The times., 1898-04-04
THE RIGHT OF RECOGNITION.
Is 1t Lodged Alone i'm the President
as an Executive Function.

Wy preparations go on increasingly. These
are not limited to recruiting, ship buying.
the giving of contracts for supplies and
ammunition. They extend even to the
planning of details of possible cam
paigns. But while the officials of the
warmaking departments are thus en-
gagged in other branches of the Gov
ernment the law and the legislation
which may be invoked under various
emergencies receive studious attention.
Recognition of independence may. become
a necessary step at some stage in the
decisive policy about to be undertaken.
May" is too mild. Recognition of in
dependence will be bestowed on Cuba be-
fore the end is reached There is no
one in Congress or in the higher circles
4, of the Administration who still thinks
that the Cuban question will be settled
without independence.
If recognition of the independence of
Cuba is the proper step, how shall it be
taken? To this question the President
has been giving serious consideration.
He has had the law and the precedents
bearing upon such proposition care
fully looked into. Various experts in
international law have made study OF
the question. In the last session OF the
last Congress this matter received some
attention. resolution was offered. The
author of it was Senator Bacon of Geor-
gia. The resolution was:
The recognition by this Government
of any people as free and independent
nation is one exclusively for the deter
minaton of Congress, in it's capacity
as a law-making power; this prercgatlVe
does not appertain to the Executive eX-
cept so far as the President under the
Constitution, by the exercise of the veto
is made part of the law-maklnS pow
er of the Government
Quite debate followed upon the reso-
luton The issue as to whether recog-
milton of independence is the act OF the
President or of Congress is not new
one. 1t has been up repeatedly since the
beginning of this Government.
STILL as the recognition of independ-
ence seems to be a near possibility. in
quiry as TO how it may be bestowed is
deemed timely by the Administration.
The view taken as the result of thorough
investigation is that recognition OF bel
ligerency or of independence must be
the act of the President alone After
the President has declared recognition,
and the time has come to send MINIS
treaty, then Congress must be consult
ed The approval of the Senate is in
dispensable. Congress might take the
initiative and adopt resolution or
statute declaring recognition OF 1ndepend-
ence. The President might veto on the
ground that Congress had usurped It's
functions. Congress might pass res
olution or statute by two-thirds vote
over the Veto But this is a contingency
so remote that it has not been given
any consideration. The experts have de-
voted their attention to the law ana
precedents which go to show that fecos-
milton has been regarded as purely
Executive power.
The question has been before the
| United States Supreme Court In seVeraI
| forms One case particularly brought
| ont an opinion which seems to have
| direct bearing upon this condition OF
Cuban recognition. The case was VIII
| liams VS. the Suffolk Insurance Company
! The insurance company granted policies
| on two schooners. the Harriet and the
| Breakwater. The Schooners went to the
| Falkland Islands. They engaged IN seal
| fishing Thereby they violated the law
of Buenos Ayres They were seized by
representatives of the Buenos Ayres
| government They were condemned. Suit
| was brought against the insurance COM
| pany on the policies.
| At that time the President of this coun-
try had recognized the Buenos Ayres
! government. but had not recognized that
| the Falkland Islands belonged to it.
| question arose in the court as to eXecu-
| tive recognition and how far it should
| be recognized by the court. Upon
| whether the court should accept the
| claim OF the Buenos Ayres government as
/ TO the Falkland Islands or should stand
| on the action of the President in not
Ic1a DC
| longing to Buenos Ayres the decision
| turned.
Justice Story said the question was a
| political one He said that II belonged
| exclusively to the executive department
of the United States to recognize from
time to time any new governments which
| may arise in the course of political
| revolution. Until new governments are
so recognized by the President they can
| not be deemed by American courts to
have or to exercise the rights of SOW
ereignty. The case of Williams VS.. the
Suffolk Insurance Company was finally
decided. In the opinion of the court.
| Justice Mclean said: And can there be
any doubt that when the executive
branch of the government, which is
| charged with our foreign relations, shall,
| in Its correspondence with foreign ma
tons assume fact in regard to the
| sovereignty of any island country, ii
| is conclusive to the judiciary depart
| ment? And in this view it is not ma
teriaI to inquire, is it the province
of the court to determine, whether the
executive be right or wrong. 1t is enough
to know that, in the exercise of his con-
stitutional functions, he has decided
the question"
And the court ordered its decision to be
| certified hack to the circuit court 'thaf
inasmuch as the American Government
has insisted and does still insist, through
it's regular executive authority that the
Falkland Islands do not constitute any
part of the dominions within the SOW
ereignty of the government of Buenos
Ayres the action of the American Gov
ernment on this subject is conclusive on
the said circuit court.
The case of Gelston VS.. Hoyt brought
from the Supreme Court further enun-
citation of the principle that recognition
belonged to the executive. The court
said: 'It belongs exclusively to govern
ments to recognize new states in the rev.
| olutions which may occur in the world
| and until such recognition by our own
| Government or the Government to ..hich
| the new state belongs courts of justice
| are bound to consider the ancient state
of things as remaining unaltered.'
| Chief Justice Taney evidently used the
word government to distinguish the aoliti-
cal from the judicial but his language a
little further along shows that he meant
the executive as the constitutional organ
for the recognition of new states He
cited the non-action of the President in
the recognition of Texas, and did not re-
fer at all to the position of Congress in
| the matter.