man goes to a merchant and buys material for a dress, under the construction by the Internal Revenue Bureau of the law as it now exists, if he carries it to a dress-maker and has it made up, the dress-maker has not only to pay a tax on the work but upon the estimated value of the goods. This is to remedy that difficulty. Mr. DAVIS. Suppose the dress-maker is herself the vender of the goods? Mr. MORRILL. The tax is applied to the whole value of the goods, which we thought to be wrong; Mr. DAVIS. I withdraw the amendment. Mr. HALE. I move to amend by striking out the last word for the purpose of inquiring of the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. MORRILL] what is the correct understanding of this paragraph. As I read it now, it provides that if a tailor or maker of gloves, &c., manufactures work to order, and not for general sale, to the amount of $1,000 for the labor, exclusive of the material, he pays no tax. But if he manufactures any amount in excess of $1,000, exclusive of the material, he is then taxed, not only on the amount of his labor, the $1,000 as well as the surplus, but also on the material which he has made up. I can read the paragraph in no other way. I will ask the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means if that is the correct construction of this paragraph, and if it is, is it just? Mr. ALLISON. I will say in reply to the gentleman from New York [Mr. HALE] that my colleague [Mr. WILSON] proposed an amendment to a former part of this bill, relating to section ninety-three of the present revenue law, which was adopted, by which all manufacturers are exempt from taxation to the amount of $1,000, and are taxed only upon the excess above $1,000 and to $3,000, and above $3,000 they are taxed on the whole amount; so that if a manufacturer manufactures only $3,000 worth, he is taxed only upon the excess over $1,000. And I see no reason why that provision does not apply to this paragraph as well as to all other paragraphs relating to manufactures. And I see no reason why large manufacturers who manufacture over $3,000, perhaps $100,000 or $1,000,000, should not pay the tax upon the first $1,000 as well as upon the rest. Mr. MORRILL. I think there may be some difficulty in the law as it stands; but if the amendment of the gentleman from Iowa shall be adopted I will ask the committee or the House to go back to this section to make it conform to that amendment. Mr. HALE. With that understanding, I withdraw my amendment. Mr. STEVENS. I am not satisfied with this paragraph as it stands. I move to amend by inserting after the word "tax," in line twentyone hundred and thirty, the words "and then only on the excess over $1,000." The amendment was not agreed to. The Clerk began to read the next paragraph, beginning with line twenty-one hundred and thirty-three, when Mr. MORRILL moved that the committee rise. The motion was agreed to. So the committee rose; and the Speaker having resumed the chair, Mr. DAWES reported that the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union had had under consideration the Union generally, and particularly the special order, being bill of the House No. 513, to amend an act entitled "An act to provide internal revenue to support the Government, to pay interest on the public debt, and for other purposes," approved June 30, 1864, and acts amendatory thereof, and had come to no resolution thereon. BUSINESS OF EVENING SESSIONS. Mr. MORRILL. suppose that it is the understanding of the House that the evening sessions to be held to-morrow evening and on subsequent evenings shall be devoted exclusively to the consideration of the tax bill. If that is not the understanding, I shall move to suspend the rules that such an order may be made. The SPEAKER. Is there any objection to the understanding that the evening sessions shall be devoted exclusively to the consideration of the tax bill? There was no objection. PAY DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY. Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts. I move that the House proceed to the consideration of business on the Speaker's table. The motion was agreed to. The first business on the Speaker's table was Senate amendments to joint resolution (H. R. No. 130) to carry into immediate effect the act to provide for the better organization of the pay department of the Navy. The amendments of the Senate were read, as follows: First amendment: Add the following as a new section: SEC. 2. And be it further enacted. That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized to retain or to appoint under existing laws and regulations such volunteer officers in the Navy as the exigencies of the service may require until their places can be supplied by graduates from the Naval Academy. The amendment was concurred in. Second amendment: Add the following as a new section: SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That naval constructers shall hereafter be held to be staff officers in the Navy and entitled to all the rights and privileges and subject to all the liabilities and duties of such. The amendment was concurred in. Mr. SCHENCK. I move to reconsider the vote by which the first amendment of the Senate to this bill was concurred in. I desire some explanation of that amendment, for it seems to me a most singular provision. It proposes that certain volunteer officers may be retained or appointed to hold their positions until others shall be educated at the Naval Academy, who are then to step in and take their places. Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts. The gentleman from Ohio will not, I think, object to the amendment when he understands it. Mr. SCHENCK. I shall be glad to hear it explained. it. Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts. I will explain The fact is that the number of officers in the regular Navy is insufficient at present for the demands of the service. This amendment proposes simply that the Secretary of the Navy shall have authority to continue such volunteer officers in the naval service as the emergencies of the service may require until regular officers can be instructed by graduation from the Naval Academy. If all the volunteer officers were discharged to-day it would be impossible to carry on the naval service, there not being regular officers enough for that purpose. This provision is simply for the purpose of continuing temporarily these volunteer appointments. Mr. SCHENCK. Then, if I understand the provision, it is this: that these volunteer officers-acting officers as they are called in the Navy-may, if they will accept such a tenure of office, be continued indefinitely by the Secretary of the Navy, to be turned adrift so soon as he shall have educated at the Naval Academy others to take their places. That has Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts. always been the tenure of office of these men. Mr. SCHENCK. No, sir; not during the war. Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts. The gentleman from Ohio will recollect that a bill has already passed the House authorizing the transfer of a certain number of volunteer officers to the regular Navy. Those are to be transferred absolutely. It is not, however, considered desirable that every place in the Navy shall now be filled by the transfer of volunteer officers; but by the provision of the amendment a further portion of the volunteer officers may be employed in the Navy so long, and only so long, as the exigencies of the service require. Mr. SCHENCK. I understand it is proposed by this amendment to say to the men who have served through the war, "You have helped us fight our battles; we will retain you beyond the time the law now provides, but you must not think that you are to be retained for any considerable length of time, or longer than one, two, three, four, or five years, until there shall have entered a sufficient number on the royal road to take your places, for then you shall be turned adrift. It will be too much for you to expect that you should be retained in the service any longer than till such time as we can raise a number of midshipmen at Annapolis to take your places." That is really the proposition as I understand it. Now, sir, think, at the close of the war, we ought to have a sufficient number of officers, either in the Army or Navy, who are qualified to fill the vacancies existing. But as to this mockery of taking a number of these officers with the understanding that they are to go with the Navy after having gone through the war, but are to be turned out whenever a new group can be raised at Annapolis, I protest against it. Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts. I entirely agree with the gentleman. I have myself reported a bill from the Naval Committee authorizing the transfer of one hundred and fifty volunteer officers from the volunteer to the regular service in order to make up with the graduates of the Naval Academy the number of officers of the Navy which the law now requires. The fact is, that the present exigencies of the service require for a time a larger number of officers than the law allows, and the object of this amendment is, that so long as the exigencies of the services require more officers than the law allows to the regular service the Secretary of the Navy may be authorized to continue the appointments of these officers. I certainly have no objection, if the House sees fit to increase the number of officers in the regular Navy, to its being done. But that is a subject that cannot be attended to in the short time that we have to consider it at this time, and if it will meet the wishes of the gentleman from Ohio I will move to refer the bill to the Committee on Naval Affairs. Mr. SCHENCK. I should very much prefer that. The gentleman sees the very difficulty, and therefore has a bill prepared to authorize the taking of a number of these volunteer officers to fill these places. But in the mean time this bill also may have passed, which will defeat the gentleman's object if this amendment is concurred in. Mr. BRANDEGEE. I move to refer the bill to the Committee on Naval Affairs. The SPEAKER. The pending motion is to reconsider the vote by which the amendment of the Senate was concurred in, but if there is no objection it will be considered as reconsidered and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs. INTRODUCTION OF CHOLERA. The next business on the Speaker's table was the consideration of the amendment of the Senate to joint resolution of the House No. 116, to prevent the introduction of cholera into the United States; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. PENSIONS. The Senate amendments to the following bills were next taken from the Speaker's table, and referred to the Committee on Invalid Pensions : An act (H. R. No. 216) for the relief of Cordelia Murray i An act (H. R. No. 459) granting a pension to Anna E. Ward; An act (H. R. No. 462) granting a pension to Mrs. Sally Andrews; An act (H. R. No. 493) granting a pension to Mrs. Joanna Winans ; An act (H. R. No. 345) for the relief of Christina Elder; An act (H. R. No. 363) supplementary to the several acts relating to pensions; and An act (H. R. No. 371) granting a pension to Leonard Sinclair. PASSPORTS. The bill of the House (H. R. No. 568) to repeal section twenty-three of chapter seventynine of the acts of the third session of the Thirty-Seventh Congress, returned from the Senate with an amendment, was next taken from the Speaker's table, and the amendment of the Senate was read, as follows: At the end of the bill add the following: And hereafter passports shall be issued only to citizens of the United States. Mr. RANDALL, of Pennsylvania. Let me ask if that means that persons who have declared their intention to become citizens shall not be entitled to passports. The SPEAKER. Such persons are not now entitled by law to passports. Mr. RANDALL, of Pennsylvania. I think that amendment had better be referred to a committee. Mr. GARFIELD. I move that the bill, with the amendment, be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The motion was agreed to. BENJAMIN HOLLIDAY. Joint resolution (H. R. No. 103) to refer the petition of Benjamin Holliday to the Court of Claims, returned from the Senate with an amendment, was next taken from the Speaker's table, and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. GOODRICH AND CORNISH. The joint resolution of the House (H. R. No. 77) for the relief of Ambrose L. Goodrich and Nathan Cornish for carrying the United States mails from Boise City to Idaho City, in the Territory of Idaho, returned from the Senate with amendments, was next taken from the Speaker's table, and referred to the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads. FORTIFICATION BILL. The bill of the House (H. R. No. 255) making appropriations for the construction, preservation, and repair of certain fortifications and other works of defense for the year ending June 30, 1867, returned from the Senate with amendments, was next taken from the Speaker's table, and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. The bill of the Senate (S. No. 318) to authorize the appointment of an additional Assistant Secretary of the Navy, was next taken from the Speaker's table, and read a first and second time. Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts. I call the previous question on the passage of that bill. Mr. ANCONA. You cannot pass it. I shall insist on a division, and there is no quorum here. Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts. Let me say a single word in reference to this bill. It is substantially the same bill which was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs of this House a few days ago, which has been considered by that committee, and unanimously agreed to. I believe that this bill passed the Senate without any dissent whatsoever. It simply provides that there shall be, for six months, an Assistant Secretary of the Navy, who shall act during the absence of the present Assistant Secretary of the Navy, who is going abroad, there being no officer who, in the absence of the Secretary and of the Assistant Secretary, can attach the official signatures to papers. The gentleman who is going abroad has been in the service ever since the beginning of the war, and all that it is proposed to grant him is leave of absence equivalent to that granted to volunteer officers of the Navy when mustered out, so as to allow them one month's leave for every year's service they have rendered during the war. It is a very small amount. The Government are very anxious, indeed, that the bill shall pass, and I insist upon the demand for the previous question. Mr. RANDALL, of Pennsylvania. Is there a quorum present? The SPEAKER. The Chair thinks there is not a quorum present. Mr. ROSS. I move that the House do now adjourn. Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts. I hope not. The SPEAKER. This bill will come up as unfinished business to-morrow morning immediately after the reading of the Journal. Mr. THAYER. I appeal to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Ross] to withdraw his motion to adjourn for a moment. Mr. ROSS. I will do so. MARIA SYPHAX. On motion of Mr. THAYER, by unanimous consent, the bill of the Senate (S. No. 321) for the relief of Maria Syphax was taken from the Speaker's table, read a first and second time, and referred to the Committee on Private Land Claims. And then, on motion of Mr. ROSS, (at five minutes to five o'clock p. m.,) the House adjourned. PETITIONS, ETC. The following petitions, &c., were presented under the rule and referred to the appropriate committees: By Mr. DAWES: The petition of M. B. Whitney, and 36 others, citizens of Westfield, Massachusetts, asking for protection against unjust State laws in reference to insurance. By Mr. COOK: The petition of F. W. Mattheissere & Hegeler of La Salle, Illinois, for increase of protection to the manufacture of spelter and sheet zinc. By Mr. GARFIELD: The petition of the superintendent, principals, and masters of the public schools of Boston, praying for the establishment of a national Bureau of Education. By Mr. HULBURD: The petition of 93 citizens of Columbia county, New York, asking increase of duty on imported flax. By Mr. HUBBARD, of West Virginia: The petition of Edgar T. Harris, asking that his name may be placed on the pension-list of the United States. By Mr. McKEE: The petition of James Taylor, for services as surgeon in the United States Army. By Mr. RICE, of Massachusetts: The petition of Davis Foster, lieutenant fourth Massachusetts volunteers, for reimbursement for loss of clothing by sinking of United States transport Fanning. IN SENATE. TUESDAY, May 22, 1866. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. E. H. GRAY. The Journal of yesterday was read and approved. EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION. The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a communication from the Secretary of War, transmitting, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 10th of January last, information relative to the payment of $100 bounty to the ten regiments of Missouri State militia mustered into the service of the United States; which, on motion of Mr. GRIMES, was ordered to lie on the table, and be printed. PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS. Mr. SUMNER. I present the petition of Abraham Lansing, a citizen of Cambridge, Massachusetts, asking for a pension on account of services in the war of 1812, and very pecu liar injuries which he received, and from which he is now in his old age suffering. I move the reference of this petition to the Committee on Pensions. The motion was agreed to. Mr. SUMNER. At the same time I move that the papers of Abraham Lansing, accompanying his petition for an invalid pension, pre sented in 1860, be taken from the files of the Senate and referred to the Committee on Pensions. The motion was agreed to. Mr. MORRILL presented twelve petitions of citizens of Maine, and a petition of Samuel Batchelder and other citizens of Massachusetts, praying for an appropriation to repair the United States piers and other property at Saco, Maine, and to improve the navigation of Saco river; which were referred to the Committee on Commerce. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. Mr. WILSON, from the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia, to whom was referred a bill (S. No. 207) to provide for the equalization of the bounties to soldiers in the late war of rebellion, reported it with an amendment, and submitted a report in writing; which was ordered to be printed. Mr. CHANDLER, from the Committee on Commerce, to whom the subject was referred, reported a bill (S. No. 334) to prevent the wearing of sheath-knives by American seamen; which was read and passed to a second reading. BILLS INTRODUCED. Mr. CHANDLER asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 335) supplementary to the several acts relating to the establishment of the Treasury Department; which was read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Commerce, and ordered to be printed. Mr. WILLIAMS asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 336) granting lands to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from Salt Lake City to the Columbia river; which was read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Public Lands, and ordered to be printed. LIFE AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE COMPANY. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no further morning business, the Chair will call up the unfinished business of yesterday, which is the bill (S. No. 290) to incorporate the National Life and Accident Insurance Company of the District of Columbia. The bill was read yesterday, and is now before the Senate as in Committee of the Whole, and open to amendment. Mr. WILSON. I desire to ask the Senator from Maine [Mr. MORRILL] who has charge of this bill, whether proper care is taken in regard to the paying in of the stock of this company. On reading the bill, it seems to me that care is not taken that the capital stock of the company shall be paid in. I think these corpora tors ought to be held responsible at any rate until the stock is paid in. The public ought to have that security. Provision is made for the payment of five dollars of the assessment, and then five dollars more at the end of thirty days; but it seems to me there is no subsequent provision requiring the stock to be paid up, and they are exempted from personal liability. In making these corporations, I think we ought to be very careful to make corporations with actual capital paid in. I throw out this as a suggestion to the Senator. It does seem to me that proper care is not taken that the capital stock subscribed for shall be paid up. Mr. MORRILL. The Senator from Illinois, not now in his seat, [Mr. YATES,] reported this bill. It was referred to him for examination, and he reported that it was merely a transcript of a similar bill, incorporating a company of the same kind in the State of Maryland, at Baltimore; that the persons presenting this bill had followed that law. It was drawn, therefore, on the strength of that legislation. Mr. CLARK. I suggest that of all corporations in the world a life insurance company should be thoroughly guarded and made secure to those people who are involved in it. Mr. JOHNSON. I see here no