him on the subject. Moreover. it
would be impossible to ascertain what
weight should be attributed to those
testimonials, or how far they influenced
the Judgment of the Secretary. |
premise it would be entirely competent
for him, if he thought proper, to return
all such letters to the applicant or de-
stroy them. If for his own purposes
he thinks it best to leave them in the
department. | cannot regard that fact as
investing them with the character Of
public records, open to the inspection of
those who may feel sufficient interestin
the subject TO desire to examine them.
As the appointment in the particular
case to which you refer was made under
a former Administration, | feel plrtlcu-
larry reluctant to depart from what |
regard to be the safe rule Of treating all
recommendations as Of a confidential
character. have not looked into them
myself, nor do | know the nature OF
them. nor by whom they were given.
and therefore my refusal to permit them
to be examined rests upon general
principle, and has TO reference to the
circumstances of this particular case.
"lf be in error in this opinion, it
will be easy to test it judicially by APP
plying to the court for a subpoena dUces
ecum to the chief clerk Of the depart
ment. | will eheerfully yield obedience
to any order Of the court.
Very respectfully, your Obedient
servant,
ALEXANDER II. II. STUART,
Secretary.
Some of the Republican senator's who
were spoken to about this letter to-day
said it was addressed to a private citl-
zen, and therefore they did not attach
any particular importance TO it. Sena-
tor Beck. however. who telegraphed to
Mr.. Stuart for permission to publish
the letter. said it laid down great
principle. and the point that it wa ad-
dressed to a private citizen was not
material. The letter was shown to
Senator Edmunds, who, as heretofore.
remarked. is mainly responsible for
the present attitude Of the Republi-
can senators. and he, with a shruy,
said it had no application to the present
situation. OF course Mr.. Edmunds
could not I've expected to say anything
else. 1t is understood that Mr.. Ell
munds is laboriously preparing himself
for great speech on this subject, ard
is searching for custom and precedents
from the foundation Of the Government
down. In the informal discussions
among Republican Senators number
Of instances during the war where not
only the Senate but the House success
fully OVERRIDE the executive depart
nents have been adduced, but then
inter anna silent leges was the rule. and
the precedents set in that period cannot
be accepted at this day.