In his message of the 1st of March he said: "The pledges I have made were made to the people, and to them I am responsible for the manner in which they have been redeemed.

I am not responsible to the Senate, and I am unwilling to submit my actions and official conduct to them for judgement." While this contest was still going on, President Cleveland had to encounter another attempt of the Senate to take his authority out of his hands.

The history of American diplomacy during this period belongs to another volume in this series,* but a diplomatic question was drawn into the struggle between the President and the Senate in such a way that it requires mention here.

Shortly after President Cleveland took office, the fishery articles of the Treaty of Washington had terminated.

In his first annual message to Congress, on December 8, 1885, he recommended the appointment of a commission to settle with a similar commission from Great Britain "the entire question of the fishery rights of the two governments and their respective citizens on the coasts of the United States and British North America." But this sensible advice was denounced as weak and cowardly.