security at all that the capital shall be paid up. Mr. CLARK. Of all corporations, those of this character should be made thoroughly secure, because if a man puts his earnings in a corporation of this kind to be useful to his heirs in case of his death, he wants it to be made sure to those heirs. Mr. MORRILL. As the Senator who reported this bill is not in his seat, I move that the further consideration of it be postponed until to-morrow. The motion was agreed to. HOMESTEADS IN SOUTHERN LAND STATES. Mr. KIRKWOOD. I move to take up House bill No. 85. The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (H. R. No. 85) for the dis posal of the public lands for homestead actual settlement in the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida. It provides that hereafter all the public lands in the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida shall be disposed of according to the stipulations of the homestead law of 20th May, 1862, entitled "An act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," and the act supplemental thereto, approved 21st of March, 1864, but with this restriction, that no entry shall be made for more than a half quarter section, or eighty acres; and in lieu of the sum of ten dollars required to be paid, there shall be paid the sum of five dollars at the time of the issue of each patent; and that the public lands in those States shall be disposed of in no other manner after the passage of this act. No distinction or discrimination is to be made in the construction or execution of this act on account of race or color; and no mineral lands are to be liable to entry and settlement ander its provisions. The first amendment reported by the Committee on Public Lands was to insert in line twenty, after the word "lands" in the proviso at the end of the bill, the words "or lands mainly valuable for timber and not suitable for cultivation;" so that the proviso will read: And provided further, That no mineral lands or lands mainly valuable for timber and not suitable for cultivation shall be liable to entry and settlement under its provisions. The amendment was agreed to. The next amendment reported by the committee was to add as an additional section the following: And be it further enacted, That the person applying for the benefit of this act shall, upon application to the register of the land office in which he or she is about to make such entry, make affidavit before the said register or receiver that he or she is the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, or shall have performed service in the Army or Navy of the United States, and that such application is made for his or her exclusive use and benefit, and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; and upon filing the said affidavit with the register or receiver, and on payment of five dollars, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the amount of land specified: Provided, however, That no certificate shall be given, or patent issued therefor, until the expiration of five years from the date of such entry; and if, at the expiration of such time or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry, or if he be dead, his widow; or in ease of her death, his heirs or devisee; or in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of her death, shall prove by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit aforesaid, and shall make affidavit that no part of said land has been alienated, and that he will bear true allegiance to the Government of the United States; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at the time a citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided by law: And provided further, That in case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child or children under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the benefit of said infant child or children; and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the State in which such children, for the time being, have their domicile, sell said land for the benefit of said infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States on the payment of the office fees and sum of money herein specified. Mr. POMEROY. I think it my duty, at any rate, to inform the Senate what this amendment is, and how it changes the old law. It changes the old law only in one respect, I think. The old law obliges the person availing himself of the benefit of the homestead act to take an oath that he has never been engaged in the rebellion. If this amendment shall be adopted and become the law, he will have to swear that he will bear, in the future, true allegiance to the Government of the United States. In other words, it allows poor men who have been engaged in the rebellion to get eighty acres of land of the public domain by taking an oath that they will hereafter bear true allegiance to the Government of the United States. That is the essential modification. He is to occupy and cultivate and have continued possession of the land for five years before receiving title to it. It was discussed for some time in committee, and it was the opinion of the committee, nearly unanimous, perhaps quite so, that no better provision could be made for poor men who had been engaged in the rebellion than to let them have eighty acres of land on the public domain, even though they take simply an oath that they will hereafter bear true and faithful allegiance to the Government of the United States. As the law now is, all who have been engaged in the rebellion are excluded from the public domain. The committee were of opinion that this amendment might be justified under the circumstances. I thought I ought to state that to the Senate, because this amendment repeals, in fact, so much of the old law as debarred the rebels from homestead settlement on the public domain. The amendment was agreed to. The next amendment was to insert as an additional section the following: SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all the provisions of the said homestead law, and the act amendatory thereof, approved March 21, 1864, so far as the same may be applicable, except so far as the same are modified by the preceding sections of this act, are applied to and made part of this act as fully as if herein enacted and set forth. The amendment was agreed to. steads on the public domain in these States. There is not a great quantity of public land left there, but it was the view of the committee, that what was left should be by law cut up into small farms not exceeding eighty acres, and that without distinction of color every citizen of the United States should have the right to hold and to enjoy and after five years have a title to eighty acres of the public land. Mr. WÅDE. I wish to ask the Senator to what States this provision applies. Mr. POMEROY. It applies to all the States in rebellion that have got public lands, namely, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida. Texas has no public land. We only include in this bill those States that have got public lands. The object of the bill is simply to allow a class of population who are now shut out from the public lands, to