292] 
and with the advice of the senate, 
provided two-thirds of the senators 
present concur; and that every 
treaty so made and promulgated, 
thenceforward becomes the law of 
the Jand. It is thus that the 
treaty-making power has been 
understood by foreign nations ; and 
in all treaties made with them we 
have declared, and they have be- 
lieved, that when ratified by the 
president, with the advice and 
consent of the senate, they became 
obligatory. In this constrvétion 
of the constitution, every house of 
representatives has heretefore ac- 
quiesced ; and until the present 
time, not a doubt or suspicion has 
appeared to my knowledge, that 
this construction was not a true ane. 
Nay, they have more than acqui- 
esced ; for until now, without con- 
troverting the obligation of such 
treaties, they have made all the re- 
quisite provisions for carrying them 
into effect, 
There is also reason to believe 
that this constragiion agrees with 
the opinigns entertained by the 
state conventions, when they were 
delaberating on the constitution, 
especially by those who objected to 
it, because there was not required 
in commercial treaties the consent 
of two-thirds of the whole senate, 
instead of two-thirds of the sena= 
tors present ; and becaiise in treaties 
respecting territorial and certain 
other rights and claims, the concur- 
rence of three-fourths of the whole 
number of the members of both 
houses respectively was not made 
necessary. 
\ It is a fa&t declared by the’ ge- 
neral convention, and universally 
understood, that the constitution of 
the United States was the result of 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1706. 
“to the constitution, and to the duty 
a spirit of amity and mutual con. , 
cession. And it is weil known, 
that under this influence the smaller 
states were admitted to an equal 
representation in the senate with 
the larger states, and that this 
branch of the government was in- 
vested with great powers, for on 
the equal participation of those 
powers the sovereignty and politi- 
cal safety of the sinaller states were 
deemed essentially to depend. 
Vf other proofs than these, and 
the plain letter of the constitution 
itself, be necessary to ascertain the 
point under consideration, they 
may be found in the journals of the 
general convention, which I haye- 
deposited in the office of the de- 
partment of state. In those jour- | 
nals it will appear that a proposi- 
tion was made, ‘* that no treaty 
should be binding on the United 
States which was not ratified by a 
law,’’ and that the proposition wae 
explicitly rejected. 
As, theretore, it is perfe&tly clear 
to my understanding, that the assent 
ot the hovse of representatives is 
not necessary to the validity of a 
treaty, as a treaty with Great Bri- 
tain exhibits in itself all ihe ob. "f 
jets requiring legislative provi. 
sion, and on which these papers cal. 
led for can throw no light; and as 
it is essential to the due administra. 
tion of the government, that the 
boundaries fixed by the constitution 
between the different departments 
should be preserved—a jast regard 
of my office, under ail the circum. 
stances of this case, forbid a com. 
pliance with your request. 
Grorce WASHINGTON. 
United States, March 30, 1796. 
. Address 
