built for its accommodation; a railroad station is to be established at the place, and thus value is at once added to the taxable property of the county, population to the country, income to the Government, and capital brought into the country to carry on the business. It can no longer be claimed that we are not old enough, that we cannot supply ourselves. We have, on the other hand, the elements of success in every branch of industry. With the proper tariff encouragement, such establishments as those I have referred to will extend all over the country, and into every branch of manufacturing industry. No part of the nation will be the special receptacle of the increased wealth which will flow in upon us. Such settlements will be made in the great West to meet its wants, and in the South to rebuild its waste places. The capital, the energy, the experience, and the really valuable industry of the Old World will be transplanted here; the capital for more rapid increase; the energy to seek out new enterprises upon which to expend itself; experience to turn itself to account; and an industrious population to receive a better return for its labor. One of the reasons why the capitalists and manufacturers of Europe favored the breaking up of this nation and sympathized with the free traders and secessionists was that they saw we were finding out that protection was necessary to the development of our internal resources, and such development would soon bring a young but active competition against them into the markets of the world. Now, seeing that the efforts to break up the Government is a failure they are turning their eyes to this country as a magnificent field for their own means, industry, and enterprise. Let them come; there is room enough for all of them. We are rich in mineral resources. Protect the industry that would develop them, and we shall soon be strong enough to cope with the poorest paid labor in the world, on account of our improved processes and perfected machinery. All the metals and minerals are produced here in abundance except tin and nickel. But without a proper modification and increase of the tariff we shall have prostration, "hard times," no internal revenue to the Government, and most discouraging prospects for new enterprises as well as established trades. With a proper tariff comes activity in all branches; new enterprises go forward, followed by a development of all our great resources, prosperity everywhere, and an abundance to be taxed, with willingness to pay. National prosperity greater than before known will succeed our present prostration; national strength will rise and show itself in what is now a national weakness-the union of capital and labor. Do not be afraid to tax a manufactured article because you may not be aware that it is made here in sufficient quantity to supply the market. Put on the tariff, and the foreign maker will come with all his capital, his implements, and his labor to manufacture here. A few weeks since the celebrated political economist, John Stuart Mill, in a speech in the British House of Commons, asserted that within the next hundred years England will cease to be the manufactory of the world. Her coal and iron have heretofore given her great advantages. But her coal is being mined with more and more difficulty, cost, and risk of human life. Some of the mines have reached a depth of three thousand feet, rendering ventilation difficult. The London Times, in a recent editorial, strongly urges economy in the se of fuel, thus indorsing the statement of Mr. Mill. The time will come when the vast manufactures which now give England her supremacy in the world will be transferred to the coal and iron fields of Pennsylvania and the West and Southwest. Shall we encourage our people to make an early advance toward the position nature has intended we shall occupy in the future, or shall we let slip the golden opportunity to seize hold of which, at the proper moment, is the sure guerdon of success in the case of nations as well as men? But not only have Mr. Mill and the London Times warned the British people of the danger which threatens her manufacturing and commercial supremacy on account of the prospective failure of her supply of coal, but I observe in the papers of to-day that Mr. Gladstone, Chancellor of the English Exchequer, in his speech on the budget delivered in the British Parliament on the 3d instant, reiterates the same views, and points to the United States as a country rich in mineral resources and possessing boundless coal deposits. He asserts that we fulfill all the conditions in the future, the limitation or absence of which in England it is to be feared will one day compel labor and movable capital to emigrate to the United States. This remarkable admission of one of the ablest of living statesmen should be accepted as pointing out the future destiny of the United States as a great manufacturing country. I regret also to state that the effects of the heavy internal taxation are already operating to the benefit of foreign manufacturers and increasing their importations in a most alarming manner, as will be seen from the following table of importations at New York since June 1, 1865-66, compared with the importations for the same time in 1864-65: FOREIGN GOODS MARKETED AT NEW YORK. This exhibits a falling off of exports in 1865-66 and an increase of imports, which would indicate that the country is rushing headlong into debt, and at a rate excelling the speed of the most fashionable of modern spendthrifts. The ready sale of our bonds in Europe accelerates the pace at which we are involving ourselves, publicly and privately, with foreign manufacturers and capitalists. The lowering of the price of gold also tends to encourage that overimportation which its former high price repressed. This renders an increase of import duties absolutely imperative. New goods from abroad are sold at a great advance for currency, while our gold-bearing bonds are made the medium of remittance. These bonds will always hereafter be a medium of foreign investment as long as they are made to bear six per cent. interest in specie. Now, however, on account of the difference in exchange, they are obtained at a rate that readily yields nine and ten per cent. The Comptroller of the Currency, in his Report for 1865, page 7, estimates the amount of our securities sent abroad in five years at $713,000,000, and says: Our only resource to pay the balance against us has been, and still is, the sale of our securities abroad." But if we add to this amount of our securities sent abroad as