acquire, if this bill should become law, eighty acres for themselves, under the homestead bill, and only eighty. Mr. KIRKWOOD. The chairman of the committee has stated very correctly the idea of the committee in reporting the bill as it stands; and yet, since the bill has been reported by the committee, I have been induced somewhat to change my own opinion upon this point, not for the reasons alluded to by the Senator from Indiana, but for others that I will now state. Since the bill was reported I have had a conversation with a gentleman from Mr. HENDRICKS. There was one point Florida, which is one of the States included in in which I could not agree with the committee, this bill. He suggested to me this idea, which and that is, that in the States named in the bill seems to me to be reasonable: he says that if no person shall be allowed to acquire under we restrict the amount of a homestead in these the homestead law more than eighty acres of States to eighty acres, leaving the amount of a land. I think that is unnecessary. I think the homestead in other States at one hundred and experience of the western country shows that sixty acres, our action will tend to divert immione hundred and sixty acres of land is desira- gration from the States named. For instance, ble to make a good farm upon, and I do not the commissioner of immigration of Iowa, if see any occasion for reducing the amount in we have such an officer, is in New York, and these States below that allowed in other States there is a similar officer or agent there from to be acquired under the homestead law. I Florida, each endeavoring to induce immigratherefore move to amend the first section by tion to his State. The agent of Iowa says to striking out all after the word "sixty-four" the immigrant, "If you go to Iowa you can get in line ten down to and including the word a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres "patent" in the fifteenth line, so that the party of the public land;" and the agent of Florida will be allowed to enter one hundred and sixty says, "If you come to Florida you can get a instead of eighty acres of land. My observa-homestead of eighty acres of the public land, tion teaches me, and I think the Senator from Iowa, who has charge of this bill will agree, that farmers desire, as far as possible, to secure as much as one hundred and sixty acres of land. I will remark to the Senate that by this bill the public lands in these southern States cannot be acquired in any other mode than under the homestead law. Farmers down there will not hereafter be able to buy any lands for their families and for their children, but the children will have to secure lands for themselves under the homestead law. I am not entirely sure that that is good policy, but certainly it is going too far to say that a man shall not in any event, for himself and his children, secure more than eighty acres. I do not think it tends to develop the prosperity of the country so to restrict the purchase. Under the law of the United States lands that are liable to private entry may be purchased at one entry to the extent of a section of land. This is a great reduction to go down to one hundred and sixty acres, but to say that only eighty acres shall be purchased under the homestead law is going entirely too far, I think. Mr. POMEROY. I will state in a single word the views of the committee on that subject. This bill came to us from the House of Representatives. They considered the matter; and in view of the fact that in the States named there is a great landless population of loyal men, colored men, lately slaves who have for a lifetime been shut out from the public lands, and almost all the valuable land in these States has already been acquired and taken possession of in large estates by the first settlers, the white people, the object of this bill is to cut the public land up into small homesteads; and it need not be disguised that it is aimed particularly for the benefit of the colored men, those who have not been able hitherto to acquire home and only that much." The result, as he argued and it seemed to me very forcibly argued— would be that immigrants seeking homesteads would go to those States in which they could secure one hundred and sixty acres of land, and would pass by those States in which they could get only eighty acres of land. This argument, when presented to me, struck me very forcibly. Although I may not agree with some Senators in regard to some matters concerning these seceded States, I certainly do not desire to do them any injustice; I do not desire to take any action that will injure their material interests, and I am strongly inclined, for the reason stated by me, to agree with the Senator from Indiana that it would not be good policy to restrict the homesteads in these States to eighty acres. If we do so it will certainly give to those States where there are public lands in which the homestead is not restricted the advantage of inducing immigrants to go to those States, and it will tend to keep emigration from the States named in this bill. For this reason, therefore, although I felt otherwise in committee, I am now strongly disposed to favor the amendment offered by the Senator from Indiana. I think it would be but fair to these States. Mr. POMEROY. The reasons that seem to have influenced the Senator from Iowa do not operate upon me. We ought to bear in mind that these lands have been in market for a long time, and no foreigner coming to this country is going to be attracted to the southern States that have been in rebellion on account of the public lands. If foreigners are attracted there, it is for other reasons. They go there, if they go at all, to take possession of abandoned homesteads, or of large homesteads that are being cut up, where the Government has no title, where the Government parted with its title many years ago. What I claim as an excellence of this bill, if it has any excellencies, is that there are about three million people in those States who never have had access to the public lands, and this bill will devote the remnant of poor lands left there to them, first and foremost; and I think it is our duty to do so rather than to open them up to all Europe. We are under greater obligations and there is a higher sense of duty resting upon us to provide for the landless of our own country rather than to have the nationalities of Europe entering into competition with those poor men who have been loyal to us and yet whom we have never allowed to have a foot of land. The object of this bill is to save the lands for this class of our people, who have become our fellow-citizens, and now must have a footing in the soil; and the only way they can get it is to secure it to them upon the public lands in these States. The white men who own the large farms there are not going to sell them to the colored men, and for another reason, the colored men cannot buy them; they have been stripped of everything. True, thank God! they are free; but they have nothing but their hands to rely upon for support, and they want land. The object of this bill is to let them have the land in