If the President may answer the present call, he must answer similar
calls for every such expenditure of a confidential character, made under
every Administration, in war and in peace, from the organization of the
Government to the present period. To break the seal of confidence
imposed by the law, and heretofore uniformly preserved, would be
subversive of the very purpose for which the law was enacted, and might
be productive of the most disastrous consequences. The expenditures of
this confidential character, it is believed, were never before sought to
be made public, and I should greatly apprehend the consequences of
establishing a precedent which would render such disclosures hereafter
inevitable.
I am fully aware of the strong and correct public feeling which exists
throughout the country against secrecy of any kind in the administration
of the Government, and especially in reference to public expenditures;
yet our foreign negotiations are wisely and properly confined to the
knowledge of the Executive during their pendency.
Pages:
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171