above stated by the Comptroller, the amount sent abroad in previous periods, estimated at at least $500,000,000, we have a debt owed by us in Europe amounting to $1,213,000,000. At the rate at which our imports are now going on, say nearly $350,000,000 yearly, an immense sum will be required to pay the balance of trade against us, swelled as it will be with the interest on our securities, which is payable in specie. Whereas, in order to keep the balance of trade in our favor, we ought to sell at least $100,000,000 worth yearly more than we buy, we are on the other hand buying more than that amount yearly than we sell. Now, it is as easy to see that such a state of things can no more last than to expect that a man will live if a physician takes more blood daily from him than his system will make in the ordinary process of digestion and manufacture of the chyle into venous and arterial circulation. Our duties on imports should also be specific rather than ad valorem, as is the case to a great extent in Great Britain, Belgium, and other European countries. This would prevent the immense frauds on the revenue, now of daily occurrence, and which are winked at by custom-house officials. Belgium, a rich and prosperous country, has three hundred and thirty specific to sixtysix ad valorem duties; while the United States has two thousand four hundred and thirty-nine ad valorem to four hundred and seventy-nine specific duties. The ad valorem duties collected in England from 1845 to 1852, were one and a quarter per cent. of the whole amount, while our customs are some forty per cent, ad valorem, offering a premium on fraud such as is held out nowhere else in the world. I have seen it stated in the public journals that the frauds in the New York custom-house range from twelve to twenty-five million dollars yearly. Our Mr. Speaker, I have the honor to represent, in part, a State which for its territorial extent is not excelled by any other in the Union as a manufacturing State. And I refer with especial pride, in this regard, to the district represented by my distinguished friend and colleague, [Mr. WRIGHT,] which is only second in the Union in the amount of revenue it returns for the support of the General Government. The amount of tax returned in that district last year was $2,629,033 82; in the fourth district of New York, $4,457,835; and in the first district of Pennsylvania, $2,377,938 82. constituents have consequently a deep interest in the question now before us. But New Jersey is also great in agricultural as well as manufacturing resources. It is located between the great cities of the Atlantic seaboard; traversed with railroads; of varied and productive soil and unlimited natural resources for improvement. It is destined to be the garden of the vast populations of those cities. In its agricultural products it stands at the present time first in the list of States in proportion to the extent of its territory; in the value of its lands, according to the last census report, the first, notwithstanding its hundreds of thousands of acres of salt marsh and unproductive forests. The products of the State will be immeasurably increased when her present system of internal improvements shall give way to the more beneficent system of general legislation, an event I trust destined soon to be consummated. My constituents are chiefly an agricultural people; as intelligent, prosperous, and honorable a constituency as ever intrusted a Representative with their interests on this floor. While they cultivate the soil they encourage and engage manufactures; they foster colleges, seminaries, high, normal, and model schools, seats of science and learning. They contribute their full proportion to the support, advancement, and elevation of mankind; and I will say for the benefit of those who delight in deriding New Jersey, that my congressional district is equaled by no other agricultural district in this broad land in the amount and value of its agricultural productions, or in the value of the land composing it for agricultural purposes, in its natural advantages for improvement, or in its proximity to market. Extending, diagonally, nearly from New York to Philadelphia, it is bounded on the one side by an hundred miles of a sea-board, with its immeasurable advantages for summer resort and abundant natural productions; and on the other by a broad river which bears its products to the sea. It is a district of revolutionary renown, around which cluster many in glorious memories of that patriot age. There the Father of his Country sustained his great est trials, there it was that he achieved his greatest triumphs, on the memorable fields of Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth; and there, too, repose the hallowed remains of men who sealed their devotion to liberty and right with their blood. It is a grand and noble district. I ask no greater honor than to be its Representative, and my only ambition is to faithfully represent it in all its varied interests. But great as New Jersey is in proportion to her territory as an agricultural, she is destined to be yet greater as a manufacturing State. The revenue paid on manufactures and productions by New Jersey for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1865, was exceeded only by that of New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Illinois; and if we except distilled spirits, by the first four only of those States. In proportion to population New Jersey paid on manufactures a larger tax than either, except Massachusetts, the tax per capita being as follows: Massachusetts, $12 64; New Jersey, $6 59; New York, $6 14; Pennsylvania, $5 81; Ohio, $3 81; Illinois, $2 92. But the following table will more fully illus trate the value and importance of New Jersey as a manufacturing State. It is a comparative statement showing the district that returned the largest revenue, and its amount, on several articles of manufacture in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, also the whole collections on the articles and the tax per capita on each of those States, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1865, prepared by my friend, Mr. Whitman, the admirable Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue, to whom I am indebted for other statistical matter: The tax per capita is computed on the basis of the population of the eighth census, which for the above States was as follows: New York, 3,880,735; New Jersey, 672,035: Pennsylvania, 2,906,215. Some of the reasons which constitute New Jersey so important a manufacturing State are to be found