preference to people from Europe or anybody else. I hope the amendment will not prevail, but that we shall pass the bill as the House of Representatives passed it in this respect. Mr. HENDRICKS. When the bill enlarging the powers of the Freedmen's Bureau was before this body I agreed to that section which reserved from sale and all other disposition by the Government three million acres for the benefit of the colored people. I desire, now that they are free, to see them possessed of homes; and so far as this bill goes in that direction I am in favor of it. While I do not support the proposition that they shall be endowed with political rights and powers, I do desire to see them made the owners of lands. But, sir, I do not like to see the system which has disposed of our public lands so beneficially to the people broken up by restricting the sales to the limited quantity of eighty acres. I ask Senators to consider this proposition. While we are willing to legislate for the benefit of the colored people reasonably and properly, we certainly ought not to disregard altogether the rights and the interests of the eight million white people in that country and the interests of foreigners who may immigrate into those States. Senators desire, I presume, to have the south ern States populated as far as possible by men from the North and by men coming from other countries that is an argument I have heard repeatedly here-so that the political power of those States shall be taken from the men who have exercised it so prejudicially to the country and be placed in the hands of men who will be faithful to the country. That has been an argument in which there was a great deal of force. The Senator from Iowa says the bill as it now stands would have a tendency to exclude from those States a population which gentlemen desire to see seek settlement and homes within their limits. Suppose we say that these lands shall not be disposed of as this bill does in any mode except under the homestead law, and then only to the extent of eighty acres of land, how is the head of family at all to provide for his boys? How is he to secure a home for them? He cannot buy it within the limits of those States; he is confined to a small tract himself, that makes a farm not susceptible of further partition, and when he dies some one of the children must take it and the rest seek homes elsewhere. That has not been our policy heretofore. We have allowed larger entries than this, and it has promoted the prosperity of the country. Therefore I think that this restriction to eighty acres ought to be stricken out; and I do not think the Senator from Kansas, the chairman of the committee, is justified in saying that if we allow homesteads to the extent of one hundred and sixty acres there will not be enough lands in these States to provide for all whom he desires to provide for. There is a large amount of public lands in these States; I am not prepared to say at this time just the amount. Florida has an enormous quantity of public land undisposed of, and I think there is a large quantity in Arkansas and some in Louisiana; I cannot say just how much. A few years ago I did know, but I cannot state now. The proposition is to strike out this restriction, and then the bill will stand thus: that no man can purchase in these States any land beyond a one hundred and sixty acre tract, and he can only get a title to that after he has lived upon it five years, and this right is secured to the colored people as well as to the white. It seems to me that is a fair bill. Mr. KIRKWOOD. I have just sent to the committee-room for some information in regard to the amount of public lands in these States, derived from the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and I have it here. It appears that the quantity of surveyed unsold public lands in the States named in this bill is, in— Arkansas.... Total.............. Acres. 9,298,012.70 ..19,379,635.61 6,228,102.45 4,760,736.03 .46.398,544.87 less than that is often taken; but more than that is frequently needed. Both for the reason of the policy and justice of having a universal rule applicable alike to all the States, and because one hundred and sixty acres is little enough for a homestead upon wild land, I shall vote for the amendment, and I think the chairman of the committee ought to accept it. I think it is reasonable and right. which even they have no conception. Mr. CLARK. Why not put it in the alternative, give them eighty or one hundred and sixty acres? Mr. POMEROY. The chairman of the committee will accept anything that is the pleasure of the Senate. I only desire to say that this amendment does not meet with my approval individually, but if the Senate choose to change the bill as it came from the House of Representatives in this respect, of course that will be all right. The Senator from California neglects, I think, to consider one fact, that the population of the South who are entirely landless are not as ambitious to get one hundred and sixty acres or three hundred and twenty acres as the population of the States of the West and of California. These people will be entirely contented with forty acres, even. The fact is that they have no land at all, and there is no way for them to get it except to get tracts of the public land. If the public lands 6,732,058.08 in those portions where they are valuable for settlement could be cut up into twenty-acre tracts, so that these poor colored people could get each of them twenty acres, it would be a godsend to them. To say that they have got I was, as I before said, strongly in favor of to take one hundred and sixty acres is requirthe eighty acre limitation until the suggestioning them to take a farin of the magnitude of to which I have alluded was made to me by the gentleman from Florida to whom I have referred. Now, it is but a balancing of reasons whether we shall fix it at eighty acres or one hundred and sixty acres. There is, however, one consideration which operates very much upon my mind: whatever we do here, unfortunately, is misrepresented among the people to be affected by this bill. There are men who make it their business to misrepresent all we do, and to give to it not only the worst possible construction, but constructions wholly impossible. Now, if we make a distinction between the amount of the homestead in these States and the amount of the homestead in other States, that fact will be seized upon by this class of men to further prejudice these people against our action here. That is the reason why I should be willing to see the limitation of eighty acres stricken out, and one hundred and sixty acres inserted in lieu of it. Another reason operating on my mind is that this limitation will really tend, or may at least tend, to retard immigration to these States of persons from other States, a thing that I much desire to see. I am strongly impressed with the belief that we had better leave the amount of the homestead in these States precisely as it is in the other States, making no distinction between these and the other States, and then there will be no cause for complaint. I fully concur in the propriety of