National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-03-10


lent of the United States himself in obedi-
nee to 1.-THE has invited the Senate OF the
United States TO agree with him In remov-
me- MIR. Duskin from Office by the appoint
neut and commissioning Of successor
That being so, the question was whether
official papers in the Department OF jus
lice bearing on the administration Of the
officer we were asked to remove should be
sent to the Senate on its call. There was
but one answer to that. The relevancy Of
papers called for must he n matter for the
decision Of the Senate ard nobody else.
MIR. Edmunds did not think the warmcst
man would say that, taking
1t year in and year out, decade in and de-
cade out, century In and century out, II
was any part Of the duty Of the President
or head Of a department to determine
whether official information In the depart
ment, which was required by either house
OF Congress, was to be furnished or with
held according to the opinion Of the officer
called on, that IL would or would not be
'usefuln to them in their deliberations.
The papers called for In this case were pa
pers filed in the department. Filing
was technical term-a term of art In law
and in the administration Of law. The
statute made the Attorney General and not
the President, the custodian OF those pa
pers, and that he should preserve them.
The people who made the statutes had
been laboring.under, perhaps, the delusion,
but Mr.. Edmunds thought not, that papers
that were ina public department must Of
necessity be public papers official papers,
and certainly that would be true In respect
to papers "hled.n Mr.. Edmunds inquired
'what is an official paper" and asked the
presiding officer whether he (Mr. Sherman)
would consider "ofllcial" letter addressed
TO him as "prcsident pro tenn. of the SEN
ate" relating to q measure pending before
the Senate 81 take IT, said Mr.. Ed
munds, "that there would be but one an
swer TO that question. You would hardly
think It within the fitness of things, take
1t, TO carry It to your house or put 1t in
your pocket, or put II in your fireplace
and destroy IL. 1t is addressed to you in
your official character, and that Is what
gives character to paper Of whatever kind
II is-whethcr official or private"
As to the suspension of an officer, tine
President and the minority Of the judiciary
committee said 1t was an act solely within
the discretion of the President. So also
said the majority Of the committee. But
was II not an official act? The statutes
said II was. The President said 1t was
And Of course 1t was an official act. Every
paper, therefore, addressed to the officer
exercising that official function upon that
topic must he an Official paper, no matter
how vile or false II may be. 1t did not be.
lone,to the man, whether President or Attor-
ney General, but to the officer In his char
aCter as an officer The Attorney General
gave no hint that any part Of the papers
called for were private, or unofficial, or
even confidential. Public papers-oflcal
papers-were called for, and such papers
only were spoken of in the response.
tives Of the President in suspend
ing DuskinS Did anybody suppose
that the President or any OF his friends had
filed statement Of his motives2 BY no
means. That would be absurd. The papers,
therefore, stated facts on the statement Of
the Attorney General that they related OK
cluslvely TO the suspension stated facts, or
alleged facts, as to the conduct of the
officer suspended. Since the Senate was
placing this man permanently, every paper
existing there relating to him, on the ad-
mission Of the Attorney General, related to
the conduct Of the Office while In possession
of Duskin.
But the papers were refused because they
would not only give the facts, but would
enable us to understand the reasons Of the
President for exercising his official act.
Therefore the proposition was that the
Senate, being called on in the exercise OF
its jurisdiction to Judge Of the official con
duct Of Dusliin-the President having al
ready been called on, within his iurlsdic
ton, to pronounce judgment on similar
question about the same man-the Senat,
could not have the papers, because II II dit
they would disclose the grounds on which
the President acted.
"If that,n said Mr.. Edmunds, sis not
proposition which would stagger the ere
dulity and amaze the understanding Of any
intelligent man in government of law OF
in government of reason, am quite una
BILE to comprehend what would be.n
All the operations Of the government, Mr.
Edmunds continued, were executive, anC
had 1t come to this that, because the Presi
dent was the chief executive officer OF thu
| government, Congress could know nothing
| as to the facts and circumstances relating
| to the execution OF the laws, because, 1
they did, they might be able to comprehend
| the motives or reasons OF the President II
| carrying out the lawsP Why, such state
ment was shocking, yet that was the logi
| OF this whole thing. The Attorney Genera
had said that the "public interest" woult
| not be subserved by sending the papers :,
the Senate. According to this the publi
interest would not be subserved by telllnt
the Senate, which was asked to help remov
an officer, what the truth was, lest tn
truth should disclose to the Senate, an,
possibly the public, what the President
reasons were in exercising an official act
Reasons must be tremendously sacredn
facts were never to be revealed lest til
reasons also might be revealed.
There must, Mr.. Edmunds said, be oilicia
reports Of examiners, &c., on file In the dc
partment relating to the manner Of pei
Torrance Of the duties of the suspende
man. The law required such reports to b
would show thathe had been guilty Of gros
violations Of important official trust, sue
as promoting unjust indictments, or pack
ing juries; yet 1t might interfere with tn
sacredness OF the Presidents "reasons' 1
the papers were shown to the Senate
The Jurisdiction Of Congress was intlnitel
broader than that Of the President. III
was executive power. Congress made I'll
law; and when the constitution command
him to give Congress information on 18th
state of the Unionn IL says he "shall" do II
That had reference to the universal power {
knowledge of the two houses Of Congress
respect to every operation OF the govern
ment and every one of its officers. That
the estate of the Union.n The state Of IL
Union is made up Of every "drop in Il
bucket,N Of the execution of every Law
and the performance OF every officer und'
the law.
There was no one thing, no one sublet
that represented the estate Of the Union.
1t was the condition Of the governmel
and every part OF it, not only its leglsl
tive parts-about which the Presidel
could communicate no information withol
jmpertinence, for the constitution had d
clared that the two houses were to regula
themselves-bu he was to give to Congre
and was positively commanded to do so
from time to time, Information on the sta
of the Union, and that is because Congre
was entitled to have 1t every time Thu
called for It, And he violated positi'
command Of the constitution when on
constitutional call IN the regular way
omitted n do 1t. That was the reason VIII
since the beginning of the governmen
ton supposed that there might be u que
ton as to the propriety Of an undue di
closure Of some confidential fact viii,
they were entitled to know, had usual
| Iaff % tn tla Draai1npt . ~ eanI thn In form