I• 

1887. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. L425 

ap:1ended was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and being 

engrossed, it was aecordingly read the third time, and passed. 

And then, on motion of Mr. EDEN (at 4 o'clock and 55 minutes p. m. ), the Honse adjourned. 

PETITIONS, ETC. 

The following petitions and papers were laid on the Clerk's desk, 

under the rnle, and referred as follows: 

By Mr. J. A. ANDERSON: Petition of 200 citizens of Wa.shingt.on 

County, Kansas, in favor of House bill1096-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. BOUND: Resolntil)n of the senat-e and house of representatives of· Pennsylvania, in favor of the passage of the Miller bill for 

suppressing diseases among cattle-to the Committee on Agriculture. 

Also, resolution of the same, in favor of the agricultural experimentstation bill-to the same committe". 

By Mr. BUNNELL: Petition of Letter Carriers' National Association, favoring the passage of Senate bill 2076-to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

Also, petition of 128 enlisted men of the Signal Corps, in favor of 

tran~ferring the Signal Corps to the new department as contemplated 

by House bill 5190-to the Committee on J.\'Iilitary Affairs. 

By Mr. COWLES: Petition of citizens of Surry County, North Carolina., asking repeal of ~ternal-revenue taxes-to the Committee on Ways and Means. 

By Mr. DOCKERY: Petition of meQlbersof the Missouri Legislature, 

asking the passage of the Miller bill-to the Committee on Agriculture. · By Mr. ERMENTROUT: Memorial of Albert Molheimer and others, 

committee, asking the pensioning of ex-prisoners of war-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. . Also; memorial of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, for the passage of 

the Miller bill-to the Committee on Agriculture. 

Also, memorial of the same, for the passage of the experiment-station 

bill-to the same committee. 

By Mr. GOFF: Petition of Andrew D. Coplin, of Harrison County, 

West Virginia, and of Martha A. Bender, executrix of Jacob Coplin, 

deceased, for reference of his war claim to the Court of Claims-to the 

Committee on War Claims. 

By Mr. HARMER: Resolutions of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, 

in favor of the passage of the Miller pleuro-pneumonia bill-to the 

Committee on Agriculture. 

Also, resolutions of the same, in favor of the experiment-station billto the <>arne committee. · By Mr. HEARD: Petition of the Missouri Legislature, in favor of 

the Miller bill or some similar measure to prevent the spread of diseases 

among cattle-to the same committee. 

By Mr. HIESTAND: Memorial of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, 

in favor of the Miller pleuro-pneumonia bill-to the same com- mittee.· Also, memodal of the same, in favor of the agricultural experimentstation bill-to the same committee. 

By Mr. HITT: Reply of the Secretary of State to committee touching the claim of George H. Owen, consul of Messina-tQ the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

By Mr. KETCHAM: Petition of Edward Crummey and 40 others, 

citizens of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in favor of an international court of 

arbitration-to the same committee. 

By Mr. NELSON: Resolution of the State Horticultural Society of 

Minnesota, in favor of the Hatch experiment-station bill-to the Committee on Agriculture. 

By Mr. PARKER: Petition asking for a pension to John Shampine, 

of Brashear Falls, Saint Lawrence County, New York-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

Also, remonstrance of the Hamilton-Rowan Club of New York city, 

against the pending extradition treaty with the British Governmentto the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

By Mr. PAYNE: Resolution o~ Maj. H. Stacy Post, Grand Army of 

the Republic, of Oswego, N.Y., in favor of the Edmunds-Tucker billto the Committee on the Judiciary. 

By Mr. PERKINS: Resolutionsof' Parsons Post, No. 64, and CherQkee Post, No. 56, Grand Army of the Republic of Kansas, asking for 

the passage of the Edmunds-'l'ncker bill-to the same committee. 

By Mr. RIGGS: Petition of Elizabeth Haggard, widow of Roberb E. 

Haggard, late Company F, Sixty-first Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry-to the Committee on Invalid Pensions. 

By Mr. STRAIT: Resolutions touching the Hatch experiment-station bill, and asking for its passage-to the Committee on Agricnlturc. 

By Mr. I. H. TAYLOR: Petition ofM. G. Overbaugh and 75 others, 

praying for the :passage of the bill (8.1636) reducing postage on seeds, 

&c.:,_to the Committee on the Post-Office and Post-Roads. 

By Mr. WILLIAM _W ~RNER: Petition of members of the General 

XVIII-90 

1 -

Assembly of Missouri, asking for the passage of the Miller bill, or some law on the same subject-to the Committee on Agriculture. 

By Mr. WILSON: Petition of F. Nemegyei and 101 others, proprietors and employes of Irondale Furnace and Mines,. Taylor County, 

West Virginia, for repeal of internal-revenue taxes-to the Committee. 

on Ways and Means. · 

The following petitions, praying for the enactment of a bill provicling temporary aid for common schools, to be disbursed on the basis of 

illiteracy, were severally referred to the Committee on Education: 

By Mr. J. A. ANDERSON: Of 56 citizens of Jamestown, Kans. 

By Mr. BACON: Of 101 citizens of Cornwall and of ·95 citizens of 

Spring Valley, N. Y. 

By Mr. BLANCHARD: Of 65 citizens of Gibbsland, La. 

By Mr. BURROWS: Of citizens of Berrien County, Michigan. 

By Mr. FREDERICK: Of 93 citizens of Iowa City, Iowa. 

By Mr. FORD: Of72 citizens of Goshen, Ind. 

By Mr. LOWRY: Of 95 citizens of Kendallville, Ind. 

By Mr. ROCKWELL: Of 174 citizens of Adams, Mass. 

By Mr. SPOONER: Of 37 citizens of Kingston, R. I. 

By Mr. SPRINGER: Of-165 citizens of Jacksonville, ill. 

SENATE. 

:1\IoNDAY, Feb·ruary 7, 1887. 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. J. G. BUTLER, D. D. 

The Journal ·of the proceedings of Saturday last was read and approved. · CREDENTIALS. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore presented the credentials of FRANCIS 

B. STOCKBRIDGE, chosen by the Legislature of Michigan a Sen a tor from 

that State for the term beginning March 4, 1887; which were read. 

Mr. HOAR. Those credentials are somewhat unusual in their character, and as it is almost impossible from listening to them to see whether 

they comply with the usual custom, I move that they be referred to the 

Committee on Privileges and Elections. 

The motion was agreed to. 

ABSTRACT OF l\IILITIA FORCE. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore laid before the Senate a communication from the Secretary of War, transmitting, in compliance with sec- tion 232 of the Revised Statutes, an abstract of the militia force of the 

United States; which, with the accompanying papers, was referred to 

the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to be printed. 

PEI'ITIONS AND MEMORIALS. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore presented a Communication from the 

secretary of ~:~tate of the State of Kansas,' transmitting a concurrent reso- lution of the Legislature of Kansas; which was referred to the Committee on Territories, and ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: 

I. 

STATE OF KANSAS, SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 

Tope1;a, February 3, 1887. 

DEAR Sm: I have the honor to herewith transmit a copy of house concurrent resolut.ion No. 20, signed by the officers of both houses. I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, 

Washington, D. C. 

E. B. ALLEN, Secrel{I,I"'!J of Stat1. 

(House Concurrent Resolution No. 20.) 

House concurrent resolution No. 20, relating to the organization of the Terri· 

tory of Oklahoma. 

Resolved by the house of t•epresentatives of !he Sta.te of Kansas (the senate concurring there-in), That our Senators in Congress be, and they are hereby, instructed and our Representatives are requested to use their best efforts to secure the passage of the bill now pending in Congress, and providing for the organization of the 

Territory of Oklahoma. 

Resolved further, That correct copies of this resolution be enrolled, signed by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house, and sent to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, to the President of the United 

States, the Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the 

President of the United States Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives, and that they are requested to lay the same before their respective 

bodies. 

I hereby certify that the above resolutfon originated in the house J'anu11.ry 21, 

1887, and passed that body January 22,1887. · 

A. W. SMITH, Speaker of House. 

H. L. MILLARD, Chief Clerk of House. 

Concurred in by the senate, February 1, 1887. 

A. P. RIDDLE, p,.esident of Senate. CLIFFORD C. BAKER, 

.Secretary of Senate. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore presented a communication from the 

secretary of state of Colorado, transmitting a memorial of the General 

Assembly of <;Olorado; ~hich was referred to the Committee on Agri-
1-

1426 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 7, 

culture and Forestry, and ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE OF COLORADO, 

Denver, Colo., February 2, 1887. 

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a joint memorial passed by the Sixth General Assembly of the State of Colorado. 

Respectfully, yours, 

Hon. JoHN SHERMAN, 

JAMES RICE, Secretary of State. 

President pro tempore United States Senate, Washington, IJ. C. 

House joint memorial No.3. 

To the Congress of the United States: 

Your memorialists, the General Assembly of the State of Colorado, would re- spectfully represent that- · Whereas contagious pleuro-pneumonia is known to exist in several States of 

this Union, and the imminent danger of the spread of the same to the large and 

unprotected cattle herds of the West is viewed with alarm by our citizens, and if 

this as well as other contagious and infectious diseases among live-stock is not prevented by prompt legislation in Congress and protection given to this vast industry, it is liable to cause great destruction to the live-stock interests of this 

and adjoining States and Territories. And we further represent and state that 

owing to the vast area. of the plains and our inability to fence and protect our rarures from-daily incursions of cattle from one range to another renders it impossible to successfully quarantine against the spread of said disease: Therefore, 

Be it resolved, That the Congress of the United States be, and is hereby, re- quested to pass such a law as will effectually extirpate all contagious diseases 

of the character mentioned by placing in the hands of competent agents of the 

General Government full and complete power to act in all matters relating 

thereto, and that a sufficient appropriation be made, of not less than $1,000,000, to pay all necessary expenses of the same. T. B. STUART, 

Speaker of the House of Rep1·esentatives, W. H. MELDRUM, 

President of the Senate. 

ALVA ADAMS, 

· Governor. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempare presented a communication from the 

secretary of the Territory of New :Mexico, transmitting a petition of 

the Legislative ABsembly of that Territory, praying for legislation providing for the settlement of the :Mexican and Spanish land grants in 

New Mexico and the adjoining Territories; which was referred to the 

Committee on Private Land Claims, and ordered to be printed in the 

RE<:;ORD, as follows: 

TERRITORY OF NEW MEXICO, SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 

Santa Fe, February 2, 1887. 

SIR: I have the honor to inclose copy oi a. memorial adopted by the Twentyseventh Legislative Assembly, which I am directed to send you. Very respectfully, .GEO. W. LANE, Secretary. 

llon. JOHN SHERMAN, 

President of the United States Senate. 

Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Territory of New Mexico. Memorial 

No.2. 

In the council, by :Mr. Burns; read twice and referred to committee on printing January 5. Returned by committee on printing and laid on table for one day, January 13. ReaQ. the third time, and passed by a vote of ll, one mem- ber absent, January 14. House of Representatives; read_first, second, and third times, and passed unanimously, January 18,1887. 

Memoria.t to the Senate and Hou$e of Repr~J,Senlatives 

of the Uni-ted States in Congress assembled: 

Your memoralists, the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, now in session, assembled in Santa Fe, most earnestly and respectfully memorialize your honorable bodies of the urgent necessity for immediate legislation 

in reference to the measures necessary for the proper settlement of Mexican 

and Spanish land grants in New Mexico and the adjoining Territories. We can urge but little novel in this our memorial beyond that which has been 

frequently set forth in numerous memorials to your honorable bodies, emanat- inoo from the Legislative Assemblies of the Territory during the last twenty-five 

ye'ars. We reiterate the statements made in the memorial of this Assembly of its session of 1871-'72, and can only add that time has amply proved the correct- ness of the views expressed in that memorial. 

Thirty years have elapsed since the ratification of the treaty of Guadalupe 

Hidalgo, and yet its obligations have not been fulfilled. A mighty tide of emigration has passed over the broad plains and rich mountains of New Mexico, 

seeking more distant homes toward the setting sun, because of the unsettled state of the land titles of the Territory. Neither the grant-owner nor the set- tler can have that security in their :possessions as would prompt them to that 

expenditure of labor and capital in unprovementB which would insure the de· 

velopment and prosperity of the country. Both the pre-emptioner and the grant-owner make but one demand, which is 

the establishment of a. proper commission or special tribunal for the speedy set- tlement of the titles in the Territory, under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the law of nations, uses and customs of the government from which the claims are derived, and the principles of equity. _ We respectfully call your attention to the memorial of this Assembly of - 1871-'721 and reiterate the propositions therein contained: 'Wherefore your memortalists very respectfully ask that an act be passed by this present Congress 

providing for the establishment of a commission to iuvestigate and decide upon the land-grant matters inN ew Mexico and such parts of our adjoining Territories as are covered by Spanish and Mexican grants, with a direct appeal to the Su- preme Court of the United States, inasmuch as the Territorial courts are even now so overburdened with their ordina,ry jurisdiction that they could not d.is- pose of the questions within any reasonable time. 

And your memoralists, as in duty bound, will ever pray. Resolved by the senate of the Legislative Assembly of the Ter!'itoi'Y of New Mexico (the hotule of representatives concurring therein), That the honorable secretary 

of the Territory be, and is hereby, required to have 500 certified copies of this 

memorial printed, and that be send one copy to His Excellency the President of 

the United States, to the honorable the Secretary of the Interior, to honorable the 

Commissioner of the General Land Office, to the President of the Senate·, to the 

Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the chairman of the Committee on the Territories, Private Land Claims, Mines, 1\fanufacturing, and Judiciary of 

the Senate and House of Representatives, and to each and every member of 

both Houses of Congress, and to the Hon. A. JOSEPH, our Delegate in Congress . 

• 

TERRITORY OF NEW MExiCo, Office of the Secretary: 

I, Geo. ,V, Lane, secretary of the Territory of New 1\Iexico, do hereby certi1'y 

that I have compared the foregoing memorial of the twenty-seventh session of 

the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of New Mexico with the enrolled 

original thereof, on file in my office, and that the same appears to be a true and correct copy thereof. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed thegreatseal of 

the Territory, this 1st day of February, 1887. 

[sEAL.1 GEO. W. LANE, Secretary. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore presented resolutions adopted at a meeting of the Maboning Valley Wool-Growers' Association, of Warren, Ohio, remonstrating against putting wool on the free-list, and in 

favor of the restoration of the tariff of 1867; which were referred to 

the Committee on Finance. 

Mr. GORMAN presented the petition of A. W. Wayman and other 

colored citizens, Freedman's Bank depositors of Baltimore, Md., praying for certain legislation for their relief; which was ordered to lie on the 'table. 

Mr. PALMER presented a joint resolution of the senate and bon.se 

of representatives of the State of Michigan, favoring legislation removing the arrears of pensions limit, and pensioning survivors of rebel 

prisons, and soldiers and sailors who are disabled and dependent, or 

who are sixty-two years of age; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions. 

He also presented a petition of 226 women, residents of Detroit, Mich., 

praying for the enactment of such statutes as shall provide for the adequate punishment of crimes against women and girls, and to raise the 

age of consent; which was referred to the Comrp.itteeon the Judiciary. 

Mr. TELLER. I present two petitions of citizens of this city, praying for the passage of the bill granting a charter to the Washington 

Cable Company. I present these petitions because requested so to d'O, 

without expressing myself any opinion as to the merits of the bill re- ferred to by the petitioners. I move that the petitions be referred to 

the Committee on the District of Columbia. 

The motion was agreed to. 

Mr. RIDDLEBERGER. I present a petition of citizens of Virginia, 

praying for the passage of the Colquitt bill to regulate the granting of 

certain licenses in the District of Columbia. I desire to say in this 

connection that I have received quite a severe rebuke from w bat is called 

the Temperance Alliance of the State of Virginia, because the Colquitt 

bill, whic;h was referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia more than a year ago, bas not been reported back to the Senate. I am not a member of that committee, and have not been for more than a year. It is a mere question as to whether the committee ought to bold 

the bill or whether they ought to report it back, in their own judgment. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. The petition will be referred to the 

Committee on the .District of Columbia. 

Mr. HARRISON presented the petition of John W. Shewmaker and 

54 other licensed officers of steam vessels in Indiana, praying for the 

passage of a bill refunding to them so much of the license fee exacted 

from them between 1869 and 1883 as was in excess of 50 cents per 

annum; which was referred to the Committee on Finance. · Mr. CA:UERON presented a _petition of the auxiliary committee for 

Pennsylvania of the Consolidated Cattle-Growers' Association of the 

United States, praying for the passage of the Miller bill for the suppression of pleuro-pneu;monia; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. 

He also presented the petition of Albert Thalbeiner and others, a committee appointed by the Ex-Prisoners of War Association, praying 

for the passage of the bill granting pensions to ex-prisoners of war; 

which was referred to the Committee on Pensions. 

He also presented a petition of druggists of Harrisburg, Pa., and a petition of citizens of Philipsburg, Pa., praying for the repeal of the 

internal-revenue laws; which were referred to the Committee on Fi- nance. 

Mr. HOAR. I present a memorial of the National Board of Trade, 

signed by Frederick Fraley, president, and Hamilton A. Hill, secretary, 

which sets forth that there is an almost univeTBal demand for the enactment of a general bankruptcy Jaw from all parts of the United States, 

reinforced by the petitions and resolutions of nearly all the commer- cial organizations of the country; and that the memorialists are advised 

that the bankruptcy law of Great Brita-in, which went into effect Jannary 1, 1883, has grown greatly in favor with both the creditor and 

debtor classes of that country, and many of its provisions are almost 

identical with the bill now pending, which has twice passed the Senate. 

They therefore pray that Congress may take such action as may secure the enactment of the present bill. As the bill bas been reported and 

is on the Calendar, I move that the memorial lie on .the table. 

The motion was agreed to. 

Mr. EVARTS presented the petition of the Oneida Historical Society 

of New York, praying Congress to carefully consider the question of 

publishing Mr. B. F. Stevens's Index to Historical Documents in Europe; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Library. 

Mr. SAWYER presented a petition of 126 citizens of Washington, D. 

C., residents on Thirteenth street northwest, and a petition of113 citizens of Washington, D C., residents on Twelfth street northwest, 

praying for the passage of the bill for the incorporation of the Wash-
1887. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD--SENATE. - 1427 

ington Cable Railway Company; which were referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia. 

Mr. CALL. I present a petition of J. 0 . .Andrews, secretary of the 

Suwanee and Gulf Railroad Company, of Cedar Keys, Fla., praying that an appropriation be made for a survey of No. 4, or the northwestern 

channel, touching the north end of the island of Cedar Keys._ The 

petition states the importance of the survey of this ehannel for the purpose of commerce with Central and South America. I move the refer- ence of the petition to the Committee on Commerce. 

The motion was agreed to. 

Mr. INGALLS. I present certain petitions of citizens of Washington, D. C., which have been sent to me with the request that they 

might be presented and referred to the Committee on the District of 

Columbia, in favor of the Washington Cable Railway Company. I move the reference of the petitions to the Committee on the Distrjct of 

Columbia. 

The motion was agreed to. 

TERRITORY OF OKLAHOMA. 

Mr. PLUMB. ! ·present a memorial of the Legislature of :Jransas 

relating to the organization of the Territory of Oklahoma, which I ask 

to have read. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair has this morning presented a similar memorial of the Legislature of Kansas, which has been 

ordered to be printed in the RECORD. 

Mr. PLUMB. I wish to ha'e this memorial read, as I desire to 

submit some remarks on the subject. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The memorial will be read. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows: 

(House Concurrent Resolution No. 20.) 

House concurrent resolution No. 20, relating to the organization of the Territory of Oklahoma.. 

Resolved by the home of representatives of the State of Kansas (the senate concur- f'i1lg therein), That our Senators in Congress be, and they are hereby, instructed, 

and our Representatives are requested to use their bes~ efforts to secure the passage of the bill now pending in Congress and providing for the organization of the Territory of Oklahoma.. 

Resolved further, That correct copies of this resolution be enrolled, signed by -the president of the senate and the speaker of the house, and sent to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, to the President of the United 

States, the Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the 

President-of the United States Senate, and the Speaker of the Hou»e o1 Repre- sentatives, and that they are requested to lay the same before their respective 

bodies. 

I hereby certify that the above resolution originated in the · house .January 

21, 1887, and passed that body January 22, 1887. 

H. L. MILLARD, 

· .A. W. SMITH, Speaker of the Home. 

Chief Clerk of Home. 

OoncmTed in by the senate February 1, 1887. 

CLIFFORD C. BAKER, 

Secretary of Senate. 

.A. P. RIDDLE, President of Senate. 

Mr. PLUMB. Mr. President, the resolution which has been read 

calls for the enactment of legislation which, in my judgment, is in 

accordance with the highest public policy; but according to the repeated 

decisions not only of the Executive but of the Attorney-General, and 

practically of Congress as well, there remains in certain Indian tribes an interest in the lands which are sought to be opened to settlement by 

the bill which is referred to in the resolution, and which has been re- ferred to in all similar resolutions, and before that interest can be gotten 

out of the way negotiations of some kind must take pl&ce. 

In 1885, in the Indian appropriation act of that year, the following 

provision was inserted : 

SEc. 8. That 'the President is hereby authorized to open negotiations with the 

Creeks, Seminoles, and Cherokees for the purpose of opening to settlement under 

the homestead laws the unassigned Ia.ndsin said Indian Territory ceded by them 

respectively to the United States by the several treaties of .August 11, 1866, M.arch 

21, 1866, and July 19, 1866; and for that purpose the sum of $5,000, or so much 

thereof as may be necessary, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; his action hereunder to be reported to Congress. 

The act was approved. :l'!Iarch 3, 1885, and one day later· the present 

administration came into power, and the duty specified in that provision of law devolved upon the present President of the United States. 

In the following December the Secretary of the Interior reported to 

Congress in his annual report for the year 1885 the reasons which actuated the President in not carrying out that provision of law. So far as I know those reasons still continue to exist in the Presidential mind. 

I ask the Secretary to read an extract from the report of the Secretary 

of the Interior for 1885 in order that the question of_ responsibUity for 

non-action with reference to the opening of those lands to settlement 

may be thoroughly understood. 

The ChiefClerk read as follows: 

By the third article of the treaty of .August 16, 1886, (14 Stat., i66), it is stipulated that ''in compliance with the desire of the United States to locate other 

Indians and freedmen thereon, the Seminoles cede to the United States their ·entire domain," consisting of 2,169,080 acres, at the rate of 15 cents per acre. By the the third article of the treaty of .August 11,1886 (I&id., 786), the Creeks, 

for the same purpose, ceded to the United States the west half of their entire 

domain, which cession passed 3,402,430 acres, at the rate of 30 cents per acre. 'The two cessioe.s combined aggregated 5,571,410 acres. The Indians have been 

paid therefor according to agreement. In pursuance of the purpose for which these lands were ceded to the United 

States, portions on the east and the west thereof have been from time to time 

set apart for and assigned to certain tribes and bands of friendly Indians for 

their use and occupancy. That portion of the land remaining unappropriated to the trust provided for 

in the treaties lies very nearly in the center of the Indian Territory. It is this 

unappropriated tract that is commonly called the "Oklahoma. country." No agent of the Government resides upon this land, and it is not occupied in any way by any person or persons for any pw·pose under any authority of this 

Department . .An· organized movement by certain persons was begun and set on foot some years past for the forcible possession of and settlement upon these lands under 

the plea. that they formed a part of the public domain and were subject to entry 

and settlement under the general land laws of the United States. To prevent 

such unlawful and unauthorized settlements it became necessa.ryfortheExecuti veto issue the proclamations of .April26, 1879, February 12, 1880, and .July 1, 188!, 

defining the status of those lands, and waraing all persons against any attempts to go or settle thereupon. It had also been made necessary to use a part of the 

military force of the United States to remove intruders who had succeeded in 

getting into that country. 

When I assumed charge of this Department it was alleged that certain individuals, associations o! persons, and corporations were in the unauthorized 

possession of portions of the "Oaklaboma country," and also that certain 

olher persons and associations were preparing to enter, occupy, and settle upon said lands. 

The matter was considered; and the President, on the 13th of March, 1885, 

issued his proclamation, warning all persons then upon the lands, and those intending, preparing, or threatening to enter and settle upon the same, that they 

would not be permitted to enter upon that territory or to remain thereon i! 

already there. 

The parties claiming the right to enter these lands, alleging them to be public lands, argue that the United States must have understood the treaty with 

the Seminoles and Creeks, while the meaning and intent thereof was freshly 

in their mind .and knowledge, as restoring the lands to the public domain, since 

by act of Congress of July ?:7,1866 (14 Stat., 294)-passed in the same month that 

the treaties were proclaimed-a right of way with a subsidy of land was granted 

the .Atlantic and Pacific RailioadCompa.nyoveraroute described which passed 

throu.e:h the" Oklahoma country." They claim that by authorizing the use of a portion of the land for railroad purposes the United States admitted that they 

could be used for other than Indian purposes, and that this must have been 

conceded by the Indians, who failed to object to its appropriation for railroad purposes. 