in the fact of its proximity to large cities where supplies for materials are abundant and good markets for sales of easy access. Then its railroad, canal, and river communications are unexcelled. Its water power is magnificent. It is also in near proximity to coal mines. Within its borders living s cheap, taxes are low, the health of its peopie unsurpassed. As I have shown, it already ranks high as a manufacturing State. It has long been noted for its large production of glass, and for its iron of a very flexible, ductile, and tensile quality, which are produced in the first and second districts; for its steel of the finest manufacture; for its zinc, including paint from that article, which has become admired the world over; for its enameled leather, and for many other articles which enter largely into the industry of the country. Of late, new branches of industry have sprung up in the State; chief among which is a manufactory of white-ware at Trenton, with a capital of $1,000,000, and which employs over one thousand persons, although in operation but a few years. If this branch of industry is but appropriately encouraged by protection, that part of the State will indeed become the Staffordshire of America. This great interest, I regret to say, now languishes for want of protection; and I respectfully call the attention of the Committee of Ways and Means especially thereto. In connection therewith I beg the Clerk will read the following letter from the secretary of the company. I do so because this branch of manufacture is a new one in the country. Immense quantities of crockery are now imported. It is a bulky and expensive article to transport, while it requires an unusually large proportion of manual labor in its production, thus giving employment to a large population. The Clerk read as follows.: TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, February 21, 1866. MY DEAR SIR: I received yesterday a note from F. Kingman, Esq., with your request for some statistics relating to the manufacture of erockery. You desire further that they shall bein the form in which we wish them to appear before Congress. This it is perhaps rather difficult to comply with, inasmuch as we have not digested any particular "form" of pretroublesome to put into a few brief sentences all we sentation for our statements. Indeed it might be think necessary to say in our own behalf. I will, however, state our case in as concise and workable shape as may be, at the same time thanking you for your kind expression of a wish to aid us in this matter. It will be needful, in the course of this, to repeat portions of my letter of January 17. And first the following statement of relative values of potters' materials in England and America, gold taken at a par valuation: Kaolin, or China clay, ton of 2,000 pounds worth in Trenton $23; in Stafforshire $10. Ground flint, same weight, worth in Trenton $19: in Staffordshire $9. Ground feldspar, same weight, worth in Trenton $20: in Staffordshire $12. Coal, ton of 2,240 pounds, worth in Trenton $5; in Staffordshire $2. Labor is paid at rates at least one hundred per cent. higher than those of the English manufacturers. There are, in addition to above, other minor articles, chemicals, &c.. which will range at about same ratio of difference. This statement was made up from the best infor mation we have upon the subject; the English values being supplied by reliable persons lately connected with the potting" interest in Staffordshire, while the American rates are those actually paid by us when gold was at par. The most important items by far of this statement are "coal" and "labor." Indeed all other items of the cost of production of our wares are of compara tively minor importance. It is closely estimated that seventy-five per cent. of the producing cost is ab sorbed by these two heavy items of expense. Our processes of manufacture are accomplished almost entirely by manual labor; and heat must be used without stint. Perhaps no machine will ever be made to manipulate clay like the human hand, although it is probable that invention may smooth this rugged way somewhat. But the inventive genius native to our soil has not found time during the turmoil of war for this new charge so lately transplanted from a land where labor-saving and fuel-saving machinery would not seem worthy of consideration, because of the plentiful supply of workmen, and the coal at their doors. Laborand coal, then, are the main points in which we must compete with England. That labor is more easily and cheaply obtained there than here does not require proof. We have said in the statement above that we pay not less than one hundred per cent. advance on a gold basis upon English rates of labor. This we believe to be a low estimate. Much of our ware is made by piece," and we know of many articles for which we paid in gold times three times as much as the English manufacturer. Taking the coal used by the latter of all kinds, and two dollars per ton will be found a high estimate, while we now pay (in currency) eight and one half dollars, and have paid within two years over thirteen dollars. Observe the quantity of coal used by any pottery, and you will be struck by this statement of difference in favor of the Englishman. And now the argument for a protective system may be fairly and rightly strengthened by the following brief narration of the rise and progress of this manufacturing interest in our city during the last few years. Before the rebellion a few small potteries were here, struggling hard to maintain a somewhat precarious existence. The skilled laborers who were here, Englishmen, asked and obtained their own prices. The duty at that time was thirty-five per cent, ad valorem. With the war came the advance on gold. However much we may deplore the inflation produced by a depreciated currency, certain it is that the high price of gold was, in the absence of more tariff, a benefit and protection to us. At once others saw this evident fact, and soon new firms began to appear: intelligent, practical workmen, uniting with capitalists to build new potteries, and to take advantage of the temporary protection" of the times. More hands were brought over from England, boys were apprenticed to learn the various trades, and from a nucleus of four factories we now have altogether twelve larger ones, employing about one thousand hands and representing nearly one million dollars of invested capital. This sum inay appear small when compared with the capital in many other kinds of manufacture, but any potter knows that $1,000,000 worth of