I admit without reserve, as I have before done, the constitutional power
of the Legislature to prescribe by law the place or places in which the
public money or other property is to be deposited, and to make such
regulations concerning its custody, removal, or disposition as they may
think proper to enact. Nor do I claim for the Executive any right to
the possession or disposition of the public property or treasure or
any authority to interfere with the same, except when such possession,
disposition, or authority is given to him by law. Nor do I claim the
right in any manner to supervise or interfere with the person intrusted
with such property or treasure, unless he be an officer whose
appointment, under the Constitution and laws, is devolved upon the
President alone or in conjunction with the Senate, and for whose conduct
he is constitutionally responsible.
As the message and protest referred to may appear on the Journal of
the Senate and remain among the recorded documents of the nation,
I am unwilling that opinions should be imputed to me, even through
misconstruction, which are not entertained, and more particularly
am I solicitous that I may not be supposed to claim for myself or
my successors any power or authority not clearly granted by the
Constitution and laws to the President.
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