This argument wouldbardlyha.ve been advanced if the advisers of these pa.r- ties, or the parties themselves, had carefully read the concluding clause of sec- tion 2 of the granting act, which is as follows: 

"The United Stat-es shall extinguish, as rapidly llB may be consistent with public policy and the welfare of the Indians, and only by their voluntary cession, 

the Indian title to all lands falling under the operation o! this act and acquired 

in the donation to the road named in the act." For the purposes of this act the Indian title to that portion of the "Oklahoma. 

country," through which the railroad was proposed to be run, hOB not been ex- tinguished. The railroad has not been constructed upon or extended into that 

territory, and consequently it has not acquired possession nor the right of pos- session of any portion of those lands under that law. In the case of the United States vs. D. L. Payne, tried in the district co4rt of the 

United States for the western district of .Al·kansas, Judge Parker cited the decisions of the Supreme Court in the case of Wilcox vs . .Jackson (13 Pet., 266), •• wherein it is held that whenever a tract of land has been appropriat-ed to the 

public use it is severed from the mass of the public domain, and subsequent 

laws of sale are not construed to embrace it, though they do not in terms ex- cept it." He also refers to the case of the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Gal- veston Road vs. The United States (2 Otto, 733), which affirms the doctrine in Wil- cox vs. Jackson,and holds further that "this doctrine applies with more force to Indian than military reservations." Judge Parker then a.dds: "I think, therefore, from the authorities I have cited, and from the language 

of this section, that there is no doubt that this act of Congress has not changed the land in controversy from the condition of a reservation." 

Notwithstanding the rulings of the Interior Department, the proclamations of the Executive, and the solemn a.dj udications of a. Federal court of competent 

jurisdiction over the parties and over the subject-matter, upona.clear statement of facts on both sides of the question, all holding that these lands are not a part of the public domain and are not subject to pre-emption and homestead entry 

under the general land laws of the United States, but on the contrary tfiat they are a part of the Indian TerritOry, that they are not unappropriated lands, but 

lands dedicated to specific purposes, yet it is to be regretted that repeat-ed at- tempts have been made to make forcible entry and possession upon said lands. It bas become generally known throughout this country that this large tract of land, fertile, well-watered, and with its mild climate, is unoccupied, and that 

it has continued in this idle condition since the treaties of 1866. It is, therefore, not surprising that a large class of hardy, industrious people, residing in more thickly settled States, are eager to acquire homesteads upon it. 

The respectful petitions of many peaceable and law-abiding citizens from nu• merous localities throughou-t the country requesting that it be opened to settlement, no less than the threatened unlawful invasion of the land, have had the 

effect of inducing consideration of the subject by Congress, which, a tits last ses- sion, enacted the following provision of law, namely: 

"That the President is hereby authorized to open negotiations with the Creeks, 

Seminoles, and Cherokees for the purpose of opening to settlement under the 

homestead laws the unassigned lands in said Indian Territory ceded by them 

respectively to the United States by the several treaties of .August ll, 1866, March 

21, 1866, and .July 19,1866; and for that purpose the sum of liO,OOO, or so much 

thereof llB may be necessary, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; his action hereunder to be 

reported to Congress." (23Sta.t., 384.) 

This provision of law. refers not only to the lands ceded by the Creeks and 

Seminoles referred to above, but also to lands ceded by the Cherokees, the status of which is considered herein under the title "The Cherokee Outlet.' • The unlawful combinations above referred to have rendered it, in my judgment, unwise to appoint this commission. That which gives security to life and 

property is the sp1rit of law. Nothing is more dangerous, more fatal to rights 

of property and personal safety and public order, than a. spirit of lawlessness. 

The manifest-ations of the latter danger should be checked at all times, until the 

rule of law becomes the daily rule of conduct for our people. 

The lands reserved for the accommodation of the Indians are undoubtedly 

much larger in extent than is needed for their wants and accommodation. 

There can be no harm in recognizing the gradual current slowly tending in the 

direction of civilized occupation and use of the Indian Territory, as the Indians 

themselves become consolidated upon fewer residential points; but rapacity 

and lawlessness will not abide the gradual and gentle method of change, and 

seek by violence and forcible invasiim to displace law and treaty and the sense of obligation to both, and ride roughshod into possession of the lands of the 

Indian reservations. Will it not be a lesson-valuable there and valuable elsewhere-to show to such transgressors that their way is hard, and that nothing 

Will render the Indian occupation more permanent, or postpone the change in 

the use of these lands longer, than the attempts to invade a.nd by force to ob- tain possession and enjoyment of them? The outlaws and depredators who 

imagine they can override the law and violate treaty obligations with the In-

-, 
-· 

1428 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY .7,. 

dians will discover the impossibility of su'ccesswhen they find themselves con- fronted by the law of the land, strengthened by the civil and military arm, and 

b11eked by the moral sentiment of a just people. 

Ur. PLUMB. It will be observed by looking at the statute as printed 

in the report of the Secretary of the Interior the law requiring the President to negotiate with the Indians for the cession of their interest in 

these lands is still in force, and I do not need to add that it is still disobeyed or mther unobeyed, and that whether the Congress acts first or 

acts last there can be no settlement according to the decision ofthepr~sent 

President of the United States upon the lands mentioned, until after, 

by negotiation, the Indians have been induced to part with their interest. So finally we come back to the proposition that the President 

must first do what the law now commands him to do, no matter what 

else may be done, as a necessary prerequisite before there can ever be a 

valid and legal settlement made upon the surplus lands of the Indian 

Territory. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The memorial will be referred to 

the Committee on Indian Affairs. 

REPORTS OF CO:llMITTEES. 

li>Ir. TELLER, from the Committee on Public Lands, to whom the 

subject was referred, reported a bill (S. 3270) granting to the city of 

Colorado Springs, in the State of Colorado, certain lands therein described for water reservoirs; which was read twice by its title. 

Mr. WALTHALL, from the Committee on Public Lands, to whom 

was referred the bill (S. 871) for the forfeiture of the land granted to 

tbe State of· Florida for the construction of certain lines of railroad in 

that State, submitted an adverse report thereon. 

· Mr. CALL. I ask that the bill be placed on the Calendar. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill will be placed on the Calendar with the adverse report of the committee. 

BILLS INTRODUCED. 

Jilr. VEST (by request) i.lltroduced a bill (S. 3271) extending the 

charter of "The President and directors of the Firemen's Insurance 

Company of Washington and Georgetown," in the District of Columbia; which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee 

:m the District of Columbia. 

Mr. PALMER introduced a bill (S. 3272) for the relief of J. W. McMillan; which was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Pensions. ' 

Mr. CALL introduced a. joint resolution (S. R. 102) establishing a 

national quarantine station near Key West~ Fla.; which was read twice 

by its title. 

Mr. CALL. I desire in introducing the joint t·esolution to say that I 

introduce it at the request of the board of health of the city of Key 

West, Fla. I will further remark that it is a matter of very pressing 

importance that a quarantine station shall be established near Key West, 

which is now the resort of vessels from all parts of the world, having 

on board the most contagious forms of disease peculiar to the tropics 

and to Africa, and that they are now landed in dangerous proximity to 

the coast of the United States. The joint resolution provides for the 

establishment of a quarantine station at an island remote from Key 

West, here it will be entirely safe. I move that the joint resolution 

be referred to the Committee on Epidemic Diseases. 

The motion was agreed to. 

AMENDMENTS TO BILLS. 

Mr. CALL submitted au amendment intended to be proposed by him 

to the river and harbor bill, for a survey of the No. 4, or Northwest 

Channel, at Cedar Keys, Fla., and for the survey of bar and river at 

.Anclote; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and 

ordered to be printed. 

Mr. GIBSON, and Mr. MITCHELL, of Oregon, submitted amendments intended to be proposed by them respectively to the river and 

harbor bill; which were referred to the Committ~e on Commerce, and 

ordered to be printed. 

Mr. MORGAN. At the request of the Senator from North Carolina 

[Mr. V .ANCE] I submit an amendment to the river and harbor bill. I 

move its reference to the Committee on Commerce. 

The motion was agreed to. 

CO~IL.ATION OF VOTES OF THANKS. 

!ilr. MANDERSON submitted the following resolution; which was 

1·ead: · 

Resotved, That. the Senate Committee on Printing be1 and hereby is, directed 

to have prepared a compilation of the votes of thanks oy the Continental Congress and by the Congress of the United States for military, naval, and civil serv- ices, with abstracts of the resolutions, showing what prompted their passage, and to report the same in print before the lOth day of December next; and the 

expenses for compiling, copying, and inde~ing the :;arne, not. to exceed $500, shall 

be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate. 

Mr. MANDERSON. I ask that the resolution be referred to the Committee on Printing. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. The rule requires that such a reso- lution proposing to appropriate money from the contingent fund sh~ll 

be referred to the Committee on Contingent Expenses. 

!1r. EDMUNDS. But first the Committee on Printing ought to determine whether it is a good thing to do. 

The PRESIDENT pro ttmpore. The ~esolution will be referred. to 

the Committee on Printing. 

PRINTING OF NAMES OF P.ETITIONJillS. 

Mr. MANDERSON. I ofter for adoption the following order: 

Orde1·ed, That when petitions and memorials are ordered printed in U1e CoN- GRESSIONAL REcoRD 'the order shall be· deemed to apply to the body of the peti- tion only, and the names attached to said petition or memorial shall not be printed unless specially ordered by the Senate. 

That is in the interest of shortening the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 

It seems to me it is a matter that will commend itself to the Senate. 

Certainly there is no reason why long lists of names should be printed 

in the RECORD when they appear attached to a petition. 

The resolution was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to. 

:\IESSAGE FRmi THE HOUSE. 

A message from the Honse of Representatives, by Mr. CI.ARK, its 

Clerk, announced that the Honse had passed the fonowing bills; in 

which it requested the concurrence of the Senate: 

A bill (H. R. 10178) for the relief Of Mrs. Julia A. Sluder, executrix 

of E. Sluder, deceased; and 

A bill (H. R. 10666) for the allowance of certain claims reported allowed by the accoun'ting officers of the United States 'l'reasury Department. 

The message also requested the return to the House of the bill (S. 

2479) granting a pension to Mrs. Adaline P. Loy. 

ENROLLED BILLS SIGNED. 

The message also announced that the Speaker of the House had 

signed the following enrolled bills; and they were thereupon signed by 

the Presiden,t pro tempm·e: 

A bill (S. 129) authorizing the Secretary of War to adjust and settle 

the a.ccount for arms, ammunition, and aecouterments between the Territory of Montana and the United States; 

A bill (S. 269) for the relief of W. H. Powell; 

A bill (S. 388) to grant the right of way through the Fort Bliss Military Reservation to the Rio Grande and El Paso Railroad Company; 

A bill (S. 574) for the relief of Robert Strachan; 

A bill (S. 1042) to pay B. S. James for transporting the United 

States mails; 

A bill (S. 1368) for the relief of Richard H. Porter, surviving partner 

and assignee of the late firm ofR. H. & James Porter; 

A bill (S. 1536) for the purchase of suitable grounds in the city of 

Owens borough, in the State of Kentucky, and the erection thereon of 

a public building for the post-office, United States collector's office, 

United States commissioner's office, and for the use of other tJnited 

States officers in said city, and appropriating money for said purposes; 

A bill (S. 2477) making an appropriation for the establishment and 

erection of a military post near the city of Denver, in the State of 

Colorado; and ' 

A bill (S. 2652) for the construction of a military telegraph line from 

Sanford, Fla., to Point Jupiter, Fla., and the establishment of a signal 

station. 

LEGISLATIVE .ASSEMBLY OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair lays before the Senate a 

resolution submitted February 5 by the Senator from Indiana [Mr. 

VoORHEES], which comes over under objection. 

The resolution was read, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Committee on Territories be discharged from the further 

consideration of the bill (H. R. 6906) to change the time of the meeting of the 

Legislative .Assembly of Washington Territory. 

Mr. VOORHEES. The resolution may go over until to-morrow. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. The resolution will be placed on the 

Calendar. 

MRS. .AD.ALINE P. LOY. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate the request of 

the House of Representatives for the return of the bill (S. 2479) granting a pension to Adaline P. Loy. 

The PRESIDENT pro te-mpore. If there be no objection the request 

of the House of Representatives will be granted. · 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no further resolutions, 

the Chair will ask to have read the special order for the day. 

The Chief Clerk read the resolution adopted by the Senate February 3, as follows: 

Resolved, That. on and after Monday, the 'ith instant, at the conclusion of the 

morning business for each day, unless upon motion the Senate shall at any time otherwise order, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of House 

bills and joint resolutions favorably reported on the Calendar. and continue 

such consideration until 2 o'clock, under the provisions of Rule Vill, as herein modified, until the Calendar of such bills and resolutions bas peen completed. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. · The first Hoose bill on the CalendaJ" 

will be announced. 
• 

1887. CONGRESSION·AL RECORD-SENATE. 1429 

Mr. HAWLEY. I move to set aside the order, so that the Senate 

may proceed to the consideration of Senate bill 662, coupling with it 

the consideration of the subsequent bill, S. 663, being the well-known 

bills relating to the manufacture of ordnance, armor, &c., for the Army 

and Navy, and for coast defenses. I gave notice several days ago that 

I would make this motion. I am stimulated, pushed forward by the 

Committee on Coast Defenses, the Military Committee, and the general 

sentiment, I am happy to believe, of the Senate, and 1 know of the 

country. !- am aware that the Sen~ttor from Tennessee [Hr. HARRIS] has obtamed the adoption of a rule to proceed to the consideration of House 

bills upon the Calendar, and I am sorry to antagonjze it, but I feel it 

to be my duty to make this motion, and if I shall be set aside or pushed 

off, I hope it will not be done without the definite ascenainment of 

some time soon enough when I may be heard. 

Mr. HARRIS. I will ask the Senator to suggest any hour after 2 

o'clock on any day. 

Mr. HAWLEY~ I will move to-day at 2 o'clock, then, if the Senate 

is willing--

Mr. EDMUNDS. Move now. We shall have the unfinished business at 2 o'clock. 

Mr. SPOONER and others. Move now. 

Mr. HAWLEY. That is the motion I have submitted, to proceed 

now. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempm·e. The Senator from Connecticut moves 

that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the bill (S. 662) to encourage the manufadure of steel for modern army ordnance, armor, 

and other army purposes, and to provide heavy ordnance adapted to 

modern army warfare. 

Mr. HARRIS. I know that the motion is not debatable, but I ask 

the consent of the Senate to be allowed to consume about half a minute. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no objection, the Senator 

frl>m Tennessee will proceed. 

Mr. HARRIS. I simply desire to say that if the Senate will proceed, after the routine business of the morning, until2 o'clock for two 

or three or three or four mornings at the outside, it can dispose in such 

manner as it may choose to dispose of the House bills now on the Calendn.r. 

I very much hope that the Senate will take up and consider those 

bills and joint resolutions which have reached the last stage in legislation, to the exclusion of Senate bills, of which there would be very little hope of consideration in the othtr House even though they were 

passed to-day. That is all I care to say. 

Mr. HAWLEY. Now, a word only in reply. The class of bills the 

Senator refers to are those which have passed the other House and 

have come over here and been favorably reported upon, and are upon 

the Calendar. I think there is nothing surer, except the adjournment 

of Congress, than that those bills will be passed before the 4th of 

March. We always do attend to them. Many of them are matters 

of mere concurrence, requiring nothing more than the reading to secure their passage. We can do that any morning or any evening. 

Mr. HARRIS. Will the Senator allow me to suggest to him the fact 

that in perhaps a third of the cases the Senate committees have reported amendments, verbal or otherwise, which will. have to be acted 

upon, an~ wherever a House bill is amended of course it involves the 

necessity of its going back to the other House? 

Mr. HAWLEY. Nevertheless, as a rule, having been passed by the 

other House and favorably reported by a Senate committee, they are 

almost certain of passage. But the bills the consideration of which I 

have moved being of the very highest importance in the judgment of 

the whole country, have waited long enough and too long. They ought 

to go to the other House for consideration there. I have the highest 

hopes that they may pass in some form. I have no doubt that if this 

Congress can ever be permitted in both Houses to vote directly and 

squarely on the snbject, neither Honse can be restrained from something in the direction of patriotic and liberal and public-spirited action. I insist on my motion. 

Mr. HOAR. I hope the· Senator will also give notice that if the 

matter is not rusposed of at 2 o'clock he will ask the Senate to go on 

after 2. · Mr. HA. WLEY. I thank the Senator for the suggestion. I shall 

continue to press the consideration of the bills until they they are disposed of. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempot·e. The question is on the motion . to 

proceed to the consideration of the bill referred to. [Putting the question.] The Chair is in doubt. 

Mr. EDUUNDS. I should like to have the yeas and nays. 

. The yeas and nays were ordered, and the Secretary proceeded to call 

the roll. 

Mr. HALE (when Mr. FRYE's name was called). My colleague 

[Mr. FRYE] has a general pair with the Senator from Georgia [Mr. 

BROWN]. 

The roll-call was concluded. 

Mr. DAWES. I am paired. with the absent Senator from Texas [Mr. 

MAXEY). 

The result was announced-yeas 32, nays 21; as follows: 

Blair, 

Cameron, 

Conger, 

CuJlom, 

Dolph, 

Edmunds, 

Evarts, 

Farwell, 

Gormllll, 

Bale, 

Harrison, 

Hawley, 

Hoar, 

McMillan, 

McPherson, 

"Manderson, 

YEAR-32. 

Miller, 

Mit6hell of Oreg., 

Morgan, 

Morrill, 

Palmer, 

Payne, 

Platt, 

Plumb, 

NAY8-21. 

Riddlcberger, 

Sabin, · Sawyer, 

Sherman, 

Spooner, 

Teller, 

WiJliams, 

Wilson of Iowa. 

Beck, 

.Berry, 

Blackburn, 

Butler, 

Call, 

Cockrell, 

Coke, 

Eustis, 

Fair, 

George, 

Gibson, 

Hampton, 

Harris, Walthall, .Jones of Arkansas, Wbitthorne, 

Pugh, Wilson of Md. Ransom, 

Vest, 

Voorhees, 

ABSENT-23. 

Aldrich, Cheney, 

Allison, Colquitt, 

Bowen, Dawes, 

Brown, Frye, 

Camden, Gray, 

Chace, Ingalls, 

So the motion was agreed to. 

.Jones of !<"'lorida, .Jones of Nevada., 

Kenna, 

Mahone, 

Maxey, 

?!Iitchell of Pa., 

STEEL FOR ORDNANCE, ETC. 

. Saulsbury, 

Sewell, 

Stanford, 

Vance, 

VanWyck. 

The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider 

the bill {S. 662) to encourage the manufaeture of steel for modern 

army ordnance, armor, and other army purposes, and to provide heavy 

ordnance adapted to modern army warfare. 

The bill was reported from the Committee on Coast Defenses with 

amendments. 

The first amendment was, in section 1, line 4, after the word "contracts," to insert "with responsible steel-manufacturers;'' in line 5 

after the word ''advertisements," to strike out'' with responsible steel: 

manufacturers," and insert "to continue not less than thirty days, in 

newspapers most likely to reach the manufacturers addressed;'' in line 

8, after the words ''tempered steel,'' to strike on t ''for fabrication,'' and 

insert ''in forms suitable for;" in line 10, after the word ''steel," to 

insert "finished;" in line 12, after the word "specifications," to insert 

'' subject to inspection and tests at each stage of man nfacture;'' in line 

16, after the word "shall," to strike out "certify and guarantee" and 

insert "contract;" in line 17, after the word "plant," to insert ''including the be.~t modern appliances;" and after the word "contract " 

in line 25, at the end of the section, to add ''and that all the forgin~ shall be manufactured in the United States;" so as to make the section 

read: 

That the Secretary of 'Var be, and hereby is, authorized to ma.ke contracts with responsible steel-manufacturers, after suitable advertisements, to continue not less than thirty days, in· newspapers most likely to reach the manu ra.cturers addresse~. for the supply of rough-bored, rough-turned. and tempered steel in forms s01table for heavy ordnance adapted to modern warfare, and steel finished, for armor and other army purposest in quantity not to exceed 10 000 g;oss tons in quality and dimensions conformmg to specifications, subject' to inspectio~ and tests at each stage of manufacture, and including all the part.'l of each cali- ber specified: Provided, That no money shall be expended except for steel ac- cepted and delivered; tha.t each bidder shall contract to erect in the United States a suitable plant, including the best modern appliances, capable of mak- ing all the steel req"uired, and of finishing it, in accordance with the contract - and agree in the case of an ordnance contract to deliver yearly a specified quan: tity of each caliber, the time of delivery of the smaller calibers to commence at the expiration of not more than eighteen months and that of the largest calibers at the expiration of not more than three years from the date of the acceptance of the contract; and that all the forgings shall be manufactured in the United 

States. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, in section 2, line 5, after the word ''for,'' 

to strike out "the fabrication of" and insert "finishing and assembling;" in line 6, before the word "guns," to strike out "heaviest;" 

and in line 7, after the word" warfare," to insert "up to and including 

the largest approved sizes, and for;" so as to make the section read: 

Snc. 2. That the Secretary of War be, and hereby is. authorized to erect at the Watervliet arsenal, West Troy, N.Y., an army gun factory, in accordance with the rt>port of the gun foundry board of December 20, 1884, for finishing and as- sembling the guns adapted to modern warfare, up to and including the larsrest approved sizes, and for the manufacture of gun-carriaged and ordnance equip- ment for the Army, at a cost not to exceed $1,000,000. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, to add as a new section the following: 

SEC. 3. That for the purposes of this act the sum of $8,000,000 is hereby appro- pri~ted, out o.f an:f money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be ava1lable durmg su:: years from .January 1, 1887. 

The amendment was agreed tQ. 

Mr. DOLPH. By direction of the Committee on Coast Defenses, I 

offer the following amendment to the bill: In section 3, line 1, strike 

out the words '' this act,'' and insert in lieu thereof the words ''the 

foregoing sections;'~ so as to read: 

That for the purposes of the foregoing sections, the sum of 88,000,000 is hereby appropriated~ out of any money in t-he Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to 

be available auring six years from .January 1,1887. 

The amendment was agreed to. , 

Mr. DOLPH. I now move to add the following as a new section: 

SEc. 4.. That for the purpose of the construction of fortifications and other works of coast defense, in accordance with the recommendations of the Board 
1430 CONGRESSIONAL REOORD-SEN.ATE. FEBRUARY 7, 

on Fortifications or other Defenses, a-ppointed by the President ·ot the United 

States under ·the provisions of the act of Congress approved .March 3, 1885, 

Sl>,OOO,OOO, to be expended nnder the direction of the Secretary of War. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. HALE. I desire to ask the Senator in charge ol this bill one question about the provision locating the gun factory at Watervliet. 

Why i3 it here? 

Mr. HAWLEY. That as it sU:mds in the bill was the general judgment of the gun-foundry board and I think of the fortifications board, 

the general judgment of Army and Nn.~ officers and ~oards, &c., '!ho 

considered this question, perhaps not w1thout exception, b~t I thmk 

overwhelmingly their general judgme?-t was that Wate~liet affords 

the best location. The ground there lS abundant, the nver commu- nication abundant, a laTge canal is there, and every imaginable facility ancl convenience, including, among others of course, a neighborhood -capable of furnishing skilled mechanics, easily to be reached from the 

adjoining parts of New York and of M:assachusetts. That is the reason 

that the committee adopted it. · :Mr. HALE. l\Iy impression is-and that was the impression of the 

subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations on the fortifications 

bill of last year-that Frankford, near Philadelphia, is a. better place, 

because it is nearer to the supply of steel and has better water com- munications· but I do not propose to move to amend this bill nor in 

any way to ~bstruc~ its. p~a.ge.. I think it will probably go through, 

perhaps without obJectiOn m thiS body, and therefore I do not move the amendment I had intended to propose. 

1\fr. DAWES. One word about this matter of Watervliet. I, of course shall not antagonize the bill in any respect, but I am not quite 

certa~ about the propriety of naming Watervliet. I have no special 

objection of my own, but the information which I have corresponds with 

that of the Senator from Maine as to Frankford. If the Senator from 

Connecticut is confident and certain upon that matter of Watervliet I 

shall not interpose, but otherwise I should like very much to have the 

bill conform to an effort tha.t has been made in the committee of con- ference on the fortification bill to carry out this same measure which 

the Senator has embodied in this bill, but I do not know that I want 

to offer any amendment. 

Mr. HAWLEY. I hope not. 

l\fr. MORGAN. I desire to ask the Senator from Connecticut to explain the meaning of the words ''~or armor and other army purposes,'' 

in line 10 of section 1. What is the meaning of the word "armor" in 

that connection? 