crockery, or rather the crockery produced by working $1,000,000, would make a small mountain if it could be piled together. Potting is a very bulky business, requiring a great deal of room and much labor for a comparatively small money value. The Staffordshire potteries cover a large district of country. It is usually a non-speculative trade, prices keeping generally steady in common times. The inen engaged in it, both manufacturers and dealers, are honest, non-speculative men, who do not often fail and cheat their creditors. It seems clear, then, from the fact that this business has so greatly increased during the war, that what it wants (and we think what it ought to have, for the benefit of the governmental revenue) is protection." That this need not mean prohibitionis plain from the fact that foreign goods were largely imported and sold when we had the protection of from two hundred to two hundred and eighty per cent, premium on gold. People will have their plates and cups and saucers, and they ought to be able to enjoy their daily bread without the aid of John Bull. The Government cannot lose by adding this privilege to the birthright of an American citizen; in this case "without distinction of color" we suppose it will have to be. We have had but five per cent. additional duty put upon foreign goods during the war, and if Congress desires to foster and assist the introduction of new branches of art into the country, they should not be unwilling to protect us when circumstances will no longer do so."Gold is much lower now," it may be said, and yet you flourish." True, but we are only sustained for a short time by the pressing needs of those now in process of "reconstruction," assisted by the anger of Neptune and Eolus, who have wrecked or damaged a great deal of crockery lately. It is almost certain that in the coming summer Britannia will have it all her own way, and that we shall be "fallen among the pots." To know what kind of ware is made here, be particular to notice that our goods come under the second clause of paragraph four, section nine, of the tariff act of July 1, 1864, beginning, "on all other carthen, stone, or crockery ware, forty per cent." Were this made sixty per cent., it would not in the least diminish the revenue by keeping out any foreign earthenware, merely because of the increased duty, but we should feel that the manufacture of crockery was on a pretty sure footing in this country; and there is every reason to believe that it would continue to increase rapidly, paying large excise taxes into the national Treasury. If any change were made in this section of the tariff, it would be necessary, also, to change the duties upon china, white and decorated; these, however, would seem nearer to the class of luxuries than the other, and there would not be the same hesitancy felt to put duty upon them. All kinds of ware, china as well as common, should be made in the United States, and will be, if Congress will help us. Trenton is not the only point, although it is the principal one, at which crockery is manufactured. The best American ware is made here, but all parts of the country are more or less interested with us in the success of this business, for every State has some pottery interest. I remain, sir, very respectfully, yours, JAMES P. STEPHENS, Secretary Manufacturing Potters. Hon. WILLIAM A. NEWELL, Washington, D. C. Mr. NEWELL. On the subject of window and hollow glass, a most important branch of industry, I have also before me the following interesting letter from a well known and honored constituent. Indeed, all the information I have from all parties engaged in manufacturing industry is to the effect that further protection is absolutely necessary, for the reasons I have given in the former portion of my remarks: BALSTO, April 22, 1866. DEAR SIR: Unacquainted with any other member of the New Jersey delegation in Congress, I venture to address you upon a subject of great interest to all engaged in the manufacture of window glass. Acommittee was appointed at a meeting of glass makers to represent their grievances and the state of their business to the commission raised to revise the United States excise and revenue laws, and I have no doubt of the faithful performance of their duty: but as yet I have seen no indication of relief from Congress in our branch of business. We report monthly under oath the gross amount of our sales, and after making such deductions as are allowed by law, pay six per cent. on those sales. This, during the war, was done 39TH CONG. 1ST SESS.-No. 170, with great cheerfulness, inasmuch as every reputable Now, there are two large paper mills in this vicin- With the hope that you will also concur and be able to afford relief to our depressed trade in the rearrangement of the tariff and excise laws, and with an apology for my importunity, I am respectfully yours, Hon. WILLIAM A. NEWELL. T. H. RICHARDS. I am happy to know that the Committee of Ways and Means have greatly relieved this important branch of industry by exempting window glass from excise duty. Another branch of manufacture lately established in my State is that of watches. A large manufactory of that description has lately been organized near Newark. An extensive flax factory has also been established in Paterson, the seat of the largest paper, cotton, silk, thread, and locomotive factories in this country. And lately the most beautiful fabric of silk-velvet and tapestry has been produced in Newark which will compare favorably with the best articles of European manufacture. A branch, also, of Clark's spool cotton manufacturing establishment at Glasgow, which supplies thread for the civilized world, is shortly to be located at the same place, bringing six hundred Scotch female operatives. In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, in view of the the principles and policy which came near An increase in our revenue tariff on impor- The policy of European manufacturers and capitalists, which is based on the principle of cheapening labor, in order to compete with foreign countries, is fraught with revolution and rain to American interests, and even to The very the stability of our institutions. nature of our Government and the social habits and customs of our people demand that the laborer should have such a fair and reasonable share of the profits of industry as will enable him to enjoy, not only the comforts, but even the luxuries of life. Here education is universal. Here one man is as good as every other man. Here the doctrine of human rights, socially, politically, morally, and religiously, has