ority 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 1st 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 can not perform
the duties of their 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 can
not 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 in