J\fr. H.A WLEY. That has in view, undoubtedly, the turrets and 

other protections for coast defense. 

Mr. MORGAN. Coast defense, I suggest to the Senator from Connecticut is not entirely an army purpose. The army is not alone en- gaged ~coast defense; and it seems to me that the bill in ~eveml particulars is too much -restricted. The word ''armor'' there ev1dently means as the Senator suggests, to provide a sort of mail or protection 

for th~ turret-.9 that may be erected within the fortress. I suppose that 

is the meaning of it; but we need armor for oth~r purpo~es; we need 

armor for ships, and when works.ha.ve b~en estab~hed whi~h are capable of producing armor of suffiCient weight and SlZe for the purpose of 

protecting turrets that may be within the fortress, it may be very con- venient perhaps to use that same machinery and that same establishment for making armor for ships. So I would suggest to th~ Senator 

that the bill would be improved by striking out the word ''Army" 

where it occurs there, and then again, in the second section, striking out, 

in the third line, the words ''an army '' and inserting ''a;'' so as to 

read "a gun factory." 

Mr. HAWLEY. I am unable to hear. What is the first amendment proposed in line 10? .:Mr. MORGAN. The first is to strike out the word "army," in line 

10 of section 1.. 

1\fr. HAWLEY. I have not the slightest objection to that. . Mr. MORGAN. I move that amendment. I move to strike aut, m 

line 10 of section 1., the word "army " after the word ''other;" so as to 

read: 

For armor and other purposes. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. HAWLEY. Before the Senator goeafurtheri call his attention to 

the fact-I do not know butthatiwas hastyinnotattendingto thatthat the bill next this on the Calendar, which I really ca.lled up at the 

same time, or gave notice that they wer~ t~ go toget~er-the next bill 

provides for the navy in language very SliDilar to this for the army. 

Mr. MORGAN. Well, we might want to use both of these establishments for the navy, or we might want ~ ~se them ~o.th for the 

army. I think it would be too great a restriction to _prohibit us from 

doing so if we saw proper. 

I inquire of the Senator, what is the total amount of money appropriated in the two bills? 

l\fr. HAWLEY. The gun-foundry board-we have not quite come. up to its recommendations-recommended contracts that would cost 

$15,000,000, seven and a h.alf millions for ea.ch servi~e .. A full and 

satisfactory plant for what IS called a gun factory, which IB better un- derstood if I call it a finishing shop, would cost a million dollars in 

each case. Twice seven and ·a half million is $15,000,000, and two 

millions more would make $17,000,000. These two bills appropriate . but 16 000 000 in theaggregate. But I do not think thatiB material, 

for I bellev~ that the contracts can be made within the appropriation) 

especially ns the Senator will see in lines 11 and 12 that the c!mtract 

is "not to exceed 10,000 gross tons." If necessary there IDJght be 

something less than that contracted for in the first instance. If it 

were not for embarrassment about the bill, I would myself make each 

bill eight and a half millions, but I am content to take them ns they 

stand. They have b,een revised and revised and revised and rerevised 

and carried again :md again to the Secretary of War and the Secretary 

ofthe Navy and the ordnanceofficem of both the Army and Navy, and 

the engineer officers of both, until they have been :filed ad unguem_. 

1\Ir. MORGAN. On the suggestion of the Senator from Connect1cut, 

that another bill is to fol~ow this to provide for the Navy, I will not 

propose any further amendment to this bill, because I take it for 

granted that after all--

Mr. HAWLEY. Let ns consent that the amendm_ent just made be 

reconsidered. 

Mr. MORGAN. Oh, no. !tir. TELLER. No; that amendment ought to be left anyway. 

Mr. M:ORGAN. I think so. 

Mr. DOLPH. I think the Senator from Alabama is mistaken. This 

is to authorize the Secretary of War to contract for armor for army purposes. The othoc is to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to contract 

for armor for navy pu-rposes. We do not want to authorize the Secretary of War to contract for armor for navy purposes. 

Mr. ~fORGAN. What does the Senator from Oregon undersmud to 

be the meaning of ''armor'' in that connection? 

Mr. DOLPH. Armor for the protection of turrets, forts, and guns 

for shore defense. 

l\Ir. MORGAN. Then let it be so expressed, armor for protection 

of fort-.9 and turrets. 

Mr. HAWLEY. It must be so because it is certainly not for .field 

operations, and ''armor for army purposes'' means distinctly, is so under~ 

stood by the Department and all the officers, armor for the classes of defense recommended by the fortifications board. Undoubtedly, in placing 

heavy steel guns hereafter we shall put them in turrets similar to those 

that were upon our well-known 'monitors, excepting perhaps that they 

will be sloping, rounded, conical, rather in the shape of domes to better 

ward off attacks. They will probably be placed in turrets, but there 

will be certain other defenses that will be iron clad, of one sort and 

another1 as for example the sheltem or pits, if you choose to call them 

so, the little shelters that must be made along the beach to protect and 

control the mines or anchored torpedoes. 

Mr. MORGAN. I suggest to the Senator, then, to strike out the 

words "and other .army purposes," and say "armor for military purposes.'' 

Mr. HAWLEY. Whydoesthe Senatorobjectto theword "army?" 

l\fr. MORGAN. Because I think it restricts that establishment to 

the supply merely of the coast defenses and the army in the field, and 

we might have a very great need for it in supplying th~ Navy. . :Mr. HAWLEY. Will the· Senator allow me to read m the next bill, 

whieh is for the Navy, the following very similar language in the first 

section? 

Steel in forms suitable for heavy ordnance adapted to modern '!ar.fureThat is, the gun business- · 

and steel, finished, for armor, shafting, and other naval purposes. 

So that the two bills cover the whole su~ject. 

l\1r. HALE. Allow me a moment. There will . not, practically, 

arisetheleastconfusion in the departments whetherthisword "army" 

is in or out. With the two bills that will be passed by Congress, one for a. distinctive army purpose and the other for a navy purpose, no 

Secretary, either of War or of the Navy, will seek to interfer~ wi~b f~e 

appropriations in the other bill, or to carry any of the money m his b1ll 

into the other departnent of our military establishment. So I do not 

think the striking out of the word ' ' army,'' as suggested by the Senator from Alabama, has harmed the bill in tbe least. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will submit the question 

to the Senate on the amendment. 

Mr. 1\IORGAN. I withdraw the amendment. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment will be conside!ed 

withdrawn. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendments 

were concurred in. 

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third r~ading, read the 

third time, and passed. 

The title was amended so as to read "A bill to encourage the m~n

ufacture of steel for modern army ordnance, armor, and other army 

purposes, and to provide heavy ordnance adapted to modern army warfare, and for other purposes." 

1\Ir. H.A. WLEY. The addition to the title is to cover the amendment 

of the Senator from Oregon [Ur. DoLPHl. .lllr. H.A. WLEY. I move now to proceed to the consideration of the 

twin bill S. 663. 

• 
1887. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1431 ------------~------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ' The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the 

Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (S. 663) to encourage the manu- facture of steel for modern naval ordnance, armor, shafting, and other 

naval purposes, and toprovideheavyordnanceadapted tomodernnaval 

warfare. 

The bill was reported from the Select Committee on Coast Defenses 

with amendments. The first amendment was, in section 1, line 4, after 

the word ''contracts,'~ to insert ''with responsible steel manufacturers;'' 

in line 5, after the word ''advertisements,'' to strike out '' with re- sponsible steel manufachurers " and insert "to continue not less than 

thirty days in newspapers most likely to reach the manufacturers addressed;" in line 8, after the word "steel," to strike out "for the fabrication of" and insert "in forms suitable for;" in line 10, after the 

word ''steel,'' to insert the word '' finished;'' in line 13, after the word 

''specifications,'' to insert '~subject to inspection and tests at each stage 

of manufacture;" in line 17, after the word "shall;" to strike out the 

words "certify and guarantee" and insert ''contract;" in line 18, after 

the word " plant," to insert "including the best modern appliances;" 

and after the word '' contrad,'' at the end of line 26, to insert ''and 

that all the forgings shall be manufactured in the United States;" so as to make the section read: 

That the Secretary of the Navy be, and hereby is, authorized to make contracts with responsible steel manufacturers, after suitable advertisements, to continue not less than thirty days, in newspapers most likely to reach the manufacturers 

addressed, for the supply of rough-bored, rough-turned, and tempered steel, in 

forms suitable for heavy ordnance adapted to modern warfare, and stee1,finished, 

for armor, shafting, and other naval purposes, in quantity not to exceed 10,000 

gross tons, in quality and dimensions conforming to specifications, subject to inspection and test at each stage of manufacture, and in the case of ordnance including p.ll the parts of each caliber specified : Providedt That no money shall be 

expended except in payment for steel accepted and delivered ; that each bidder 

shall contract to erect in the United States a suitable plant, including the best 

modern appliances, capable of making all the steel required, and of finishing it, 

in accordance with the contract, and agree in the case of an ordnance contract to deliver yearly a specified quantity of each caliber, the time of delivery of the 

smaller calibers to commence at the expiration of not more than eighteen months 

and that of the largest calibers at the expiration of not more than three years from the date of the acceptance of the contract; and that all the forgings shall be manufactured in the United States. 

The amendments was agreed to. 

The next amendment was, in section 2, line 5, after the word ~'for,'' 

to strike out "the fabrication of the heaviest" and insert "finishing 

and assembling;" in line 6, after the word ''warfare," to insert ." up 

to and including the largest approved sizes, and for;" so as to make 

the section read: 

SEc. 2. That the Secretary of the Navy be, and hereby is, authorized to erect at the navy-yard, Washington, D. C., a naval gun factory, in accordance with 

the report of the gun foundry board of December 20, 1884, for finishing and 

assembling guns adapted to modern warfare, up to and including the largest approved sizes, and for the manufacture of gun-carriages and ordnance equip- ment for the naval service, at a cost not to exceed S1,000,0<J!l. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was to insert, as an additional section, the following: 

SEc. 3. That for the purposes of this act the sum of $8,000,000 is hereby ap· 

propriated., out ofanymoney in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, t-o be 

available during six years from January 1,1887. · 

The. bill was reported to the Senate as amended, :md the amendments were concurred in. • The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the 

third time, and passed. 

HOUSE :BILLS REFERRED. 

The bill (H. R. 10178) for the relief of Mrs. Julia A. Sluder, executrix of E. Sluder, deceased, was read twice by its title, and referred 

to the Committee on Claims. 

The bill (H. R. 10666) for the allowance of certain claims reported 

allowed by the accounting officers of the United States Treasury Department was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on 

Claims. ORDER OF PROCEEDING. 

Mr. HALE. That is the order submitted by the Senator from Ten- nessee [Mr. HARRIS]. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Yes, sir. 

MRS. ARLANTA T. TAYLOR. 

The bill (H. R. 7310) granting a pension to ~frs. Arlanta T. Taylor 

was announced as firs~ in order. 

Mr. COCKRELL. Tha.t is a pension bill for one of our constituents 

in Missouri. There is some question about it yet. I ask that it be 

passed over, retaining its place on the Calendar. 

KANSAS LAND-GRANT RAILROADS. 

The bill (H. R. 7021) to protide for the adjustment of l:md grants 

made by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads within the State 

of Kansas, and for the forfeiture of unearned lands, and for other pur· 

poses, was announced as next in order. 

1\Ir. HARRIS. I was requested by the Senator from Kansas [Mr. 

PLUMB], chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, to say that he 

desired that the bill should not be considered this morning, but wished 

unanimous consent that it hold its place on the Calendar. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no objection that order 

will be made. 

PRIVATE LAND CL.All!S. 

The bill (H. R. 2851) to provide for ascertainingandsettlingprivatc 

land claims in the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona and t.he State 

of Colorado was announced as next in order. 

Mr. TELLER. Let that pass over. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill goes over under objection. 

1\Ir. HARRIS. Does the Senator propose to put it under Rule IX? 

Mr. TELLER. I propose to put it over indefinitely if I can. I am 

opposed to it, and there will·be a good deal of discussion on i~ when it 

does come up. 

Mr. HARRIS. I think that is one of the bills that the Senator from 

Kansas requested me to call attention to. 

Mr. TELLER. I think not. I object to the bill;_ let it take-its course. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The bill is objected to, and it will 

be placed under Rule IX. 

Mr. RANSOM subsequently said: I desire the attention of the Sen- ator f\om ColoraJo [Mr. TELLER] for a moment. That Senator just now objected to the consideration of the bill for the adjustment and 

settlement of private land claims in the Territories of New Mexico and 

Arizona and in the State of Colorado. I hope the Senator will not insist 

upon that objection so as to displace the bill. 

Mr. TELLER. I will consent that the bill may stand where it is on the Calendar, simply going over fo:r to-day. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. MILLER in the chair). The bill 

will retain its place on the Calendar. 

ESTATE OF C. M. :BRIGGS. 

The bill (H. R. 3828) for the relief of the estate of C. M. Briggs was considered as in Committee of the Whole. 

The bill was reported from the Committee on Claims with an amendment, to strike out all after the enacting clause and in lieu of the matter stricken out to insert: 

That the Court of Claims is hereby given, subject to the proviso hereinafter 

mentioned, like jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim of the legal repre- sentatives of C. M. Briggs. deceased, for the proceeds of 455 bales of cotton, now in the Treasury of the United States, alleg~d to have been owned, in whole or in part, by said Briggs, as is given to said court by the acts of l\:1arch 12,1863, and 

July 2,1864, upon petition to be filed in said court at any time within two years 

from the passage of this act, any statute of limitations to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, however, That unless the said court shall, on a preliminary inquiry, find that said Briggs was in fact loyal to the United States Government, 

and that the ~ignment to him hereinafter mentioned was bona fide,the court shall not have jurisdiction of the case, and the same shall, without further proceedingll, be dismissed: And provided further, That if the court shall find that 

the alleged assignment from one Morehead to said Briggs, of date of Aprill8, 1862, under which said Briggs claimed said cotton, was intended only as security to said Briggs for indebtedness, and against contingent liabilities assumed by him for said Morehead, judgment shall be rendered only for such portion of the 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The first case on the Calendar un- proceeds of said cotton as shall equal the moneys actually due to said Briggs at 

der the special order will be stated, subject to objection under Rule the date of said assignment,and such as were afterwards actually paid by said 

VIII. · Briggs to or for said Morehead. 

The CrrmF CLERK.. A bill (H. R. 7479) to provide a. method for Mr. COCKRELL. Leh the report in that case be read. 

settling controversies and differences between railroad corporations en- The PRESIDENT pro temp01·e. The report will be read. • gaged in interstate and Territorial transportation of property or pas- The Secretary read the following report, submitted by :M~r. SPOO.Nlm 

scngers and their employes. June 21, 1886: 

Mr. HARRIS. I think the resolution refers to bills on the Calendar The Committee on Claims, t{) whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3828) for the 

under Rule VIII,· that is, to begm· where the call last left off. The relief of the estate of C. :af. Briggs, deceased, have had the same under consideration, and respectfully report : bill announced is on the Calendar under Rule IX. That in April, 1862, Charles s. Morehead, ex-governor of Kentucky, resided 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will adopt that construe- ~!s~'t~~il~~v\t~~ State, and that C. M. Briggs, the deceased claimant, also 

tion, although t~e Chair was at ~rst in doubt whether that was the Morehead and Briggshadbeenpartnersin the practice ofthe law, and the !atproper construction of the resolutiOn. The first case on the Calendar ter was in August, 1862, largely the creditor of the former, for money loaned, 

under Rule VIII will be read. · indorsements paid, partnership moneys used by said Morehead beyond his 

Mr. HARRIS. That is my impression of the proper construction of sh!ll"e, ~oneys advanced in payi_ng indo~ements ~ade for Morehead, a~d.the . . sa1d Bnggs was, moreover, contmgently hable o~dorsements then eXISttng. the order. That was the mtenhon. I The amount of the indebtedness is not shown, although it is stated in the affida.-

Mr. HALE. How are we proceeding-under the eighth rule? vits before the comiD:ittee ~have been" many thousan~s of d~llars." 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the special order by which Morehead .owned m 186., and ha~ owned for some tnne. pnor _th~r~to •. two 

House bills only are in order, under Rule Vl'rr. ' ~~rc~~~n~~~. ~:S ~u~rt!P 0!r ~~!~g\:r!\~i~a~o!!f;i~:~~n~~~~~J~e~d 
1432 CONGRESSIONAL REOORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 7, 

executed and delivered, on ..Aprill8, 1862, to 0. M. Briggs the following instru- ment: 

"For a nd in consideration of money loaned and advanced heretofore by 0. M. Briggs, and further valuable considerations, by way o~ suretyship for me by said Briggs, I hereby sell and transfer to said C. M. Briggs all of the cotton on my two plantations in Mississippi near Egg's Point and Greenville. Said cot- ton so sold embraces all that I may have, baled and unbaled, gathered and UJ?.-

gathered. This is intended to cover all cotton that I have now, or may have thiS 

yen.r, on said two plantations, supposed to be about 2.~.bs~e~iOREHEAD." 

This paper itself,_ and the affidav_its before th~ coml!littee, may perhaps be fairly said tJ> leave 1t an open question whet_her 1t was mt~nde_d as an absolute sale to Brig""s of the cotton, free of all eqmty of redemphon m Morehead. or was intende"'d to be a security for advances theretofore made and liabilities theretofore incurred by said Briggs by his indorsements for the benefit of said Morehead, and then existing, out of which the said Briggs was to reiml;mrse 

himself, rendering, that done, the surplus to Mr. Morehead. The quanti~Y of cotton the utter indefiniteness as to the amount due from Morehead to Bnggs, togeth~r with the fact that part of it was only by way of contingent liability, tend very strongly, to show that the transfer was for purposes of security; but whether an absolute sale, or as security only, is quite immaterial in the view taken by the committee as to the justice of the claim of Briggs upon the cotton and its proceeds, to the extent at least of the advances made at the date of the instrument, and thereafter paid by Briggs for Morehead. . Ex-Governor Morehead (who died about 1869), the committee is satisfied, so far as it bas any information upon the subject, was a. disloyal man nt the time this instrument was executed, and afterwards. He was arrested by the Govern- ment and confined in one of the prisons; but loyal or disloyal, the committee know of no reason why be was not competent in law to own the cotton, and to make a valid assignment of it to Briggs, either' absolutely in payment of a debt or by way of security. The stanch loyalty of Briggs to the Government from the beginning of the war is abundantly vouched by men distinguished for service to the Union. General Rousseau, ex-Attorney-General James Speed, W. D. Gallagher, and Joseph H. Humes, late paymaster United States Army, vouch for his loyalty, and among the papers is found a letter, of date February 20,1863, to Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treas1uy, from George D. Prentice, in which it is stated: 

"Mr. Briggs is perfectly reliable, and you may be assured that no trust confided to him will be abused or transcended. He is and always bas been a devoted Union man. If any reference be necessary, I would suggest that Ron. J. J. Crit- tenden and Hon. Henry Grider have known him since boyhood." The said Briggs made repeated attempts to obtain the cotton, but was pre- vented by military orders and the then condition of affairs. On the 7th day of March1 1863_, under orders from General Grant, Cap_tain Os- band of the Fourth lllinoiS, w1th three steamers, proceeded to Worthmgton's 

Land'in"', directed to capture cotton and forage for the use of the Army, and at such la~ding he seized 2,180 bales of cott<?n, t_he property ~f divers people, l?aded it upon the steamer Empress, and earned 1t to ?.Iemphis, Tenn., where It was by proper authority tur-ned over to Capt. G. L. Fort, assistant quartermaster of the United St.ttes, and by him sold, and the net proceeds paid into the public 

Treasury under the act of March 12, 1863, to be held by the Government in trust for the owners. ' In the cotton seized and sold was 455 bales of the cotton grown on the More- head plantations, and embraced in the bill of sale to Briggs. Other owners of the cotton taken at the time who have presented their claims 

bavtl been paid. . . Congress, by acts of March 12, 18?3, a?d July 2, 1864, conferred Jurisdiction upon the Court of Claims to entertam smts of loyal owners for the proceeds of captured and abandoned property, but the legislation made it a jurisdictional fact that any such suit should be brought within two years. It is alleged on behalf of the deceased claimant, and there is an affidavit by him in the papers before the committee, that he did not know until after the expiration of the two years that the cotton bad been captured and sold by the United States and the proceeds covered into the Treasury, and tberefo.re that he bad a claim against the Government under that act. The statement m the affi- davit is believed by the committee, not simply because of the attested character of Mr. Briggs, but from the corroboration found in the public knowledge of the then condition of affairs, which may well have rendered it impossible for Briggs to ascertain what bad become of his cotton, and from the further fact that, being a lawyer and a loyal man, it is hardly to be believed that be would have per- mitted the statute of limitations to bar him bad he known of the facts which opened to him the remedy given by the acts of Congress. In 1868he presented his claim to Congress, before which it has been since p~nding. This claim bas been repeatedly reported adversely,once by the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, at the first session of the Forty-second Congress; 

again by the Committee on Claims, at the first session of the Forty-fourth Con- gress Report 128, and again by the Committee on Claims, at the first session of the F'orty-fourth Congress, Report 372. '£he bill was reported favorably by the Committee on 'Var Claims of the House of Representatives at the present ses- sion of Congress. The committee can see no good reason why the Congress oft~ Un_ite.d S~tes 

should not under the circumstances, remove the bar of the statute of hmttat10ns, and enabl~ the le('ral representatives of the deceased claimant to establish, if they may be able ~o to do, the own~rship, a~solute or qualified1 by said Bri~gs of said cotton, and his consequent mterest m the proceeds, blS loyalty bemg made a jurisdictional fact. . This property was not confiscated, and the Supreme Court of the Umted States has decided that the title was not divested hy the seizure, and that the Govern- ment holds it, or the proceeds, in trust for loyal claimants. If Briggs bad known the fact and could have established his ownership of the cotton under the acts of Congress of 1863 and 1864, be could have of course recov- ered the pl"Oceeds, or such part thereof as the court found him entitled to. Lapse o' time has not, except technically, made any cba.n~e in the title to the proceeds. If the bill should become a. law, and the legal representatives of Briggs shall be able to establish his loyalty, and his absolut-e ownership of the 455 bales of cotton, of course tbeywill be entitled to recover the entire proceeds of that cotton. If, on the other band, it should turn out that the transfer to Briggs was colorable, and a makeshift to enable a. disloyal man to save to biro- self, through the use of the na.me of a loyal friend, his property, tha.t ends the case, and the money remains in the Treasury. If it should be found by the court that Briggs was loyal, that Morehead was indebted to him, and that the as~ignment of the cotton was as security only, then the judgment should be in 

favor of the estat~ of Briggs for so much of the proceeds of the cotton a."' will pay the debt for which it was security, and the surplus, if any there shall be, will remain in the Treasury. The committee therefore recommend that the House bill 3828 be amended by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the amend- ment herewit·h reported. • 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The bill was reported to tb~ Senate as amended, and the amendment was concurred in. 

The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a. third time. 

The bill was read the third time, and passed. 

HARRISON DEWEY. 

The bill (H. R. 3110) directing the Secretary of War to amend the 

record · of Harrison Dewey was considered as in Committee of the 

Whole. 

The Committee on Military Affairs reported an amendment, in line 

6, after the word "honorable,, to strike out "discharge" and insert 

"muster out;" so as to make the bill read: 

Be il enacted, &c., That the Secretary of War be directed to amend the record of the War Department in the case of Harrison Dewey, late second lieutenant of Company E, Second Regiment Vermont Volunteers, so as to grant him an honorable muster-out from said ser,·ice as of the date of his dismissal as now shown by said record. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment was concurred in. 

The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a third time. 

The bill was read the third time, and passed. 

RAILROAD RECEIVERS. 

Mr. GEORGE. I ask leave to call up a. resolution I offered on the 

20th of December, .1886, and have it referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary. 

The PRESIDENT p1·o tempore. Is there objection to the request of 

the Senator from Mississippi to refer the resolution? · There being no objection, the resolution was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be instructed to inquire into the powers of the Federal courts wherein any receiver for a railroad bas been appointed to authorize or permit such receiver to disregard or violate the laws of the State wherein such railroad is operated regulating charges for the trans- ~ortation of persons or property on the same !!O far as such charges are made for transportation beginning and ending in such State, and also to inquire into the necessity for any legislation on that subject, and that they report by bill or otherwise. 

:.\IRS. FANNY S. CONWAY. 

The bill (H. R. 914) for the relief of Mrs. Fanny S. Conwa.y was considered as in Committee of the Whole. It provides for the payment 

to 1\Irs. Fanny S. Conway, widow of Dr. Ed. Conway, lost in the Grampus 

in 1843, of $270, being the amount due and unpaid ,her under act of 

Congress. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

BRIDGE OVER BAYOU BARNARD. 

The bill (H. R. 1336) to authorize the construction of a bridge over Bayou Barnard, in the State of Mississippi, was considered as in Committee of the Whole. 

