The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-12-21
This power can only be exercised by and
with the advice and consent of the Sen

This power can only be exercised by and
with the advice and consent of the Sen
ate.
Second-He may appoint inferior Off
GERS, but in all these cases the Office must
have been created and the power of ap-
pointment invested in him by Congress
Third-He may, to aid him in the per-
formance and exercise of his executive
powers, if convenient, appoint a mere
agent as minister or spy. or a person to
gather or convey information. But such
person. so appointed, could be in no
sense an officer of the United States.
II the appointment of Mr.. Blount
falls within either of the first two pow
ers I have enumerated 1 suppose there
will be 20 Senator so hardy as to defend
his appointment. If he was appointed
to exercise an inferior Office, the power
to fill such Office had never been vested
in the President. If he were public
minister, his appointment was void be-
cause the Senate was in session when it
was made, and it was never consented to.
Now, it seems to my mind a PROPOSE
ton that never can be questioned, except
under the excitement and stress of par
tisan emergency, that this gentleman
was appointed as a public minister. He
was understood by the President. who
appointed him, to be public minister.
He understood himself to be public
minister. The honors with which he
was clothed were, in substance and es-
sence, the powers of public minister
by the government to which he was ac-
me, clearly public officer whose acts
are binding on other persons by virtue
of the authority he is exercising, when
such acts originate in his own discretion
or judgment and he is not merely an
agent conveying the mandate of another.
There is one decisive test, as it seems
to me, Of the character which the Presi-
dent undertook to confer upon this
agent. The public minister is not liable
to be arrested or held personally respon-
sible for acts done by his superior's Or
der. The private citizen has no exempt
ion from full responsibility to all the
laws OF the country where he happens to
be. Will it be pretended that the govern
ment of Hawaii might have arrested
Blount for reasonable plotting with the
Queen if he had offered to restore her
under any circumstances? They could
have done it unless he was minister of
the United States. Will it be doubted
that the investigation of the circum-
stances which led to the esta blishment
to its possible overthrow, is not an act
which would warrant the instant expul-
sion from it's territory of any person en-
gagged in it, other than the representative
of a foreign government? Is there ,.any
doubt that such action, under the laws
of nations, would warrant = the instant
arrest and imprisonment of such an
offender?
Now, Mr.. President, these questions
are not to be. answered by the Senator
from Delaware by reviling me, nor by
the Senator from Missouri by reviling
the Puritans of New England. They are
vital questions affecting the dignity and
authority Of the Senate. in relation to
one. OF its most important constitutional
functions, ! and affecting the great
question of allsquestions, whether the
people of the United States are living
under constitution or under a dictator.
Will any body pretend that Mr.. Stevnes,
the minister resident at Honolulu, could
have been appointed to his Office while
continued to hold 1t, If appointed in
vacation il there had been subsequent
session of the Senate, which had ended?
| do not suppose the most capacious
gullet of any defender of the President
would swallow such proposition, or the
most capacious stomach of any such per-
son digest it, unless, possibly, some
editor of New York newspaper of
foreign birth, not supposed to have much
understanding either of the spirit or
letter of the Constitution of the United
States. Now if that be true will any body
stand here and claim that the appoint
ment Of person authorized to exercise
every function committed to Mr.. Stevens
and made paramount to him in official
authority and duty in every respect-ac-
credited to the same government, the
archives of the legation open to him, the,
power to command a naval vessel, OF the
United States expressly intrusted TO him
and in the language of Mr.. Blount's in
structions your (his) authority In all
matters touching the relations of this
government to the existing or other gov
ernment of the Islands and the protec
tion of our citizens therein being (is)
paramount and in you (him) alone .
being (ls) vested full discretion and power
to determine when such naval forces
should be landed or withdrawn" may
be made to new Office without the
advice and consent of the Senate.
At the conclusion of Mr.. Hoar's speech
the Senate agreed to the resolution Of
fered by Mr.. Morgan, directing the COM
mittee on foreign relations to inquire
whether Irregularities occurred in the
intercourse between the United States
and Hawaii relative to the recent revolu-
tion in Hawaii,