Mr. FESSENDEN. That seems to be the idea of the Senator's speeches at any rate. If he does not think so, he does not talk as he thinks. The obvious inference from my friend's style of argument is, that where he is clear, everybody else ought to b;e and if everybody else is not, it is osome defect in every body else and not in Now, him sir, the facts stated by my honorable friendfrom NewHampshire are incontrovert ible. There are 1000s of officers in this country who from the foundation of the government and under the operation of existing laws have been appointed by the heads of depts without being confirmed by the nate, and they have been increasing; and it is so from the necessity of the case, and no particular evil has been found to follow from it. These persons are employees, if you please to call them so, in the different Depts of the Government that have been specified by my honorable friendfrom NewHampshire. Take the city of NewYork; there are connected with the NewYork customhouse a very large number of inspectors, a very large number of weighers and gaugers, and other officers, appointed by the SecyTreasury generally on the nomination of the collector himself who is at the head of the office. The law so provides, and has provided for it from the beginning of our customhouse system. It results from the necessity of the case. The head of the office is the best judge as to who are the men who may properly E. employed to discharge these various duties j' consequently the nomination has been left to him, and the appointment is made by the head of the Dept here confirming that nomination, he being responsible for the execution of the laws in his Dept for the collection of duties and for the proper conduct of the Dept itself. Sir, contemplate what a state of things would be produced if you brought the nominations of all these mine r customhouse officers who receive over $1,000 a year (and there are very few of them now who do not receive that) to the President, to be sent by him to the Senate for confirmation. It would introduce at the White House “confusion worse confounded, ” infinitely beyond anything that we see there Ine w. would not be able to judge of the qualifications of all these various persons. It would bring all these offices into party polities in the most objectionable manner. Every m. holding an office or desiring one would be besetting those supposed to have influence; and if I should continue to be a member of Congress I should not want the additional curse (for it is bad enough now) of having these mine r officers all coming tos me with their letters and petitions and grumbling and growling and swearing if they could not have their own way. I prefer to leave the matter to the officer who is at the head of the proper Dept and who is properly responsible. Again, there must be a proper responsi bility about this. No man can take a dept like the NewYork customhouse or Bos ton customhouse and carry it on if eve subordinate under him who receives $1, a year is at liberty to run to the President with reference to his appointment, and from the President to the Senate. It cannot be done. Then look at your internalrevenue officers. There are few of those officers, none but the absolute heads of the various offices, the assessors and collectors, whose nominations are submitted to the Senate. The mine r officers, asst assessors, &c., generally receive more than $1,000 a year. If all these officers are to be sent here for confirmation it will create additional confusion. I give these as instances; there are undoubt edly others which I cannot think of, and which my friend has not thought of; and here it is proposed at one dash to overturn this whole system, because the President, in an unlucky moment, said, or is said to have said, (and I suppose he did say it,) that he would kick certain men out of office. I am not disposed to overturn a system which has recommended itself to the experience of the Government, recommended itself to the most approved mode of doing the business of the country for years, with which no fault whatever has been found in its practical operation, simply because at this time we are in this “muss” with regard to appointments. The danger is always in such cases that we shall go too far, and that in trying to do good we shall do infinite harm; and that, I think, would be the result if we should adopt the system which my friendfrom Massachusetts recommends. Allow me to say to him in all kindness and in all respect that I do not think he has considered. matter, because he has not been aware of the facts upon which the present state of the law is founded; and I believe if you were to put him upon a committee to in vestigate it, and he should get at the facts as they really stand, and examine the system as it has operated with reference to the collection of our revenues, he himself would be the 1st man to say that he had come to a mistaken opinion with reference to the subject.