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The Cleveland Era; a chronicle of the new order in politics by Henry Jones Ford
page 47 of 161 (29%)
incumbent. On January 11, 1886, the Attorney-General sent to the
Committee the papers bearing upon the nomination, but withheld
those touching the removal on the ground that he had "received
no direction from the President in relation to their
transmission." The matter was debated by the Senate in executive
session and on January 25, 1886, a resolution was adopted which
was authoritative in its tone and which directed the
Attorney-General to transmit copies of all documents and papers
in relation to the conduct of the office of District Attorney for
the Southern District of Alabama since January 1, 1885. Within
three days, Attorney-General Garland responded that he had
already transmitted all papers relating to the nomination; but
with regard to the demand for papers exclusively relating to the
suspension of the former incumbent he was directed by the
President to say "that it is not considered that the public
interests will be promoted by a compliance."

The response of the Attorney-General was referred to the
Judiciary Committee which, on the 18th of February, made an
elaborate report exhibiting the issue as one which involved the
right of Congress to obtain information. It urged that "the
important question, then, is whether it is within the
constitutional competence of either House of Congress to have
access to the official papers and documents in the various public
offices of the United States, created by laws enacted by
themselves." The report, which was signed only by the Republican
members of the Committee, was an adroit partisan performance,
invoking traditional constitutional principles in behalf of
congressional privilege. A distinct and emphatic assertion of the
prerogative of the Senate was made, however, in resolutions
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