es, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; but in the
recess of the Senate the President is hereby authorized to make such
appointments, which shall be submitted to the Senate at the next
session thereafter for their advice and consent; and no compensation
shall be allowed to any charge d'affaires or any of the secretaries
hereinbefore described who shall not be appointed as aforesaid.

Notwithstanding the explicit language of this act, claims for outfits
and salaries have been made--and allowed at the Treasury--by charges
d'affaires and secretaries of legation who had not been appointed in the
manner specified. Among the accompanying documents will be found several
claims of this description, of which a detailed statement is given in
the letter of the Fifth Auditor. The case of Mr. William B. Lawrence,
late charge d'affaires at London, is of a still more peculiar character,
in consequence of his having actually drawn his outfit and salary from
the bankers employed by the Government, and from the length of time he
officiated in that capacity. Mr. Lawrence's accounts were rendered to
the late Administration, but not settled. I have refused to sanction the
allowance claimed, because the law does not authorize it, but have
refrained from directing any proceedings to compel a reimbursement of
the money thus, in my judgment, illegally received until an opportunity
should be afforded to Congress to pass upon the equity of the claim.

Appropriations are annually and necessarily made "for the contingent
expenses of all the missions abroad" and "for the contingent expenses of
foreign intercourse," and the expenditure of these funds intrusted to
the discretion of the President. It is out of those appropriations that
allowances of this character have been claimed, and, it is presumed,
made. Deeming, however, that the discretion thus committed to the
Executive does not extend to the allowance of charges prohibited by
express law, I have felt it my duty to refer all existing claims to the
action of Congress, and to submit to their consideration whether any
alteration of the law in this respect is necessary.

_III. The allowance of a quarter's salary to ministers and charges
d'affaires to defray their expenses home_.

This allowance has been uniformly made, but is without authority by law.
Resting in Executive discretion, it has, according to circumstances,
been extended to cases where the ministers d