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The Pan American Conference Act of May 10, 1888: President Cleveland and the Historians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

James F. Vivian*
Affiliation:
The National Archives Washington, D. C.

Extract

Is it possible for two reputable and assumedly authoritative sources like the Congressional Record and Statutes at Large to contain mutually contradictory evidence as to whether the President of the United States approved or failed to approve a particular act of Congress? It could happen, obviously. It did in one instance, in fact, to the continuing confusion of students and scholars alike, who seemingly have been unaware of the discrepancy.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1970

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References

1 Blaine to Osborn, Thomas O., Nov. 29, 1881, in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1881 (Washington, D. C., 1882), pp. 1315 Google Scholar.

2 Richardson, James D. (ed.), Messages and Tapers of the Presidents (18 vols.; New York, 1897), X, 4684 Google Scholar.

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4 U. S., Statutes at Large, XXIII, 235–236.

5 U. S., Congressional Record, 49th Cong., 1st sess., XVII, pt. 6, 5814.

6 Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1888 (2 pts., Washington, D. C, 1889), II, 16581659 Google Scholar.

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8 U. S., Congressional Record, 50th Cong., 1st sess., XIX, pt. 5, 4687.

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10 New York Times, August 29, 1889, 8:4; Curtis, William E., Trade and Transportation Between the United States and Spanish America (Washington, D. C, 1889), p. 22 Google Scholar.

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30 Porter, Kirk H. and Johnson, Donald B. (comps.), National Party Platforms, 1840–1956 (Urbana, III., 1956), pp. 66, 74Google Scholar. James B. McCreary (D., Ky.) introduced the legislation in January, 1888, and Perry Belmont (D., N. Y.), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, reversed his position of 1886, when a similar motion had last been considered, in giving his blessing to it in 1888.

31 The Nation, XLIX (October 10, 1889), 284.

32 Powers, Fred. Perry, “The Pan-American Congress,” America, III (October 10, 1889), 5051 Google Scholar. Powers claimed that almost everything pertaining to the convening of the Conference was “anomalous.”