received its widest application. By no-possible means can you unite in America a social aristocracy with our political democracy. I warn gentlemen of the folly of such an attempt. What do these ten-hour and eight-hour movements indicate but a steady determination on the part of the American mechanic to assert the principle that he is not a mere beast of burden; that there are other faculties within him than those that are merely instinctive, as it were, for the preservation and sustentation of life; that the ideal as well as the actual, the artistic as well as the mechanical, the beautiful as well as the useful in him needs to be unfolded and devel oped? The same God who fashioned the dark brown earth created the flower that springs therefrom, "A thing of beauty and a joy forever." The Scripture says that "man shall not live by bread alone." Neither can we brutalize the image and likeness of his Maker by illpaid drudgery and unrequited toil without violating the eternal principles of truth and justice and suffering fearfully therefor. By the late war we vindicated the right of man to his own labor and the enjoyment of the fruits thereof. Having rescued the negro from the bondage of chattelism, let us not permit the white man and the negro together to be crushed under the iron heel of a European civilization, which claims that the only way to build up national industry and prosperity is by reducing the laborer to the lowest minimum of compensation that will support existence. Mr. HUBBARD, of Iowa, obtained the floor, but yielded to Mr. SPALDING, who moved that the House do now adjourn. The motion was agreed to; and accordingly House adjourned. (at four o'clock and five minutes p. m.) the PETITIONS, ETC. The following petitions, &c., were presented under the rule and referred to the appropriate committees: By Mr. CONKLING: The petition of A. P. Seymour, and others, praying a change in the law taxing the circulation of State banks. By Mr. LAFLIN: The remonstrance of citizens of Watertown, Jefferson county, New York, against the passage of the bill to reorganize the Federal judiciary. IN SENATE. MONDAY, May 21, 1866. Prayer by Rev. Dr. FEASTON, of Birmingham, England. The Secretary proceeded to read the Journal of Friday. Mr. WADE. I move that the further reading of the Journal be dispensed with. There is no necessity for reading the action of the Senate on all those pension bills that were passed on Friday. The read The PRESIDENT pro tempore. ing of the Journal can be dispensed with by unanimous consent only. No objection being made, its further reading will be dispensed with. EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION. The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a message from the President of the United States, transmitting a copy of the correspondence between the Secretary of State and Cornelius Vanderbilt, of New York, rela tive to the joint resolution of the 28th of January, 1864, upon the subject of the gift of the steamer Vanderbilt to the United States; which, on motion of Mr. MORGAN, was ordered to lie on the table, and be printed. 1 PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS. Mr. WADE presented a communication addressed to him by the Secretary of War, transmitting information in relation to the petition of Mrs. Sarah A. Brewer, widow of Major General Anson L. Brewer, praying for a pension; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions. Mr. CHANDLER presented a memorial of the Board of Trade of Bay county, Michigan, praying for an appropriation by Congress for the improvement of the harbor at the mouth of Saginaw river; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. PAPERS WITHDRAWN AND REFERRED. On motion of Mr. JOHNSON, it was Ordered, That the petition and other papers in the case of Lydia Cruger, executrix of Moses Shepherd, be taken from the files of the Senate and referred to the Committee on Claims. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. Mr. WILSON, from the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia, to whom was referred a communication from the Secretary of War, covering a letter from General Dyer, chief of Ordnance, in relation to the legislation necessary to fix and establish the position of the Chicago and Rock Island railroad at Rock Island, Illinois, so as to enable the War Department to occupy that island for military purposes, reported a bill (S. No. 330) making further provision for the establishment of an armory and arsenal of construction, deposit, and repair on Rock Island, in the State of Illinois; which was read and passed to a second reading. He also, from the same committee, to whom was referred a bill (H. R. No. 3) to revive the grade of general in the United States Army, reported it with an amendment. Mr. POMEROY, from the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia, to whom was recommitted the bill (S. No. 224) to aid in the construction of a southern branch of the Union Pacific railway, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes, reported it with an amendment. BILL RECOMMITTED. Mr. WADE. I move that the bill (S. No. 289) to provide for the probate of and for the recording of wills of real estate situated in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes, which was reported adversely by the Committee on the District of Columbia, be recommitted to that committee. The motion was agreed to. BILLS INTRODUCED. Mr. RAMSEY asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 331) requiring agents of the Post Office Department to give bond in certain cases; which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads. Mr. NESMITH asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 332) to provide for the construction of a wagon road from White Bluffs, in Washington Territory, to Helena, in Montana Territory; which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia. Mr. POMEROY. I ask leave to introduce a bill of which no previous notice has been given. I do it by request. There being no objection, leave was granted to introduce a bill (S. No. 333) to incorporate the American Cotton Company of the District of Columbia; which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia. ELECTION OF SENATORS. Mr. WILLIAMS submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent and agreed to: Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be instructed to inquire into the expediency and practicability of providing a uniform and effective mode of securing the election of Senators in Congress by the Legislatures of the several States, and that they have leave to