gested by the Secretary of State.16 President Harrison, in submitting, February 20, 1891, the treaty of commerce and navigation with the Independent State of the Kongo, signed January 24, 1891, recommended the rejection by the Senate of the ninth article, which related to extradition. The Senate in advising ratification complied with the recommendation.1 President Roosevelt, in submitting, February 27, 1908, the conventions and declaration signed at the Second International Peace Conference at The Hague, directed the attention of the Senate to an accompanying report by the Secretary of State, in which it was recommended that the ratification of the convention for the peaceful adjustment of international differences should be given, and the convention concerning the rights and duties of neutral powers in naval warfare, not signed by the delegates of the United States, should be adhered to, subject in each case to certain reservations.18 These recommendations were embodied in the resolutions of the Senate advising and consenting to the ratification.19

853. Refusal of President to Ratify Treaties Approved by the Senate. The resolution of the Senate advising and consenting to the ratification of a treaty, while a condition precedent to its validity, is not mandatory; and the President may of right refuse to ratify a treaty although the Senate has advised its ratification.20 President Polk, in submitting to the Senate, December 16, 1845, an extradition convention with Prussia and certain other German States, signed January 29, 1845, recommended a

16 Id., VIII, 615.

17 Ex. Journal, XXVII, 883.

18 Sen. Doc. No. 444, 60th Cong., 1st Sess., 61.

19 Id., 87, 153.

20 "The President is so supreme under the Constitution in the matter of treaties, excluding only the Senate's ratification, that he may negotiate a treaty, he may send it to the Senate, it may receive by way of ‘advice and consent' the unanimous judgment of the Senate that it is in the highest degree for the public interest, and yet the President is as free when it is sent back to the White House with resolution of ratification attached, to put it in his desk never again to see the light of day as he was free to determine in the first instance whether he would or would not negotiate it. That power is not expressly given to the President by the Constitution, but it inheres in the executive power conferred upon him to conduct our foreign relations, and it is a power which inheres in him as the sole organ under the Constitution through whom our foreign relations and diplomatic intercourse are conducted." John C. Spooner, in the U. S. Senate, January 23, 1906. Cong. Record, 59th Cong., 1st Sess., 1419.

modification of Article III, in which it was stipulated, contrary to the rule then consistently maintained by the United States, that the contracting parties should not be bound to deliver up their own citizens. The Senate failed, in advising the ratification, to make the amendment, and the President for this as well as for other reasons did not ratify the convention.21 On March 10, 1857, the Senate advised the ratification with amendment of a treaty of amity, commerce and extradition with Venezuela, signed July 10, 1856. The President decided not to ratify the treaty, but to negotiate a new treaty in order to effect other changes. Such a treaty was signed August 27, 1860, and submitted to the Senate, January 2, 1861.22 On March 1, 1905, the Senate advised and consented to the adhesion of the United States to the project of a convention for the suppression of the white slave traffic, adopted July 25, 1902 by the delegates of various powers represented at the Paris conference. The Executive did not at the time ratify the convention because of doubts entertained as to the ability of the government of the United States to carry it into effect for want of a national system of police. Subsequently, however, on June 6, 1908, the President pursuant to the advice of the Senate of March 1, 1905, declared the adherence of the United States. to the arrangement as incorporated literally in the formal agreement signed at Paris, May 18, 1904. The ratification of the general arbitration conventions negotiated by Mr. Hay, Secretary of State, and signed November 1, 1904, with France; November 1, 1904, with Switzerland; November 22, 1904, with Germany; November 23, 1904, with Portugal; December 12, 1904, with Great Britain; December 14, 1904, with Italy; December 31, 1904, with Spain; January 6, 1905, with Austria-Hungary; January 18, 1905, with Mexico; and January 20, 1905, with Sweden and Norway, was advised and consented to by the Senate in each instance subject to an amendment substituting the word "treaty" for the word "agreement," with the understanding that

21 Ex. Journal, VII, 7, 433. In his message to the Senate, July 28, 1848, giving the reasons for his refusal to ratify, the President laid special stress on the failure of the Senate to remedy Article III, but added also as a sufficient justification the reorganization which had taken place in the German States since the negotiation of the convention. Id., 462. See also, Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State, to Mr. Donelson, minister to Prussia, August 3, 1848, MSS. Inst. to Prussia, XIV, 126.

