action which could be construed as a refusal of access to
official records; what he did refuse to acknowledge was the right
of the Senate to inquire into his motives and to exact from him a
disclosure of the facts, circumstances, and sources of
information that prompted his action. The materials upon which
his judgment was formed were of a varied character. "They consist
of letters and representations addressed to the Executive or
intended for his inspection; they are voluntarily written and
presented by private citizens who are not in the least instigated
thereto by any official invitation or at all subject to official
control. While some of them are entitled to Executive
consideration, many of them are so irrelevant or in the light of
other facts so worthless, that they have not been given the least
weight in determining the question to which they are supposed to
relate." If such matter were to be considered public records and
subject to the inspection of the Senate, the President would
thereby incur "the risk of being charged with making a suspension
from office upon evidence which was not even considered."

Issue as to the status of such documents was joined by the
President in the sharpest possible way by the declaration: "I
consider them in no proper sense as upon the files of the
department but as deposited there for my convenience, remaining
still completely under my control. I suppose if I desired to take
them into my custody I might do so with entire propriety, and if
I saw fit to destroy them no one could complain."

Moreover, there were cases in which action was prompted by oral
communications which did not go on record in any form. As to
this, Cleveland observed, "It will not be denied, I suppose, that