Mr. FESSENDEN. I hold in myhand a letter from the SecyState on this subject, which I will read: DiirAizrmisr or Srsrn. WASHINGTON, February 6, 1866 SIR: The great number of claims ofcitizens of the U.S. on forei Governmentsand of the citizens and subjectsof oroi n countries on this government growing out of the late civilWar and the importance of the principles involved in them, make it indispensable in my Judgmentnt. that the head of i this Dept should have the assistanceof a pro fessional gentleman properlyto disposeof those silh jecis. To that end recommend that an appropriation be inserted in the civil and diplomatic appropriation bill of $3.000for the compensationat that rate by the enr of an officerto be called the Solicitor to the dept of State. I have the honor to be, sir. your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWABD. Hon. WiLni/ur P. Firssrnnisiv. Senate. The recommendation of the Secretary, it will he observed, is that it be inserted in the civil and diplomatic appropriation bill. There is no such appropriation bill at present. There is the legislative, executive, and judicial bill, and the diplomatic and consular bill. In former times, there was but one bill entitled as the Secretary has stated. I differ with the honorable Senfrom Illinois on this subject. I do not see the propriety of making so large an establishment of the AttyGens office. With regard to the Treasury Dept, my experience satisfied me that they could not get along there at all without a Solicitor. Questions are arising every day upon which you must have an immediate decision, and the officer to examine the papers and give the decisions should be an officer who is subject to the control and under the direction of the SecyTreasury. He cannot send questions that arise there, involving the examination of papers to see what the statutes are on the articular subject, to the AttyGens O 0e and wait until the AttyGen, or some body under his direction, is in a condition to advise him with reference to it. The office of Solicitor of the Treasury Dept has ox isted now for over 20 years, and the business of the Solicitor is now very large. It is true it may originally have been the case that he was apointed merely to look after claims, although ipam inclinedto think that is not so; it has not been so within my recollection; but the business he has to do now is multiform. There is a great variety of questions arising every day for the Secretary to decide, upon which he wants to know what the law is, and know it immediately, and it is impossible for him to examine them, and he sends them to the Solicitor to have an immediate opinion. The Solicitor lays aside other business which can be disposed of afterward, and attends to the directions of the SecyTreasury. I am satisfied that that officer is indisensable. I can understand from the letter of e SecyState why at the present time he needs this Officer, and avhy he has not needed him be fore. During the war, claims were not presented to any considerable extenttothat Dept; before the war there were none; but he says very properly, and we can understand it, that out of the war have grown many claims of foreigners upon our Goverment, and of our citizens upon foreign Governments. Those must be undoubtedly attended to through communications madeby the SecyState. He r is the person to communicate with foreign governments upon all these subjects; and withthe varietyof matters arising there it is impossible for him to examiae these questions personally. I have no doubt about it. The duties which he is callediupon to perform in the ordinary course of correspondence, &c., are enough to occupy all his time. dit unfinw, then, there being this la e number of this there at the present time, e must have.anopinion, upon those claims, of somebody else, which he can understand and appreciate or else he must examine them himself an form his own opinion. He cannot examine them himself. They are peculiar to and appropriate to his office and he would be exposed to a great deal of inconvenience if he were obliged to send every claim that comes from foreign Governments or from foreigners, or from our citizens upon foreign Goverifments, to the AttyGens O cc, to an officer not under his control or direction, to be examined, and a report made by the AttyGen; and as teanswer must be made by the AttyGen himself, it would lay alter, considerably increased burden upon him. To l he sure, as the Senfrom Illinois says, you may make the AttyGens office as large as he states it, with half a dozen Asst Attorneys General, and they may be divided, one for the Treasury Dept, one for the State Dept, and one for every other Dept, if needed. How far they will be needed for other Depts I do not know but my own belief is that the same rule would apply to the State Dept, with reference to these classes of claims, that aplies to the Treasury Dept. I am satised that no SecyTreasury, with the business that is to be done there, the great variety of cases that arise in regard to which he must have the statutes examined, and have an opinion upon which he can act, which he cannot do himself, could get along if he was obliged to send all that current business out of his office to get an opinion of somebody else, at his own convenience, and subject to the interruptions of others. He must have it at the instant; and, to a certain extent, the same must be true of the SecyState as regards all these questions directly before him. e Officer to look u the information to be stated to him shoul, in my ndgment, be an officer under his control and direction, and should do what he wants done at the time he wants it done, and he ought not to be subjected to another Dept to get the information retinired. That is my belief with regard to it; an 1 shall be opposed altogether to changing our system, which has worked exceedingly well in the Treasury Dept, if it is proposed to make a new arrangement of the law, as suggested by the honorable Senfrom Illinois. So in the War Dept. During the war the SecyWar could hardly have got along if he had been obliged to send all these questions out of his Dept to the Attor ney General everything that arose there to be taken up and decided and receive the information required when the business of the AttyGens office would allow it to be done. I am very unwilling, when a system has been found to be a good one in its operations. for the sake of symmetry merely, or what would be supposed to be symmetry because it goes no further than that to change that whole system and enlarge the AttyGens office. I think that each Dept should be independent, so far as the current business is concerned. To be sure. every Secretary is entitled to the opinion of the AttyGen. My practice was, when an important matter arose upon which I wished very particular to rid myselfof responsibility, to pass it over to some body else, to get the opinion of the AttyGen; but, as a general rule, I think it would be better that the ordinary current business and responsibility should be left with thb Dept where the question arises. I therefore, for these reasons, am opposed to the proposition of the honorable Senfrom Illinois, and think it would not be wise to adopt it.