withholding the public lands from sale in the States named, and allowing them to be taken only as homesteads. We all know there are large amounts of land scrip now in circulation; and as soon as the land offices in those States are opened again, the best of the lands will be swallowed up in large amounts by persons holding this scrip, and the poor men of that region will not be able to get hold of the lands. I will vote for the bill either with the eighty or the one hundred and sixty acre limitation; but I think it would be better for us to leave the homesteads in these States at one hundred and sixty acres, as in the other States. Mr. CONNESS. I wish simply to say that I agree entirely with what has been said by the honorable Senator from Iowa, more, however, upon the merits of the proposition itself than upon the policy and justice of keeping this bill in exact conformity with the general laws. I do not think that one hundred and sixty acres is too large an amount for a homestead in a new country. Taking how land averages, I do not think that less than that is worthy of settlement upon. It is very true that Mr. HENDRICKS. That is the law now. Mr. POMEROY. The bill, as it stands, is that they shall not take more than eighty acres, and that implies that they may take less, any legal subdivision, as low as forty acres. I do not desire to prolong the discussion, but only to say that I think we had better pass the bill as it came from the House in this respect; that is, to let the population who are landless in the South have eighty acres, if they please, and less, if they choose, but not more. Mr. CONNESS. I think if one hundred and sixty acres of land is a good thing for a white man, and I it is a good thing for a black man; think if it is good for a man in the West, it is good for a man in the South. I do not know really any reason for applying this rule of restriction. The amendment was agreed to. The bill was reported to the Senate as amended. The amendments were concurred in and ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a third time. It was read the third time and passed. MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE. A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. MCPHERSON, its Clerk, announced that the House of Representatives had passed a bill (H. R. No. 211) to authorize the President to appoint certain officers of the Execu tive Mansion, and fixing their salaries; and a bill (H. R. No. 612) to amend an act entitled An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the year ending 30th of June, 1859," in which it requested the concurrence of the Senate. แ The message further announced that the House of Representatives had passed, without amendment, the bill (S. No. 318) to authorize the appointment of an additional Assistant Secretary of the Navy. ENROLLED BILLS SIGNED. The message also announced that the Speaker of the House of Representatives had signed the following enrolled bills and joint resolution; which were thereupon signed by the President pro tempore: A bill (H. R. No. 371) to grant a pension to Leonard St. Clair; A bill (H. R. No. 510) to incorporate the Academy of Music of Washington city; and A joint resolution (S. R. No. 97) to authorize certain medals to be distributed to veteran soldiers free of postage. FUNDING THE NATIONAL DEBT. Mr. HENDERSON. I move to postpone all prior orders and proceed to the consideration of Senate bill No. 285. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The morning hour having expired it becomes the duty of the Chair to call up the special order for today, being Senate bill No. 300. That bill is before the Senate, and the Senator from Missouri moves to postpone it and all prior orders for the purpose of taking up the bill named by him. Mr. HENDERSON. As the Senator from Ohio is entitled to the floor on the special order, if my bill is called up I will let it be passed over informally to hear his remarks, as I understand his bill is to be passed over anyhow after his remarks. Mr. SHERMAN. But the funding bill is now the special order. Mr. HENDERSON. I do not desire to interfere with the Senator from Ohio. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The motion is withdrawn. The special order is before the Senate. The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to consider the bill (S. No. 300) to reduce the rate of interest on the national debt, and for funding the same. It proposes to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury, if he shall deem it expedient for the purpose of funding the national debt and reducing the rate of interest thereon, to issue registered or coupon bonds of the United States, in such form and of such denominations as he may prescribe, payable, principal and interest, in coin, and bearing interest at the rate of not exceeding five per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually, such bonds to be made payable in not over thirty years from date, to be issued to an amount sufficient to cover all outstanding or existing obligations of the United States, and to be disposed of in such manner and on such terms, not less than par, as the Secretary of the Treasury may deem most conducive to the interests of the Government. The expense of preparing, issuing, and disposing of the bonds. is not to exceed two per cent. of the amount disposed of, and the bonds, and the proceeds thereof, are to be exclusively used in taking up or retiring the obligations or indebtedness of the United States other than United States notes. The bonds thus issued are to be known as "the consolidated debt of the United States," and to be exempt from taxation in any form by or under State, municipal, or local authority; and in consideration of the reduction of the rate of interest effected by the negotiation of these bonds, they and the interest thereon and the income therefrom are to be exempt from the payment of all taxes or duties to the United States. The amount of interest saved by a substitution of five per cent. bonds for other Government securities is to be applied to the payment of the principal of the national debt, and for the purpose of insuring the payment thereof, and in lieu of the sinking fund contemplated by the act of February 25, 1862, the sum of at least $30,000,000, including the saving of interest, is to be annually applied to the reduction or extinguishment of the debt in such manner as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, or as Congress may hereafter direct. For the purpose of enabling the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare for the funding or payment of the outstanding Treasury notes bearing interest at the rate of seven and three tenths per cent. per annum, the holders of such notes are required to advise the Secretary of the Treasury, in such manner as he may prescribe, at least six months before their maturity, whether they elect that the notes shall be paid at maturity or shall be converted into bonds of the United States commonly designated as five-twenty bonds; and the right 39TH CONG. 1ST SESS. —No. 172. Mr. SHERMAN. There are two or three amendments reported by the committee which may as well be acted upon now. