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may be his name, what his duties, or how he may be instructed to perform them. And it is only because secret agents are not officers of the United States, but the mere agents of the President or of his Secretaries, or of his military or naval commanders, that I disclaim all participation in this appointment."

Senator Livingston answered: 68

"Sir, there are grades in diplomacy which give different ranks and privileges-from an ambassador to a secret agent.. Ambassadors and other public Ministers are directed to be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; because public missions required no secrecy, although their instructions might. But the framers of the Constitution knew the necessity of missions, of which not only the object but the existence should be kept secret. They therefore wisely made cooperation of the Senate ultimately necessary in the first instance, but left the appointment solely to the President in the last. . . . On the 30th March, 1795, in the recess of the Senate, by letters patent under the great broad seal of the United States, and the signature of their President (that President being George Washington), countersigned by the Secretary of State, David Humphreys was appointed commissioner plenipotentiary for negotiating a treaty of peace with Algiers. . . .

"I call the attention of the Senate to all the facts of this case with the previous remark, that the construction which it gives to the Constitution was made in the earliest years of the Federal Government, by the man who presided in the convention which made that Constitution, acting with the advice and assistance of the leading members of that body, all fresh from its discussion; men who had taken prominent parts in every question that arose. .

"By those men, with this perfect and recent knowledge of the Constitution, acting under the solemn obligation to preserve it inviolate and without any possible motive to make them forget their duty, was this first precedent set; without a single doubt on the mind that it was correct; without protest, without even remark. A precedent going the full length of that which is now unhesitatingly called a lawless, unconstitutional usurpation; bearing the present act out in all its parts, and in some point's going much beyond it."

69

Although futilely, the Senate continued to protest. In 1882, in consenting to ratification of the treaty with Corea it resolved that it: "9 "does not admit or acquiesce in any right or constitutional power in the President to authorize or empower any person to negotiate treaties or carry on diplomatic negotiations with any foreign power, unless such person shall have been appointed for such purpose or clothed with such power by and

68 Ibid., 11: 220-222.

69 Malloy, Treaties, etc., p. 340,

with the advice and consent of the Senate, except in the case of a Secretary of State or diplomatic officer appointed by the President to fill a vacancy occurring during the recess of the Senate, and it makes the declaration in order that the means employed in the negotiation of said treaty (with Corea) be not drawn into precedent."

In 1888 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in reporting adversely upon the proposed fisheries treaty with Great Britain held in "reserve, for the time being, those grave questions touching usurpations of unconstitutional powers or the abuse of those that may be thought to exist on the part of the Executive." The minority report, however, sustained the President's appointments in this case by citation of precedents, and in the debate Senator Sherman, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, who had concurred in the majority report, admitted: 70

"The President of the United States has the power to propose treaties, subject to ratification by the Senate, and he may use such agencies as he chooses to employ, except that he can not take any money from the Treasury to pay those agents without an appropriation by law. He can use such instruments as he pleases. . . . I suppose precedents have been quoted by the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Morgan, who prepared the minority report) to sustain that position. I do not disagree with him, nor does this controversy turn upon that point."

...

Senate criticism was directed against the commissioning of J. H. Blount to Hawaii in 1893 with "paramount" authority in all matters affecting the relationship of the United States to the Islands. The majority report of the Foreign Relations Committee, however, held: 71

"Many precedents could be quoted to show that such power has been exercised by the President on various occasions, without dissent on the part of Congress. These precedents also show that the Senate of the United States, though in session, need not be consulted as to the appointment of such agents."

This position was endorsed by Senator Lodge in presenting the German peace treaty to the Senate in 1921:

71a

"It is the unquestioned right of the President to appoint personal agents to gather information for him, as was done in a rather famous case when Ambrose Dudley-Mann was sent to Hungary at the time of Kossuth's rebel

70 Moore, Digest, 4: 455; Cong. Rec., Aug. 7, 1888, pp. 7285, 7287.
71 Cong. Rec., 53d Cong., 2d Sess., p. 127; Corwin, op. cit., p. 64.
718 Cong. Rec., September 26, 1921, 61: 6458.

lion, or the President, of course, can appoint anyone he chooses to represent him in a negotiation, because the power of initiating and negotiating a treaty is in his hands.

"We have an example at this moment in the treaty with Germany now before us. As I stated on Saturday, the Gentleman who represented us in Berlin had been sent there by President Wilson, taken from the diplomatic service and charged to represent the United States as far as it could be done as a commissioner. He was simply a personal agent of the President. He could not officially represent the United States. We could not have an ambassador because we were technically at war with Germany. Therefore he was sent there, and he represented the President in negotiating the treaty with Germany now before us and signed it."

