He said: "I suppose
if I desired to take them into my custody I might do so with
entire propriety, and if I saw fit to destroy them no one
could complain." Continuing, the President says that the
demands of the Senate "assume the right to sit in judgment
upon the exercise of my exclusive discretion and Executive
function, for which I am solely responsible to the people
from whom I have so lately received the sacred trust of office."
He refers to the laws upon which the Senate based its demand
and said: "After an existence of nearly twenty years of almost
innocuous desuetude these laws are brought forth--apparently
the repealed as well as the unrepealed--and put in the way
of an Executive who is willing, if permitted, to attempt an
improvement in the methods of administration. The Constitutionality
of these laws is by no means admitted."
The President seemed to forget that he had taken action under
those laws, and had expressly cited them as the authority
for his action, in his message announcing the suspension of
the official.
The controversy waxed warm in the Senate, and in the press
throughout the country.
Pages:
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009