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendments reported by the committee will be read. The first amendment was in section one, line sixteen, to strike out the words “ preparing, issuing, and," and in line seventeen to strike out the word "two" and insert "one;" so that the proviso will read: Provided, That the expense of disposing of such bonds shall not exceed one per cent. of the amount disposed of. The amendment was agreed to. The next amendment was in section one, line eighteen, at the end of the proviso to add, "which said one per cent., or so much thereof as may be required, is hereby appropriated." Mr. EDMUNDS. With the consent of the Senator from Ohio, I will move to amend that amendment by adding after the word "appropriated" the words "for that purpose," which will make the meaning a little more explicit. It is a mere verbal amendment. Mr. SHERMAN. I have no objection to that. The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. The amendment, as amended, was adopted. The next amendment was in section two, line four, after the word "taxation" to strike out the words "in any form." Mr. FESSENDEN. read then? How will the section The Secretary read as follows: That the bonds issued under this act shall be known as "the consolidated debt of the United States," and the same shall be exempt from taxation by or under State, municipal, or local authority, &c. Mr. SHERMAN. The amendment is sim ply to comform to the language of the existing law. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. SHERMAN addressed the Senate in explanation and support of the bill. [His speech will be published in the Appendix.] Mr. CLARK. I suppose nobody expects action upon the bill at the present time. I differ very materially from the Senator from Ohio in regard to some positions which he has taken on this bill, especially with regard to the matter of taxation, not, however, upon the constitutional power, but upon the expediency of it. But I do not propose to address the Senate at the present time, nor am I certain that I shall do so at any time. If nobody else desires to address the Senate at this time, I will move that the further consideration of the bill be postponed until to-morrow, so that the Senate may proceed to other business. Mr. FESSENDEN. I suppose it is not intended that this bill shall stand in the way of the business set for to-morrow. Mr. SHERMAN. Not at all. I will state to Senators, though, that I should like to have a vote on this bill within a reasonable time. Mr. CLARK. There will be no objection to that, I take it. The motion to postpone was agreed to. HOUSE BILLS REFERRED. Kansas and Neosho Valley railroad and its extension to Red river. Mr. HENDRICKS. I hope that bill will not be taken up this afternoon. I had intended to examine it with some care, but have not been able to do so. It is a very important grant, not only in respect to its effects upon the public lands, but also in its effect upon other roads to which we have heretofore made grants of lands. I do not desire to defeat an early consideration of the bill, of course; but I am not prepared to discuss it this afternoon, and I should prefer that it should stand over. I had not an opportunity to examine the bill on the committee; I was absent at the time the committee considered it. I ask the Senator to let it lie over a day or two. Mr. WILSON. I hope the bill will be laid over, as requested by a member of the committee reporting it. Mr. HENDERSON. I know but little about this bill myself. Some of the members of the other House from my State, who have taken an active part, have requested me to call it up. I believe it is a bill making the usual railroad grants. I know but little about these railroad grants; I never yet have had charge of a bill that made a grant of an acre of land in this body. I have been requested to have early action on this bill; I have glanced through it, and I understood from members of the Committee on Public Lands that it contains nothing more than the usual grants; that there is nothing extraordinary in it, as the Senate will see by examining it. It proposes to make a grant of alternate sections of lands for the building of a railroad through the eastern tier of counties in Kansas. The people in the western portion of my State feel very considerable interest in it. If the Senator from Indiana wishes time to examine the bill of course I should dislike very much to insist upon taking it up now, but I presume there is nothing in it that the Senator cannot examine within ten minutes anyhow. However, I give notice now that I shall call up the bill at the very first opportunity. It is a road in the State of the Senator from Kansas, and his constituents are as much interested in it as are the people of my State. Mr. POMEROY. I only feel the same interest in this road that I do in all the others in my State. I want the Senate to proceed to the consideration of the bill at a very early day. It is not vital, 1 suppose, that it should be proceeded with this afternoon. I have only to say, in reference to it, that the bill is drawn with all the care with which the committee could draw a bill, and I think when the Senate come to consider it there will be no objections to the form of the bill as drawn. It may compete, perhaps, with other interests that object to it, but there can be no objection to the bill itself in point of form. I want very early action on the bill, for the reason that the session of Congress is drawing to a close, and the Committee on Public Lands in the other House, as I learn, has not yet been called on for reports, and if we do not act upon the bills reported by our Committee on Public Lands in this body until after that committee is called upon we shall not be able to secure their passage at this session. If they are to get through the other House at all it is very important that they should be acted upon before that committee is called for reports there, and I am informed that it will only be a few days before they are called upon to report. I leave, however, the charge of the bill to the Senator from Missouri, as his constituents perhaps feel an equal interest in this bill with any A bill (H. R. No. 211) to authorize the President to appoint certain officers of the Executive Mansion and fixing their salaries; and the bill (H. R. No. 612) to amend an act entitled "Another section of the country, and I shall entirely act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the year ending 30th of June, 1859," were severally read twice by their titles, and referred to the Committee on Finance. RAILROADS IN KANSAS. Mr. HENDERSON. I move to take up Senate bill No. 285, granting lands to the State of Kansas to aid in the construction of the follow his lead in regard to it. If the Senator from Indiana will be better prepared to-morrow, and will say that he will consent to proceed with the consideration of the bill to-morrow, it would be more satisfactory; but if it is to be put off indefinitely it will not be very satisfactory. Mr. HENDRICKS. I cannot say to the Senator from Kansas that I shall be prepared |