EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 16, 1887_.
The SECRETARY OF WAR:
I have to-day considered with more care than when the subject was orally
presented me the action of your Department directing letters to be
addressed to the governors of all the States offering to return, if
desired, to the loyal States the Union flags captured in the War of the
Rebellion by the Confederate forces and afterwards recovered by
Government troops, and to the Confederate States the flags captured by
the Union forces, all of which for many years have been packed in boxes
and stored in the cellar and attic of the War Department.
I am of the opinion that the return of these flags in the manner thus
contemplated is not authorized by existing law nor justified as an
executive act.
I request, therefore, that no further steps be taken in the matter
except to examine and inventory these flags and adopt proper measures
for their preservation. Any direction as to the final disposition of
them should originate with Congress.
Yours, truly,