The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1896-12-24
THE PRESIDENT,
- rt1-F NtHfIH
HIs Power TO Act Without Consulting
y the oonsrsss. ~


\ WASHINGTON, Dec. s1..-Thsre y
every reason to believe that Secretary
0lney's declaration that recognition 10
exclusively an executive function was
not made until after that cautious and
thorough sdelibera ationg which char.
eeterised his conduct Of the negotia-
Nons With Lord Salisbury over the
Venezuelan controversy, and other Inn
portant official matters which have
called for his decisions since he On.
tered President Cleveland's cabinet
- attorney general nearly four
years ago. It 10 we'll known In
the highest official circles, ssps-
cially In the cabinet, that Quss-
tions Of presidential prerogatives were
forced upon him by his colleagues
among the executive advisors ct the.
outset Of this administration in con-,
nection with the perplexities that
arose In the Hawaiian affair, when the
executive was placed in direct sntag.
onism with congress- The paramount
Honolulu was understood 20 have been
undertaken with the attorney generals
full endorsement and all 1.-The subse-
quent acts Of the administration with
regard to the mid-ocean republic were
said to had his approval IT,, indeed,
they have had not been inaugurated at
his.suggestion. m
In his official capacity Mr.. Olney was
not intimately associated with the
president in the steps which were
taken to suppress the great railway
riots by the use of federal troops, and
throughout his occupancy Of the de-
i partment Of justice he was
constantly called upon to do
I clare the limitations of executive
power under the constitution. The
J sharp demarkation Of congressional
i and executive functions with respect
to Ipurely international matters was
presented to him as the legal adviser
Of the president upon the adoption Of
the 1Hoar Turkish resolution and
at that time II was understood
that such instructions to the
: president by congress whether
in the form of concurrent or
joint rSsolutions did not require coma
pliance. The president neither signed
nor disapproved the resolutions, nor
did he transmit them TO the Ottoman
porte.
The Cuban resolutions were similar
ly ignored, though at the time Of their
adoption 1t was generally understood
= that Secretary Olney had reached the
conclusion that their effect was ex.
clusively advisory, however mandatory
their language might be.
3 It is pointed out by state department
X officials that congress has never been
i Akxa AA hryt tho fV1{ e.
\ assAtion Of any powers not expressly
s given to it by the constitution. In the
event Of the recognition Of either the
! belligerancy or Independence Of Cuba,
/ the first result, 1t IL held, would be the
appes rance Of an accredited minister
y or other emissary Of that stand
The contention in that, nder the
constitution, the president il the sole
n Judge - to whether such emissary
shall bsreceived. Precisely this euaer-
gency has arisen in the past few weekA
] The greiter republic Of Central Amer
ics has ebme into existence and its &C.
credited minister. Mr.. Redugney, has
|, been in Warrington . fortnight. He
has not been received by tho president
! nor has the American charge at Man
Z aqua, Nicaragua, been authorised to
formally recognise the new arrange
n ment. a ta .3
u The president also took his own time
in recognizing the provisional govern
Ament Of Hawaii and also the Dole gov
8ernment Frequently prompt recogni.
4tion Of . foreign government has taken
IWplace without any thought Of the pos
l.ssible approval of congress, notable
lNwhen President Harrison acted on the
Impractical VI termination Of the Chilean
farevolution. The Same was also
the case upon the estab-
lishment q the present republic OF
Il France and ,the republic of Brazil An
& other recent case Of the exercise Of the
II Apresident's authority in receiving and
desling with foreigh ministers occurred
q lin the dismiasal of Sackville West, the
n British minister. While this caused
kyano disruption Of our relations with
H Hspresident's. power to act altogether
IA without consulting congress, and II
Nj WAS an instance Of an executive action
(which might have led to war.
|Xl In this connection II 10 also pointed
0lout that while congress can alone de-
clare war, IT is clearly within the
spower OF the president by his own 20
Zion to bring sbout war which, II do
kclared by IN opponent, would create q
>condition he would b compelled tc
lmest until congress could assemble
and act, especially If hostilities were
aprovoked on or coast
AL Ts1k aad No Fight
WARRINGTON, Dec. 21.-While the
feeling in Washington d that the 20
ton of the aenste foreign relations
committee Friday will cause Spain tt
do much talking in regard to wsr, thu
general belief here Il that no such 70
Iult will come about. There seems K
be q sentiment here that something
must be dops for Cubi, but that con
press will not 60 90 far % declaring
war. The resolution he's still . LONG
and tortuous road to travel before II Il
adopted, and Il now seems certain o.
va<<oA n<~u r>roaa Anoa