The bill was reported from the Committee on Commerce with amendments. 

The first amendment was in section 1, line 6, after the word 1

.

1 transit,)) tO insert II "\flthOUt tolls;" in line 13, befOre the WOrd II boats,)) 

to strike out "passing;" in line 15, after the word 11 therefor, to insert "width of spans;" and in the same line, after the word "location," 

to strike out the word "thereof" and insert "of said bridge;" so as to 

make the section read: 

That it shall be lawful for the board of supervisors of Harrison Oountr, in tho State of Mississippi, to construct a bridge across Bayou Barnard o.t a pomt in or near the town of Handsborough, in said county, for t·he transit, without tolls, of persons, animals, and vehicles of all kinds· Prmnded, That the said bridge shall have a draw of not less than 30 feet, and as much more as may be neces- sary for the passage of steam or sail boats or other water crafts navigating said bayou; and said authorities shall have some person in charge of sai~ draw, so that at all times the same may be opened for the passage of boats without un- necessary delay: And provided jur_ther, That before any brid~e shall. be l:?uilt under this act the plans therefor, width of spans, and the location of Sald bridge shall be submitted to and approved by the Secretary of War. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The next amendment was to insert the following a.s additional sections: 

SEC. 2. That the said board of supervisors shall ma.inlai_n, at their own ex- pense from sunset to sunrise, tbrou~hout the year and durmg heavy fogs, such lights'on the bridge as may be reqmred by the Light-House Board for the secu- rity of navigation. SEc. 3. That the right to alter or amend this act so as to preventorremo,·e all material obstructions to the navigation of said bayou is hereby expressly re- served, and all changes ora.ltera~ions s.o required shall be made at the expense of the parties owning or controllmg sa1d bndge. SEc. 4. That if the construction of the bridge authorized herein ~ not COJl?--

menced and completed within three years from the approval of thiS act, this 

act shall be nnll and void. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendments were concurred in. 

The amendments were ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a. third time. 

The bill was read the third time, and passed. 

Mr. WALTHALL. I move that the Senate insist on it.s amendmenttl 
1887. CONGRESSIO.NAL REC9RD-. SENATE~ 1433 

to that bil), and ask for a conference with the House of ReprE>.senta.tives 

thereon. 

The motion was agreed to. 

By unanimous consent the President pro tempore was authorized to 

appoint the conferees on the part of the Senate; and Mr. VEST, Mr. RANsoM, and Mr. CoNGER were appointed. 

TEXAS JUDICIAL DISTRICTS. 

The bill (H. R. 4841) to change the eastern and northern judicial 

districts of Texas, and for other purposes, was announced as next in 

order. 

The bill was read. 

Mr. VEST. That bill cuts off part of the Indian Territory and annexes it to a judicial district of Texas. I did not know what it was 

when it was called up. I object to its consideration. 

Mr. HARRIS. The objection carries the bill over. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. MILLER in the chair). The bill 

will be passed over. 

Mr. BERRY. The Senator from Texas [Mr. COKE] is not in, and I 

ask that it retain its place on the Calendar. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri [Mr. VEST] 

has objected to the consideration of the bill. 

Mr. BERRY. 1 ask unanimous coru;ent that it retain its place on 

the Calendar until the Senator from Texas comes in. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? 

Mr. COKE. I ask that the bill lie over until my colleague [Mr. 

MAXEY] returns. 

The PR~IDING OFFICER. The bill will be placed under Rule IX, 

unless there is unanimous consent that it retain its present place. The 

Chair hears no objection to the suggestion of the Senator from Texas, 

and it is so ordered. 

MAJ. MICHAEL P. SMALL. 

The bill (H. R. 4616) for the relief of Maj. Michael P. Small was considered as in Committee of the Whole. 

The bill was reported from the Committee on Military Affairs with 

an amendment to strike out all after the enacting clause and to insert: 

That the proper accounting officers of the Treasury shall allow to Maj. Michael 

P. Smith, commissary of subsistence, Unit-ed States Army, a credit of S3,7R0.63 

in the settlement of his accounts, being the amount of Government funds lost 

by him through the fraud of his confidential clerk while said Small was on duty as depot and purchasing commissary of subsistence at Chicago, Ill., in 1879-'80: Provided That-the Court of Claims shall find the loss of said funds to have been 

without fault or negligence on the part of said offi<'er; and jurisdiction is hereby 

conferrt>d upon the Court of Claims to hear and determine such matter, without 

regard t,o the limit.a.tion imposed by section 1069 of the Revised Statutes, and to render judgment accordingly. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment 

wa..., concurred in. 

The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read 

a third time. 

The bill was read the third time, and passed. 

Mr. MANDERSON. I hope the Senator from Missi'5Sippi in charge 

of the bill will ask for a committee of conference on that bill, so that 

it may become a law at this session. 

Mr. WALTHALL. I was about to make that motion when the 

Senator made the suggestion. I move that the Senate insist on its 

amendment and ask for a conference thereon. 

The motion was agreed to. 

.By unanimous consent the President pro tempm·e was authorized to 

appoint the conferees on the part of the Senate; and Mr. WALTHALL, 

Mr. COCKRELL, and Mr. MANDERSON were appointed. 

TEXAS JUDICIAL DISTRICTS. 

Mr. VEST. I rise to make a parliamentary inquiry. What disposition was made of Order of Business 1642, being the bill (H. R. 4841) 

to change the eastern and northern judicial districts of Texas, and for 

other purposes? . The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. MILLER in the chair). The bill 

was passed over without prejudice, retaining its place on the Calendar 

until the absent Senator from Texas [Mr. MAXEY] shall return. 

Mr. VEST. Was that by unanimous consent? 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent. 

:Mr. VEST. I did not so understand. I am opposed to that bill, and 

I do not want it called up if I can he1p it. If it is permitted to stand 

under this order--

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair understood the Senator 

from Missouri to object to the consideration of the bill. The Chair 

then stated that it would go under Rule IX. Then the Senator from 

Texas [Mr. CoKE] made a request for unanimous consent that the bill 

retain its place until his colleague [Mr. MAXEY] should return. That 

question was put, and no objection being made, it was so ordered. 

Perhaps the Senator from Missouri did not understand it. 

Mr. VEST. I do not wish the bill taken up when I am not in the 

Senate. 

Mr. COKE. It retains its place subject to call, I understand. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Subject to call under the .rule on 

which we are now acting, but with the statement that it was to lie over 

until the Senator's colleague should return. 

Mr. VEST. I want to be here when the bill is considered. That -

is alL 

ALEXANDER GOBLE. 

The bill (H. R. 2176) for the relief of Alexander Goble was considered as in Committee of the Whole. It provides for the payment to 

Alexander Goble, late a corporal of Company A,_ One hundred and fifth 

Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, of $190, bemg.bounty-money due 

Goble from the Government of the United States. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ~rdered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

ST. MARK'S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The bi11 (H. R. 1993) (or the relief of St. 1\iark's Protestant Episcopal church, in the District of Columbia, was considered as in Committee of the Whole. It provides that a certain piece of land situated in 

the city of Washington, known as lots 9 and 11 in square 788 of the 

plan of that city, and occupied by the church known as St. Mark's 

Protestant Episcopal church, and all the buildings, grounds, and property appurtenant thereto and used in connection th~rewith, sh~ be ex- empt from any and all taxes or assessments, nat10nal, mun1mpa.I, or 

county; and all taxes, together with the interest and penalties now due 

and unpaid upon the property, remitted. 

Mr. PLATT. Let the report be read, Mr. President. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The report will be read. 

'l'he Chief Clerk read the following report, submitted by 1\:t:r. VANCE 

July 12, 1886: 

The Committ-ee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1993) for the relief of St. Mark's Episcopal church, in the District of Columbia, 

have had the same under consideration, and report thereon as follows: 

They find all the facts in the case stated bv the report of the committee of the House of RepresentatiYes on the bill, and adopt the same as their report, as fol· 

lows, to wit: 

"The congregation of St. Mark'~ parish is small, and consists mostly of l?er- sons of moderate income-some bemg poor and none wealthy-and they are Illy 

able to pay the taxes outstanding against their property-the lots referred to in 

the bill. They now occupy a small wooden building, ~ear aud. adjoining, for 

and as their place of worship. The seats now are and will rem am free. 

"The taxes, penalties, and interest are outstanding 1\nd unpaid from 1872 ~ t~e 

present time. The lots were purchased by the vestry of St. Mark's pansh m the year 1870 and were purchased for the sole and only purpose of erecting a church there~n. In 1~1 they laid the foundation of a church building. covering 

the whole of said lots, but have not completed said church edifice for the reason that they have been pecuniarily unable t,o do so. It has, in fact, been with great 

labor and sacrifice that they have paid the purchase-money for said lots. 

"The committee think that said lots having been purchased solely for the pur- pose of ei·ecting thereon a church for t~e us«: of said St. Mark's EpiSC<?pal church, 

and said church having proceeded with said work as rap1dly as their pecumary ability would permit, and not having been utilized by them, or attempted to be, 

for profit, that the same has been occupied and used by them since their said purclJ.~te committee 1·eport the biil back t-o the House, and &sk that the same be 

p~~d~~mmitt-ee therefore recommend that the bill be passed as amended to correct a clerical error in the numbe1· of the square in which· said lots arc situated. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is no amendment in the bill as 

reported, though the report speaks of an amendment. 

Mr. PLAIT. Does not the report state what the amendment proposed is? 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. It does not. 

Mr. McMILLAN. A mere clerical correction. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. In the number of the lot. 

Mr. HARRIS. Does the report recommend that the bill be amended? 

The Chief Clerk 1·ead: 

The committee therefore recommend that the bill be passed as amended to correct a clerical error in the number of the square in which said lots are situated. 

Mr. PLATT. In the number of the square. 

Mr. HARRIS. And does not specifY what the number is? 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. It does not. 

. Mr. HARRIS. I ask, then, that the bill go over for the prcsen li, retaining its place on the Calendar, the Senator from North Carolina [Mr. 

V L~CE], who reported it, not being in his seat. He will be able to 

make the proper amendment. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. It is so ordered. 

WILLIAM H. MORHISER. 

The bill (H. R. 5877) for the relief of William H: Morhise:r: w:as con- sidered as in Committee of the Whole. It appropnates to William H. 

Morhiser the pay and allowances due him for services to the United 

States Government for which he has not been paid, namely: first, the 

pay and allowances of a private of cavalry from November 30, 1863, to 

January 1, 1865; and second, such additional pay _and allo'Yances, as 

commutation of rations, &c., a8 were allowed to pnsoners of war frozn 

July 30, 1864, to January 1, 1865. The bill was reported to the Sent~ 

ordered to a third reading, read the third time: and passed. 

E. P. M1NE.AL. 

The bill (H. R. 4839) for the relief of E. P. Uc~cu.l "'as considered as in Committee of the Whole. It provides for the payment to E. P. ·McNeal, of Hardeman County, Tennessee, of $12,781.81, in full com-
1434 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 7, 

pensation fo:r all property taken from :McNeal by the United States 

.Aimy during the war. Mr. PLATT. Let the report be read. 

The Secretary read the following report, submitted by Mr. DoLPH 

July 15, 1886 : 

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4.839) for the 

relief of E. P. Mc..~eal, having had the same under consideration, submit the 

following report: This claim was favorably reported from the Committee on War Claims (Report No. 443) at the s~cond session of the Forty-fift.h Congress; was adversely 

reported from the same committee at the second session of the Forty-sixth Con- gress (Report No. 1067) ; was again adversely reported from the same committee at the first session of the Forty-eighth Congress; was favorably reported from 

the same committee. and _passed the House at the present session of Congress. 

The facts are stated rn s:ud House report (No. 443) made at the second session of 

the Forty-fifth Congress, which is as follows: 

[House Report No. 443, Forty-fifth Congress. second session.] 

The Committ~e on War Claims, to whom was referred the petition of E. P . .'Mc.::-eal, having considered the same, submit the following report: E. P. McNeal resided in Hardeman County, Tennessee, during the war. The 

claim is for lumber, wood, horses, mules, and farm produce alleged to have been 

tak-en and used by the Army in 1862, 1863, and 1864.. It was filed in the office of 

the Quart-ermaster-General, under the act of July4, 1864, and finally rejected by him in October, 18U, for the reason, as assigned, that that officer was not con- vinced that the claimant was loyal. In rejecting the claim the QuartermasterGeneral expressed a. purpose not to reopen it on the additional evidence pre- sented, "in justice to thirteen thousand claimants whose claims are still undecided and who have rights to be heard." 

It would certainly be a hardship if the petitioner must be permanently deprived of his rights solely on account of .a lack of force in the QuartermasterGeneral's Office, and the grounds relied upon for bringing the case before Congress appear sufficient. 

By joint resolution No 99, first session Thirty-ninth Congress, the provisions 

of the act of July4, 1864, were extended to the loyal citizens of the State of Ten- nessee· McNeal took the oath of allegiance to the Government of the United 

States 6 July, 1862, prior to the taking of his property. Under the construction 

uniformly given to that act, when a person took the oath of allegiance and kept 

it faithfully he is held loyal thereafter. That question arose in McNeal's case in 1863. On the occupation of that section by the Federal army in 1862, a large 

quantity of his cotton was seized and sold, and he applied to the Secretary of 'V ar for the restoration. of the proceeds. The application was referred to JudgeAdvocate-General Holt for his opinion, from which the following extracts are 

taken: * • • "The sixth section of the act of 17th July, 1862, declares that if any person being engaged in armed rebellion against the Government of the United 

States, or aiding or abetting such rebellion, shall not within sixty days after 

public warning and proclamation by the President, cease to aid, countenance, or .abet snch rebellion, and return to his allegiance to the United States, all the estate and property, moneys, stocks, o.nd credits of such person sba.ll be liable 

to seizure, &c. 

''This must be construed to be a declaration by implication that, if such person does comply with the requirements of the statute, his property of every kind 

shall be protected from seizure. The exemption for complying with the law 

mus1 necessarily be held to be as broad and comprehensive as the penalty denounced for a. failure to do so. What support, or aid and comfort beyond the contract referred to, had been previously given to the rebellion by the petitioner 

does not appear; but, whatever it may have been, he, on the 22d of July, 1862, 

five days after the passage of the law, returned to his allegiance and took the 

oath which has been already mentioned. This appears to have been done in 

good faith, and it is not alleged or pretended that be has since violAted that oath or been guilty of any disloyal practices. It is quite clear, therefore, that if this cotton or its proc~eds can be regarded as his property, it was not liable to seizure 

under the sixth section of the act of 17th July. - * * * "A great principle of public policy is involved in this case, and no technical objections should be allowed to restrain or embarrass its operations. It was the object of Congress to induce those in rebellion against the Govern- ment to lay down their arms and return totbeir allegiance,and to prevail on them to do so a complete amnesty for the past, with limited exceptions, has been 

otfered by solemn legislative enactment. When the terms thus proposed have 

been accepted and complied with by a citizen previously in rebellion, good 

faith, as well as the best interests of the Government, require that the full benefits of this legislation and of this policy shall be secured to him. 

"I recommend, therefore, that Brigadier-General Ross be ordered at once to pay over to the petitioner the SlO,OOO_, the proceeds of the cotton, and which he now holds awaiting the decision 01 the War Department upon the question 

raised." 

This decision was approved by Hon. E. M. Stanton, then Secretary of War, in 

November, 1862, and the proceeds were pai.d to McNeal accordingly. The petitioner's loyalty was a.ga.in passed upon favorably by the accounting officers of the Treasury inN ovember, 1871, and the sum of$1,294.04 was paid him on vouchers for hay, corn, fodder, &c., taken and used by the army in August, September, and October, 1862. These vouchers bad been originally filed in the Office 

of the Quartermaster-General as a part of this claim, and were presented to the 

Treasury Department for settlement, with thea.cquiescenceoftbe QuartermasterGeneral. The proof offered in support of loyalty was the same as now offered, 

with the exception of such, proof as has since been filed. The case was referred 

by the Treasury Department to the Bureau of Justice in the War Department for ~"Pinion as to the sufficiency of the proof of McNeal's loyalty. After considering the effect of the oath of July, 1862, and going over the testimony critically 

and at length, the opinion concludes: 

"There are thus twelve witnesses, unimpeached in theircharact~r. who under 

oath affirm the continued loyalty of the claimant-not as 'reputed,' nor as gathered as hearsay, nor any popular estimate of him, but as a fact within their own know ledge, derived from intimate and long-continued personal intercourse 

with him, and from constant pers<!nal observation of his conduct. Among these are three officers of the Government who, being unassailed, are, by their position as its trusted agents, entitled to its confidence. Not a single witness who 

has spoken under the sanction of an oath bas charged the claimant either with 

disloyal conversation or with practices of any kind inconsistent with the obligations of allegiance assumed by him in July, 1862. Opposed to this array of 

testimony is the statement found in the printed voucher and the certificate of 

.Assistant Q,uartermaster Eddy; but these speak only of reputation and of the 

sayings of certain • Union men' not named, not under oath, and not subjected to cross-examination. In response to these, and sufficient to neutralize them, is 

the certificate of Assistant Quartermaster Clary, stationed at Memphis, Tenn., tha~ the claimant, though originally a secessionist, having, on the occupation of Bolivar by the Federal troops, taken the oath of allegiance, the report was that 

'he had fulfilled its conditions.' Guided to its conclusion solely by the evi· 

dence on file, this bureau can not but regard the claimant's loyalty as established so far as any issue of fact can be settled by human testimony." 

This opinion is signed by J. Holt, Judge-Advocate-GeneJ:al. It was concurred 

~a~id~e accounting officers of the Treasury, and the vouchers were pn.id as 

Since tl~ese vouchers were allowed and paid by the Trensury Department, 

other testnnony as to loy~lty has been taken, and is now pre en ted. ~· H. Morgan. late assJStant adjutant-general and brevet brigadier-general testifies that he was for some time during the war assistant adjutant-general fo; 

the district of West Tennessee; that he was well acquainted with McNeal, and 

that be was regarded as a Union man by the military authorities after 1862· that as soon as the Federal troops reached his neighborhood be was one of th~ first to take the oath, and his conduGt was such as to gain for him the confidence of tb,~ officers. The witness concludes: 

Any one ~ho states that McNeal was disloyal from the first moment he had 

!~~~~=~·to take the oath must do it from mistaken information or perJo~iaJ:l Deloach,pos~master at Memphis, Tenn., testifies that he has been well 

and Intimately acqunl!lted '!ith McNeal for many years past, and that since he 

took the oath of alleg~ce rn July, 1862, "he has at all times been loyal to the 

Government of the Umted States, and kept his said oath inviolate." 

Thomas G. Patrick testifies" that said E. P. McNeal since be took the am- nesty oath, under President Lincoln's proclamation, in 'July, 1862, bas all times 

fh!~~:. ,s:nd loyal to the Government of the United States, and a supporter of 

D. J. Benner, chief quartermaster on General Hurlburt's sta.ft', while that offic~r 

commanded at Bohva.r, and who has been before the committee testifies: * * * "The said ¥eN ea.l had the reputation o_f being an unqualified Union man, and was so considered by those persons, residents of that section of coun- try, whose loyalty the Government has fullY: recognized; it was a matter of co~mon report that he took the oath of alleg1ance at the very earliest oppor· ~mty, and t~at he faithfully lived up to his obligations. I always while sta- ti?ned at Boliv~r, and wJ:len hearing his name mentioned in Memphls, believed 

him t~ J:>e.acoDSlStent Umonman, and have neverhadanyreason since to change that opimon.'' 

If any doubt-!? existed in the minds of any as to McNeal's loyalty upon tho 

settlement of his vouchers by the Treasury Department it would seem that they 

6ught .to be whollyremo~e!l by the positive testimonyu;.ken subsequently. The 

COfD!Dittee are of t~e. optmori that tbe.te~timony abundantly justifies the con- clusiOn that the petitioner was loyal Within the meaning of the act under which 

be seeks relief. ¥cN~l owned two plantations, one near Bolivar, and the other some twelve 

miles distant. These appear to have been in a. good state of cultivation and 

there is no_question as to his ownership oftbe property. Some twenty-fiv~ wit- ness~ t~tify to the taking of the property by the United States Army, and to quantity ~r numbers and ~alu!l· Of these, upwards of twenty made affidavits to the taking and conversion 1n 1865, when the circumstances relative thereto were probabl~ fresh .in memory. The account was made out in July 1865. The case has been rnvestigated by officers of the Quartermaster-Generai•s Department, and no question has bee~ raised ~ to the validity of the claim, so far as relates to ~he property. The Witnesses rnclude Pyboss, postmaster at Bolivar ; Boyle, an rnterna.l revenue officer: Col. D. J. Benner, late an assistant quarter· 

master; D. E. Coon, late colonel of the Second Iowa Cavalry· and a number of 

citizens of evident respectability. Colonels Benner and Coo,; have been before 

the committee in person. The former testifies that about 10 000 bushels of corn and 80,000 pounds of fodder were taken in 1862 by himself ®d by an officer act• ing under him. He also corroborates the taking of the lumber o.nd wood. Colonel Coon testifies to the taking of eight mules and 600 bushels of corn The amo~tcla!medwasS16,642,whichi~somewhatreducedbytbrowingout~small 

portion which was not deemedsu:ffictently proved, and by substituting prices allowed by the Quartermaster-General at the various dates of the taking of the 

items charged. 

The account is stnted as follows : 

9, 895 bushels of corn, at 50 cents ....................................................... ; ... . 790 bushels of corn, at $1 .................................................................... . 80,600 pounds of fodder, at 75 cents per cwt ......................................... .. 300 pounds of bay, at SL5 per ton .....•....••..•........•.•..••....................•....• 13,504 feet of lumber, at Sl5 per 1,000 ............ •m••••• ................................ . 

865 cords of wood, at $2 per cord ........................................................ . 1, 000 cords of wood (timber), at 81 per cord ......................................... . 

24 mules, at $125 each .....•.•..•.••.•.•• ~····•·u•••••···································· · lhorse .................................................. _. ....................................... . 

wag~!~s:'li::!:~.~~~~:::·:.·.:::·:.~:::::::·:.~:::::·::.::::::·::.·.::::::·:.:::·.:::::·.::::::::::::: 

!, 947 50 790 ()() 504 50 

225 

202 56 1, 730 ()() . 1,000 ()() 

3,000 ()() 150 ()() 230 ()() 

125 ()() 

Total .•...•..• -.................................................................................... 12,781 81 

The committee recommend the passage of the accompanying bill. -

Your committee adopt said report, and recommend the passage ofthe bill. 

Mr. PLATT. The Senator who made that report is not in. 

While the bill may be all right, I do not like to vote for it without a little further time to examine it. I therefore ask that the bill may 

lie over until the Senator from Oregon c<>mes in. -

:1\Ir. HARRIS. Retaining its place on the Calendar subject to call. 

1tir. PLATT. Certainly. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. That course will be punmed. 

FRANCIS ll. SHAW. 

The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, "proceeded to consider the 

bill (H. R. 2995) for the relief of Francis H. Shaw. It is an authority 

to the Secretary to grant to Francis H. Shaw, late captain of Company 

C, Fifty-fifth Illinois United States Volunteer Infantry, an honorable 

discharge and muster out of the service of tho United States, but this 

is not to be held to authorize the payment of any money to Shaw on 

account of the honorable discharge and muster out. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to 

a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

MARTIN MURPHY. 

The bill (H. R. 2156) for the removal of the charge of desertion 

from the record of Martin Murphy was considered as in Committee of 

the Whole. It removes the charge of desertion standing against the name of :Ma1·tin Murphy, late a. soldier in Company I, Ninety-first Regiment New York Volunteers, and directs the issue to him of an honorable discharge. The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, a.nd passed. 

.. 
1887. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1435 

FOREIGN CONTRACT LABOR. 

The bill (H. R. 9232) to amend an act to prohibit the importation and 

immigration of foreigners and aliens under contract or agreement to 

perform labor in the United States, its Territories, and the District of 

Columbia, was considered as in Committee of the Whole. It proposes 

to add to the act to prohibit the importation and immigration of foreigners and aliens under contract or agreement to perform labor in the 

United States, its Territories, and the District of Columbia, approved 

February 26, 1885, and to provide for the enforcement thereof, the following sections: 

SEc. 6. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby charged with the duty of 

executing the provisions of this act; and for that purpose he shall have power to enter into contracts with such State commission, board, or officers as may be 

designated for that purpose by the governor of any State to take charge of the 

local affairs of 4umigration in the ports within said State, under the rules and 

regulations to be prescribed by said Secretary; and it shall be the duty of such 

State commission, board, or officers so designated to examine into the condition 

of passengers arriving at the ports within such State in any sllip or vessel ; and 

for that purpose all or any of such cormnissioners or officers, or such other per- son or persons as they shall appoint, shall be aut,horized to go on board of and 

through any such ship or vessel; and if in such examination there shall be found among such passengers any person included in the prohibition in this act, they 

shall report the same in writing to the collector of such port, and such persons shall be permitted to land. 

