of California took the case to the Supreme Court of the United
States. The court divided, with the Chief Justice and Justice Lamar
dissenting. The majority of the court held, Mr. Justice Miller
pronouncing the judgment, that the President was justified by the duty
imposed upon him by the Constitution to see that the laws were
faithfully executed. Although there was no specific law on the statute
book conferring upon the President authority to direct Neagle to take
the action he did, there was an implied obligation on the part of the
government to protect its judges in discharging their duty from the
violence of disappointed litigants, and this obligation was a law which
it was the duty of the President to see executed. The President,
therefore, has the right through his Attorney-General, who is the finger
of his hand, to direct an officer of the United States to protect to the
uttermost a justice while on judicial duty, even if it necessitates
killing an assailant.

I cannot tell you all the officers of the United States--internal
revenue men, customs men, post-office men, immigrant inspectors, public
land men, reclamation men, marine hospital men--certainly 150,000 in
number, who are subject to the direction of the President. In the
executive work under this head, he wields a most far-reaching power in
the interpretation of Congressional acts. A great many statutes never
come before the court. The President or his officers for him have
finally to decide what a statute means when it directs them to do
something. Many statutes contain a provision that under that statute,
regulations must be made by executive officers in order to facilitate
their enforcement. This is quasi-legislative work. The situation in
regard to the present income tax illustrates the necessity for
regulations. You will recognize that regulations adopted by the
President and his subordinates are sometimes necessary to straighten out
law. If you desire to study a maze or look into a labyrinth, I commend
you to the present income tax law.

Then often Congress relies upon the discretion of the President to
accomplish such tremendous things as in the Panama Canal. It directed
the President to build the Canal. It remained for him to appoint all the
persons engaged in the work, and he became responsible for every one of
them. Another notable instance of the reliance of Congress upon the
President occurred in the Spanish War, when it appropriated $50,000,00