That to entitle any chargé d'affaires or secretary of any legation
or embassy to any foreign country, or secretary of any minister
plenipotentiary, to the compensation hereinbefore provided they
shall respectively be appointed by the President of the United
States, 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 chargé 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 chargés
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 chargé 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 chargés
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 died abroad, to defray the
return of his family, and was recently claimed in a case where the
minister had no family, on grounds of general equity. A charge of this
description can hardly be regarded as a contingent one, and if allowed
at all must be in lieu of salary. As such it is altogether arbitrary,
although it is not believed that the interests of the Treasury are, upon
the whole, much affected by the substitution. In some cases the
allowance is for a longer period than is occupied in the return of the
minister; in others, for one somewhat less; and it seems to do away all
inducement to unnecessary delay. The subject is, however, susceptible of
positive regulation by law, and it is, on many accounts, highly
expedient that it should be placed on that footing. I have therefore,
without directing any alteration in the existing practice, felt it my
duty to bring it to your notice.
_IV. Traveling and other expenses in following the court in cases where
its residence is not stationary_.
The only legations by which expenses of this description are incurred
and charged are those to Spain and the Netherlands, and to them they
have on several occasions been allowed. Among the documents herewith
communicated will be found, with other charges requiring legislative
interference, an account for traveling expenses, with a statement of the
grounds upon which their reimbursement is claimed. This account has been
suspended by the officer of the Treasury to whom its settlement belongs;
and as the question will be one of frequent recurrence, I have deemed
the occasion a fit one to submit the whole subject to the revision of
Congress. The justice of these charges for extraordinary expenses
unavoidably incurred has been admitted by former Administrations and the
claims allowed. My difficulty grows out of the language of the act of
1810, which expressly declares that the salary and outfit it authorizes
to the minister and chargé d'affaires shall be "a compensation for all
his personal services and expenses." The items which ordinarily form the
contingent expenses of a foreign mission are of a character distinct
from the _personal_ expenses of the minister. The difficulty of
regarding those now referred to in that light is obvious. There are
certainly strong considerations of equity in favor of a remuneration for
them at the two Courts where they are alone incurred, and if such should
be the opinion of Congress it is desirable that authority to make it
should be expressly conferred by law rather than continue to rest upon
doubtful construction.
_V. Charges of consuls for discharging diplomatic functions, without
appointment, during a temporary vacancy in the office of chargé
d'affaires._
It has sometimes happened that consuls of the United States, upon the
occurrence of vacancies at their places of residence in the diplomatic
offices of the United States by the death or retirement of our minister
or chargé d'affaires, have taken under their care the papers of such
missions and usefully discharged diplomatic functions in behalf of their
Government and fellow-citizens till the vacancies were regularly filled.
In some instances this is stated to have been done to the abandonment of
other pursuits and at a considerably increased expense of living. There
are existing claims of this description, which can not be finally
adjusted or allowed without the sanction of Congress. A particular
statement of them accompanies this communication.
The nature of this branch of the public service makes it necessary to
commit portions of the expenses incurred in it to Executive discretion;
but it is desirable that such portions should be as small as possible.
The purity and permanent success of our political institutions depend in
a great measure upon definite appropriations and a rigid adherence to
the enactments of the Legislature disposing of public money. My desire
is to have the subject placed upon a more simple and precise, but not
less liberal, footing than it stands on at present, so far as that may
be found practicable. An opinion that the salaries allowed by law to our
agents abroad are in many cases inadequate is very general, and it is
reasonable to suppose that this impression has not been without its
influence in the construction of the laws by which those salaries are
fixed. There are certainly motives which it is difficult to resist to an
increased expense on the part of some of our functionaries abroad
greatly beyond that which would be required at home.
Should Congress be of opinion that any alteration for the better can be
made, either in the rate of salaries now allowed or in the rank and
gradation of our diplomatic agents, or both, the present would be a fit
occasion for a revision of the whole subject.