SEC. 7. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall establish such regulations and 

rules, and issue f1·om time to time such instructions, not inconsistent with law, as he shall deem best calculated for carrying out the provisions of this act; and 

he shall prescribe all forms of bonds, entries, and other papers to be used under 

and in the enforcement of the various provisions of this act. SEC. 8. That all persons included in the prohibition in this act, upon arrival, 

shall be sent back to the nations to which they belong and from whence they came. The Secretary of the Treasury may designate the State board of charities of any State in which such board shall exist by law, or any commission in any State, or any person or persons in any State, whose duty it shall be to ex- ecute the provisions of this section, and shall be entitled to reasonable compen- sation therefor, to be fixed by regulation prescribed by the Secretary of the 

Treasury. The Secret-ary of the Treasury shall prescribe regulations for there- turn of the aforesaid persons to the countries from whence they came, and shall 

furnish instructions to the board, commission, or persons charged with the ex- ecution of the provisions of this section as to the time of procedure in respect 

thereto, and may change such instructions from time to time. The expense of 

such return of the aforesaid persons not permitted to land shall be borne by the owners of the vessels in which they came; and any vessel refusing to pay such expenses shall not thereafter be permitt~d to land at or clear from any port of 

the United States, 11-nd such expenses shall be a lien on said vessel. That the necessary expense in the execution of this act for the present .fiscal year shall 

be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

SEc. 9. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby 

repealed. 

SEc. 10. That this act shall take effect at the expiration of thirty days after 

its passage. . 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to 

a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

CONSIDERATION OF HOUSE BILLS. 

'j'he PRESIDING OFFICER. The honr of 2 o'clock having arrived, 

the Chair lays before the Senate the unfinished business, being the bill 

(S. 2288) to incorpora,te the Atlantic and Pacific Railway, and for other 

pmposes. 

Mr. HARRIS. I ask the consent of the Senate, with the approval of ~he Senator from Missonri [Mr. VEST], who has charge of the un:fintshed business, that we proceed under the present rule for half an hour 

'.onger. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there be no objection it will be '0 ordered. The Chair hears none. 

PRESIDENTIAL APPROVALS. 

A message from the President of the United States, by :Air. 0. L. 

PRUDEN, one of his secretaries, announced that the President had, on 'he 4th instant, approved and sjgned the following acts: 

An act (S. 1532) to regulate commerce; 

An act .(S. 181a) to amend the law relating to patents, trade-marks, 

md copyright; 

An act (S. 229) to provide for t,he erection of a public building at 

N'ilmington, N. C.; 

An act (S. 2'220) granting a pension to James G~ :Mathes; 

An act (S. 2335) for the relief of the heirs of Irialitty Rose; and 

An act (S. 2369) granting an increase of pension to William H. H. 

?rice. SAMUEL H. FLEMMING. 

The bill (H. R. 3173) for the relief of Samuel H. Flemming was con- 3fdered as in Committee of the Whole. It provides for the payment 

to Samuel H. Flemming, of North Carolina, $206.66, for carrying the 

United States mails in North Carolina in 1870. 

The bill was reported to the Senate :without amendment, ordered to 

a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

KANAWHA AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY. 

The bill (H. R. 2646) _granting to the Kanawha and Ohio Railroad 

Company the right to lay its track through United States lock and dam 

property in the Great Kanawha Valley, State of West Virginia, was announced as next in order. 

The bill was read. 

The bill was reported from the Committee on Commerce, with an 

amendment in line 30, after the word '' way '' to insert--

Pro1-'ided, That said Kanawha and Ohio Railroad Company, ite successors and 

assigns, shall pay a reasonable yearly rental for said property, the amotmt thereof to be ascertained and prescribed by the Secretary of War. 

{ . 

Mr. COCKRELL. I do not see the Senator from West Virginia 

[Mr. KENNA] who reported the bill, and I see that the Secretary of 

War suggests certain changes. I ask that the bill go over withont 

prejudice, retaining its place. 

Mr. CONGER. The amendment proposed by the committee meets 

the suggestions, does it not? 

Mr. COCKRELL. I can not tell. The Secretary says he recom- mends them in red ink. There is only one amendment reported. The 

bill will not lose its place by going over. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill will be passed over without 

prejudice, retaining its plaee on the Calendar. 

Mr. COCKRELL. The Senator from West Virginia may come in 

before we get through. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill will be passed o·fer. 

EUGENE E. 1\I'LEAN. 

The bill (H. R. 9115) for the relief of Eugene E. McLean was con- sidered as in Committee of the Whole. It proposes to remove all political disabilities imposed upon Eugene E. McLean, a citizen of New 

York, by the fourteenth article of amendments to the Constitution of 

the United States. 

The bill was reported to the Senate Without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed, two-thirds of the Senators present voting in favor thereof. 

TRANSFER OF APPROPRIATION. 

The bill (H. R. 4083) to empower the Commissioner of Agriculture • to transfer certain appropriation was announced as next in order. 

Mr. McMILLAN. That seems to refer to last year's appropriation. 

Does it apply to this year? 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill shows it to be a transfer of an appropriation. The amendment reported by the Committee on Appropriations will be stated. ·The amendment of the Committee on Appropriations was to add to 

the bill: 

And the accounting officers of the Treasury are authorized and directed to allow the suspended account of George B. Loring, late Commissioner of Agriculture, the several sums which were expended by him in the purchase of 

sorghum seed and beet seed, and for labor in the distribution of the same, from 

October 1, 1.884, to September 30, 1885, inclusive, which expenditures were made 

from the laboratory fund, so called, and which the First Co.mptroUer of the 

Treasury has decided not to be properly chargeable to said fund, said allowance not to exceed the sum of $20,807.80. 

Mr. MORGAN. Let that go over, Mr. President. I object to it. 

The PRESIDENT pro ternpore. The bill is objected to. 

:A-Ir. BECK. The Senator from Maine [Mr. HALE] has charge of 

this bill. Will the Senator from Alabama object to its retaining its 

place·? 

Mr. MORGAN. Not at alL 

Mr. BECK. Let it go over without pr~judice. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. That will be the order. 

KANAWHA AND OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY. 

Mr. KENNA. ·I understand that in my temporary absence House 

bill 2646 was passed over because of my absence. I ask that it be now taken up. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. It will now be taken up if there be no objection. 

The Senate, as in Committee ofthe Whole, proceeded fu consider the 

bill (H. R. 2646) granting to the Kanawha and Ohio Railroad Company 

the right to lay its track through United States lock and dam property 

in the Great Kanawha Valley, State of West Virginia. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment reported from the 

Committee on Commerce will again be stated. 

The CHIEF CLERK. In line 30, after the word ''way'' the committee 

report to insert: 

PrO'Vided, That said Kanawha and Ohio Railroad Company, its successors and 

assigns, shall pay a reasonable yearly rental for said property, the amount thereof to be ascertained and prescribed by the Secretary of War. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. COCKRELL. I desire to call the attention of the Senate to the 

language of the letter of the Secretary of War: In response to your request of the 19th ultimo for the views of the De:pa1·tment on H. R. 2646, granting to the Kanawha and Ohio Railway the right to lay its 

track through United States lock and dam property in the Great Kanawha Valley, State of West Virp:inia, I beg to advise you that, subject to the few correc- tions marked in red ink in the bill (herewith returned), there appears to be no objection to its passage on the part of this Department. 

W aB this one of the corrections ? 

Mr. KENNA. The corrections suggested by the Secretary of War were recommended to the House Committee, and they were made in 

the House bill before it came to the Senate. The Senate committee's 

amendment is an additional correction. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment was concnrred in. 

The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read 

a third time. 

The bill was read the third time, and passed. 

Mr. KENNA. I move that the Senate insist on its amendment and 

ask for a conference on the disagreeing vot.es. 

The motion was agreed to. 
1436 CONGRESSI01fAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 7, 

By unanimous consent, the President pro tempore was authorized to 

appoint the conferees oa the part of the Senate, and .M:r. CoNGER, .M:r. 

MILLER., and Mr. KENNA were appointed. 

TEMPORARY APPROPRIATIONS. 

The joint resolution (H. Res. 211} to continue the provi8ions of a joint resolution entitled a 11 Joint resolution to provide temporarily for 

the expenditures of the Governme.nt'' was announced as the next business in order. 

Mr. DAWES. That might be ind.efinitely postponed; the occasion 

for it has passed. 

The joint resolution was postponed indefinitely. 

BRIDGE .ACROSS TR..A.DEW..A.TE.R RIVER. 

The bill (H. R. 9895) to authorize the construction of a bridge across the Tradewater River by the Ohio Valley .Railway Company was considered as in Committee of the Whole. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to 

a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

JAMES P. MARRS. 

The bill (H. R. 9183) for the relief of James R. Marrs was considered as in Committee of the Whole. It provides tor the payment 

to James R. :Marrs, of Boyd County, Kentucky, of $126, to reimburse 

him1or money paid by him to the Post-Office· Department of the United 

States because of money unlawfully taken from the post-office at Dan-

• ville, Ky., of which James R. Marrs is postmaster, and for the taking 

of which he was in no respect blamable or responsible. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to 

a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

HARRY FISK. 

The bill (H. R. 3909) for the relief of Harry Fisk was considered as in Committee of the Whole. It is a direction to the Postmaster-General in adjusting the accounts of Harry Fisk, postmaster at Aurora, 

Ind:, to allow himacredit of$283.50 for postal funds stolen from Fisk 

by burglars, at that post-office, on the night of the 23d of Novelliber, 

1885, without any negligence or default on the part of the postmaster. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a 

third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

PROBATE COURTS IN WYOMING. 

The bill (H. R. 3760) to enlarge the jurisdiction of the probate 

courts in Wyoming Territory was considered as in Committee of the 

Whole. 

The bill was reported from the Committee on Territories with an 

amendment, in section 1, line 7, after the word '• dollars,'' to strike 

out "exclusive of interest;" so as to read: 

That the pro bat~ courts of the Territory of Wyoming, in their respective coun- ties, in addition to their probate jurisdiction, be, and they are hereby. authorized to hear and determine all civil causes wherein the damage or debt claimed does not exceed the sum of $500, and such criminal cases ari~ing under laws of the 

Territory as do not require the intervention of a grand jury. 

Mr. McMILLAN. Has that bill been taken up? 

Mr. CULLOM. It is a bill agreed on by the Committee on Territories, an exact copy of the law in two or three other Territories. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the amendment 

of the Committee on Territories. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

rrhe bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment 

was concurred in. 

The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read 

a third time. 

The bill was read the third time, and passed. 

Mr. CULLOM. I move that the Senate insist on its amendment, 

and ask for a conference with the House of Representatives thereon. 

The motion was agreed to. 

By unanimous consent, the President pro tempore was authorized to 

appoint the conferees on the part of the Senate, and Mr. CULLOM, Mr. 

MANDERSON, and Mr. GRAY were appointed. 

J. E. M 1GOLDRICK. 

The bill (H. R. 960) for the relief of J. R. McGoldrick was considered as in Committee of the Whole. It appropriates $77 to pay J. R. 

McGoldrick, of Louisiana, in reimbursement of his claim .for lost remittance of money-order funds mailed by him, as postmaster at Coushatta, 

La., on the 28th of September, 1883, and direeted to the postmaster at 

Shreveport, L'l., and which was robbed or stolen from the mail-pouch 

in transit. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to 

a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

II. 0. WTI.KEY. 

The bill (H. R. 6046) for the relief of H. C. Wilkey was considered 

as in Committee of the Whole. It provides for the payment to H. C. 

Wilkey, late postmaster at Columbus, Ky., of $307.87, and interest 

thereon from June 8, 1882, for Government moneystolen from him by bnr~lars, and which he was required to keep on hand to pay United 

States postai clerks with, the payment for the loss ofwhich is not provided for in the act of Congress of March 17, 18~2. 

Mr. PLATT. Is it customary to pay interest on these claims? 

Mr. FRYE. No; it is not. 

Mr. PLATT. I ask that the bill be read again. 

The bill was read. 

Mr. PLATT. In line 7, after the word "cenm," I move to strike 

out the words "and interest thereon from JuneS, 1882;" so aa to read: 

Out of any money not otherwise appropriated, the sum ofSS07.87, for Govern- ment money stolen from him by burglars, &c. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment 

was concurred in. 

The amendment was ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be ;read a third time. 

The bill was read a third time, and passed. 

Mr. HAH.RIS. The Senator from Kentucky [Ur. BECK] is not in 

his seat, and I will move that the Senate insist upon its amendment 

and ask for a conference on the disagreeing votes of' the two Houses. 

The motion was agreed to. 

The PRE~IDING OFFICER, by unanimous consent, was authorized 

to appoint the conferees on the part of the Sena.te, and Mr. SA WYEB, 

.M:r. CmmER, and Mr. BECK were appointed. 

JAMES .!II. HAGA.R.. 

The bill (H. R. 7507) for the relief oi James M. Hagar was Clnsidered as in Committee of the Whole. It proposes to pay to James M . 

Hagar, managing owner of the ship Saint James, of Hichmond, Me., 

$1,112. 78, being the amount illegally exacted from the ship by the 

United States consul at Bremerhaven and covered into the Treasury, 

which sum Hagar is entitled to have refunded to him, as appears by 

statements of the Secretary of State and Fifth Auditor of the Treasury. 

The bill was reported t-o the Senate without amendment. 

Mr. CONGER. In the Calendar the name ia printed" James H. 

Hagar.'' 

Mr. FRYE. It is right in the bill. "James ltf. Hagar" ia right; 

the bill is right. 

The bill was ordered to a third reading, read the third time, aud 

passed. 

SAINT PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS AND MANITOBA RAILWAY. 

The bill (H. R. 10056) granting to the Saint Paul, Minneapolis and 

Manitoba Railway Company the right of way through the Indian reservations in Northern Montana and Northwestern Dakota was considered as in Committee of the Whole. 

The bill was reported from the Committee on Indian Affairs with an amendment. 

.M:r. DA. WES. I offer an amendment, to come in after the word 

'' thereof,'' in line 4 of section 4. 

Mr. COCKRELL. What has become of the amendment reported 

from the Committee on Indian Affairs ? 

.M:r. McMILLAN. There is an amendment recommended by the 

committee. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment reported from the 

committee will be acted upon before taking up the amendment of the 

Senator from Massachusetts. The question is on agreeing to the amendment reported from the committee. 

Mr. TELLER. What is the amendment? 

Mr. HARRIS. Let the amendment be read. 

The CHIEF CLERK. In section 4, line 12, the Committee on Indian Affairs report to strike out the word "and "before "construction," 

and after " construction " to insert the wor¢ls "and operation;" so as 

to read: 

But no right of any kind shall vest in said railway company in or to any part 

of the right of way herein provided for until plats thereof, made upon actual sur- vey for the definite location of such railroad, and including the points for sta- tion buildings, depots, machine-shops, side-tracks, turnouts, and water·stations, 

shall be filed with and approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and until the 

compensation aforesaid has been fixed and paid; and the surveys, construction, 

and operation of such mil road shall be conducted with due regard for the rights 

of the Indians, and in accordance with such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may make to carry out this provision. 

Ur. DAWES. The object of the amendment is to enable the Secretary of the Interior to have some control over the operation as well as 

the construction of the road. 

Mr. TELLER. I have not any objection to the United States making any donations to Indians whenever the Government of the United 

States sees fit. The bill shows that this is not Indian land in any sense of the term. The President of the United States reserves tbis land. 

He can to-morrow declare it to be public land again if he sees fit. He 

reserves it for the use of the Indians. I have not any doubt about his 

authority to have allowed this railroad to be built aero~ the land without any act of Congress; but they have seen :fit to come to Congress, and 

we provide that the Secretary of the Interior shall fix a price the railroad is to pay, not to the Government, whose land it is, but to the Indians, who have no title whatever in the land. 

Mr. DAWES. It is agreed to between the Government and the Indians and the railroad company. All agree to it. Mr. TELLER. What I contend is that the Indians should have 

nothing to say about this land. It is Government lantJ: 
1887. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1437 

Mr. COCKRELL. Would not this enactment be a recognition of 

their title hereafter? 

Mr. TELLEI-?.. That is the question. The President of the United 

States can not donate the public domain to an Indian tribe any more than he can to me-not a bit. 

Mr. DAWES. Nobody assumes that he can. 1.Ir. TELLER. Here we provide for payment to Indians who are occupying a piece of ground under an executive order. The executive 

order gi'\es them no rights whatever. It simply reserves the land from 

occupation bv white men. Now, we say the Indians shall be paid for 

this land, which they do not own. It seems to m'"e that that provision 

of the bill ought to be stricken out. 

Mr. DAWES. The Indians are entitled to the use of the land so long as the executive order exists. There is no question about that; 

and if they can be paid a sum for the use of the land I think that the 

Senator from Colorado need not object to it. 

l\lr. TELLER. I do not object tothe bill. I think that the railroad 

company should have the right of way over the land. I only object to 

this loose kind of legislation, for it is certainly loose when a bill is 

brought in here which recognizes in an Indian tribe something that the 

Government of the United St..ates has itself to buy when it wants to 

give a railroad company the privilege of going across it, recognizing a title in the ,Indians that they do not have. I am not going to object to 

the bill, because I want this railroad built. It is necessary. 

Mr. DAWES. Then let us have the amendment acted on. Mr. DOLPH. I think this is a matter of more importance than seems to be considered by a majority of the Senate. In the first place, the 

·Government has granted by general act the right of way over the public lands to every railroad company that chooses to comply with the 

provisiqns of the act of March 3, 1875. I judge from the letter of the 

Secretary of the Interior, and I so understand it, that the Government 

had already extinguished the Indian title to these lands before this 

reservation was set aside by executive order. Mr. TELLER. Certainly it had. 

Mr. DOLPH. Then the President comes in and sets aside a. portion 

of the public domain for the use of the Indians as a reservation. If 

it had not been for that order, there is . already existing legislation 

which would grant to the railroad company, by compliance with its 

conditions, a right of way over those lands. 

Now, because of the executive order, and beca.u£e the President does 

not ch_oose to modify the executive order in-so-far as to allow the -company to locate its line over this land and to file its maps and thereby secure the right of way, the company comes to Congress for leave to 

cleal with the Indians in regard to the reservation. As I understand, 

there is a provision in the bill to the effect that the company shall pay 

the Indians for the land-which does not belong to them, but belongs 

to the Government-as well as to pay for the injury done to the improvements made by the Indians. 

I think it is a wrong principle, and, as suggested by the Senator from 

Missouri [Mr. CoCKRELL], it might commit us to thP. idea, at lea.St as a precedent, that the Indians had a right to the soil, or the power of the 

President to donate land to Indians at any time. I understand the 

President could rescind his order at any time, and throw any one of 

the reservations which have been created by executive order open to 

settlement without any act of Congress whatever. 

Mr. DAWES. There is no doubt about the President's authority to 

vacate the order by which he established the reserv~tion, and there is no doubt in my mind that he co1,ud permit the railroad company to go over the land by excepting from his order so much of the land as would 

be occupied by the railroad. But the President and those administering Indian affairs decline to do that; and they, with the railroad com- pany and the Indians, have agreed that for the use of this right of way, 

while the executive order exists, the railroad company shall pay the 

Indians what the Secretary of the Interior says they ought to pay for 

the use of the land while the executive order exists. The Senate can decline to grant this right, and the Interior Department will decline to 

let the railroad go through, and I shall be entirely satisfied. 

1t!r. TELLER. Has the agreement already been made between the 

company and the Indians? 

Mr. DAWES. But, it seems to me, all ~t once somebody is straining 

at a gnat and swallowing a camel. I do not know who it is, but the 

idea that when the railroad company is perfectly willing to pay the 

Indians for the use of the land just what the Secretary of the Interior 

agrees, and they have all three gone into the agreement, and the money is 

ready, then because perchance in accordance with strict law the Secretary 

had the power to do it without this proposed-act, the Senate may decline to pass the bill if they choose. 

Mr. DOLPH. Mr. President--

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time has e:t:pired for the present 

order. The unfinished business will be laid before the Senate. · 

Mr. McMILLAN. I ask unanimOJIS consent that the order be continued until we get through with the pending bill. This is a matter 

of great public importance. The railroad is to be constructed through a portion of country which very much needs it. It extends from the 

Red River to Montana. I ask unanimous consent that we may go on with the bill. 

. , 

Mr. DAWES. There is. no dispute about the effect of the proposed 

law, if this is the convenient way of doing it. 

Mr. McMILLAN. Let us get through w1th the bill. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Uinnesota asks 

unanimous <(Onsent that the Senate continue the consideration of the 

bill until it is completed. Is there objection? The Chair hears none. Mr. SABIN. It was my purpose to offer to the bill an amendment. 

Mr. DAWES. Let us dispose of the pending amendment. 

Mr. SABIN. One thing I was going to ask is, what is the object of 

your amendment? To what amendment does the Senator from Massachusetts refer? 

Mr. DAWES. The amendment recommended by the Committee on Indian Affairs. Let that be disposed of before you make your suggestion. 

Mr. SABIN. I should like to ask the Senator from Massachusetts 

what is the object of the amendment he has offered? 

Mr. DAWES. If the Senator will look at the twelfth line of the 

fourth section he will see that somebody, in drawing the bill, left out 

two words which are in all the other bills, namely, the words "and 

operation." The committee suggested thl\t those words be put in so tbat the Secretary of the Interior could control the operation as well as the construction of the road while the executive order existed. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the 

amendment reported by the Committee on Indian Affairs. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. DAWES. Now, in section 4, line 4, after the word "thereof," 

I move to insert: And also to ascertain and fix the amount of compensation to be made individ- ual members of the tribe for damages sustained by them by reason of the con· struclion of said road. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the 

amendment proposed by t.he Senator from Massachusetts. 

Mr. McMILLAN. I hope the Senator from Massachusetts will withdraw the amendment. 

M:r. DAWES. It is important to put this in to insure the bill becoming a law. .Mr. U<;MILIJAN. Very well. 

Mr. '!'ELLER. Let the amendment go in. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the 

amendment of the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. DAWES]. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. SABIN. It was my purpose to offer an amendment to the bill 

limiting the amount of bonds and stock that should be issued upon 

the road. I find, however, upon examination that that limitation is 

already placed at $15,000 per mile for bonds, which strikes me as a very reasonable figure. It is not the purpose of the company to issue 

any stock whatever upon the new road to be constructed under the 

provisions of the bill, such issue being restricted by their charter. I 

therefore hope that the bill will be passed at this timewithout further 

amendment. 

The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amend· 

ments were concurred in. 

The amendments were ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be 

read a third time. 

The bill was read the third time, and passed. 

Mr. DAWES. I move that the Senate insist on its amendments and 

ask for a conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses. 

The motion was agreed to. 

By unanimous consent, the President pro tempore was authorized to 

appoint the conferees on the part of the Senate, and Mr. DAWES, Mr. 

SABIN, and Mr. HAMPTOY were appointed. 

I:Ml\IEDIATE TRANSPORTATION OF DUTIABLE GOODS. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. MILLER). The Chair lays before 

the Senate the unfinished business coming over from Saturday. 

Mr. CONGER. Before proceeding with the unfinished business I 

ask unanimous consent to take up the bill (H. R. 3289) to amend section 5 of the act entitled "An act to amend the statutes in relation to 

immediate transportation of dutiable goods, and for other purposes,'' 

approved June 10, 1880. The bill has been read and was about to be 

put on its passage when t.he Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. HoAR] 

offered an amendment which should have been offered to some other 

bill. There is no amendment that I know of to be offered to the bill now. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan asks the 

unanimous consent of the Senate to take up the bill indicated by him 

out of its order. Is there objection? 

Mr. VEST. I call for the regular order. 

Mr. CONGER. I hope the Senator from Missouri will allow this bill 

to go through. It was under consideration some time ago, and was ready to be passed to a third reading when the Senator from Massachu· 

setts offered an amendment which he supposed should belong to the bill, 

but on inquiry he found it should be an amendment to another bill. 

This is a bill which His very desirable to pass, and is a matter of great 

necessity to onr Western and Southwestern people. 

Mr. VEST. I have no objection to the bill; I should like to see the 

bill pass . 
-. 

·1438 - CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENA'fE. FEBRUARY 7, 

Mr. CONGER. It will take but a moment to dispose of it. 

Mr. VEST. However I do not see where is th~ great necessity for 

pressing it at this time. · 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the presel).t con- sideration of the bill? The Chair hears none; and the bill is before the 

Senate as in Committee of the Whole and open to amendment. 

