The San Francisco call., 1896-03-01
MUST THE President ACT?
Legal Complications Connected With tn,
Cuban Resolution.

Cuban Resolution.
WASHINGTON. D. c., Feb. 29.-The
phraseology of the Cuban resolutions
adopted by the Senate yesterday, "Re-
solved by the Senate (the House of Rep
resen.atives concurring)," revives the
question which was discussed in the House
when the Armenian concurrent" resolu-
ton was adopted as to whether the Presi-
dent is not obliged, under the Federal
constitution, to either approve or disap-
prove all such concurrent" resolutions in
the manner followed in the case of Joint
resolutions.
1t has been customary for Congress to
adopt concurrent resolutions without
sending them to the President for action.
1t has been contended that concurrent
resolutions relate only to expressions Of
opinion by Congress to which the execu-
tive is not committed, to the correction of
errors in bills that have not become laws,
to questions of adjournment and recess, to
requests for information from the execu-
tive and to minor matters which can be
arranged without executive action.
The Armenian resolutions adopted by
Congress January q last, NtqEesting the
President to represent to Great Britain
and all the other European powers con-
cerned in the Berlin treaty of 1873 the
earnest desire of the Congress of the
United States that ''decisve measures
should be taken to stay the hand Of fanat-
Iclsm and lawless violence in Turkey"
present case in point. These resolutions
were termed concurrent" under the con-
struction that they did not require execu-
tive approval or disapprcval and thus left
it optional with the President whether he
should present them TO the Governments
concerned or ignore them. The President
has ignored them. They remain on the
executive desk unacted upon. If they had
been termed ''joint" resolutions IL would
have been incumbent upon the President
to sign them or allow them to become law
without his signature under the ten days
constitutional limitation, or to return
them to the house in which they origin
ated with veto message.
The basis for the contention that all
resolutions of Congress, except those re-
lating to all adjournment, must be pre-
sented to the President for action is found
in paragraph 3, section Z, article /, of the
constitution, which reads as follows:
every order, resolution or vote to which
concurrence of the Senate and House of
Representatives may be necessary Except
on a question of .adjournment) shall be
presented to the President of the United
States and before the same shall take effect
shall be approved by him or being disap-
proved by HIM shall be repassed by two
thirds of the Senate and House.of Repre-
sentatives, according to the rule and limi-
tations prescribed in the case of biIl.'
Concurrent resolutions have never been
published in the Revised Statutes of the
United States until recently. Under the
public printing act of January 10. 1895, it
is required that they shall be inserted in
these editions and the last volume of the
Revised Statutes contains all concurrent
resolutions of the Fifty-third Congress in
an appendix, separated from the bills and
Joint resolutions which have become laws.
They have never been considered as laws
(not having received Presidential ap-
provaD and the constitutional provision
quoted has not been construed to affect
them in any way.