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France. Given the option of calling Congress back into session or issuing a proclamation on his own accord, President Washington chose the latter. On April 22, 1793 Washington issued a proclamation which enjoined the citizens of the United States to ". . . avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever, which may in any manner tend to contravene such disposition . . ." of ". . . a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers . . . ." Moreover, he had "given instructions to those officers, to whom it belongs, to cause prosecutions to be instituted against all persons, who shall, within the cognizance of the courts of the United States, violate the law of nations, with respect to the powers at war, or any of them."[1] However, he found that enforcing his proclamation was difficult and, thus, decided to look to Congress for assistance. Congress responded by passing the Neutrality Act of 1794 which gave the Administration the power to prosecute those who violated Washington's proclamation.[2]
The next major use of proclamations came during the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. At the outset of the Civil War, President Lincoln issued a proclamation authorizing Gen. Scott to watch the activities of the Maryland State Legislature and to act to suppress any insurrection. In his proclamation, Lincoln even authorized the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Pursuant to this proclamation, John Merryman was arrested on May 25, 1861, and held at Ft. McHenry by Gen. Cadwalader. Subsequently, Chief Justice Taney ordered that a writ of habeas corpus be issued. Gen. Cadwalader, however, citing his authority pursuant to Lincoln's proclamation, refused to comply. Chief Justice Taney, in his opinion, stated that the power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus was exclusively a legislative one, and that the President cannot suspend the privilege nor authorize a military officer to do it. Taney based his argument on legal and constitutional history and the fact that the power to suspend the writ is contained in Article I (the legislative article) of the Constitution.[3] Although Taney was unable to enforce his decision, Lincoln addressed Congress, on July 4, 1861, to explain the actions he had taken and to get congressional approval for them. Almost two years later, Congress passed the Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 which authorized the President to suspend the writ of habeas corpus when, in his judgment, the public safety may require it.[4] Thus, Congress did assert its jurisdiction over the matter of habeas corpus suspension, and, in the long run, Lincoln's actions were sanctioned by Congress.
With the exception of Lincoln's assumption of power during the Civil War, Congress usually maintained tight control over the executive branch through detailed statutes, strict budgetary controls, and reviews of even the most mundane administrative matters. During the nineteenth century, executive orders most often
- ↑ Charles M. Thomas, American Neutrally in 1793, A Study in Cabinet Government, p.42-43 (1931).
- ↑ Ch. 50, 1 Stat. 381 (See 18 USC § 960).
- ↑ See Taney's Decisions in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Maryland, 1836-61, p. 252; see Staff of House Comm. on Government Operations, 85th Cong., 1st Sess., Executive Orders and Proclamations: A Study of a Use of Presidential Powers (Comm. Print 1957).
- ↑ Ch. 81, 12 Stat. 755.