The bill proposes to amend section 5 of the act of June 10, 1880; so 

as to read: SEc. 5. That merchandise transported under the provisions of this a<Jt shall be conveyed in cars, vessels, or vehicles securely fastened with locks or seals, under the exclusive control of the officers of the customs; and merchandise may also be tra,nsported under the provisions of this act by express companies on pas- senger trains, in safes,'' pouches," and trunks, which shall be of such size, char- acter, and description, and secured in such manner as shall be from time to time prescribed by the Secretary·i and in cases where merchandise shall be imported in boxes or packages too arge to be included within the safes, trunks, or "'pouches •' as prescribed, such m'i)rchandise may be transported under the pro- visions of this act, by such express companies, "corded and sealed," in such manner as shall from time to time be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treas- ury; "and passengers' baggage and effects arriving at any of the ports specified in section 1 of this act, which shall appear by the manifest of the importing ves- sel, or other satisfactory evidence, to be destined to any of the ports specified in the seventh section, may also be transported by express companies under the provisions of this act to any of the ports specified in the seventh section thereof, in such manner and under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe; " and merchandise such as pig-iron, spiegel-iron, scrap- iron, iron ore, railroad-iron, and similar articles commonly transported upon platform or flat cars may be transported under the provisions of this act upon such platform or fiat cars; and the weight of such merchandise so transported shall be ascertained in all cases before shipment, and ordinary railroad scales may be used for such purposes; and inspectors shall be stationed at proper points along the designated routes, or upon any car, vessel, vehicle, or train, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, and at the expense of the com- panies, respectively. Such merchandise shall not be unladen or transshipped between the ports of first arrival and final destination, unless authorized by the regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury in cases which may arise from a difference in the gauge of railroads, "or where the route is bonded for both land and water carriage," or from accidents, or from legal intervention, or when, 

by reason of the length of the route, the cars, after due inspection by custom offi- cers, shall be considered unsafe or unsuitable to proceed further, or from low water, ice, or other unavoidable obstruction to navigation; and in no case shall there be permitted any breaking of the original packages of such merchandise. 

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed. 

MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. CLARK, its 

Clerk, announced that the House request-ed the Senate to furnish the 

House with a duplicate engrossed copy of the bill (S. 2225) to indemnify certain subjects of the Chinese Empire for losses sustained by the 

violence of a mob at Rock Springs, in the Territory of Wyoming, in 

September, 1885, the original having been lost or mislaid. · 

The message also announced that the House had disagreed to the 

amendment• of the Senate to the bill (H. R. 9116) to provide for holding terms of the United States courts at Texarkana, Ark., and for other 

purposes, agreed to the conference asked by the Senate on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses thereon, and had appointed :Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. RoGERS, and Mr. CASWELL managers at the co~erence on the part of the House. 

PAYMENT OF LABORERS FOR DECORATION DAY, ETC. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the amendments 

of the House of Representatives to the joint resolution (S. R. 40) providing for the payment of per diem laborers in Government employ on 

the 30th of May of each year as on other days. 

The amendments of the House of Representatives were stated as 

follows: 

In line 3, strike out "thirtieth" before the word "day," and after 

the word "day" strike out the words "of May." , In lines 3 and 4 strike out the words "commonly called Decoration 

day " and insert d which is celebrated as memorial or decoration day, 

and the 4th of Ju1y." 

In line 4, strike out the words ''a holiday'' an:d insert the word 

"holidays;" and amend the title so as to read: 

A joint resolution providing for the payment of per diem laborers in Gov- ernment employ on memorial or decoration day and the 4th day of .July of each yeo.r as on other days. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on concurring in the 

amendments of the Honse of Representatives. 

The amendments were concurred .in. 

COPY OF A BILL. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the request of 

the House of Representatives to furnish a duplicate engrossed copy of 

the bill (S. 2225) to indemnify certain subjects of the Chinese Empire 

for losses sustained by the violence of a mob at Rock Springs, in the 

Territory of Wyoming, in September, 1885. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The request will be granted by unanimous consent, unless there be objection. 

STEEL FOR ORDNANCE, ETC. 

Mr. DOLPH. Before Senate bill 662 is transmitted to the other 

Honse, I desire 'f!o move to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed, for the purpose of making a verbal amendment to the amendment offered by myself, adding the words "is hereby appropriated." 

I presume it can be done in a moment by unanimous consent. 

. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate has heard the request of 

the Senator from Oregon. 

Mr. DOLPH. I move to reconsider the vote by which the Senate 

ordered to engrossment and third reading and passed the bill (S. 662) 

to encourage the manufacture of steel for modern army ordnance, armor, 

and other army purposes, and to provide heavy ordnance adapted to mod- ern army warfare. 

The motion to reconsider was agreed to. 

Mr. DOLPH. I now move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment offered by myself to the bill was agreed to. 

The motion to reoonsider was agreed to. 

Mr. DOLPH. I now move to add to the amendment the words "is 

hereby appropriated.'' 

Mr. BUTLER. I must object to the consideration of either of those 

bills in the absence of the Senator from Connecticut [Mr. HAWLEY]. I 

do not know what the amendment is. 

Mr. DOLPH. lt is simply to add the words "is hereby appropriated," which were omitted in the amendment making an appropriation 

of $5,000,000. It was a. clerical omission. I wish to have the amendment made while the bill is still in the possession ofthe Senate. 

Mr. BUTLER. I do not know what it is, but of course if the Senator states that--

?tir. DOLPH. It is merely to add to the amendment adopted by the 

Senate on my motion the words "is hereby appropriated." 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the adoption of 

the amendment to the amendment proposed by the Senator from Oregon. The amendment as proposed to be amended will be stated. 

The CHIEF CWRK. It is proposed to add to the amendment inserted in the bill as section 4 the words "is hereby appropriated;" so as to read: 

SEC. 4. That for the purpose of the construction of fortifications and other worka of coast defense, in accordance with the recommendations of the Board on Forti- fications or other Defenses, appointed by the President of the United States un- der the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3,1885, $5,000,000, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary o!War, is hereby appropriated. 

The amendment to the amendment was agreed to. 

The amendment as amended was agreed to. 

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a reading, read the third time, 

and passed. 

ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC SHIP-RAILWAY. 

Mr. VEST. I now call for the regular order. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The unfinished business will be proceeded with. 

The :::3enate, as in Committee of the Whole, resumed the consideration of the bill (S. 2288) to incorporate the .Atlantic and Pacific ShipRailway Company, and for other purposes, the pending question being- on the amendment proposed by Mr. VEST to the amendment of the 

Committee on Commerce, to add as an additional section: 

SEc.-. That if stock to the amount of $10,000,000 shall not be subscribed, and 10 per cent. thereof actually paid in, before the expiration of two years next after the passage of this act, or if the work of constructing said railway shall not be actually commenced before and be in progress at the expiration of four years next after the passage of this act, the said corporation shall be deemed to have expired bY' limitation, and all its franchises and privileges shall be deemed to have absolutely ceased and become determined. 

:M:r. MORGAN. ?tir. President, when I yielded the floor on 8aturday upon this bill I was about to consider the relations of the United . States Government toward the Government of Colombia in respect of 

the obligations tliat we are under there to protect the peace in that 

country. The United States- Government was the first in the field in 

its negotiations with Colombia-New Granada then-in regard to this 

isthmian transit. We had then the proposition on foot of building a 

railway across that isthmus, with the assistance of our own people. 

In the treaty of 1846 was the following provision: 

The United States of America and the Republic of New Granada, desiring to make as durable as possible the relations which are to be established between the two parties by virtue of this treaty, have declared solemnly, and do "agree to the following points : First. For the better understanding of the preceding articles, it is and has been stipnlated between the high contractbg parties, that the citizens.t vessels, and merchandise of the United States shall enjoy in the ports of New uranada., 

including those of the part of the Granadian territory generally denominated Isthmus of Panama, from its southernmost extremity until the boundary of Costa Rica, all the exemptions, privileges, and immunities concerning commerce and navigation which are now or may hereafter be enjoyed by Granadiancitf- zens, their vessels, and merchandise ; and thn.t this equality of favors shall be made to extend to the passengers, correspondence, and merchandise of the United States in their transit across the said territory, from one sea to the other. The Government of New Granada. guarantees to the Government of the United . States that the right of way or transit across the Isthmus of Panama upon any modes of communication tbat now e:rist, or that may be hereafter constructed, shall be open and free to the Government and citizens of the United States, and for the transportation of any articles of produce, manufactures, or merchandise, 

of lawful commerce belonging to the citizens of the United States. 

Other privileges are conferred, which it is not necessary that I should 

read: 

And, in order to secure to themselves the tranquil and constant enjoyment of these advantages, and as an especial compensation for the said adv&ntages, and for tb.e favors they have acquired by the fourth, fifth, and sixth articles of this treaty,theUnitedStatesguarantee,positivelyandeffica.ciously,toNewGranada, 

by the present stipulation, the perfect neutrality of the before-mentioned isth- mus, with the view that the free transit ·from the one to the other sea may not be interrupted or embarrassed in any future time while this treaty exists; and, 
1887. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 

in-consequence, the United States also guarantee, in the same manner, the rights of sovereignty and property which New Granada. has and possesses over t.he said territory. Second. The present treaty shall remain in full force and vigor for the term of twenty years from the day of the exchange of the ratifications; and from the same day the treaty that was concluded between the United States aud Colombia., on the 13th of October, 1824, shall cease to have effect, notwithstanding what was disposed in the first point of its thirty-first article. Third. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if neither party notifies to the other its intention of reforming any of, or all, the articles of this treaty twelve months be- fore the expiration of the twenty years stipulated above, the said treaty shall continue binding ou both parties beyond the said twenty years, until twelve months from the time that one of the parties notifies its intention of proceeding to a. reform. 

There is the basis of the peculiar commercial and political relation 

which we hold to the Stateof.Panamaand to the Republic of Colombia 

in respect pf this isthmian transit. There has been a free expression of 

opinion ori various occasions by our Secretaries of State and our Presidents as to the interpretation of the obligations resting upon us and the 

correlative rights that grow out of this treaty in · our favor, and they 

have been uniformly of this tendency, without undertaking to read the 

correspondence which sets forth the proposition I am about to state: 

That this undertaking of the Government of the United States to secure the peace and neutrality of Panama includes the right to enforce 

the peace in that country, so that there shall be no outrage committed 

upon the commerce of the people ofthe Unit.ed States when in transit 

across that isthmus; and that this is also a peculiar power given to us, in 

its nature exclusive because of the fact that we were paid for it, as is 

expressly in the treaty alleged, by the concessions made to us by the 

fourth, fifth, and sixth articles of the treaty; that is to say, that Panama or New Granada in negotiating this arrangement with us made a stipulation which gave us peculiar privileges for which we were compensated 

in the articles numbered 4, 5, and 6. 

We have been following up the idea which was conveyed in the original treaty by some assertion on our part from time to time of our ex- clusive right to secure the occupancy of certaii;t islands in the Bay of 

Panamawheneverwe could get the consent of the Government of Pan- ama to our occupancy, because of the fact that those islands would give · to us the power to protect the transit; they would enable us, without 

locating ourselves within the body of the people of Panama, to create 

such stations and such defenses in the Bay of Panama as might give to us a better opportunity of defending against. any a.,o-gression which 

might be made to interrupt the freedom of commerce across the isthmus. 

Since that treaty wa.s agreed upon some very important changes have 

taken place in the Isthmus of Panama. We find that the rail way com- pany which was organized there and built its route has transferred its 

entire interest into the hands of the Panama Canal Company; that we 

now have no other right of property there than the naked power and 

duty of protecting the Isthmus of Panama as to the freedom of our own 

commerce and as to the freedom of commerce of all the rest of the 

world. In other words, we have not in the Isthmus of Panama t~-day 

any other than a purely political interest; there is no railroad, no canal, no grant of a right to build a railroad or a canal alongside of the one 

which is being now constructed, and no right to do anything except 

merely to send our ships of war down there whenever the people of 

Panama or any other set of people may choose to break the peace and 

thereby interrupt our commerce and the commerce of the rest of the 

world crossing that Isthmus. That is where we are left. 

The Monroe doctrine, in addition to the rights which are conferred 

by the treaty of 1846, may be a sufficient foundation, and I believe is a sufficient foundation, for any interference that we might choose to 

make there with the operations of any company acting under the guarantee of a foreign power and seeking to establish in that isthmus any 

exclusive or peculiar right of transit. I do not mean merely the right 

to carry their own ships· across or the right to charge their own rates 

of toll, but I mean a right to make a preference between the ships of one nation and another, for instance, in time of war, so that if we had 

to go to the Pacific Ocean to defend our possessions we might be compelled to get the consent of the agents or the incorporated company of some foreign power located in Panama before we could have the full 

power and privilege of exercising our treaty rights in that country. 

As our material interests in the Isthmus of Panama dwindle and disappear it seems to me that the assertion of our political interests there 

ought to become more prominent and decided, because of the fact that 

they are all -we have left. If that canal or that transit is to be of any 

importance at all to the people and the Government of the United States 

in the futu~e, it .seems to me _to be high .time that we were having an understanding With the other powers of the earth, particularly with 

Colombia, as to what rights and privileges we are to enjoy there, and 

whether, after all, we are to become the protectors-of the commerce of 

the rest of the world in that quarter without any corresponding advantage to ourselves. 

~ mentioned on Saturday an impression that was resting upon my 

mrnd, t.hat the Governments of France and Great Britain would bestir 

themselves to get advantages in that quarter, knowing that our material 

interests had disappeared, and that we had nothing now remaining to 

ns except the mere shell of right and privilege conferred by the treaty 

of 1846, which imposes a great·many more duties upon us than it con- fers benefits. That the Governments of Great Britain and France would 

naturally seek to establish themselves there, and that the conduct of 

the Government of Great Britain in reference to the island of Taboga 

and the other islands in the Bay of Panama h3'etofore, within the last 

three or four yea:rs, was a sufficient indication to us of a fixed and settled purpose to plant themselves in a position of command on the otherside of the isthmus, the Panama side, while they hold a very advantageous position of command on this side, in the island of Jamaica. 

The island of Jamaica is almost as near to the Panama Canal as the 

island of Cyprus is to the Suez Canal. I do not know but that it is 

quite as near, quite as convenient a place for resort, for fortification, 

for the accumulation of naval and military stores, for the grouping of 

armies that might be necessary to enforce British policy in that quarter; and if in addition to this they shall ever a~uire in the Bay of 

Panama the !ight to establish themselves under the authority of the 

Government of Colombia, they would have their guns pointing from 

either direction upon the openings of this canal, and with their immense fleet they would certainly have a very great power to control the 

destinies of that canal and all persons and governments directly interested in it. . 

I have never found anything in the history of the policy of the British 

Government which tends to modify the opinion in my mind that it will 

always do whateYer may be considered necessary for the permanent es- tabliahment of its commercial and its maritime power in any part of 

the world. I do not attribute that sentiment to the people and the 

Government of Great Britain in derogation of their character in the 

slightest degree. It is a trait that belongs to their character naturally, 

and which we ourselves have inherited from them to a large extent; 

and it is something not to be complained of either, in an international 

sense. Still we must recognize the fact that in our dealings with these 

great questions, which so immediately concern our future welfare, we 

will always expect to find an antagonist in Great Britain, alert, well 

informed, sedate, resolute- yes, intrepid, and ready to do anything that 

may be necessary for the establiahment and the promotion of British 

interests. 

So I take it, Mr. President, that we have some duties to perform in 

respect to this matter, and that the time is now perhaps as rife as the 

time will ever be for the declaration of a fum American policy in 

respect· of this great Mediterranean of ours that lies to the south of us, 

and its connections, in the future, through the isthmus with the Pacific 

Ocean. There is no time for faltering, no time for misunderstanding, 

no time for procrastination or delay; but it is high time that we had 

announced and established in the face of the world, sedately and justly 

and honestly a policy that our people are willing and ready to pursue on these questions. 

The Clayton-Bulwer treaty, which announced a certain doctrine, was ratified in April, 1R50, and in 1853 we ratified with Mexico a treaty 

which has reference to some of the same subjecis that are mentioned in 

the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. I bring this subject forward and would 

like to be able to call it to the attention of the Senator from Missouri 

[Mr. VEST], who is in charge of this bill, for the purpose of getting 

some explanation about it. I think that our treaty of 1853 with Mexico 

is probably as much in conflict with the eighth articleoftheClayton-Bulwer treaty as anything that has been proposed to be done between this 

Government and Nicaragua without adverting to exactly what has been 

proposed to be done; but we understand it, though I believe we are not 

yet at liberty to state it. This is called the Gadsden treaty. It is a permanent or a perpetual treaty. There is nothing in it to indicate that 

either government has a right to put an end to it. The rights which 

are conferred here were intended to be perpetual rights. I will read 

them: ARTICLE VIII. 

The Mexican Government having on the 5th of February, 1853, authorized the early construction of a plank and rail road across the Isthmus of Tehua.nt~pec 

and, to secure the stable benefits of said transit way to the persons and merchan: dise of the citizens of Mexico and the United States, it is stipulated that neither government will interpose any obstacle to the transit of persons and merchan- dise of both nations; and at no time shall higher charges be made on the transit of persons and property of cit.izens of the United States than may be made on the persons and property of other foreign nations, nor shall any interest in said ' transit way- · 

This is the point in the matternor in the proceeds thereof, be transferred to any foreign government. The United States, by its agents, shall have the right to transport across the isthmus._ in closed bags, the mails of the United States not intended for distri- bution along the line of communication; also the effects of the United States Government and its citizens, which may be intended for transit, and not for dis- tribution on the isthmus, free of custom-house or other charges by the Mexican Government. Neither passports nor letters of security will be required of per- sons crossing the isthmus and not remaining in the country. When the constrncliion of the railroad shall be completed, the Mexican Gov- ernment agrees to open aport of entry in addition to the port of Vera Cruz, at or near the terminus of said road on the Gulf of Mexico. The two governments will enter into arrangements for the prompt transit of troops and munitions of the United States, which that Government may have occasion to send from one part of its territory to another, lying on opposite sides ofthe continent. The Mexican Government having agreed to protect with its whole power the prosecution, preservation, and security of the work, the United States may ex- tend its protection as it shall judge wise to it when it may feel sanctioned and warranted by the public or international law. 

That is a. very important treaty engagement as I undei-stand it, and 

the line of transit which is mentioned in the eighth article of the treaty 
·. 

... : 

1440 CONGRESSIONAL- RECORD-SENATE, FEBRUARY 7, 

of 1853 is identieal with the one that is in the bill we are now considering. So in that connection it be~omes a matter of the greatest moment 

that we should understand whether the concession which Mexico has 

made to the Eads Ship-railway Company in any wise conflicts with the 

rights secured to us under the eighth article of the treaty with Mexico 

of 1853 and the eighth article of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. It was for the purpose of enabling the Senate to see the precise bearing of 

this concession in connection with this treaty that I had it placed in 

the RECORD, and presently I shall refer to some points in the concession 

and some in the treaty which I think are entirely in conflict. 

But before proceeding to do that I desire to call the attention of the 

Senate to certain righta that we have in Nicaragua upon this subject of 

transit which are of later date than the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, and 

which I suppose were incorporated in this engagement between the 

United States and Nicaragua in strict compliance with the principles 

of that treaty, because Great Britain also negotiated with Nicaraoaua 

about the same time, or a little before, this treaty was negotiated, one of 

almost precisely similar import so far as the right of transit and protection is concerned. The fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth articles 

of the treaty with Nicaragua are very important in connection with 

the proposition to build any transit-way·across the isthmus whether 

in Panama, or whether in Nicaragua, or whether at Tehuantepec, or elsewhere. I say it is important because, in looking at the eighth article 

of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, we see that there is a reference made both 

to Tehnantepec and Panama, and perhaps I had better read that before 

I read the articles in the treaty with Nicaragua, of which I have just 

been &peaking. The eighth article of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty is as follows: ARTICLE Vill. 

The Governments of the Unitecrstates and Great Britain having not only desir<!d, in entering into this convention, to accomplish a. particular object, but 

alsotoestablisha general principle, they hereby agree to extend their protec- tion, by treaty stipulations, to any other practicable communications, whether 

by canal or railway, across the iSthmus which connects North and South 

America., and especially to the inter-oceanic communications, should the same prove to be practicable, whether by canal or railway, which are now proposed to be established by the way of Tehuantepeo or Panama. In granting, how- ever, their joint protection to any such canals or railways as are by this article 

specified, it is always understood by the United States and Great Britain that 

the parties constructing or owning the same shall impose no other charges or conditions _of traffic thereupon than the aforesaid Governments shall approve of as just and equitable; and that the same canals-or railways, being open to the 

citizens and subjects of the United States and Great Britain on equal terms, 

shall also be open on like terms to the citizens and subjects of every other State 

which is willi.ng to grant thereto such protection as th~ United States and Great 

Britain engage to alford. 

I do not suppose that any one will find that the eighth article of this 

treaty is very easy to be interpreted. Certainly I have not found it 

easy to understand, but I read it in this way, that the United States 

and Great Britain will make treaty stipulations in the future, either 

jointly or separately, but in substance identical with this article, with 

the Governments of Central America and also with the Government of 

Colombia, under which a joint protection shall be given to any isthmian 

transmit by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain 

and by which it shall be imposed also upon those governments, either 

by treaty or without a treaty, that the citizens of the United States 

and of Great Britain shall have rights in that transit equal to those of 

any other power of the earth, and that their own rights shall be equal 

to each other, and that other nations who will contribute ·to the protection which the United States and Great Britain promise that they 

will give to the isthmian transit, shall also have the benefit of the 

transit by railway or by canal upon equal terms. That is my understanding of what is meant by that clause in the treaty. 

This seems to be a treaty engagement to enforce upon the States of 

the isthmus the neutrality of any transit across them, and to give them 

the joint protection of the United States and Great Britain, while admitting to similar rights those countries, and only those, that will give 

like protection. But for the evident magnanimity of this proposition 

it might be considered a~ogant. 

Having read that in connection with the rights that we got from 

Mexico in 1853, three years later than that treaty, I shall proceed now to read the articles from the Nicaraguan treaty of 1867, whi~h, as I 

have observed, were intended to carry into effect on our part tlie principles of the agreement of 1850, called the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

The Republic of Nicaragua hereby grants to the United States, and to their 

citizens and proper.ty, the right of transit between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans 

through the territory of that republic, on any route of communication, natural or artificial, whether by land or by water, which may now or hereafter exist or be constructed under the authority of Nicaragua, to be used and enjoyed in the same manner and upon equal terms by both republics and their respective citizens; the Republic of Nicaragua, however, reserving its rights of sovereignty over the same. 

/ ARTICLE XV. 

The United States hereby agree to extend their protection to all such routes of 

communication as aforesaid, and to guarantee the neutrality and innocent use of the same. They also agree to employ their influence with other nations to induce them to guarantee such neutrality and protection. And the Republic of Nicaragua, on its part, undertakes to establish one free 

port at each extremity of one of the aforesaid routes of communication between 

the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. At these ports no tonnage or ot.her duties shall 

be imposed or levied by the Government of Nicaragua. on the veSl!els of the 

United States1 or on any effects or merchandise belonging to citizens or subjects 

of the Unitea States, or upon the vessels or effects of any other country, intended, bona fide, for transit across the said routes ot communication, a~d not consumption within the Republic of Nicaragua. The United States shall also 

be at liberty, on giving notice to the Government or authorities of Nicaragua, to carry troops and munitions of war in their own vessels, or otherwise, to either 

of said free ports, and shall be entitled to their conveyance between them with~ 

out obstruction by said Government or authorities, and without any charges or tolls whatever for their transportation on either of said routes; provided said 

troops and munitions of war are not intended to be employed against Central 

American nations friendly to Nicaragua. And no higher or other charges or tolls shall be imposed on the conveyance or tranRit of persons and property of 

citizens or subjects of the United States, or of any other eount.ry, Mross the said routes of communication, than are or maybe imposed on the persons and property of citizens of Nicaragua. And the Republic of Nicaragua concedes the right of the Postmaster-General 

of the United States to enter into contracts with any individuals or companies to transport the mails of the United States along the said routes of communication, or along any other routes across the isthmus, in its discretion, in closed 

bags, the contents of which may not be intended for distribution within the said 

republic, free from the imposition of all taxes or duties by the Government of 

Nicaragua; but this liberty is not to be construed so as to permit such individuals or companies, by virtue of this right to transport the mails, to carry also 

passengers or freight. . . ARTICLE XVI. 

The Republic of Nicaragua agrees that, should it become necessary at any time to employ military forces for the security and protection of persons and property passing over any of the routes aforesaid, it will employ the requisite force 

for that purpose; but upon failure to do this from any cause whatever, the Gov- ernment of the United St-ates may, with the consent, or at the request of the 

Government of Nicaragua, or of the minister thereof at Washington, or of the 

competent legally appointed local authorities, civil or milit-ary, employ such 

force for this and for no other purpose; and when, in the opinion of the Govern• ment of Nicaragua, the necessity ceases, such force shall be immediately withdrawn. 

