Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-03-11
C~LEYELANDIS MESSAGE
President Cleveland in a Message to the
Senate Refuses to Give Up Ger
tain Papers.
He Claims That They Are Confidential,
and Says He Has Redeemed All
Pledges.
THE MESSAGE
The MESSAGE Is "a folIows.


THE MESSAGE
The message is as follows:
To the Senate Of the United States: Ever since
the beginning Of the present session of the SEN
ate the different heads OF the departments at
tached to the executive branch Of the govern
ment have been piled with various requests and
demands from committees OF the senate. from
members Of such committees, aud at last from
the senate Itself, requiring ths transmission Of
reasons for the suspension of certain officials
during the recess OF that body. or for the papers
touching the conduct of such officials, or for
all papers and docum5ats relating to such sus-
pensions, or for all documents and papers
filed in such department. in relation 10 the
management and conduct of the offices held by
such suspended officials. The different terms
from time to time adopted in making these re-
quests and demands, the order in which they
succeeded each other, and the fact that when
made by the senate the resolution for that pur-
pose was passed in executive session, have led
to a presumption, the cUrrecGness OF which will,
i suppose, be candidly admitted, that from first
to last the information thus sought aud the
papers thus demanded were desired for use by
the senate and its committees in considering the
propriety OF the suspensions referred to. Though
these suspensions are my executive acts,
based upon considerations addressed to
me alone, aud for which am
wholly responsill lie, / have had no invitation
from the senate TO state the position which /
have felt constrained to assume in relation to
the same, or to interpret for myself my acts and
motives IN tDe premises, IN GQls CO11ltlOn OF
affairs 1 have foreborne addressing the senate on
the subject, lest ! might be accused of thrust
ing myself unbidden upon the attention OF that
body. But the report OF the com
presented and published. which censures the at
torney general OF the United States for his re-
fusal to transmit certain papers relating to a
suspension from Office. and which also, II l cor
rectly interpret IL, evinces n misrepresentation OF
the position of the executive upon the question
Of such suspensions, will. I hope, justify this
communication.
THE CASE OF DUSTIN.
The president refers to the resolution of
the senate calling for the Dustin papers and
the geply of the attorney general thereto,
and says;
Upon this resolution and the answer thereto,
the Issue is thus stated by the committee on
Judiciary at the outset Of the report: The i'm
portant question then, is whether II is within
the constitutional competence Of either house
of congress, to have access to tho official papers
and documents in the various public offices OF
the United States created by laws enacted by
themselves" do not suppose that the public
offices of the United States are regulated or con-
trolled in their relations TO either house OF Con-
gress by the fact that they were created by
laws enacted by themselves" 1t must be that
these instrumentalities were created for the
benefit of the people, and to answer the general
purposes Of government under the constitution
and the laws. and that they are unencumbered
by any lien in favor of either branch Of congress
growing out Of their construction, and unem-
barrassed by any obligation to the senate rs the
price of their erection. The complaint OF the
that access to official papers In the
public Office is denied the senate, Is met by the
sta ement that at no time has it been the dis
position or the intention Of the president or any
officer In any department OF the executive
branch of the government to withhold from the
senate official documents or papers filed in any
Of the public offices. While 1t is by no means
conceded that the senate has the right in any
case to review the act OF the executive in re-
moving or suspending a public officer upon OH
cial documents or otherwise, it is considered
that documents and papers OF that nature
should, because they are official, be freely trans
mitted to the senate upon its demand, trusting
the use of the same for proper and legitimate
purposes TO the good faith OF that body; and
though no such papers or have been
specifically demanded in any of the numerous
requests and demands made upon the depart
ments. yet a. often as they were found in the
public offices they have been furnished in an
swer to such applications. The letter Of the
attorney general in response to the resolution of
the senate in the particular case mentioned in
the committees report, was written at my sug-
gestion and by my direction. There had been
NO OFFICIAL PAPERS
or documents filed in his department relating to
the case within the period specified in the reso-
luttcn. The letter was intended, by its descrip-
tion OF the papers and documents remaining in
the custody Of the departments, to convey tie
idea that they were not official, and IL was as
suIned that the resolution called for information,
papers and documents OF the same character as
were required by the requests and demands which
preceded It.. Everything that had been written
the beginning pointed 10 a letter and paperso of a
private and unofficial nature as the objects of
search, IL they were 10 be found in the depart
meats, and provided they had been presented TO
the executive with q view to their consideration
upon the question of suspension from office.
