A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 330 pages of information about A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents.

A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 330 pages of information about A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents.
are required for the efficiency of almost every branch of the public service.  Without these officers there would be no means of executing the warrants, decrees, or other process of the courts, and the judicial system of the country would be fatally defective.  The criminal jurisdiction of the courts of the United States is very extensive.  The crimes committed within the maritime jurisdiction of the United States are all cognizable only in the courts of the United States.  Crimes against public justice; crimes against the operations of the Government, such as forging or counterfeiting the money or securities of the United States; crimes against the postal laws; offenses against the elective franchise, against the civil rights of citizens, against the existence of the Government; crimes against the internal-revenue laws, the customs laws, the neutrality laws; crimes against laws for the protection of Indians and of the public lands—­all of these crimes and many others can be punished only under United States laws, laws which, taken together, constitute a body of jurisprudence which is vital to the welfare of the whole country, and which can be enforced only by means of the marshals and deputy marshals of the United States.  In the District of Columbia all of the process of the courts is executed by the officers in question.  In short, the execution of the criminal laws of the United States, the service of all civil process in cases in which the United States is a party, and the execution of the revenue laws, the neutrality laws, and many other laws of large importance depend on the maintenance of the marshals and their deputies.  They are in effect the only police of the United States Government.  Officers with corresponding powers and duties are found in every State of the Union and in every country which has a jurisprudence which is worthy of the name.  To deprive the National Government of these officers would be as disastrous to society as to abolish the sheriffs, constables, and police officers in the several States.  It would be a denial to the United States of the right to execute its laws—­a denial of all authority which requires the use of civil force.  The law entitles these officers to be paid.  The funds needed for the purpose have been collected from the people and are now in the Treasury.  No objection is, therefore, made to that part of the bill before me which appropriates money for the support of the marshals and deputy marshals of the United States.

The bill contains, however, other provisions which are identical in tenor and effect with the second section of the bill entitled “An act making appropriations for certain judicial expenses,” which on the 23d of the present month was returned to the House of Representatives with my objections to its approval.  The provisions referred to are as follows: 

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A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.