WRIGHT— POWER TO MAKE POLITICAL DECISIONS. 357 



" There is a stage in such contests when the parties struggling for inde- 

 pendence have, as I conceive, a right to demand its acknowledgment by neu- 

 tral parties, and when the acknowledgment may be granted without departure 

 from the obligations of neutrality. It is the stage when independence is 

 established as a matter of fact so as to leave the chances of the opposite 

 party to recover their dominion utterly desperate. The neutral nation must, 

 of course, judge for itself when this period has arrived; and as the belligerent 

 nation has the same right to judge for itself, it is very likely to judge differ- 

 ently from the neutral and to make it a cause or pretext for war, as Great 

 Britain did expressly against France in our Revolution, and substantially 

 against Holland." 



Secretary Adams' distinction seenis to indicate the limits of the 

 President's power. He may recognize a fact. To do so is not a 

 just cause of war. A recognition before the fact is, however, inter- 

 vention and practically war, the declaration of which belongs to 

 Congress. Thus when the line has been close, as in the recognitions, 

 of the South American Republics and Texas, the President has " in- 

 voked the judgment and cooperation of Congress " before recog- 

 nition-^ and where " recognition " would clearly be premature, the 

 President has not acted at all but has turned the question over to 

 Congress. Thus President McKinley, in his message of April 

 II, 1898, turned over the "solemn responsibilty " of the Cuban 

 question to Congress with a recommendation for intervention,^^ 



194. Exclusiveness of President's Recognition Power. 



In practice, recognition has always been by authority of the 

 President, though in a few cases the President has gained the ap- 

 proval of Congress or the Senate before acting.^* 



" In the preceding review," writes Moore, " of the recognition, respec- 

 tively, of new states, new governments and belligerency, there has been made 

 in each case a precise statement of facts, showing how and by whom the 

 recognition was accorded. In every case, as it appears, of a new government 

 and of belligerency the question of recognition was determined solely by the 

 Executive. In the case of the Spanish-American republics, of Texas, of 

 Hayti, and of Liberia, the President, before recognizing the new state, in- 

 voked the judgment and cooperation of Congress; and in each of these cases 

 provision was made for the appointment of a minister, which, when made in 

 due form, constitutes, as has been seen, according to the rules of international 

 law, a formal recognition. In numerous other cases the recognition was 

 given by the Executive solely on his own responsibility." 



21 Infra, sec. 194. 



22 Richardson, Messages, 10 : 67. 



23 Moore, Digest, i : 244. 