In the exceptional case, however,of unforeseen or imminent danger to the lives or property of citizens of the United States, the forces of said repiiblic are au- thorized to act for their protection without such consent havin·g been previously obtained. · ·. But no duty or power imposed upon or conceded to the United States by the 

provisions of this article shall be performed or exercised except by authority and in pursuance of laws of Congress hereafter enacted. It bemg understood 

that such laws shall not affect the protection and guarantee of the neutrality of 

the routes of transit, nor the obligation to withdraw the troops which mav be 

disembarked in Nicaragua directly that, in the judgment of the government of 

this republic, they should no longer be necessary, nor in any manner bring about new obligations on Nicaragua, nor alter her rights in virtue of the pres- ent treaty. 

That is as far as it is necessarv for me to read now in order to show 

the point that I make, which is; that in its deaHngs with Panama; in 

its dealings with Mexico, in its dealings with Nicaragua, the Government of the United States, both' before and since the Claytori-Bulwer 

treaty, has distinctly asserted itB right io enter into ·separate stipuJa. 

tions for its own accommodation and convenience. ' In thecaseof Mexico the right of transmitting our armies and munitions of war across the isthmus; in the case of Nicaragua the right, when there may be an immediate necessity, of going in there with our army and ·munitions 

of war and our ships to protect the freedom ··or the transit and the im· 

partiality of its use; and in the case of Panama or Colombia an ex- press obligation resting upon us that we will, for a consideration ex- pressed in that tr~ty, protect any transit a-cross the isthmus, whether 

by railroad or by canal, against local interruption or against foreign 

interference. 

These are the rights and obligations which we have by treaty with 

these three powers, and I do not understand that there is a nation in 

the world that pretends to deny to us the fnll right that":is conferred 

under each and all of these respective treaty engagementa. - I mention this because I expect before we have gotten very far with 

this· matter somebody will rise to say (perhaps not here, but elsewhere) that before you can charter a company of .Americans to go to 

Tehuantepec, or to go to Nicaragua, or to go to Panama to construct a canal or a railroad you must first ing_uire whether the consent of the 

British Government is to be obtained under the eighth article of the 

Clayton-Bulwer treaty. I do not know that the British Government 

would insist upon that, for I have an impression growing out of the 

history of this matter, as I understand it, that that Government is 

scarcely willing to press with any emphasis and force the principles 

and doctrines of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty upon us in so far as it prevents us in any sense from entering this isthmus atanypointand with 

the consent of the local government, and constructing ior the benefit 

of the Government and the people of the United States a line of transit across the isthmus. 

Still, in the absence of a distinctive .American policy, in the absenco 

of an express, resolute determination on our part to do for our country 

at the presentandforposterity~hatdutydemandsofus, and what right 

and conscience clearly accord to us, we may well halt and hesitate in the 

advocacy of any proposition that has for its object tbe final; practical 

solution of this subject and the dispersion of this cloud of mist and 

doubt, and disturbance too, which has existed over this country ever since April, 1850, in consequence of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. ' 

Mr. EUSTIS. Has England ever complained about the Nicaraguan 

treaty? 

:Mr. MORGAN. The Senator from Louisiana asks me if England 

has ever complained about the treaty we made .with Nicaragua. Certainly not; and England has negotiated with Nicaragua a treaty almost 

identical in its provisions so far as the part of it is concerned which I 

have been just reading, including in that treaty the surrender of lhe 

right of dominion over the so-called Mosquito Kingdom at the mouth 

of the San Juan River. 

" 
1887. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1441 ' 

I believe that the Senator from Missouri has a clear road opened by 

treaty to the building of the ship-railway which the bill proposes, provided the Eads concession is not of a character to interfere with the 

treaty rights of the United States; and about that I confess I have some doubt. I will call attention to the sixteenth article of the con- cession, and let us see how that harmonizes with the treaty with Mexico from which I have been reading. The sixteenth article of the 

concession is as follows: 

AnT. 16. Passage over the railway shall be open for nil the vessels of all the nations not at war with Mexico, and the government of the republic binds it- . self not to close to ocean commerce, during the time of the concession, either of the two terminal ports of the interoceanic ship-railway, one in the Gulf, the other in the Pacific, except in case of war. 

That exception of case of war is not reserved in the treaty, and that 

is the very time when it would be supposed that we would have the 

best right to it. 

Tbe treasury department shall make the-regulations which must be observed, &c. 

That is not a material matter. I now turn to article 25, clause 3, 

to see how that comports with the treaty: 

3. For the company, knowingly and intentionally, and not being const-rained by superior force, transporting on the railway vessels "of war or tl"oops of any foreign nation, without the previous constitutional permission,officially com- municated by the government to the enterprise. 

This is one of the causes which would work the forfeiture of the con- cession. The term "constitutional permission" there I do not quite 

understand, but I suppose it might include the provisions of a treaty 

made in conformity with the constitution of the Republic of Mexico. 

Now I call attention to article 28 in respect of the question of giving 

privileges or preferences to the people or the commerce of any other 

country above that of the United States. This article provides: 

AnT. 28. Eads or the company may grant a reduction amounting to 25 per cent .. of the rates authorized by article 11 to the merchandise, passengers, and mer- chant vessels of the nation, or foreign nations whose governments shall lend it t-heir aid either·by means of money or guarantee. This reduction shn.lllast for a term of thirty years, and in all cases Mexican merchandise and passengers and the national marine shall enjoy the same fran- chises. The enterprise is also authorized to grant the same reduction to the war marine of said nation or nations, but with the proviso that the transport&- tion of vessels, troops, or munitions of war shall not be understood to have been consented to, in any case, without the express permission of the Government of Mexico officially communicated to the enterprise. 

It seems to me that that is a preference given to those governments 

that aid in this enterprise which totally overturns the privileges given 

to us by the treaty of 1853, from which I have just been reading. 

Again: 

The government granting the aforesaid aid shall have the right to be repre- sented in the board of directors of the company, without any power save that of being present at the examination of the accounts for the purpose of receiving the slwre of the profits that belongs to them by two-ninths of t-he whole number of its members, these representatives enjoying the same emoluments and pre- rogatives as the other directors. In case that Eads or the company should fail in any of the stipulations con- tained in the preceding article contracted with any foreign government, that government can only enforce its rights before the Mexican courts of the capital of the republic, in accordance with ths laws of Mexico; but in no case can the government which brings suit acquire the ownership of the works or the rights emanating therefrom. 

These provisions seem quite in conflict with our treaty rights with 

Mexico. 

Our rights in Mexico in respect to this matter are treaty rights, to 

be settled in the courts of diplomacy or at the point of the sword if we disagree materially about them; but this engagement, as I understand 

it, would remit the United States to the Mexican courts or require us to prosecute our claims there as suitors and not to assert them under 

the treaty if we should become a party to this concession by adopting 

it as the basis of this legislation. 

Now, ?rlr. President, in order to avoid these and other troubles of like 

kind which I find in the reading of this concession, I propose to offer an amendment to this bill which I think covers the ground, though it 

may not be happily worded for that purpose. I am not quite sure that 

this amendment goes as far as it should. I think the Senator from 

Missouri will recognize the importance of it in connection with t-he 

points I have just stated of discrepancy between the concession made 

by Mexico and the obligations this company comes under to that government and our treaty rights under the treaty of 1853. My amendment is as follows: 

In granting this act of incorporation to its own citizens and to such other persons as may become their associates and successors, the Government of the United States expressly hereby declares that it reserves to itself the full and unqualified rights and privileges in any railway or .canal transit across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, or in any way connected with or growing out of such lines or means of transit, secured to the United States by article 8 of the treaty with Mexico, concluded December 30, 18-53, and proclaimed June 30, 1854 • nor does the United States in any manner waive or modify or release any a'gree- men~ in said trea~y that relat~s to go~ernments or persons that are foreign to Mex1co or ~be Umf:ed States. And tht_s act shall J?OI. be <?onstrued as accepting or confirmmg, or 1n any way recognizing as betng vahd, any concession or agreement m~de by Mexic~ to Ja~es B: Eads,_or t-o any ~ther person which, in any manner, IS or may be m conflict With or m derogation of any right of the United States under said treaty. 

I think the Senator from Missouri will recognize the necessity for 

putting that into this bill as a guard against the release of the rights 

guaranteed to us by Mexico, and which I thinkarepermanent and -very 

XVIII-91 

- --

Talnable rights. Whether ?rlr. Eads shall ever successfully complete a· ship-railway across that isthmus, or whether he shall only succeed in 

building a railroad under the chart-er which we grant him and under 

the concession which Mexico has given him, in either event it is altogether important to us that we should have upon that line of transit 

all the privileges guaranteed to us in the ~dsden treaty. 

I do not know that the Mexican Government has any desire to break 

away from this treaty, but! could scarcely think of any means which 

would be more effectual to get rid of it than to make a conce."Sion 

like this to one of our citizens, which stands in the teeth of the treaty 

and the rights that we have guaranteed to us under that instrument, 

and by getting us to adopt that concession as a part of this measure, or as a predicate on which this measure is based. · After we have thus 

recognized this concession, Mexico would be able to assert that we knew 

what our rights were under this treaty, aild granted to an Ame~ican 

corporation rights in contravention of them, and in the confirmation 

also of rights granted by the Mexican Government to that same com- pany. They could well insist that we have united with Mexico in the 

matual surrender of the stipulations of that treaty in our favor and 

thattherelation hereafter existing between us in respectto the rightof 

transit across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec would be simply that fixed 

in the concession made to Eads and accepted by our act of incorporation. I do not want to get into that condition in respect of this very 

important matter, and I repeat that I have some doubt whether or not 

the amendment I have prepared is altogether sufficient to preserve to us those treaty rights which were guaranteed to us in 1853, by which we made the Gadsden Purchase. It is certainly a matter worthy of attention. 

.My attention was not so sharply drawn to this matter until I read 

the concession which the Senator from Missouri handed me on Saturday, and which I put into the RECORD. It is different from that which 

Mr. Eads handed me, and which I have now, with his compliments 

written over his own name; and this concession does not appear to be 

signed, whereas the former concession was signed. · Mr. EDMONDS. Which do yon call "the former?" 

Mr. MORGAN. The one Mr. Eads handed me, which differed from 

this. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. That is signed? 

Mr. MORGAN. Yes. I will send it to the Senator from Vermont if 

he desires to look at it. I thought perhaps the agreement had been 

enlarged by subsequent arrangement between the parties, and that is a matter easy of explanation. I hope it is, and believe it is, but I do 

not know anything about it. This one is dated December, 1880, signed 

by Porfirio Diaz and James B. Eads. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. But the one in the RECORD is not signed at all. 

Mr. MORGAN. Apparently not, if correctly print-ed. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. And has no date. 

Mr. MORGAN. And has no date. I dare say the Senator from 

Missouri will be able to give a full explanation of that. There is one other objection I have to this bill which I think ought to be corrected 

by its friends. If I p.nderstand all the rates of toll, they are -very much 

higher in this concession than I think they ought to be. 

ART. 11. Eads or the company is autho;;-ized to collect tolls from each vessel transported over said railway, provided that the maximum toll on each vessel does not exceed a sum equal to S5 per cubic meter for each meter contained in a parallelopipedon of which the dimensions shall be the greatest length and the greatest breadth of the vessel, measured at the surface of the water, and her greatest immersed depth. In the application of this tariff, fractions of cubic meters shall be considered as complete cubic meters. For each passenger carried across in a vessel a sum not exceeding $15 may be charged. 

Silver in bars, or coined i gold in bars, in dust, or coined; jewels and precious stones shall pay, as a m.aximum rate, 1 per cent. of their value. 

Which I do not understand; perhaps the Senator from Missouri will 

be able to explain it. In this same article 11-

If any captain of a vessel, or owner, or conductor of sa1d property shall fail to declare that it is being carried to the agent of Eads or of the company, said Eads or said company shall have the right to exact 10 per cent. of the value of the property, and to seize and detain the vessel, or the property in question, nntil payment of said 10 per cent-. be made. 

I do not know what that relates to. It appears to relate to all the commerce carried across this ship-railway . .. 

Eads or the company may also eollect wharfage dues and tonnage dues, pro- vided that said dues do not exceed $1 per registered ton, and that the vessels from which these dues be claimed use the ports, wharves, or other hydraulic works of the company; and this sum may be charged for each period of twenty 

days, or less if the vessel be there on-ly that time, on the condition that the delay be not caused by the enterprise. 

I do not know why it should be in this concession that Eads should 

have the right to collect 10 per centum of the value of property shipped across that transit unless the captain of the -vessel, or owner, or con- ductor declares tbat it is being carried to the agent ofEads or the com- pany. I could very well understand that in the case of material out 

of which the ship-railway was to be built there should be a declaration 

of that character, otherwise 10 per cent. of the value of the property 

would be charged against the shipper. That would be a rule for the 

purpose of preventing the evasion of the concession which exempts _the 

property to be used in the building of the rail way from a.D:Y tariff charge. 

. 
1442 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 7, 

I merely call the attention of the Senator from Missouri to that clause have our clear remedy to demand that Mexico shall comply with it; 

because I would like to have it explained. but to do this we should have it clearly stated that in granting this 

ML VEST. Will the Senator let me explain it now? act of incorporation all our treaty rights are reserved. 

Mr. l!IORGAN. Yes, sir~ I do not know, as I observed before, whether the Government of 

Mr. "VEST. I think I understand it. Article II provides: Great Britain, under the eighth article of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, 

Eads or the company is authorizP.d to collect tolls, &c. is going to interfere or undertake to interfere with the rights claimed 

* * • * * * * under this concession. It is very true that it does not give us any pe- For each passenger carried across in a vessel a sum not exceeding ilS may be culiar or exclusive rights. Nevertheless there might be ground of incharged. fi fin d Silver in bars, or coined; gold in bars, in dust, oT coined; jewels and precious ter erence. Probably Great Britain would d groun of interference 

stones shall pay, as a ma.ximum rate, 1 per cent. of their value. under the eighth article of the Clayton-Bnl wer treaty, because she might 

If any .captain of a vessel, or owner, or conductor of said property shall fail- say to us, "You are empowering your people to go there and to enjoy 

'That is, if the captain of the vessel itself or an agent who has charge peculiar and exclusive privileges as a corporation, an artificial person, 

of this properly carried in the vessel declares ''that it is being car- a body-politic created by the law of the United States, that body which 

tied to the agent of Eads or of the company." That is, he must state in every sense is peculiarly American, and which carries with it Amenthat he has this property in charge on the vessel, and if he fails to make can privilege, power, and right. You are enabling such a body as this 

that declaration and undertakes to carry it over surreptitiously and to to go into the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and to claim for themselves un- defraud by that means, then the company shall have the right to exact der a concession from Mexico that which perhaps you would not have 

10 per cent. of the value of the property, and seize and detain the ves- had the right to claim from.Mexico under the eighth article of the Claysel until the payment of the 10 percent. is made. That is, the penalty ton-Bulwer treaty, and we wish to know whatyourexplanationofthis 

in case of concealment to defraud the Government is 10 per cent. A is; we want to know whether you are violating the treaty." comma. should be put ~r the word "carried,'' ''shall fail to declare _ I am always at a loss to find any ground relating to the Central Amerthat it is being carried," that is, declare it to be carried to Eads or the ican isthmian transit upon which it is not possible that Great Britain 

agents of the company, and then the 10 per eent. penalty is exacted. may interfere with our rights or our policy under their construction of 

T.ha.t is the whole of it. what we have surrendered of om independence in the Clayton-BnlMr. MORGAN. I am not disposed to be at all hypercritical about wer treaty. 

it. It was a matter that struck my attention in reading it. I thought The truth, Mr. President, is that so broad is the sweep and -purpose 

it a peculiar provision as it was punctuated. apparently of the Clayton-Bnlwer treaty, that it seems that we can I understand also that a discrimination is made between M:exico and scarcely do anything in respect of Central America or Mexico or Coits right of transit across this isthmus, and all other countries, includ- lombia. that we do not come in contact or in conflict with some of ita 

ing the United States, in this way: The United States, after granting provisions or some of its doctrines, for it is a treaty that is very full of 

this charter or act of incorporation, will be required to pay all its dues doctrine and very empty of every-thing else . 

.and tolls in gold coin, and the Mexican Government has the right to However, I am willing to unite hands with the Senator from Mispay them in silver coin, which is twenty to twenty-five per cent., I be- souri and with every Republican and with every Democrat in this 

lieve, discount for American gold. I think that when we are making body to say to Great Britain, and to those who throw themselves back a concession of this kind, if there is any value to be attached to it at upon the Clayton-Bulwer treaty as the sole interpreter of our rights, 

all, there is at least enough value, or ought to be in our estimation, to ''We have had as much of that as we intend to stan~ You designed 

induce us to demand from the Mexican G:overnment, and from this that treaty for the purpose of committing us to an agreementwithyou 

corporation also, terms of perfect equality between Mexico and the that nullified the Monroe doctrine, and that doctrine is the supreme 

United Stntes in tolls and other charges. law of all America." 

Mexico has the .soil and is to have the advantage of this local estab- In 1825, when the Monroe doctrine was proclaimed, the first act of 

lishment upon her soil with its increased population and wealth and the British Government afterwards was to go to the Belize and conso on. Mexico is to be very largely benefited by the building of this vert a privilege to cut logwood into a right of sovereignty in that part 

ship-railway, whereas the United States has only a contingent benefit · of Hondura8, and to crown a miserable, filthy, wretched, ignorant 

in it, and one not at all superior to that of any other government in Indian as the king of the Belize; and after he had abbreviated his life 

the world. She .has no advanta.:,cre over Great Britain, France, Ger- by the drnnken debauchery the British Government empowered him many~ or any other power in sending her troops or ships or any thing to enjoy, so that within a very few years he had passed away, as he 

else across that isthmus. Mexico gets all the advantage, and yet when was about to leave this world, he bestowed his royal honors by bequest 

Mexico comes to pay her tolls across this ship-railway she pays in her upon a subaltern of the British Government then in the Belize, and he own silver coin and the United States pays in gol~ I do not quite see became king. That, it has always seemed to me, was intended to be a the advantage that it will be to the Government of the United States conspicuous affront to that part of the American people, which I believe 

to ·put it in the power of the corporation to make that discrimination has embodied nearly the whole of several generations, who have been 

between us and Mexico in the transportation of goods, or soldiers, or boasting themselves continually from year to year and from decade to 

whatever it may be, across the ship-railway. decade that they had great respect for, great reverence for, greatdeter1 notice also that the Governm~nt of Mexico reserves a considerable mination to support, thefamousMonroedoctrine. GreatBritainflaunted 

amount of stock and control of this company, and guarantees upon cer- in our faces the royal pretensions of this dirty sans-culotte, and crowned 

tain conditions the bonds of the company, and also makes a large grant him king upon American soil as a response to the enunciation of the 

of public lands for the purpose of cleaning out the harbors at either Monroe doctrine. 

end of this ship-railway. lithe Government of Mexico finds it to her After we had conquered Mexico and had signed the treaty ofGuadinterest to put her credit or her money or her guarantee into this en- alupe-Hidalgo, it was a very few days-perhaps it was not more than 

terprise, and if that is considered all the guarantee the company wants ten or twenty days-until the British flag was floating over the harbor 

or all the assistance in thewayofcreditthat it wants, I do not quiteun- at the mouth of the San Juan River and the protectorate oftheBriti~h 

derstand why that company should come here for a charter. We can Government over the Mosquito kingdom was proclaimed. The only 

not enforce any provision of this charter under this concession else- rivalry between the Mosquito king and the king that was crowned in 

where than in the courts of Mexico. Whether we make ourselves par- the Belize was a rivalry of filth and insignificanceanddirtand humilties to it as a Government, or whether our people make themselves iation. Two men were selected, assuming to be the chiefs of their tribes, 

parties to it as interested individuals, we must all go alike into the upon whom royal honor was cOnferred, and inoo whose veins, by this 

courts of Mexico, as the concession and the charter based upon it pro- royal adoption. royal blood was infused for the purpose of showing the 

vide, and have all the rights that may arise under it settled there by people of the United States that they would have to take at the hands 

adjudication. of the British Government whatever of royalty they saw proper to imIdo not see anycorresponding right or benefit coming to the United pose on the continent of America, and that it was to be selected from 

States, ofanypecuniarycharacter,inconsiderationofthischarterthatwe such strains of blood and through such channels as they saw proper to 

grant, and really I can not b.nderstand, after Mexico becomes the guar- select. A .mock and degraded royalty was thus set up as an answer to 

antor of the bonds of the company up to $100,000,000 I believe, and our declaration of the Monroe doctrine. 

after Mexico makes her grant of the right of way and her grant of pub- When that doctrine was further dishonored by our treaty of 1850, 

lie lands for cleaning out the harbors at either end of this ship-railway, under which we yielded our natural rights in the isthmian transit, in 

and after she has reserved to herself the difference in exchange between consideration of the dethronement of the Mosquito king, we were congold and silver in the payment of her dues, and has reserved to herself fronted at once by the creation of a crown colony in Honduras, based 

the right to forbid at any time the transit of ships of war or troops of on the divine right of the drunken king of the Balize. 

any foreign country, including the UnitedStates, and of course reserves The Mosquioo protecoorate wa.s organized by an invasion of a pacific 

to herself the right to discriminate between countries in that particu- country, Nicaragua, and from that time on until the Clayton-Bnlwer 

lar-I do not see where it is that we are getting any advantage under treaty, Great Britain exercised the rights of sovereign over that·Mosthis charter at all; and yet I am willing to vote for it provided it can quito territory. It had no boundaries, it scarcely had a location upon 

be put in the body of this charter that the rights that belong to the the surface of the earth, for it was composed mostly of marsh and inhabGovernment of the United States under the treaty of 1853 are all pre- ited by monkeys and mosquitoes. There was nothing of it of any subserved. If this company, in its dealings with us upon that isthmus, stantial charaeter, except that it included the mouth of the S:m Juan 

~hooses to violate the rights guaranteed to us in the treaty of 1853 we River. Those wild Indians that hunted about for iguanas and things 
1887. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1443 

of that kind to live upon had 1lQ use for a -country that was of any upon the engineering ])Ossibilities or probabilities of Mr. Eads's shipvalue. railway. It is something that is very magnificent in its conception, 

The reason was obvious why Great Britain assumed this protectorate. worthy of a great engineer, and in its execution it will have the supIt was that, seeing the power we had acquired by the treacyof Guada,- port of a man who has proved his ability in many great enterprises. 

lope-Hidalgo, and that our borders comprised from Southern California The Senate, I think, could never come to a sedate and satisfactory 

to Oregon and Washington T-erritory, she saw that it was necessary to judgment if it were compelled to choose between these two proposiplant herself .at the mouth of the San Juan River, and to hold it, as- · tiona~ but capitalists will weigh these matters down to a very scruple, 

serting supremacy in that quarter~ That right she gave up after along and they will understand exactly where is the best pbce to put their 

struggle and after a long time of waiting after the Clayton-Bnlwer money if they undertake to assist the one enterpriseortheother. Our 

treaty was signed. duty as legislators is to go as far as we can with propriety in enabling 

So, :M:r. President, I hope that the people of the United States have these corporations to get a foothold and to establish themselves if they 

arrived at that point of determination when they will say to the Gov- can. 

emment of Great Britain: ''Whatever is essential for us to have in the 1\fy reasons for preferring the Nieara.gua route .are numerous. The 

way of a transit across this isthmus for the passage of our armies and our . first of all is the elevation above the sea. Take the greatest elevation 

ships, our foreign commeree, and our coastwise trade, that, in natural above the level of the .sea 1>f Lake Nicaragua, which ·Of course is the 

justioo and right, we are entitled to, and will have." When the Al- hjgbest level upon that canal, and it is 107 feet 6 inch~; that of Panmighty planted that ridge of high land, that backbone which connects ama is 108 feet, and that of Tehuantepec is 726 feet. So, when you com~ 

these two continents, with the seas washing its base on either side, and to consider merely the rise onr the altitude that you have to overrome 

when afterward, under His beneficent providence, this great people in passing from sea. to sea, you find that the figures are in favor of Pansprang up in the United States of America, and when their rights of ama by an actual, close, instrumental survey. I will remark here that commerce and rights of self-defense came to them as a prominent ~ • I have never had the pleasure of seeing a close, instrumental survey of 

of consideration for all the world, the question whether or not that the ship-railway. I have no doubt it exists, and I hope the Senator 

i thmus should be controlled by any power but that of the United from Missouri will put it in the REOO:&D, or at least at the disposal of 

States, or without their consent, became to us as delicate and as im- the Senate before we get through with this debate. 

portantaquestion as if itwasmadeinrespectto the peninsula of Florida. Then I prefer the Nicaragua route bec.'Wse of the length of the line. 

