The Republican journal., 1886-03-18
A Singular Message.

The message sent to the Senate by Presden
Edmunds appropriately likened it to the mes
sagcs sent to Parliament by that misguided
monarch Charles |. The Presidents reason
| for undertaking to lecture coordinate brancl
of the Government on its powers and duties is
| not clear. The Constitution, about which ht
talks with so much volubility, specifically de.
| clares that he shall give to Congress ..informt-
to their consideration such measures he
| snail Judge necessary and eNpedient.
| In MS message he recommends no measure
| says nothing about the state of the Union; but
| gives much misinformaton on subject on
| which the Senate has asked from him no adj
vice whatever. His obtrusion was doubtless
due to dstrust of the Democratic Senators.
and to confidence in his own superior ability
to deal with the question; and to a desire to get
| before the country his own statement of the
| case. His distrust of the ability of the Demo
| cratic Senators to furnish satisfactory reasons
| for suppresSng public documents is amply
| borne out by the report they presented yeSter-
day on the subject But, stripped of its verbi-
age and deliberate misstatements, the Presi-
| dents communication is much the weaker of
| the two documents.
| The message is all based on misstatement
| made in its first paragraph. Ever since the
| beginning of the present session of the Senate.
| the President says, 'Committees of the Senate
| and the Senate itself have been requiring the
| transmission of reasons for the suspension of
certain officials" He then goes on to attack
| the report of the judiciary Committee on the
ground that it cenSures the Acknowledgement
for refusing to transmit certain papers relating
| to suspension from office. 1t is impossible to
| believe that the President does not know that
| the Senate has not in any case ''rcquired the
transmission of reasons for the SUSPENSION of
an official, and that the judiciary Committee
resolutions DO not propose to censure the Pam
| Electric Attorney-General for refusing to
| transmit papers relating to suspensions. The
| Senate resolution calling for the papers was as
| follows:
Resolved, That the Attorney General of the
tnlted States be, and hereby is directed trans
mt to the Senate copies OF all documents and pa
| pers that have been filed in the Department of
Justice since the first day of January, A, d. lsS1,
| IN relation to the management and conduct of the
office of District Attorney of the United States for
| the southern District of Alabama
| There is not a word about reasons for sls-
pensions in this resolution. 1t calls for papers
THAT may have been fled in relation to the man
| agement and conduct of al office covering per
| iod of over six months of the time of the pres
ent incumbent and over six months of the time
of his predecessor. What excuse is there for
| the President deliberately obtrudin@ this extra
| ordinary miSstatement: From such false prem
ises he proceeds to argue that the Senate has no
| right to review the act of the Executive in re-
moving or SuSpending public officer. 1t is
| the business of the President to see that the
laws are executed. Neither he nor any depart
| ment head has any right to take into considera-
ton any supposed motives or purposes that
| either house may have in calling for official pa
| pers. such an assumption on his part is gra-
tuitous and bctrays evidence that he apprcci-
atcS the weakness of his ease.
Equally absurd, and even more ridiculous, is
in
slonS are filed i'll the Departments for his own
convenience. and that he can carry Them away
with him. Doubtless many Of them, if not all.
ARE Irrelevant and worthless" t> he SAYS; but
if so they have no business in the archives of
the Government. If they are placed there ON
file the right of Congress to examine them is
unqucStloncd. In all cases heretofore demands
for official papers and files have been complied
with. 1t is only in this time of Reform that it
has been thought important that the historic
| and administrative facts relating to the pcr>on-
al conduct of officers of the Government should
be withheld. and that the Administration should
proceed with a secrecy and mystery as great as
III tn, days of the star Chamber. And this is
the actual practice of an Executive who pro-
claims i'll this message that he ''i> willing if per-
mtted to attempt an Improvement in the
methods of administration.
In the particular case to which the President
refers, he suspended an officer under pro-
visions of statute which expressly provides
tllat Sucn oI1lctf ~liall not he removed without
the advice aIlt! consent of the Senate. How is
that body {" act intelligcntly without knowl-
edge of the conduct and management of the
office: The President evidently thinks that
this law should be di>rcgardcd-at least that is
the construction to be placed on this wonder
ful sentence from the message:
After an existence of nearly twenty years of
almost lnnocuolls tieSuetudr these laws brought
forth, apparently the repealed as well ;- the un-
repealed, and put in the way of an Executive.
1t has been we'll said that Il guilty conscience
needs no accu>cr. The President says that
there are no grounds for allegation that
the fear of being found false to any profess
sion> influences me-" No such allegation has
been made by the Senate, though it is not sur
pri>ing that the President should think 50. He
attempts TO explain away his Civil Service
Reform pledges but adds that he has kept
| every pledge that he has made" This is hardly
in Keeping with what follows: "Of COURSE the
pretencc is not put forth that no mistakes have
been committed.
In the light of Garland. Higgins. PillSburv
Chase, Thomas and many others, such Il pre-
tencc would not be more ridiculous than the.
| entire argument Of this unprecedented mes
sage, which is perhaps the biggest mistake of
all. New York Tribune.