to the widows of those who have died or may hereafter die; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions.

Mr. Benjamin presented a petition of the administrator of Latchlin Durant, and a memorial of the heirs and representatives of Latchlin Durant, praying that the administrator may be authorized to sell a tract of land granted to said Durant by the treaty of Fort Jackson; which were referred to the Committee on Private Land Claims.

Mr. Pugh presented the memorial of Susan E. Gordon, widow of George Fisher, deceased, praying the adoption of such measures as may be necessary to carry into execution the joint resolution of June 1, 1860, relating to the claim of George Fisher, late of Florida, deceased; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. Powell presented the proceedings of the Union Democratic State Convention, held at Louisville, in the State of Kentucky, in reference to the present disturbed condition of the country.

The reception of the proceedings being objected to by Mr. Hale, The Vice President submitted the question to the Senate, Shall the proceedings be received? and

It was determined in the negative.

A message from the President of the United States, by Mr. Glossbrenner, his Secretary:

Mr. President: The President of the United States approved and signed this day an act (S. 144) for the relief of Jeremiah Pendergast, of the District of Columbia.

Ordered, That the Secretary notify the House of Representatives thereof.

The Vice-President, at half past twelve o'clock, called up the joint resolution (S. 54) proposing certain amendments to the Constitution of the United States, which was the special order of the day at half past twelve o'clock to-day; and

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the said resolution; and

An amendment being proposed by Mr. Clark,

Pending debate,

The President announced that the hour of one o'clock having arrived it was the duty of the Chair to call up the bill (H. R. 701) to secure contracts, and make provision for the safe, certain, and more speedy transportation, by railroad, of mails, troops, munitions of war, military and naval stores, between the Atlantic States and those of the Pacific, and for other purposes; which was the special order of the day at one o'clock to-day.

On motion by Mr. Crittenden, to postpone the consideration of the bill (H. R. 701) last mentioned, and that the Senate continue the consideration of the joint resolution, (S. 54,)

Yeas.

It was determined in the negative, {ays.

On motion by Mr. Sumner,

21

27

The yeas and nays being desired by one fifth of the senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are,

Messrs. Benjamin, Bigler, Bragg, Bright, Clingman, Crittenden

Fitch, Green, Hemphill, Johnson, of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane, Mason, Nicholson, Pearce, Polk, Powell, Pugh, Rice, Saulsbury, Slidell. Those who voted in the negative are,

Messrs. Anthony, Baker, Bingham, Cameron, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolittle, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Gwin, Hale, Harlan, King, Latham, Seward, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson.

So the motion of Mr. Crittenden was not agreed to; and

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (H. R. 701); and,

On the question to agree to the motion made by Mr. Rice on the 9th instant, to wit: that the bill be postponed indefinitely,

Yeas

It was determined in the negative, Nays..

On motion by Mr. Latham,

.....

12

38

The yeas and nays being desired by one fifth of the senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are,

Messrs. Bayard, Benjamin, Bragg, Clingman, Crittenden, Johnson, of Arkansas, Lane, Mason, Pearce, Rice, Saulsbury, Slidell. Those who voted in the negative are,

Messrs. Anthony, Baker, Bigler, Bingham, Cameron, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolittle, Douglas, Durkee, Fessenden, Fitch, Foot, Foster, Green, Grimes, Gwin, Hale, Harlan, Hemphill, Johnson, of Tennessee, Kennedy, King, Latham, Nicholson, Polk, Pugh, Sebastian, Seward, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson.

After debate,

Mr. Wilkinson withdrew the motion submitted by him on the 9th instant, to refer the bill to a select committee to consist of five members; and,

On the question to agree to the amendment proposed by Mr. Bragg, to wit: at the end of the first section insert, nor until said acts of incorporation shall have been submitted to and approved by the Congress of the United States,

It was determined in the affirmative, {es.....

On motion by Mr. Gwin,

31

15

The yeas and nays being desired by one fifth of the senators present, Those who voted in the affirmative are,

Messrs. Bayard, Benjamin, Bragg, Bright, Clark, Clingman, Crittenden, Doolittle, Durkee, Fessenden, Fitch, Green, Grimes, Hunter, Johnson, of Tennessee, Kennedy, King, Lane, Mason, Nicholson, Pearce, Polk, Powell, Pugh, Rice, Saulsbury, Sebastian, Simmons, Slidell, Ten Eyck, Wilkinson.

Those who voted in the negative are,

Messrs. Baker, Bingham, Cameron, Chandler, Dixon, Foot, Foster, Gwin, Harlan, Latham, Seward, Sumner, Wade, Wigfall, Wilson. The bill having been further amended, and an amendment being proposed by Mr. Benjamin,

On motion by Mr. Fessenden,

The Senate adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1861.

The following message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Glossbrenner, his secretary:

To the Senate of the United States:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate passed on the 10th instant, requesting me to inform that body, if not incompatible with the public interest, "whether John B. Floyd, whose appointment as Secretary of War was confirmed by the Senate on the 6th of March, 1857, still continues to hold said office, and if not, when and how said office became vacant; and further to inform the Senate how and by whom the duties of said office are now discharged; and if an appointment of an acting or provisional Secretary of War has been made, how, when, and by what authority it was so made, and why the fact of said appointment has not been communicated to the Senate," I have to inform the Senate that John B. Floyd, the late Secretary of the War Department, resigned that office on the 29th day of December last, and that on the first day of January instant, Joseph Holt was authorized by me to perform the duties of the said office until a successor should be appointed, or the vacancy filled. Under this authority the duties of the War Department have been performed by Mr. Holt from the day last mentioned to the present time.

