WRIGHT— POWER TO AIAKE POLITICAL DECISIONS. 365 



the President. They merely indicate a sentiment which he is free 

 to follow or ignore. Yet they are often couched in mandatory 

 terms and in defense of his independence the President has fre- 

 quently vetoed them. Thus in 1877, President Grant vetoed two 

 resolutions extending appreciation to Pretoria and Argentine Re- 

 public for the " complimentary terms in which they had referred 

 to the first centennial " : ^^ 



" Sympathizing as I do in the spirit of courtesy and friendly recognition 

 which has prompted the passage of these resolutions, I cannot escape the 

 conviction that their adoption has inadvertently involved the exercise of a 

 power which infringes upon the constitutional rights of the Executive. . . . 

 The Constitution of the United States, following the established usage of 

 nations, has indicated the President as the agent to represent the national 

 sovereignty in its intercourse with foreign powers, And to receive all official 

 communications from them, . . . making him, in the language of one of the 

 most eminent writers on constitutional law, ' the constitutional organ of com- 

 munication with foreign states.' If Congress can direct the correspondence 

 of the Secretary of State with foreign governments, a case very different 

 from that now under consideration might arise, when that officer might be 

 directed to present to the same foreign government entirely different and 

 antagonistic views or statements." 



Similar objection has sometimes been raised in Congress itself. 

 Thus Webster said of an item in the appropriation bill for the 

 Panama mission of 1826, which attempted to attach conditions:^® 



58 Richardson, Messages, 7: 431. See also Sen. Rep., quoted supra, sec. 

 191. President Harding is reported to have opposed Senator Borah's amend- 

 ment to the naval appropriation bill of 1921, authorizing a conference on dis- 

 armament with Great Britain and Japan, on the ground that it "might embar- 

 rass executive action, or appear to carry a congressional recommendation on 

 international policies within the jurisdiction of the executive." (Press Re- 

 port, May 3, 1921, Cong. Rec, May 17, 27, 1921, 61 : 1508, 1857.) These ob- 

 jections were, however, later withdrawn (Letter to Representative Mondell, 

 June 25, 1921), and the bill with the amendment was approved July 12, 1921, 

 two days after Presidenit Harding had announced his intention to call a 

 conference on limitation of armament. 



59 Benton, Abridgment of Debates in Congress, 9: 91. Congressional 

 resolutions on incidents in the control of foreign affairs have sometimes been 

 defeated in Congress from an apprehension that they might be unconstitu- 

 tional encroachments upon the President's powers. See Clay's resolution of 

 1818 for recognition of United Province of Rio de la Plata (Moore, Digest, 

 I : 182) ; Benton's resolution of 1844 criticizing President Tyler's treaty for 

 annexation of Texas {Cong. Globe, 13, Appdx., 474) ; Sumner's resolution of 



