814 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [Feb. 15

was not now occasion for the use of Federal troops in
the city of Baltimore ; that should the troops be sent,
in compliance with the resolutions, you would at once
request their withdrawal, and that you desired to con-
vey your opinion thus expressed officially to me
through your Adjutant-General.

The power of the President of the United States to
use the United States Army to maintain peace and
order in any state grows out of section 4, article 4, of
the Constitution, which reads as follows:

"Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to
every state in this Union a republican form of Govern-
ment, and shall protect each of them against invasion;
and on application of the Legislature (or of the Exec-
utive when the Legislature cannot be convened) against
domestic violence."

In pursuance of the authority thus conferred, legis-
lation was enacted early in the history of the Govern-
ment, which is now embodied in section 5297 of the
Revised Statutes of the United States, which reads as
follows :

"In case of an insurrection in any state against the
government thereof, it shall be lawful for the Presi-
dent, on application of the Legislature of such State,
or of the Executive, when the legislature cannot be
convened, to call forth such number of the militia of
any other State or States, which may be applied for,
as he deems sufficient to suppress such insurrection ;
or, on like application, to employ, for the same pur-
poses, such part of the land or naval forces of the
United States as he deems necessary."

Occasion has recently arisen for the construction of
section 5297, and it is contained in a telegram sent by
my direction, by Secretary Root, to the Governor of
Colorado, who bad asked for troops to suppress local
disturbances. Secretary Root said :

"The President has no lawful authority to comply
with the request contained in this despatch. His
authority in such cases js regulated by title 69 of the
United States Revised Statutes. The circumstances
detailed in your dispatch indicate that if any of the