The power to carry on the business of the government by means of a provisional appointment when a vacancy occurs, is expressly given by the act of February 13, 1795, which enacts "that in case of vacancy in the office of Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, or of the Secretary of the Department of War, or of any officer of either of the said departments, whose appointment is not in the head thereof, whereby they cannot perform the duties of their said respective offices, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, in case he shall think it necessary, to authorize any person or persons, at his discretion, to perform the duties of the said respective offices until a successor be appointed, or such vacancy be filled: Provided, that no one vacancy shall be supplied, in manner aforesaid, for a longer period than six months."

It is manifest that if the power which this law gives had been withheld, the public interest would frequently suffer very serious detriment. Vacancies may occur at any time in the most important offices which cannot be immediately and permanently filled in a manner satisfactory to the appointing power. It was wise to make a provision which would enable the President to avoid a total suspension of business in the interval, and equally wise, so to limit the executive discretion as to prevent any serious abuse of it. This is what the framers of the act of 1795 did, and neither the policy nor the constitutional validity of their law has been questioned for sixty-five years.

The practice of making such appointments, whether in a vacation or during the session of Congress, has been constantly followed during every administration from the earliest period of the government, and its perfect lawfulness has never, to my knowledge, been questioned or

denied. Without going back further than the year 1829, and without taking into the calculation any but the chief officers of the several departments, it will be found that provisional appointments to fill vacancies were made to the number of one hundred and seventy-nine, from the commencement of General Jackson's administration to the close of General Pierce's. This number would probably be greatly increased, if all the cases which occurred in the subordinate offices and bureaus were added to the count. Some of them were made while the Senate was in session, some which were made in vacation were continued in force long after the Senate assembled. Sometimes, the temporary officer was the commissioned head of another department, sometimes a subordinate in the same department. Sometimes the affairs of the Navy Department have been directed ad interim by a commodore, and those of the War Department by a general. In most, if not all of the cases which occurred previous to 1852, it is believed that the compensation provided by law for the officer regularly commissioned, was paid to the person who discharged the duties ad interim. To give the Senate a more detailed and satisfactory view of the subject, I send the accompanying tabular statement certified by the Secretary of State, in which the instances are all set forth in which provisional as well as permanent appointments were made to the highest executive offices from 1829 nearly to the present time, with their respective dates.

It must be allowed that these precedents, so numerous and so long. continued, are entitled to great respect, since we can scarcely suppose that the wise and eminent men by whom they were made could have been mistaken on a point which was brought to their attention so often. Still less can it be supposed that any of them willfully violated the law or the Constitution.

The lawfulness of the practice rests upon the exigences of the public service, which require that the movements of the government shall not be arrested by an accidental vacancy in one of the departments; upon an act of Congress expressly and plainly giving and regulating the power; and upon long and uninterrupted usage of the Executive, which has never been challenged as illegal by Congress.

This answers the inquiry of the Senate so far as it is necessary to show "how and by whom the duties of said office are now discharged.' Nor is it necessary to explain further than I have done "how, when, and by what authority," the provisional appointment has been made. But the resolution makes the additional inquiry "why the fact of said appointment has not been communicated to the Senate."

I take it for granted that the Senate did not mean to call for the reasons upon which I acted in performing an executive duty, nor to demand an account of the motives which governed me in an act which the law and the Constitution left to my own discretion. It is sufficient, therefore, for that part of the resolution to say that a provisional or temporary appointment like that in question is not required by law to be communicated to the Senate, and that there is no instance on record where such communication ever has been made.

WASHINGTON, January 15, 1861.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

Ordered, That it lie on the table and be printed.

The Vice-President laid before the Senate a letter of the Secretary of War, communicating eighty copies of the Army Register for the present year; which was read.

Ordered, That it lie on the table.

Mr. Crittenden presented a petition of citizens of Michigan, praying the adoption of the compromise measures proposed by Mr. Crittenden. Ordered, That it lie on the table.

Mr. Bigler presented a petition of citizens of Easton, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, praying the adoption of the compromise measures proposed by Mr. Crittenden.

Ordered, That it lie on the table.

Mr. Bigler presented a memorial of a committee appointed by certain employés of the Patent Office, praying compensation for their services from April 1, 1860, at the rates fixed by law; which was referred to the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office.

Mr. Seward presented a memorial of certain citizens of New York, in relation to the present disturbed condition of the country. Ordered, That it lie on the table.

On motion by Mr. Powell,

Ordered, That the Committee on Pensions be discharged from the further consideration of the petition of James Birdsong, administrator of Sally Ellis, deceased.

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Forney, its Clerk:

Mr. President: The House of Representatives has passed a bill (H. R. 585) for the relief of the heirs of the late Almon W. Babbitt, secretary of Utah, in which it requests the concurrence of the Senate.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives having signed a joint resolution (H. R. 55) authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to change the name of the schooner "Spring Hill" to that of "The United States," I am directed to bring it to the Senate for the signa

ture of its President.

The House of Representatives having ordered the printing of certain documents, I am directed to notify the Senate thereof.

Mr. Cameron presented a petition of citizens of Philadelphia, praying that pensions may be granted to the survivors of the war of 1812, and to the widows of those who have died, or may hereafter die; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions.

Mr. Rice submitted the following resolution; which was read and ordered to be printed:

Resolved, That a special committee of seven be appointed by the Senate, with instructions to inquire into the expediency of the passage of a general enabling act for the admission of new States and a readjustment of the limits of California, Minnesota, and Oregon, which shall include all the territory held by the United States, as follows:

1. A State of New Mexico, bounded on the north by the latitude of thirty-seven degrees, east by Texas, south by Texas and the Mexican