Editor and Author have endeavored to avoid political bias; the vetoes are condemned or approved upon what seem to us sound principles of constitutional law and political expediency, irrespective of the attitude of present parties. The effort has been made in the notes and appendices to furnish all the apparatus necessary for following out and testing the Author's conclusions, and for pursuing the subject further.

It had been intended to add a chapter on the workings of the veto in the States, and another on the veto power in modern constitutions. The discussion of the veto in the national system of government in the United States has required more space than had been anticipated: the two additional chapters have therefore been omitted. But, for purposes of comparison, there has been introduced as an appendix a tabulation of the provisions of state constitutions. In another appendix will be found a list of the vetoes of the President of the Confederate States of America. The material for it has been kindly furnished for this Monograph by Mr. John Osborne Sumner, a member of the Graduate Department, from the manuscript Journals of the Confederate Congress, which he has been the first historical scholar to study.

I desire also to express my obligation to Dr. Charles Gross, of Harvard University, for his careful revision of the proofs; and to Professor J. B. Thayer, of the Harvard Law School, for helpful suggestions.

CAMBRIDGE, April 12, 1890.

ALBERT BUSHNELL HART.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

THE object of the present Monograph is, to trace the development and operation of the veto power in the government of the United States. The work is almost wholly the result of an examination of the sources. Indeed such a course was almost a necessity since very little has been written upon the subject. The basis of the study is a list of the Presidential vetoes, compiled from the records of Congress, and covering the period from the foundation of the present form of government in 1789, to the end of President Cleveland's administration, March 4, 1889.

For convenience of comparison, the vetoes have been classified according to subject; and to the discussion of these classes the greater part of the work is devoted. It has, however, seemed essential in a full treatment of the subject to prefix a brief account of the origin in English and Colonial precedent of that particular form of the veto power which is found in the United States: and to add a chapter on the constitutional points which have arisen concerning the operation of the veto power; and another on the gradual development of the power during the century of the national government.

The preparation of the thesis began in the fall of 1887, in one of the Historical Research Courses in Harvard University, and has been continued most of the time since, as undergraduate and graduate work, in connection with the University, under the direction of Professor Albert Bushnell Hart, the editor of the Monograph. I desire to express my obligation to Dr. William Everett, of Quincy, Mass., for information in regard to the decline of the veto in England; and to Mr. Herman V. Ames, a member of the Graduate Department of Harvard College, who has kindly

furnished me with a list of proposed amendments which concern the veto power. The authorities used will be found enumerated in Appendix C. As the work is based upon the voluminous Government Records, special pains have been taken to verify every reference, both in the text and appendix. Nevertheless, errors may have crept in, owing either to errors in the originals or to inadvertence. I shall be happy to acknowledge the correction of such mistakes as may be discovered. The deductions have been made after long and careful thought; but are subject to the errors into which a person not directly connected with the administration of affairs is always liable to fall. Here again, corrections and criticisms will be gladly received.

The results of the study of this somewhat neglected portion of American constitutional history are given to the public in the hope that they may aid in the further investigation both of the question here considered and of other related and unsolved problems in United States history and law.

EDWARD CAMPBELL MASON.

CAMBRIDGE, April 12, 1890.

X

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

GENESIS OF THE VETO POWER.

§ 1. Origin of the Veto Power....

§ 2. Legislative Power among the Teutonic Tribes

§ 3. Legislative Power in England down to the Appearance of the Royal Veto... § 4. Extension of Royal Legislative Power: Proclamation, Suspension, and Dispensation

.....

§ 5. Limitations on Royal Legislative Power; the Veto.

§ 6. Disappearance of the Veto in England

§ 7. The Veto Power in the American Colonies

II

II

12

13

14

15

17

18

19

20

§ 11. The Veto Clause in the Constitution of the United States..

22

§ 8. The Veto Power in the First State Constitutions

§ 9. The Veto Power under the Articles of Confederation..

§ 10. The Veto Power in the Federal Convention.

CHAPTER II.

VETOES AFFECTING THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT.

§ 12. Executive Methods of treating a Bill

13. Classification of the Vetoes....

§ 14. Vetoes affecting the Form of the National Legislature

§ 15. Vetoes affecting the Form of the National Judiciary.

§ 16. General Effect of Vetoes considered in this Chapter

24

25

25

27

30

CHAPTER III.

VETOES AFFECTING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE POWERS

OF GOVERNMENT.

§ 17. Classification of Vetoes in this Chapter

§ 18. Executive Claims to Legislative Power supported by the Veto.

$ 19. The Bank Veto..

§ 20. Removal of the Deposits....

- 32

wwwwwwww

§ 21. Vetoes for the Protection of the Executive from Legislative Encroachment.. 35

§ 22. Power over Foreign Affairs: the Treaty Power..

§ 23. Establishment of Consular and Diplomatic Offices.

§ 24. Diplomatic Intercourse.

No. 1. THE VETO POWER. Its origin, development, and function in the Government of the United States (1789-1889). By EDWARD CAMPBELL MASON, A.B., Instructor in Political Economy; edited by ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History. pp. 232. $1.00 net.

No. 2. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF FEDERAL GOVBy ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

ERNMENT.

of History. pp.

.50 net.

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