Against the of such papers and
documents l have fnterposed my advice and
direction. This has not been done, as is sug-
gested in the committees report, upon the as
sumption on my part that the attorney general
- RWwA 80 - n So
Of the president, and is to give or withhold
copies Of documents in his Office according to
the will of the executive and not otherwise
but because | regard the papers and documents
withheld and addressed to me, or intended
TOR my use and action, purely unofficial
and having reference to the performance
of a duty exclusively mine, / consider them in
no proper sense as upon the files of the depart
ment. but as deposited there for my conyen-
fence, remaining still completely under my con-
troll. suppose IL i desire to take them into
my custody j might do so with entire propriety,
and If l saw ft to destroy them no one could
complain. The papers and documents that are
now the objects OF the senate's questions cou-
sist Of letters of representations addressed to
the executive or intended for his inspection.
They are voluntarily written and presented by
private citizens who are not in the least insti-
gated thereto by any official invitation or at all
subject to official control While some of them
are entitled to executive consideration, many Of
them are so prevalent, 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 TO relate. Are these, simply because
they are preserved, to be considered official
documents and subject to the inspection OF the
senate. IL not, who is to determine which be-
long TO this CLASP Are the motives and pur-
poses of the senate as they are day by day de-
yeloped, such as would be satisfied with my
selectionf Am / to submit TO these at the risk
Of being charged with suspension of officers
upon evidence which was not even considered?
Are these papers to be regarded official because
they have not only been presented but pre-
served in the public offices? The nature and
character remain the same, whether they are
kept in the executive ma sion or deposited in
the departments. There Is no mysterious
power of transmutation in departmental Gus
tody, nor Is there magic in the underlined
and sacred solemnity of department files.
II the presence of these papers in the public
offices is a stumbling block in the way of the
performance of senatorial duty, it can be easily
removed. The papers and documents which
have been described derive no official character
from any constitutional, statutory or other re-
quirement making them necessary to the per-
Torrance of the official duty OF the executive.
1t will not be denied, l suppose, that the presi-
dent may suspend q public officer in the entire
absence OF any papers CT documents to
aid his official Judgment and discretion,
and l am quite prepared to avow that the
cases are not few in which suspensions from
ONCE nave depended more upon oral representa-
lions made TO me by citizens of known good
repute and by members Of the house of repre-
sentatives and senators Of the United States
lAAu AANOh ~ MIA uo(NluInbN III
for nv examination. i have not felt justified in
suspecting the veracity, integrity and patriot
ism of the senator's or ignoring their representa-
tives because they were not in party affiliation
with the majority of their associates; and / re-
call a few suspensions which bear the approval
Of individual members identified politically with
the majority in the senate. While, therefore, l
am constrained to
DENY THE RIGHT OF THE IA
to the papers and documents described, so far
as the right to the same il based upon the claim
NhA fha Arc in N a wIA Of fha gnhfnAf H3a1a
/ am also led unequivocally to dispute the right
Of the senate, by the aid Of any documents what
ever, or In any way save through the judicial
process Of trial or impeachment, to review or re-
verse the act of the executive, in the suspension
during the recess of the senate OF federal Of
hoials. l believe the power to remove or sus-
pend such officials is vested in the president
alone by the constitution, which in express
terms provides that "the executive power shall
be vested in the president of the United States of
America" and that he shall take care that
the laws be faithfully executed" The
senate belong to the legislative branch
Of the government. When the constitution by
express provision superadded to its legislative
duties the right to advise and consent to ep-
p~otntments to office, and to sit as a court of in
parchment, 1t conferred upon that body all the
control and regulation of executive actions SUP
posed to be necessary for the safety OF the Deo-
pie, and this express and special grant OF such
extraordinary powers-not in any way related
TO or growing out of general senatorial duty, and
In itself a departure from the general plan of
our government-shOuld be held, undsr a famil-
lar maxim of construction, TO exclude every
other right OF interference with executive func-
lions. In the first congress which m
after the adoption Of the constitution, comprising
many who aided in Its preparation. legislative
construction was given to that instrument, in
which the independence of the executive in the
matter OF removals from Office was fully sus-
tanned. think IL will. be found that in the
subsequent discussions Of this question there
was generally. IL not at ell times, a proposition
pending in some way curtailing this power of
the president by LEGISLATION, which furnishes
nda hat 20 HFy..E A-aH. $500
posed TO be necessary to supplement the con-
stitution by such legislation. The FIRST enact
ment OF this description was passed I'M
der q stress OF partisanship and polit-
fcaJ bitterness, which eliminated in the