report by bill or otherwise, MRS. ABIGAIL RYAN. Mr. WILLEY. On Friday last I entered a motion to reconsider the vote on the passage of the bill (S. No. 328) for the relief of Mrs. Abigail Ryan. I ask leave of the Senate now to withdraw the motion to reconsider that bill, finding that it is all correct. Leave was granted. LEONARD ST. CLAIR. Mr. LANE, of Indiana. On Friday last, by a mistake, House bill No. 371, to grant a pension to Leonard St. Clair, was omitted to be acted upon. I ask that it may now be taken up and passed. It was omitted on Friday by a mere mistake, not being marked on my docket. I move now to take it up. The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (H. R. No. 371) to grant a pension to Leonard St. Clair. The Secretary of the Interior will be directed by the bill to place the name of Leonard St. Clair on the pension-rolls of the United States as a pensioner, at the rate of eight dollars per month. The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed. GOODRICH AND CORNISII, Mr. CONNESS. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of House joint resolution No. 77. The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the joint resolution (H. R. No. 87) for the relief of Ambrose L. Goodrich and Nathan Cornish, for carrying the United States mail from Boise City to Idaho City, in the Territory of Idaho. It proposes to authorize the Postmaster General to audit and settle, as to him may appear just and equitable, the demand of Ambrose L. Goodrich and Nathan Cornish for carrying the United States mail on route No. 16001, from Boise City to Idaho City, in the Territory of Idaho, from the 5th of July, 1864, until the 1st of July, 1865. The Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads reported the joint resolution with an amendment, to insert at the end of it the following: And also to audit and settle, in like manner, the demand of Daniel Wellington and J. C. Dorsey, for extra services in carrying the United States mails on route No. 14602, between Carson City and Aurora, in the State of Nevada, from July 1, 1862, to June 30, 1865. Mr. CONNESS. There is a report accompanying the joint resolution from the House of Representatives. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Does the Senator ask for the reading of the report? Mr. CONNESS. Perhaps it is best that the Senate should hear it. It is a very short report. However, if there is no demand for its reading, I shall not insist upon it. Mr. CLARK. I wish to have it read. The Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, to whom was referred the joint resolution for the relief of Messrs. Goodrich & Cornish, report as follows: That during the fiscal year 1864-65, Messrs. Goodrich & Cornish, at the general request of the citizens of Idaho, carried the United States mails between Boise City and Idaho City three times a week, as appears from the testimony of the postmasters at the places named, and that they have received no compensation for said service; that in consequence of the discovery of new and attractive mines in that Territory a large mining population had emigrated there, who were entitled to mail facilities, for which no provision had been made by the Government. Therefore the committee recommend that the Postmaster General be authorized to audit and settle the claim of Messrs. Goodrich & Cornish as to him may seem just and equitable. Mr. CLARK. I am a little sorry that the committee have not reported something further in regard to the facts in this case. Mr. CONNESS. There are other papers and letters from the Post Office Department on the subject. Mr. CLARK. I should like to have some information as to the services rendered, and what may be the amount required under the joint resolution. Mr. CONNESS. If the letters from the Second Assistant Postmaster General accom panying the resolution are read they will give that information. Mr. CLARK. I do not know, of course, what papers precisely the Senator refers to; but perhaps it would be as well if the Senator could give us the information himself. Mr. CONNESS. I cannot at this moment without examining these letters. Mr. CLARK. Would it not be better to let it lie over until some examination can be had? Mr. CONNESS. I have no objection to letting the joint resolution lie over until the Senator can examine it. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The joint resolution before the Senate will be laid aside by common consent. Mr. CONNESS subsequently said: I ask the Senate now to resume the consideration of House joint resolution No. 77, as I understand there is no objection to it. There being no objection, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, resumed the consideration of the joint resolution, the question being upon the amendment reported by the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads to add to it the following words: And also to audit and settle, in like manner, the demand of Daniel Wellington and J. C. Dorsey, for extra services in carrying the United States mails on route No. 14602, between the towns of Carson City and Aurora, in the State of Nevada, from July 1, 1862, to June 30, 1865. Mr. HENDRICKS. I would inquire how much is the amount of this claim. Mr. CONNESS. I will say to the Senator that after this amendment is adopted, I propose to limit the claim in both cases. Mr. HENDRICKS. I ask the Senator if the two cases stand on the same ground. Mr. CONNESS. I will say that the last claim has already been passed upon by the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads of this body, and the Senate has passed a bill for the relief of the parties, which is now lying in the House of Representatives. We propose to add it to this resolution and put both in one measure. I propose, however, to limit both. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. CONNESS. I now move to amend the resolution by inserting after "1865" in line ten, the words, "provided the amount to be allowed shall not exceed $8,000." The amendment was agreed to. Mr. CONNESS. I now offer the following amendment, to come in at the end of the res olution as amended: Provided, That the amount to be allowed shall not exceed $20,000. I will say that that is the amount provided for in the bill for the relief of Wellington & Dorsey which has already passed the Senate. The amendment was agreed to. The joint resolution was reported to the Senate as amended; the amendments were concurred in. It was ordered that the amend ments be engrossed and the resolution read third time. The resolution was read the third time and passed. Its title was amended by adding the words, "and of Daniel Wellington and J. C. Dorsey for extra services in carrying the mail." SURVEYS OF UPPER MISSISSIPPI. Mr. RAMSEY. