On the record
But, as we have made it legislative, whenever secrecy is necessary for an operation of the executive involving the question of peace and war, Congress must pass a secret law to give the President power.
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gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Quincy discusses the legislative requirements for executive actions related to war and peace, emphasizing the need for transparency.
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The seeds of this complicated machine were all sown in the Declaration of Independence; and their fruits can never be eradicated but by the dissolution of the Union.
No man can be surprised that such a cause was swept away by a moral and political whirlwind; that it carried with it all the institutions of civil society, so that its march was a wild desolation.
Have we not tamely submitted for years to the daily violation of the freedom of the post-office and of the press by a committee of seal-breakers?
The terms, indeed, in which such a character as Washington has repeatedly expressed himself concerning me, have left me nothing to wish, if they did not alarm me by their very strength.
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