304 WRIGHT— POWER TO AlEET RESPONSIBILITIES. 



B. Power to Interpret National Obligations. 



143. By National Political Organs: Congress. 



The agencies competent to interpret and apply international law 

 and treaty, and thereby to decide upon the existence of national 

 obligations, may be classified as (i) national political organs, (2) 

 international political organs, (3) national judicial organs and (4) 

 international judicial or quasi-judicial organs. 



Political questions according to the courts are beyond their 

 competence and must be left to the political departments. Thus 

 they have held that it belongs to the political departments to decide 

 whether or not a treaty has been terminated and until such decision 

 is given the courts will continue to apply it as municipal law.*" The 

 principle has been, that the organ with power to fulfill an alleged 

 political obligation is competent to decide whether the obligation 

 really exists. 



" Where the construction of a treaty is a matter of national policy," wrote 

 Secretary of State Bayard, " the authoritative construction is that of the 

 political branch of the government. It is the function of the Executive or 

 of Congress, as the case may be." *^ 



So Congress has asserted that it alone can interpret responsibilities 

 claimed to oblige an appropriation of money, a declaration of war 

 or other act exclusively within its control. As has been pointed 

 out, if the President as the representative organ should interpret 

 such a responsibility, his interpretation would bind the United 

 States under international law,^^ but in recognition of the con- 

 stitutional principle he has not usually done so. Thus Secretary 

 of State Bayard refused to authorize an unconditional signature 

 of a declaration interpreting the Submarine Cable Convention of 

 1884 :« 



" It is to be observed," he wrote, " in this connection that the treaty in 

 question is not self-executing, and that it requires appropriate legislation to 

 give it effect. If, under these circumstances, the Executive should now as- 



40 Infra, sec. 182. 



41 Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. McLane, Min. to France, Nov. 24, 

 1888, Moore, Digest, 5 : 209. See Martin v. Mott, 12 Wheat. 19, infra, sec. 

 223, note 97. 



42 Supra, sees. 34, 38. 