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Senate bill No. 139. The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (S. No. 139) to provide for surveys of the upper Mississippi and Minne sota rivers. The bill as introduced by Mr. RAMSEY pro posed to appropriate $20,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the survey, under the direction of the Secretary of War, of the upper Mississippi river from or near the falls of St. Anthony to the upper or Rock Island rapids, with a view to ascertain the most feasible means, by economizing the water of the stream, of insuring the passage at all navi gable seasons of boats drawing four feet of water. The second section proposed to appropriate $5,000 for an examination and survey, under the direction of the Secretary of War, of the Minnesota river from its mouth to the mouth of the Yellow Medicine, in order to ascertain the practicability and expense, by slack-water navigation or otherwise, of securing the continued navigability of that stream during the usual season of navigation. The Committee on Commerce reported the bill with an amendment to strike out the second section. is thus summed up by President Jackson in his message of December, 1830: If the Department to which this survey is proposed to be intrusted will designate competent officers who will be willing to consult practical and intelligent river meu, I have no doubt but that the survey can be completed in a single season, and a feasible plan of improve-bors, and ports of the United States, to render the ment recommended which can be accomplished with little expense. The improvement of this great artery of commerce, Mr. President, is a national work. When completed it will so increase facilities for effecting commercial exchanges, and so reduce the cost of transit of the great staple products of the Northwest to the Atlantic and the Gulf, that no part of the country will lose by the improvement, but all will gain. I therefore ask the indulgence of the Senate while I present a few considerations sufficient, in my opinion, to commend the improvement of the upper Mississippi river to the favorable consideration of Congress and of the country. In doing this I propose to enter into no discussion of the constitutional authority of the Government to make the improvement. I assume that the possession of this authority, in the broadest amplitude, has been most emphatically settled by a series of acts which have Mr. RAMSEY. Mr. President, the bill before us provides for an examination and survey of the Minnesota and the upper Mississippi rivers in order to ascertain the character of the obstructions to their navigation, and the means adapted and expenses incident to their removal. The examinations are proposed to be made under the direction of the Secretary of War by engineers of the Topographical corps, aided by the practical experience of river experts. They are to be made in accordance with a prudent custom, which requires a particular examination and an estimate before appropriating money for objects of improve-received the sanction of the people of the Uniment. In this way desultory and inordinate expenditures are avoided; useless or frivolous projects are detected; the merits of every proposition are thoroughly investigated, and Congress is enabled to judge of the proportion between the cost of an improvement and its value. During the late war appropriations for the improvement of our great rivers and harbors were in a large measure suspended. That this economy, under the_circumstances, was justifiable and wise few, I presume, will venture to dispute. And in view of the present condition of the Treasury all of us, Mr. Presi dent, will admit the necessity of restricting future expenditures in this direction to the smallest sums commensurate with the importance of the objects sought to be attained. In regard to the improvement of the Minnesota river, for the survey of which the bill, as originally introduced, appropriates $5,000, I will merely remark that if the result of the examination shall indicate that any very considerable sum will be required to render the river navigable at all seasons, except when obstructed with ice, I may not apply to the national Treasury for the money to make the improvement; but as the stream, though perhaps the most important tributary of the upper Mississippi, flows almost entirely within the limits of the State of Minnesota, I may ask Congress to authorize Minnesota to undertake the improvement in such way as she may see fit, either in her State capacity or by appeal to private enterprise. For this reason, Mr. President, I hope that the amendment to the bill which has been reported from the Committee on Commerce may be rejected, and that my honorable friend from Michigan, the chairman of the committee, will not urge its adoption in consideration of the importance of the exami nation, and the very moderate sum appropriated to make it. But, Mr. President, the bill further provides an appropriation of $20,000 for the survey of the upper Mississippi river, from the Rock river rapids to the head of navigation, a distance of some five hundred miles, in order to ascertain some practical mode of making this por tion of the river navigable for boats drawing four feet in those cycles of low water which occur with us at regular intervals, and seem to be governed by certain and well-defined physical laws. I hope that no Senator will be deterred from approving this appropriation by any apprehension that it will initiate a large and uncertain expenditure; for I think that I shall be able to show that the improvement which is desired may be effected at a very moderate cost. What is wanted is a practical, sensible examination or survey-not a refined, scientific investigation of the regimen and hydraulics of the river, which might prove curious rather than useful. ted States, and of every department of the Federal Government; and that in the discussions that have taken place in and out of Congress upon the various provisions of the Constitution under which the exercise of this authority is claimed, and more especially upon the intent and objects of the framers of the Constitution in conferring on Congress the power "to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the States," the argument is exhausted. If the practice of appropriating money from the Treasury of the United States for