Evening star., 1954-05-17

was also made for any opinion
Of the Attorney General. II
one was written. President
Theodore Roosevelt replied
refusing to- honor this request
upon the ground that '.heads
Of the executive departments
are subject to the Constitu-
ton. and to the laws passed
by the Congress in pursuance
Of the Constitution. and to
the directions Of the President
Of the United States. but to
no other direction whatever"
tCong. Rec. v. 4S. part !. Goth
Cong, I'd sess.. pp. 527-528).
When the Senate was un-
able to get the documents
from the Attorney General. it
summoned Herbert K. Smith,
the Head Of the Bureau Of
Corporations, and requested
the papers and documents on
penalty of imprisonment for
contempt. Mr.. Smith reported
the request to the President,
who directed him to turn over
to the President all the papers
in the case $50 that ! could
assist the Senate in the prose-
cution of its investigation.
President Roosevelt then in
formed Senator Clark Of the
Judiciary Committee what had
been done. that he had the
papers and the only way the
Senate could get them was
through his impeachment. /. /.
President CooIidge's
Administration
In 1924, during the admins
tration of President Coolidge,
the latter objected to the ac-
ton of a special investigating
committee appointed by the
Senate to investigate the Bu-
reau of Internal Revenue. Re-
quest was made by the COM
mittee for a list Of the COM
panies in which the Secretary
of the Treasury was alleged to
be interested for the purpose of
investigating their tax returns.
Calling this exercise Of power
an unwarranted intrusion,
President Coolidge said:
Whatever may be necessary
for the information of the SEN
ate or any of it's committees in
order to better enable them to
perform their legislative or
other constitutional functions
ought always to be furnished
willingly and expeditiously by
any department. But it is rec
ognized both by law and Gus
tom that there is certain conf
Dental information which it
would be detrimental to the
public service to reveal" (6Sth
Congress, 1st session, Record,
April II, 1924, p. 6087.)
President Hoover's
Administration
A similar question arose in
1880 during the administra-
ton of President Hoover. Sec
retary of State Stimson re-
fused to disclose to the chair
man Of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee certain
confidential kilograms and let
ters leading up to the London
Conference and the London
Treaty. The committee assert
ed its right to have full and
free access to all records
touching the negotiations of
the treaty, basing its right on
the constitutional prerogative
Of the Senate in the treaty
making process. In his mes
sage to the Senate, President
Hoover pointed out that there
were q great many informal
statements and reports which
were given to the Government
in confidence. The Executive
was under a duty, in order to
maintain amicable relations
with other nations, not to pub
liciZe all the negotiations and
statements which went into
the making of the treaty. He
further declared. that the Ex-
ecutive must not be guilty Of
a breach of trust, nor violate
the invarible practice Of ma
tions. "In view Of this. I be-
lieve that to further comply
with the above resolution
would be incompatible with
(See TEXT, Page A-8)