The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1896-12-30
President and Congress.
George Washington and
James Madison An
swer Olney.
20 the Editor of The Sun

Co the Editor of The Sun
Sir George Washington wrote TO
Edmund Pendleton in 1893 81 only
wish whilst | AN servant of the
public to know the will of my mas
ters, that | may govern myself ac
cordingly You 90 me no more than
justice when you suppose that from
motives of respect to the legislature
land I ought to add from my inter
pretation of the Constitution) give
my signature to many bills with
which my judgment is at variance
never had such conf
dence in my own faculty of Judging
as to be ever tenacious of the opin-
ions l have imbibed in doubtful
cases.
Gu. present President is evidently
much more tenacious of his opinions
than our first was The refusal Of
Mr.. Cleveland to carry out the wishes
of the people in reference to Cuba
imposes upon congress the impera
tive duty of passing promptly a con
current resolution recognizing Cuban
rights, which, under the Constitu
ton, he must either approve or veto
If he vetoes. it the two houses can
then pass it over his head, aud it be-
comes law, which he must enforce
or violate his oath of Office.
The right of congress and not the
executive to determine our relations
with foreign nations is fundamental
principle of the Democratic patty
which has been recognized ever since
it's existence. More than a hundred
years ago Alexander Hamilton and
James Madison, the respective cham.
pions of the Federal and Republican
or Democratic parties, joined issue
on that principle in the case of "The
Neutrality Proclamation" That
proclamation was issued in view of
the war then raging between France
and England. and was only intended
to warn citizens of the United States
against any violation of international
law but in it the President inver-
tently declared that it was the d;spo-
sition of the United States to observe
friendly and impartial conduct toward
both the belligerent powers Now,
by the treaty Of alliance made dur
ing the Revolutionary war, the
United States had bound themselves
to guarantee to France the possession
of her West India islands in case of
war with Great Britain. The pro
clamation was evidently in conflict
with this treaty Madison held that
the President had exceeded his
powers. He wrote to Jefferson
"The proclamation was most un-
fortunate error. x 1t seems
to violate the form and spirit of the
Constitution by making the executive
magistrate the organ of the disposi
ton, the duty and the interest of the
natiun. in relation to war and peace,
subjects appropriated to other depart.
ments of the government.
Hamilton, on the othe hand, al
ways tbs advocate of the executive
power, undertook not only to defend
but to interpret the proclamation in
series of newspaper articles signed
"Paci6cus," in which he argued with
great integrity that it was the tunc
ton of the executive and not Of the
legislature "to make and to interpret
treaties "to pronounce the existing
condition of the nation with regard
to foreign powers and "to admonish
the citizers of their Obligations and
duties in consequence . While ad
hitting that the constitution vested
in congress the power to declare war.
he insisted that It was the duty of
the executive to preserve peace until
war was declared ''and,' he ar
gued, "ln fulfilling this duty it must
necessarily possess right Of judg
ing what is the nature Of the ob'iga
tions which TIE treaties Of the coun-
try impose on the government. He
admitted also that tue exercise of the
executive judgment "might in GER
tain cases affect the exercise Of The
power Of the Legislature TO declare
war;" but he sought 10 reconcile the
Inconsistency by asserting that "the
Legislature IS still free to perform its
duties according to its own sense of
them though the executive. in the
exercise of its constitutional powers,
may establish an antecedent state of
things which ought to weigh in the
legislative decisions 81
Thomas Jefferson, who, as secre.
tary of State, had certified as he
afterwards declared without due e3
amination) the proclamation was
greatly disturbed by Hamilton's ar
ticles He enclosed copies of them to
Madiso:., and wrote /: Nobody as