It does not occur that the inspection of the papers asked for can be relative to any purpose under the cognizance of the House of Representatives, except that of an impeachment; which the resolution has not expressed. I repeat, that I have no disposition to withhold any information which the duty of my station will permit, or the public good shall require; to be disclosed; and, in fact, all the papers affecting the negotiation with Great Britain were laid before the Senate, when the Treaty itself was communicated for their consideration and advice.

The course which the debate has taken on the resolution of the House, leads to some observations on the mode of making Treaties under the Constitution of the United States.

Having been a member of the General Convention, and knowing the principles on which the Constitution was formed, I have ever entertained but one opinion on this subject, and from the first establishment of the Government to this moment, my conduct has exemplified that opinion, that the power of making Treaties is exclusively vested in the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided twothirds of the Senators present concur; and that every Treaty so made, and promulgated, thenceforward becomes the law of the land. It is thus that the Treaty-making power has been understood by foreign nations, and in all the Treaties made with them, we have declared, and they have believed, that when ratified by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, they became obligatory. In this construction of the Constitution every House of Representatives has heretofore acquiesced, and until the present time not a doubt or suspicion has appeared to my knowledge that this construction was not the true one. Nay, they have more than acquiesced; for until now, without controverting the obligation of such Treaties, they have made all the requisite provisions for carrying them into effect.

There is also reason to believe that this construction agrees with the opinions entertained by the State Conventions, when they were deliberating on the Constitution, especially by those who objected to it, because there was not required in Commer

cial Treaties the consent of two-thirds of the whole number of the members of the Senate, instead of two-thirds of the Senators present, and because, in Treaties respecting territorial and certain other rights and claims, the concurrence of threefourths of the whole number of the members of both Houses respectively was not made necessary.

It is a fact, declared by the General Convention, and universally understood, that the Constitution of the United States was the result of a spirit of amity and mutual concession. And it is well 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 invested with great powers; for, on the equal participation of those powers, the sovereignty and political safety of the smaller States were deemed essentially to depend.

If 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 have deposited in the office of the Department of State. In those Journals it will appear, that a proposition was made, "that no Treaty should be binding on the United States which was not ratified by a law," and that the proposition was explicitly rejected.

As, therefore, it is perfectly clear to my understanding, that the assent of the House of Representatives is not necessary to the validity of a Treaty; as the Treaty with Great Britain exhibits in itself all the objects requiring Legislative provision, and on these the papers called for can throw no light; and as it is essential to the due administration of the Government, that the boundaries fixed by the Constitution between the different departments should be preserved - a just regard to the Constitution and to the duty of my office, under all the circumstances of this case, forbid a compliance with your request. G. WASHINGTON.

April 6. - The House accordingly resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on said Message.

Mr. Blount brought forward the following resolutions:

Resolved, That, it being declared by the second section of the second article of the Constitution, 'that the President shall have power, by and with the advice of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senate present concur,' the House of Representatives do not claim any agency in making Treaties; but, that when a Treaty stipulates regulations on any of the subjects submitted by the Constitution to the power of Congress, it must depend for its execution, as to such stipulations, on a law or laws to be passed by Congress. And it is the constitutional right and duty of the House of Representatives, in all such cases, to deliberate on the expediency or inexpediency of carrying such Treaty into effect, and to determine and act thereon, as, in their judgment, may be most conducive to the public good.

"Resolved, That it is not necessary to the propriety of any application from this House to the Executive, for information desired by them, and which may relate to any constitutional functions of the House, that the purpose for which such information may be wanted, or to which the same may be applied, should be stated in the application."

[The Blount Resolutions were carried by a vote of 57 to 35. But the House afterward voted to carry the treaty into effect by a vote of 51 to 48.]

CHAPTER XXIII

THE ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURE OF THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES

THE general structure of Congress is outlined in the Constitution; but aside from certain requirements as to the election of presiding officers, quorum, keeping of a journal and adjournment, the Constitution does. not prescribe the internal organization of the Houses of Congress. "Each House may determine the Rules of its own Proceedings." A body of rules first appears in the Journal of the House in 1789. In 1797 Thomas Jefferson prepared a manual of parliamentary practice for his own guidance as President of the Senate. Both sets of rules were based upon familiar practices in the legislatures of the several States or upon the regulations of the English Parliament, which, as Jefferson said, were "a prototype to most of them." The rules adopted in 1802 have been selected to show the procedure of the House at a time when standing committees were beginning to take the place of select committees. The joint rules continued in force without essential change until their abrogation in 1876.

62. The Opening of a Session.1

This being the day appointed by the Constitution for the annual meeting of Congress, the following members of the House of Representatives appeared, produced their credentials, and took their seats in the House, to wit: . . .

A quorum, consisting of a majority being present, the House proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Speaker; and, upon examining the ballots, a majority of the votes of the whole House was found in favor of Nathaniel Macon, one of the Representatives for the State of North Carolina: Whereupon, Mr. Macon was conducted to the Chair, and he made his acknowledgments to the House, as follows:

"Gentlemen: Accept my sincere thanks for the honor you have conferred on me, in the choice just made. The duties of the Chair will be undertaken with great diffidence indeed; but it shall be my constant endeavor to discharge them with fidelity and impartiality."

1 Annals of Congress, 7 Cong., 1 Sess. (1801), 309-11.

The House proceeded, in the same manner, to the appointment of a Clerk; and, upon examining the ballots, a majority of the Whole House was found in favor of John Beckley.

The oath to support the Constitution of the United States, as prescribed by law, was then administered by Mr. Griswold, one of the Representatives for the State of Connecticut, to the Speaker; and then the same oath, or affirmation, was administered, by Mr. Speaker, to each of the members present.

A message from the Senate informed the House that a quorum of the Senate is assembled, and ready to proceed to business; and that, in the absence of the Vice President, they have elected the honorable Abraham Baldwin, President of the Senate, pro tempore.

Ordered, That a message be sent to the Senate to inform them that a quorum of this House is assembled, and have elected Nathaniel Macon, one of the Representatives of the State of North Carolina, their Speaker, and are now ready to proceed to business; and that the Clerk of this House do go with the said message.

The House proceeded, by ballot, to the choice of a Sergeantat-Arms, Doorkeeper, and Assistant Doorkeeper; and, upon examining the ballots, a majority of the votes of the whole House was found in favor of Joseph Wheaton, as Sergeant-atArms, and, also, an unanimous vote in favor of Thomas Claxton and Thomas Dunn, severally, the former as Doorkeeper, and the latter as Assistant Doorkeeper.

A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have appointed a committee on their part, jointly, with such committee as may be appointed on the part of this House, to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and ready to receive any communications he may think proper to make to them. The House proceeded to consider the said message of the Senate, and concurred therein.

Ordered, That Mr. Samuel Smith, Mr. Griswold, and Mr. Davis, be appointed a committee on the part of this House, for the purpose expressed in the message of the Senate.