the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi river and its tributaries is of more recent origin than the practice of appropriating money from the same source to render navigation safe and easy on the Atlantic coast, it is readily answered, that in the earlier days of the Govern ment but a very inconsiderable portion of the population of the United States had passed the Alleghany mountains; that steam had not then conquered a current too rapid for ascending navigation; that by the treaty of San Lorenzo el Real, in 1795, the southern boundary of the United States was fixed at the thirty-first degree of latitude north of the equator, and the western boundary in the middle of the channel or bed of the Mississippi river from the northern boundary of the States to the thirty-first degree of north latitude; that thus the greater part of the valley of the Mississippi belonged to Spain, who claimed the exclusive right to navigate the river south of the thirty-first parallel, and a right in common with us to the residue; and that, although by the treaty of Paris, of the 30th of April, 1803, Napoleon ceded to the United States the colony or province of Louisiana, with the same limits that it had in the hands of Spain, when it was ceded by that Power to France, by the treaty of St. Ildefonso, of the 1st of October, 1800, conflicting claims and pretensions to portions of the Territory were not definitely adjusted until the Adminis tration of Mr. Monroe, when the boundary line between Spain and the United States, west of the Mississippi, was fixed with precision by an article of the same treaty, in virtue of which the Floridas were acquired. Provision for the improvement of the seaboard was made in one of the earliest acts of the first Congress, under the present Constitution of the United States, entitled "An act for the establishment of light-houses, buoys, beacons, and public piers," approved by President Washington on the 7th of August, 1789. Similar laws were enacted on the 22d of July, 1790, on the 3d of March, 1791, on the 2d of March, 1793, on the 2d of March, 1795, on the 30th of May, 1796; and since then, with a few special exceptions, provision for the same purpose has been made in the general appropriation laws. The history of this legislation "The practice of defraying out of the Treasury of the United States the expenses incurred by the establishment and support of light-houses, beacons, buoys, and public piers, within the bays, inlets, and harnavigation thereof safe and easy, is coeval with the adoption of the Constitution, and has been continued without interruption or dispute." That the power under which these expenses have been and are being incurred is as applicable to the Mississippi river as to the Atlantic coast, and is as full and perfect in reference to one as the other, is attested by the general course of legislation upon the subject. The earliest appropriation for the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi river is to be found in an act of Congress, approved 24th May, 1824. Since then Congress has at various times made appropriations for the improvement of the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, and Red rivers, amounting in the aggregate to $3,703,800. The latest legislation in the premises was in 1856, when appropriations were made for continuing the im provement of the Des Moines rapids and for removing obstructions in the mouth of the river, by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, over the vetoes of President Pierce. Even those theorists who have admitted with the greatest reluctance any degree of authority in Congress to make what are commonly called internal improvements, have time and again conceded the constitutionality of such improvements as may follow the examination and sur vey proposed in the bill before us. At a convention assembled in the city of Memphis, on the 12th of November, 1845, Mr. Calhoun, in considering how far the aid of the General Government could be invoked for purposes of internal improvement, said: "As to the improvement of the valley of the Mississippi-what, then, can the General Government do? The invention of Fulton has, if I may be allowed tho expression, turned the Mississippi river and its tributaries into an inland sea, of equal importance in its navigation with the Chesapeake and Delaware bay. It is, therefore, a matter peculiarly within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, and deserving in the highest degree of its police and protection. This is not a matter to be left to individual States. It is one of high national importance. We may safely lay down as a rule, that whatever can be done by individuals they ought to accomplish; whatever is peculiarly within the province of States they should effect; and whatever is essentially within the control of the General Government, it should accomplish. I believe the free and uninterrupted navigation of these inland scas (so to speak) is within the peculiar province of the General Government." Again, the national importance of the improvement of the Mississippi river is discussed with great ability in an elaborate report made to the Senate by Mr. Calhoun on the 26th of June, 1846, from the select committee to whom the resolutions and memorial of the Memphis convention were referred. Though we may reject many of the conclusions of this report, and deem many of the distinctions taken to be unsound and delusive, we will not dissent from the unanimous opinion of the committee that Congress has the power, under the Constitution, to improve the navigation of the Mississippi river; and that it is clearly embraced in the power to regulate commerce among the States. Now, Mr. President, having regard to relative population; to the respective amount and value of commerce, tonnage, and navigation; or to the general proposition that the internal trade of all nations greatly exceeds their external, I hold it to be undeniable that the appropriations heretofore made for the improvement of the Mississippi and its waters have not been in a just and fair proportion to those for improvements on the Atlantic coast. Without going into any minute calculation, it may be safely asserted that the expenditures for the one have very many times exceeded those for the other. To these expenditures upon our eastern frontier I certainly interpose no objection. On the contrary, I approve of them all, believing the objects to be general, not local; national, not sectional. I advocate no narrow, contracted, or selfish system of legislation; but I do claim that while vast sums have been appropriated |