Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-06-10
ONLY UNWRiTTEN LAW
No Constitutional Inhibition Against the
President Leaving the Country.
Andrew johnson UnwittinEiy Went
Into Canada Mr.. Cleveland's
Private Fishing Trips.

The recent publication in The Star of
short story about the Presidents flag has
| started a general discussion of the ques
ton of the right of the chief executive to
| leave the territory of the United States
during his term of office, under any cir
| cumstances. From time immemorial the
| opinion has prevailed among the people gen.
| orally that there is an inhibition-constitu-
| tional or tatutCPy-agairst the Presidents
| leaving the United States. Inquiry at the
| State Department, where the archives of
| the government are kept, shows that there
| is nc real foundation for such an opinion,
and that, fact, the Constitution and
| the statutes of the United States are con-
| sistently silent on the subject The Consti-
| tuition prescribes that the President shall
| be a natural-born citizen of the United
States, not under the age of thirty-five
years. who shall also have resided In thu
United States Lot less than fourteen years.
His powers and functionS are clearly de-
fined but no limitations whatever are made
as to his place of residence or 10 his move
| ments while holding the executive office.
One of the learned authorities of the State
department, whose opinion on constitution
al questions is accepted infaiiibie says
that the President free to go wherever
he pieases during his term of Office so far
as the Constitution and the statutes of the
county are concerned. He added, however,
that although the President was not actu-
ally Inhibited from visiting d foreign coun-
| try, none of the incumbents of the Office
| had ever done SO during his term of Office.
His right to do so was purely an academic
question, and had BEEN a subject of discus
sion for many years.
Practice Against Such Action.
The practice has been universally against
| such action until it has assumed the dig
nifty of unwritten law. 1t is based on the
theory that The acts of the executive, to
| be of unauestioned validity, must be per-
formed within the territorial jurisdiction
of the United States. The duties of the
PRESIDENT are constant and incessant and
cannot. under the Constitution, be dele
gated to any one else The Vice President
cannot perform executive functions except
| In case of the death or disability of the
President. Consequently the best legal
opinion is that the absence of the Presi-
dent from the territory of the United States
would cause an interrccnum in the admin
lstratlon of the affairs of the government
which might result in serious legal compli-
cations and entanglementS
SO far as known, Andrew Johnson is the
only President who ever stepped on foreign
soil during his term of office. and he did SO
unWitt1ngly while on a visit to Niagara
rails. While admiring the beauties of th,
rails he crossed the river into Canada but
remained there only few minutes, return
ing to the United States almost Immediate
ly On learning that he had crossed the
border The fact attracted slight attention
at the time and was soon forgotten. AL
though he was the only President to go
into foreign territory. he was by no means
the only one who went beyond the limits
of the United States during the term OF
office. The others. however went to sea in
boats and did not touch on foreign soil
Presidents Arthur and Cleveland are the
most recent examples of this kind. AL
though they left the territorial limits of the
United States, they did not go outside of
its Jurisdiction for the reason that they
sailed under the flag of the United States
PRESIDENT Arthur made an ocean trip from
this city to New York on the United States
steamer Despatch, since wrecked off the
coast of Virginia. President Cleveland
made fnnumerable trips light house
tenders, carrying the United States flag. be-
tween this city and his summer home on
BuZzards bay, and also to the coast of
North Carolina Inasmuch these trips
were made on government vessels, which
are legally regarded as United States terri
tory, no matter where they may be- and
moreover as the cruises seldom extended
over two or three days at time, they were
never seriously regarded as transgressions
of the unwritten rule against presidential
departures from the United States.
MIR. CIevelnnd's Fishing Trips.
During his sojourn at Buzzard's bay
President Cleveland, however made fire.
qLent excursions to beyond the three
mile limit in search of fish in private
yacht owned by Mr.. Benedict of New York.
but his right to do so was never questioned,
and so far known the interests of the
government did not suffer. President Har-
rison held very strict notions on the sub
ject. In his celebrated trip to the Pacific
coast he stopped route at Ell Paso
Texas. and was cordially invited to visit
Paso del Norte, Mexico. on the other side
of the Rio Grande. He considered it i'm
pre- per for him to enter foreign territory
and declined the invitation with thanks
The governor of the Mexican province had
no such scrLples, however and he crossed
the bridge into the United States accom-
panied by his staff and q band of music
and paid his respects to the chief mag
isiate of the neighboring republic.
The State Department official already
quoted said that the display of the Pres-
dents flag on d government vessel had 10
otner significance than that the President
was on board. 1t gave him no authority
by the Constitution commander in-chief
of the army and navy. 1t was just like
the flag over the White House. which
means that the President is there or the
naSs over the houses of Congress, which
indicate that they in session. He said
that the question of the Presidents right
TO go abroad was in the same category as
the question of the propriety of his ac-
cepting the Inequalities of the diplomatic
representative of a foreign government
resident in this country. There is no rule
against one or the other, but the Presi-
dent of the United States does not do
either.
CHARGE AGAINST CONSUL BOWEN.