In many instances Congress has, by statute, authorized the Executive to perform acts of an international character, that is, acts with which other countries have been directly concerned.

13 Yale Law Journal. XI. p. 69.

14 The Peace Conference at The Hague, p. 216.

15 Yale Review, IX, p. 415.

Under suck authorization, numerous international postal arrangements have been entered into. Thus by act of 1872, Congress declared that "for the purpose of making better postal arrangements with foreign countries," the Postmaster-General, acting under the advice of the President, might "negotiate and conclude postal treaties."

In a similar manner, that is, under congressional sanction, the President has negotiated and entered into agreements with foreign countries with reference to copyrights and trademarks.

Various other congressional acts of tins character, as, for example, that of 1901, whereby the President was authorized to lease coaling stations from Cuba, might be mentioned, but the most important of these and the only ones which need discussion are those authorizing action with reference to the tariff laws.

Since the first years under the Constitution, Congress has pursued the policy of giving to the President a considerable executive discretion in the application and enforcement of its laws governing commercial intercourse with foreign countries. Of this character was the Embargo Act of 1794, the act of 1799 governing commercial intercourse with France, the Non-importa-tktt Act of 1806, the Non-intereourse Acts of 1S09- and 1810, the acts of 1815 and 1830 as to tonnage and other dues, the act of 1866 as to the non-importation of cattle and hides, and the acts of 1815, 1824, 1828, 1886, 1888, and 1897 with reference to the suspension of discriminating duties.16 All of these acts provided that whether or not they should go into effect should be at the discretion of the President.

By section 3 of the act of 1890 (the so-called McKinley Act) it was provided:. "That with a view to secure reciprocal trade with countries producing the following articles, and for this purpose, on and after the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, whenever and so often as the President shall be satis-tied that the government of any country producing and exporting sugars, molasses, coffee, tea, and hides, raw and uncured, or any of such articles, imposes duties or other exactions, upon the agricultural or other products of the United States, which in view of the free introduction of such sugar, molasses, coffee, tea and hides into the United States, he may deem to be reciprocally unequal and unreasonable, he shall have the power and it shall be his duty to suspend, by proclamation to that effect, the provisions of this act relating to the free introduction of such sugar, molasses, coffee, tea and hides, the production of such country, for such time as he shall deem just, and in such case during such suspension duties shall be levied, collected and paid upon sugar, molasses, coffee, tea and hides, the product of or exported from such designated country, as follows."

16 Cf. J. B. Moore in Political Science Monthly, XX. p. 395.

This section had been put in the McKinley Act with a view to securing reciprocal commercial agreements with foreign powers, and ten such tariff arrangements were effected by the President by means of an exchange of diplomatic notes simply. These agreements remained in force until the enactment in 1894 of the Wilson-Gorman Act.

The constitutionality of this action under the act of 1890 was contested on the ground that it amounted to a delegation by Congress to the President of a portion of its legislative power; but the Supreme Court in Field v. Clark17 held the provision valid.18

By the third section of the Tariff Act of 1897 (the Dingley Act), the President was authorized to enter into reciprocity agreements with foreign countries with respect to certain enumerated articles, whereby in return for concessions obtained from other countries, equivalent concessions were to be granted by the United States. Under the authority thus granted a number of reciprocity agreements were negotiated and promulgated by the President.

Section 4 of this act of 1897 also provided for reciprocity treaties which should be approved by Congress. This section will receive consideration in the next section.19

17 143 U. S. 649; 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 495; 36 L. ed. 294.

18 See Chapter LXV (The Delegation Of Legislative Power. 773. Delegated Power May Not Be Delegated) in which the delegation of legislative power is discussed.

19 There have been some instances of international agreements entered into by the President without the advice and consent of the Senate, and without authorization by some previous treaty or statute, which cannot be grouped under any one of the preceding heads mentioned in this chapter. Thus,