22 Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, V, 654.

every such special "treaty" should be referred to the Senate for its advice and consent. The amendment was not acceptable to the Executive, and the conventions were not ratified. At a later date, new conventions, embodying in principle the amendment of the Senate, were, however, negotiated by Mr. Root, Secretary of State, submitted to the Senate and duly ratified.

$54. Treaties Withdrawn from the Senate.-Many instances may be cited of the withdrawal of treaties by the President from the consideration of the Senate, either to effect changes by negotiation or to terminate proceedings thereon. President Pierce in a message of August 9, 1856, requested the return of an extradition convention with the Netherlands, signed May 29, 1856. The convention was re-submitted to the Senate on January 12, 1857.23 A convention with Belgium, signed November 4, 1884, for the regulation of the right of succession to and the acquisition of property, was returned by the Senate to President Arthur in compliance with his request of February 17, 1885, and was not re-submitted.24 President Cleveland, in messages of March 13, 1885, April 2, 1885, and March 9, 1893, requested the return of treaties concluded by his predecessors: November 18, 1884, with Spain, for commercial reciprocity; December 1, 1884, with Nicaragua, relative to the construction of an interoceanic canal; December 4, 1884, with the Dominican Republic, for commercial reciprocity; June 22, 1884, with the Argentine Republic, supplementary to the treaty of commerce of July 27, 1853; and February 14, 1893, for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands.25 President Roosevelt, in a message of December 8, 1902, requested the return of a commercial convention with the Dominican Republic, signed June 25, 1900, together with an additional article thereto, and a convention with Great Britain, signed January 30, 1897, relative to the demarcation of the Alaskan boundary. Instances of withdrawals for the purpose of making verbal corrections are quite numerous. The convention with Spain, signed August 7, 1882, supplementary to the extradition convention of January 5, 1877, was returned for verbal changes at the request of the Secretary of State made to the chairman of the Committee

23 Id., V, 383, 419.

24 Ex. Journal, XXIV, 474.

25 Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, VIII, 303; IX,

on Foreign Relations.2 The Senate by resolutions, dated December 6, 1899, December 16, 1901, and January 31, 1903, respectively, in compliance with requests of the President of even dates, returned the conventions signed March 2, 1899, with Great Britain, concerning the tenure and disposition of property, October 26, 1901, with Belgium, for the extradition of criminals, and January 24, 1903, with Great Britain, relative to the boundary between Alaska and British possessions. They were later resubmitted and ratified.

855. Re-submission to the Senate After Delay in Ratification.-On January 22, 1875, the Senate advised the ratification with certain amendments of a naturalization convention concluded at Constantinople, August 11, 1874. These amendments were not fully accepted by the Turkish government, and, the convention was not proclaimed by the President." After the lapse of fourteen years, that government decided to accept the amendments. In view of the long period which had elapsed since the Senate advised ratification, President Cleveland, in a message of February 27, 1889, before proclaiming the convention, gave the Senate an opportunity again to act on the matter. The Senate by resolution, dated February 28, 1889, advised the President to exchange the ratifications, but with the distinct understanding that the provisions of Article II of the convention, as amended, should not be construed as applying to persons already naturalized in either country.28 The condition imposed by the Senate was the source of further delay. To the suggestion made by the Sublime Porte in 1896, that measures be taken to give effect to the convention, Mr. Olney, Secretary of State, replied that in view of the peculiar circumstances, of the various conflicting constructions of the Senate resolution, and especially of the length of time that had elapsed since the convention was last before the Senate, the first step in the direction desired must obviously be to bring the convention again before that body for its reconsideration.29 The two governments have, however, never been able to reach an agreement in accordance with the requirements of the Senate resolu

26 Ex. Journal, XXIII, 565.

27 See supra, §45.

28 Ex. Journal, XXVI, 467, 469.

29 Mr. Olney to Mavroyeni Bey, October 15, 1896. For. Rel., 1896, pp. 932, 933.

tion. So also, Mr. Root, on reopening negotiations in 1908 for the conclusion of arbitration conventions, did not proceed to the ratification of those negotiated by his predecessor and consented to by the Senate with amendments in 1905, but signed new conventions substantially incorporating the Senate amendments and submitted them to the Senate. The Senate may at any time prior to the ratification by the President rescind its resolution of advice and consent, but in the absence of such act of revocation it may be doubted that the President is under any constitutional obligation to re-submit a treaty the ratification of which has once been advised.