Finally notice may be taken of the 7th proposed Senate reservation to the Treaty of Versailles. As considered on November 19, 1919, it provided:

"No citizen of the United States shall be selected or appointed as a member of said commisssions, committees, tribunals, courts, councils, or conferences except with the approval of the Senate of the United States."

Later this sentence was omitted, and, as considered on March 19, 1920, reservation seven retained merely the requirement that the United States should only be represented in the League of Nations, and, on the agencies established by the treaty, by persons authorized thereto by "an act of the Congress of the United States providing for his appointment and defining his powers and duties." 72

241. Presidential Agent Not an Officer.

The power of the President independently to dispatch diplomatic agents seems to be considered a proper implication from the President's diplomatic powers and is well established in practice. Such an agent, however, is not an officer of the United States. This is evidenced by the fact that Senators who, according to the Constitution, cannot at the same time hold offices under the United States, have occasionally served on special missions and also by express statement of the Attorney-General. He is not, under the law, en

72 The League of Nations, III, no. 4, pp. 179, 196 (Aug., 1920). A reservation of similar effect was made by the Senate in consenting to ratification of the German peace treaty of August 25, 1921, Cong. Rec., Oct. 18, 1921, 61: 7194.

titled to compensation. Thus the President is limited in the use of such missions by the size of the contingent fund.73

242. International Administrative and Judicial Agencies.

The third class of instrumentalities for conducting foreign relations are international in character and rest on treaty or agreement alone. Arbitration courts for hearing particular questions. have been set up by executive agreement alone, by executive agreement authorized by general treaties and by treaties. The Bureau of the Universal Postal Union is authorized, so far as the United States is concerned, by executive agreement under an act of Congress. The Bureau of other international unions and of the Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration as well as the panel of arbitrators of the court are set up by treaty. International courts were established for trial of slave traders by the treaty of 1863-1870 with Great Britain and by the XII Hague Convention of 1907 an international prize court was provided for, but the latter treaty, though consented to by the Senate, has never been ratified.

The President has usually appointed representatives in such bodies on the authority of the agreement or treaty alone, though if the body is permanent, the need of appropriation makes congressional action necessary. Congress has provided by law for participation of the United States in the Pan-American Union," the Bureau of the Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration," the International Prison Commission,76 and other organs. It has not attempted to control the organization or method of appointing representatives on such bodies, though the proposed seventh reservation to the Peace Treaty of Versailles would have done so for organs set up by that treaty. In general the congressional acts. seem to have assumed that the power to appoint commissioners to such bodies is vested in the President alone, and that such commissioners are not "officers" of the United States, since Senators

73 The U. S. Constitution, I, sec. 6, cl. 2; Knox, Att. Gen., 23 Op. 533 (1901); Moore, Digest, 4: 440; Corwin, op. cit., pp. 65–66.

74 Act July 14, 1890, 26 Stat. 275.

75 Act March 22, 1902, 32 Stat. 81.

76 Act Feb. 22, 1913, 37 Stat. 692; Act re International Waterways Commission, June 13, 1902, 42 Stat. 373; Comp. Stat., sec. 4984.

have frequently served, especially on courts of arbitration. In 1913, however, Congress attempted to forbid presidential participation in any "international congress, conference or like event, without first having specific authority of law to do so." 77

Congress through its control of appropriations has been gaining an increasing influence in regulating the grade, location and number of offices in the permanent foreign service, and the President's constitutional discretion in these matters has been seriously impaired. The President has, however, retained his independence both of Congress and of the Senate in the sending of special missions, and the appointment of representatives on international organs. Although the consular service has to a considerable extent been brought under civil service regulations, the diplomatic service has not for positions above that of Secretary. Appointments are regarded as political and the President exercises discretion, limited by the legislation establishing the office and the need of senatorial advice and consent. These services are subject to the direction of the President, enforceable through his independent removal power.78 243. Conclusion on Power to Conduct Foreign Relations.

We conclude that under the Constitution the control of foreign relations is given almost exclusively to the national government, but it extends only so far as expressly or impliedly delegated. In fact, this delegation has been almost, if not entirely complete, and the constitutional limitations upon its exercise in defense of individual rights, states rights and the rights and privileges of national organs of government are comparatively unimportant. Adequate powers exist in the President, the treaty-making power, Congress and the courts to meet all international responsibilities, to make agreements of a genuinely international character, to make decisions of international importance, and to carry out national policies. But these powers have been distributed among independent organs. Is there a single principle underlying this distribution? We believe there is. The President initiates, controls and concludes, checked by the possibility of a Senate veto on permanent

77 Supra, notes 61, 72.

78 Report on the Foreign Service, supra, note 55, pp. 21-31, 45, 65; supra, sec. 230.

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