It is not the mere right of occupancy enjoyed by the local popula- In Panama where yon have to cut 128 feet in order to get to the bottions, it is not the right to the soil, it is not the riJ.?:ht to soverejgnty tom of the prism of your canal, if it is 20 feet deep, passing through 

over t,he isthmian States, upon which these matters of our national de- · these elevations which for about 4~ miles are chiefly rock and wry 

fense and national commercial power and commercial dncy and right are difficult to handle, an immense outlay of m1>ney must neees arily hle 

based, or by which they are to be measured, but it is upon the config- plaee, and there are other contingencies and conditions connected with 

nrati.on of the eontin.ent in which we have indefeasible rights, and the construction of that canal through Panama. which have dazed the 

upon the seas that wash its shores, -.and upon the great fact that we ~.uineering ability of the world. I think there are very few engineers 

have got immense borders <>n the Pacific Ocean which now we <Can not who have real faith to-day in the ability of M. De Lesseps or anyothe1: 

reach with ships unless we pass around the Cape, and that Olli rights man to build a sea-level canal through from Panama to As pin wall and 

and duties rest. Whoever undertakes to get through that peninsula to make it safe and permanent. 

and to eon vert the connecting canal into a part Qf the ooean, a part of But I do not care to comment upon that any mQie than to say this: 

the high seas, must first ascertain whether it is entirely compatible · Recent official advice, as I am informed, has reached the Government 

with .our interests and our wishes that this should be done. of the United States that in the Panama Canal, as a sort of temporary 

We found the continent as it is, and have planted our institutions 1 expedient, as they say, they have fotmd themselves compelled to put 

and shaped our policy according to its soores and Sea8, mountains, in quite a number of locks. That means simply that they have yielded 

plains, and rivers. Whate'"e:r: shallrevolutionizeth.esenatural arljnst- the proposition of a sear-level canal, and that they expect to put locks 

ments to our detriment must be done with our oonsent or be left un- in it, and when they come to that they have 108 feet to lock over, while 

done. This I understand to be an American doctrine. the Nicaragua. Canal has but 107, not much difference, but still there 

The change in the geographical situation by theoonstruction of a is a difference in favor ofthe Nicaragua Canal. Now there are 41.7 

ship-canal at tide level·or with looks across this isthmian eountry is 1 miles of ·canalization in Panama. In Nicaragua there are 38.98 nuJes. 

just as important to us as if the trnnsit between Florida and Cuba. was In Tehnantepee there are 40 miles of canalization and 134 miles of railclosed, just' as important to us as if some restriction should be put upon road. 

our passage through the :Straits of Magellan. It is the change of the When I say 40 miles of canalization,! mean that when you 'Start at 

ocean transit, and not the question {}f the advantage cQr disadvantage it the harbor o:n the east, the bar of the river Coatzaeoa.lcos, and ascend it 

may be to us, that is the material question. In every respect that is 25 miles, to the average from which this railway takes its departure 

tons one of the Iru)St important as well as one of the mQSt dangerous from the river-your river Coatzacoalcos, which in the dry season goes 

questions that can possibly arise. I deny the right of any government down very low, and which in the wet season goes up very high :and 

on this earth to change the commercial and military geography of this spreads over great marshes-you have got to get 20 feet of water, as that 

entire hemisphere without consulting this great people that God has is the draught of the ships you expect to go in. 

permitted to :assemble .and to rule in this country :now for several cen- Gentlemen who profess to be informed about it say that there is 

tnries. almost as much work in the dredging out of that river as there would 

This is not a right to be decided .according to the ordinary rules of be in building the canal, and that t.he difficulty of handling the river. 

property, nor is it a right <Of that ordinary character which may be dis- in consequence of its varying depths and floods, is far greater than would 

posed of by the local government in combination with other govern- be the diffioolty Qf handling any canal. That is to say, at the point 

ments of the earth. 'Vhen a line is cut through that isthmian country, where the railroad leaves the canal and at points below that you hm·e 

as I have before remarked, it will constitute, as a matter of fact and got to have a look, dam, or a wall, so as to raise tb.e vessels to the proper 

.ought to constitute .as a matter .of law and of international recognitio~ height to get out on the railway' and to overcome the shallows on the bars 

a part of the coast line of the United States, and the Government of in the river that areshiftring with everygreatriseand fall of the wate1'S. 

Nicaragua has no more right to eontrol this eoast line of the United These streams, like all the other streams in those tropical countries, 

States in respect to the advantage it may be to Great Britain .or any are liable to sudden and great inundation, .and where the inunda,-

other pow€r without the consent of the United Stat~ than she would tion pours itself into the channel of transit you must naturally expect 

bave the right to control the coast line between the Cape of Florida that for every flood that:comes there will be a. residuum of sand-bars 

and Galveston in Texas. and other obstructions and difficulties washing out your works, &c., 

Now, Mr. President, the Senator from Missouri and the gentlemen which you have to repair. 

wbo advocate this bill and myself are in harm~ny upon these ropics, a:nd When you h_ave crossed the distanee of 134 miles on rail and over an I trust we shall not get out of harmony upon any branch of this sub- elevation of 726 feet, taking the level of the sea .at the lower point, you 

ject. When !venture to state the strong conviction that after we ihave strike a lagoon on the other side, the name of which I forget, and that 

well considered the subject, and after the capitalists of this country is 15 miles from the Pacific. Itisshall1>w, must be dredged, and when 

have taken it into advisement, the :finallocationofthe ship-transit be- you get out to the farther eoastyou have got, aeeording to Mr. Eads's 

tween the Caribbean Sea and. the Pacific Ocean will be found through statement here, a very long jetty to build to get it out into the deep 

the Lake of Nicaragua. I hope to have the friendly indulgence of the waters of the Pacific Ocean, so that in the comparison of the length of 

Senator from Missouri. I do not bring this subject forward with a view the lines, the elevations to be overcome, and even the number of locks, 

of disparaging the proposition that is now before the Senate, for I have the advantage is in favor of the Nicaragua CanaL I do not say there 

observed entirely in good faith that if lli. Ea.ds ean. succeed in ear- are as many as seven locks to be built on the Ooartzaeoalcos. There are 

rying vessels of eommerce loaded across his ship-railway from the .At- seven locks on the latest survey and l.ocati.on of the Nicaragua Canal, 

!antic to the Paciiic I wish him Godspeed in his effort w do so; and whereas there are twenty-one locks in the survey and location of 

while I do deplore that there is some division of .American sentiment 1873. The last one was made by J'tfr. J'tle~l. I do not say that 

which at the present time seems to stand in the way of a. united .and there are .seven locks to be built on the Coatzacoalros; ~nd on the !apowerful effort w push forward these enterprises, time will settle that. goon at the further end of this railway, how many I do not know, f1>r, 

We can not settle it in the Senate. I repeat, I have not seen the surveys, bnt we know how many are w 

The Senate perhaps is not prepared to pronounce a. final judgment be built on the Nicaragua Canal, and if Panama has to resort to locks, 
'14'44 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 7, 

as we are informed she is obliged to do, instead of having seven, she will 

have as many as twenty. There are twenty-one dams on the Panama 

Canal to dam the river Chagres out of the canal basin, whereas upon 

the Nicaraguan route there is butonedam, and that is on the SanJuan 

River which raises the general level of the river for nearly 40 miles- one single dam. On the eastern division, leading to the Caribbean 

Sea, the canal is almost a continuous series of estuaries formed by permanent dams. 

So, all these comparisons, without going into special details, have 

satisfied me that whoever wishes to put money into this enterprise, for 

the sake of economy will find an advantage in putting it in the Nicaragua route, and if we are to have locks on either of the canals, why 

not as well have them on the Nicaragua Canal as on the others? 

I regret that I do not feel warranted in taking time to go over the 

accurate details of the Survey, and the estimates made by Mr. Menocal. They entitle him to rank as a man of leading ability in his profession, 

and are worthy of careful examination. . Can any gentleman in the Senate point out upon the map of this 

world any place besides Nicaragua where a great estuary of water has 

been collected by the hand of nature and locked up at an elevation of 

107 feet over the level of the sea, from which can be distributed the 

power to carry the largest vessels down to the sea and the power to mise 

them from the sea? Is there any such place on this earth as Lake 

Nicaragua for the advantages of canalization and for many other advantages that can be pointed out? Suez has a little lake, a small body 

of brackish water, as a feeder, but they have had to construct a canal 

from Cairo to Suez in order to get fresh wat-er to supply the Suez Canal. 

Then they have had to build immense jetties at the northern end of 

that canal in order to get the waves of the sea to roll in, and catch them 

in the lake, so as to furnish a body of water on which ships could be 

transported. 

Here nature in the mountains of Nicaragua has poured into great 

reservoirs eternal streams of water, clear and bright, not subject to 

floods, and never an elevation in those lakes of more than 4 feet, and 

the water never muddy. Nature has poured these waters into these 

vast basins, and on the eastern side is the River San Juan, a powerful, 

strong, b~utiful current, and but for a few rapids in it a current that 

might be made easily navigable to vessels drawing 20 feet of water. Indeed, vessels of large draught from the eastern ports have gone from the 

Caribbean Sea into these lakes on frequent occasions. These steamers 

traYerse the ocean, and draw from 12 to 18 feet of water. 

On the east side the rim of the lake stands a little higher, but only a 

few feet higher, and nothing remains to be done but the cutting of 

proper canal channels, with proper locks, for a distance of about 17 

miles, and yon reach the Paeiiic Ocean with your ship. Lake Nicaragua is a deep, placid, clear body of .water, with some local islands and 

-beautiful shores, in a healthy country and a climatethat is delightful. 

Mr. President, I am informed by some of the most experienced navigators in this country that it is worth to a ship the price of the toll upon 

her tonnage to cross through these lakes of fresh water and get clear of 

the b:trnacles and sea grass after a voyage across the Atlantic or a-cross the Pacific, and that there is no such place of refreshment for a ship, as they term it, as is to be found in this great estuary of water. . The climate is delightful, the health is excellent. A number of statistics are before me from officers of the medical staff of the United 

States who have been there with parties, and who have examined the 

statistics in respect to these parties and the people who live there, and 

the health is excellent in Niearagua. M:en can labor as much in Nicaragua as they can labor in any tropical country in the world, and I might 

say even more than they can upon the plains of Tehuantepec. 

But suppose these advantages are about equal, either the Tehuantepec route or the Nicaragua route very far excels Panama in respect to 

the health of the laborers and persons who are employed in the transmission of commerce, for the Panama route is a sickly region of the 

world, infected with yellow fever and various other terrible diseases. 

Mr. ·President, we shall not get possession under this act of Congress, 

perhaps we shall never get possession of Lake Nicaragua · and Lake 

Managua, one the tributary of the other. We may never enjoy the 

possession of those lakes in that sense in which I should feel very 

proud aud delighted to enjoy so great an advantage t:or our country, 

but it should be said for the sake of truth and for the hope of the future, 

that there is more military power in the possession of Lake Nicaragua 

by a country that is able to put fleets into it and sail their fleets up or down either coast, the Pacific or the Atlantic, than there is in any location that man can point out on the face of the earth. 

With a naval station at Nicaragua in that lake, with that for your 

base of supplies, you would be standing in the vety key and center of 

this hemisphere and you would reach your arms across the Pa-cific and 

Atlantic almost with supreme command. With the power to -pass 

through that lake and that canal to reach our Western coast, we could 

double our naval strength whenever we chose to do it on either ocean, 

and instead of being compelled, as now the n~cessity seems to stare us in the face, o.f having a great :fieet for the Atlantic and perhaps a greater 

~me for the Pacific, we could with one fleet accomplish the purposes of ~~ . . 

Look at the moral power, at the commercial command, that the people of the united States would exercise OYer this hemisphere if they bad 

their footing firmly planted in Lake Nicaragua with a ship-canal leading out to either ocean. a short distance to be overcome by steam within a very few hours. There we should find ourselves on the great lines 

of travel and in command of the highways of commerce; there we should 

stand as pea-cemaker and conservator of commerce and the sa.feguard of 

navigators among all the powers of this earth, and there the great power 

of the American Government and people with their magnificent organization and control through our wise and liberal Govemment would re- ceive its supreme crown of glory. 

In no other plaee is to be found the splendid center of influence from 

which would flow out to the world the blessings of peace and prosperity, which are the fruit of our self-government and the rightful inheritance of the people of all nations. 

No, sir, the place can not be designated on this earth that is so desirable to the Government and the people of the United States as that, 

and I scarcely can forbear to criticise any timorous policy which prevents us from enjoying as we have a right to enjoy the benefits of that 

great situation. 

No proposition ha-s ever been presented to the American people, outof the preservation of their own Constitution in their own country, 

of the magnificence and importance of this. Standing there facing to 

the south, the republics of South America would feel in our presence 

and attitude the benign influence of our protection against wrong and 

injustice from abroad and would look up to us with even double the reverence that they did when, leaving the Spanish monarchy and scarcely 

understanding the ~titutions of republican government, they did us 

the honor to adopt our Constitution almost in its form of words in all 

of those governments. 

They would yield to us in their commercial strength and power a reward the like of which has never been contemplated by the American merchant or the American statesman; and if I could only persuade myself to the belief-that the American people would establish a policy which would put these pOssessions under our control peacefully 

and with the consentofour sister republics, as God intended that they 

should be, I would be willing that very moment, be cheerfully willing to sever my connection with public affairs and retire to the humblest sphere, for I would feel that in contributing what little I might 

be able to do to the progress and the completion of a design as great 

and as excellent as this I would be doing far more than I had ever hoped I should be able to do in the maturity of my manhood. 

There is nothing that so excites the aspirations of my heart, there is 

nothing that so commends the approval of my judgment, there is nothing 

to which my hopes turn with such yearning as to the day when the 

United States-shall be welcomed to the occupancy of this grand naval 

fortress situated in the midst of the seas and in the midst of the continents of this hemisphere. 

I wish to read a few extracts from the writings of a man who, in 1849, 

laid down the philosophy of this question in a not very extended essaya man for whom, in his grave, I have the most affectionate reverence, 

for it was my honor to know him personally, and who, now that he is 

dead, his memory lives green among all the nations of the earth. The 

seas scarce ever toss their rolling billows to the sky that they do not 

proclaim the eulogy of Matthew F. Maury, that great writer on the 

currents of the ocean, that map-maker of the airs which circle above the waves of the sea. He took in hand this subject in 1849, and I wish to 

bring to the attention of the Senate a very few extracts-! am sorry 

they will be so brief-from his writings on this question. 

Let us take a view of this railroadThat is the Panama Railroad then being projected. 

Let us take a. view of this railroad and our position with regat·d t.o it in some of those manifold lights in which the wants of commerce and the great inter- ests of the people of the United States present it. And for this purpose I extract from an article which I have recently written on the subject. 

Rightly to do this and properly to estimate the effects which are to arise from 

uniting the two oceans, it is necessary to pass in review the position in respect 

both to the Old World and the New, of our Mediterranean, which consists of 

the Gulf of Mexico, with its archipelago, the Caribbean Sea. The geogra:phical 

position of this sea and its shores, the size of the rivers w bich flow into 1t, the 

climates and soils of their valleys, and the hand with which nature has strewed 

the elements of commerce among them, all conspire to make it the most useful to the greatest number of men, and, therefore, the most interesting sea. in the 

world. It is situated midway between the two Americas. 

RiverS whose head waters reach back north and south into'the very heart of the 

country flow into it. A linefrom the delta. oftheOrinocoto the eastendofCuba. 

is but a. thousand miles long; and yet t.o the west of it lies this magnificent 

basin of water, locked in by a continent that has on its shores the most fertile 

valleys of the earth. In the midst of these valleys ships may sail thousands of 

miles on the largest rivers that bring tribute to the ocean. They contain the 

elements of dormant wealth, of national power and greatness, which it re- quires facility of communication with the Pacific to begin to develop, and which, 

when fully developed, will astonish the world. An era. and an epoch in the 

affairs of nations will date from the opening of this communication. All, and more too, that the Mediterranean is t.o Europe, Africa, and Asia, this sea. is to America. and the world. A sea is important for commerce in proportion to the length of the rivers that 

empty into it, and to the extent and fertility of the river bao;ins that are drained 

by it. The quantity and value of the staples that are brought down to market 

depend upon these. The Red Sea. is in a. riverless district; few are the people and small the towns along its coast. Its shores are without valleys; not a river 

empties into it. for there is no basin for it to drain. Commercially speaking, what are its staples in comparison with those of the Mediterranean, which giYes outlet to rivers that drain and fertilize basins containing not less than one million and a quarter of square sea miles of fruitful lands? Commercial cities have 
1887. OONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. 1445 

never existed on the shores of the Red Sea. Commerce loves the sea, but it depends for life and health on the land. Itderives the sustenance from the rivers 

and the basins which they drain, and increases the opulence of nations in proportion to the facilities of intercourse which these nations have with the outlets 

of such basins. ~-

The river basins drained into the Gulf and Caribbean Sea greatly exceed in ex- tent of area and capacity for production the river basins of the Mediterranean. 

The countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe which comprise the river basins of 

the Mediterranean, are, in superficial extent, but little more than one-fourth the 

size of those which are drained by this sea in our midst. It is the Mediterra- nean of the New \Vorld, and nature has laid it out on a scale for commerce far more grand than its type in the old; that is about 45° of longitude in length by an average of 7° of latitude in breadth. Ours is broader, but not so long; it is, 

therefore, more compact; ships can sail to and fro across it in much less time, 

and gather its articles of commerce at much less cost. The two seas cover each about the same superficial extent; but from one extreme to the other of that of the Old World the route is tortuous and the 

voyage long. It, can not be accomplished withoutsailing a distance quite equal to that between Europe and America; whereas from the most remote point in 

the Caribbean Sea to the farthest port in the gulf a straight line may be dxawn on the water, and the distance from one extremity t<> the other of it will be but 

little more than 2,000 miles. 

• • * * * * * Every one who takes the trouble to examine is struck with the faC;t that the 

greatest commercial cities of the world are, and ever have been, those whose 

merchants have been most advantageously situated with regard to the outlets, 

natural or artificial, of great river basins and producing regions. Rightly to perceive how admirably located and arranged for the purposes of commerce are the Gulf and Caribbean Sea, and duly to appreciate the advan- ta~es arising therefrom, let us, before comparing the river basins of America 

With those of Europe aud Asia, or before tracing further the effects which the course of the rivers of a country has upon its commerce, take a glance at the 

geographical position of this our central sea. Curtained on the east by a chain of fruitful islands, stretching from Trinidad to Cubahit is on the north and the so nth and the west land-locked by the continent, w ich has bent and twisted around this sea so as to fold it within its bottom 

and hold it midway between the two semi-continents of the New World. In this favored position it receives on one side the mountain streamlets of a sea of 

islands; on another, all the great rivers of North America; and on the others 

the intertropical drainage of the entire continent. The Atlantic Ocean circulates through this our Mediterranean. Its office in the economy of the world is most important. It not only affords an outlet for the great American rivers, but it makes their 

ba'lins habitable by giving them drainage and by sending far away int<> the ocean the drift and the overheated waters which the rivers bring down. It also, 

through its system of cold and warm currents, makes its own shores habitable to man, tempers the climate of Europe, and by its genial warmth makes pro- ductive the soil there. The Amazon, rising in the Andes and emptying into the ocean under the line, also finds its way through the magnificent llanos and pampas of the tropics down to the margin of this sea. • • • • • * * Let us now return to the comparison as to extent of the river basins of the 

Old World with those under consideration in the New. According f<> one of 

the most remarkable works of the age-Professor Johnson's Physical Atlasthe river basins in the Old World contain, in geographical square miles, stated 

in round numbers, as follows, namely: 

Square miles. 

Of Mediterranean, Eu·rope ......•..........................•.•..••.......••..............•...• 1, 160,000 

Of Nile................................................................................................... 520,000 

g~ ~do~~~~·::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ~~: ~ Of Ganges.............................................................................................. 432,000 

Of Irrawaddy................................................................ ......................... 331,000 

Of others of India................................................................................... 173,000 

Of those of 'Vestern Europe, as Rhine, &c.......................................... 730,000 

Total Mediterranean, India, and West Europe ........... ......•.•.•..••..• 3, 854,000 

AREA, IN GEOGRAPHICAL SQUARE MILES, OF RIVER BASINS DUATh""ED INTO THE 

GULF OF MEXICO AND C.ARIBBE.L'i SEA. 

Square miles. 

Basin of .Mississippi River....................................................................... 982,000 

Basins in Floridaand Texas (~timated)................................................ 520,000 

Basins in .Mexico and Central America (estimated}................................ 300,000 

Basin of Amazon (including basin ofPara) ............•.•........•..•..••.....•....•.•• 1, 796,000 

Ba.sin of Orinoco and all others of Caribbean Sea.................................. 700, 000 

Tot-al Gulf and Caribbean Sea ...........•................•...•...............••..••• 4, 298,000 

Total Mediterranean, India, and West Europe ............................. 3, 854,000 

Difference-call it nothing, though it measures an area containing nearly half a million of square miles. 

There stands this Southern Meftiterranean of ours in contrast with 

the great deltas washed by the waters of all these lakes, rivers, and 

seas. The certainty of its future wealth and power, as demonstrated by 

this master of philosophic science, animates us with hopes and aspirations that seem to lift us into a new existence. 

From this statement we are led to the very remarkable conclusion-and it is nn important physico-commercial fact-that the area of all the valleys which are drained by the rivers of Europe which empty into the Atlantic, of all the 

valleys that are drained by the rivers of Asia which empty into the Indian Ocean, 

and of all the valleys that are drained by the rivers of Africa and Europe which 

empty into the Mediterranean, does not cover an extent of territory as great as that included in the valleys drained by the American rivers alone which discharge themselves into our central sea. Never was there such a concentration, 

upon any sea, of commercial resources. Never was there a sea known with 

such a back country tributary to it. • The produce which comes down the rivers of Europe has, when it arrives on the shores of the Atlantic, to be transported 15,000 or 20,000 miles to be ex- changed for that which comes from the river basins of India. From the mouth 

of the European rivers discharging into the Atlantic Ocean the voyage to the 

mouth of the Asiatic rivers which run into the Indian Ocean often occupies two hundred days· consequently it requires a ship more than a year to take on board a cargo from the river basins of Europe, go with it to India, exchang.e it, 

and return with the proceeds thereof to the place whence she started, so great the 

distance and so long the period of time which separate these two fountains of commerce. . One ship, therefore, trading between the American system of river basins 

may fetCh and carry, exchange and bring back in the coarse of one year as many 

cargoes as ten ships can in_tbe same time convey between the remote basins 

of the system in the Old World. 

The products of the basin of the Mississippi, when they an:ive at the Balize, 

may in twenty or thirty days be landed on the banks of the Orinoco and the 

Amazon. Thus in our favored position here in the New World we have, at the 

distance of a few days' sail, an extent of fruitful •basins for commercial inter- course which they of the Old World have to compass sea and land and to sail 

the world around to reach. · - On this continent nature has been prodigal of her bounties. Here upon this 

central sea she has, with lavish hand, grouped and arranged in juxtaposition all 

those physical circumstances which make nations truly great. Here she has laid 

the foundations for a commerce the most magnificent the world eve1· saw. Here she has brought within the distance of a few days the mouths of her two great- est rivers. Here she has placed in close proximity the natural outlets of her 

grandest river basins. With unbeard·of powers of productions, these valleys 

range through all the producing latitudes of the earth. They embrace every agricultural climate under the sun; they are capable of all variety of produc- tions which the world besides can afford. On their green bosom rests the throne 

of the vegetabif~ kingdom. Here commerce, too, in timet<> come, will hold its court. · The Mississippi comes down from the grain-producing regions of the North, 

bearing vessels deeply laden with produce; freighted with all varieties of the 

fruits.oftbe temperate zones, they convey to the sea large cargoes of merchandise, gathered from the products of the field, the forest, and the mine. Hills of 

iron, mountains and valleys IDled with coal, are found on its banks. Its waters are mingled in the Gulf with those of the Amazon and the Orinoco, which run between the tropics. From their basins they are ready at the bidding of civilized man to place on this sea, in all variety and abundance, the products of the 

torrid zone. Arrived in the Gulf with these goods, the mariner then finds a river in the sea to speed him on with its favoring currents to prosperous voyages. Through 

the Gulf Stream the productions of this grand system of river basins will be distributed over the world, passing by,and enriching as they go, Norfolk, Philadelphia. New York, and Boston, all the Atlantic slope of the United States, and 

all the Pacific slope, too. 

* 0 .... .... e: ::: * In calculatinA" the sources of the national wealth, p1·osperity, and greatness which are contained for this country iu river basins, central sea, mountain ranges, 

water-courses, and geographiClJ:l features, the lights of history are of no avail. You may prepare the canvas and make ready the easel, but colors that are bright enough for the features can not be found. The exceeding great resources of our Mediterranean beggars description. We know that other places with the 

elements of commerce in far more scanty proportions, with facilities less abund- ant., and obstacles far greater, have grown opulent and obtaine~ renown in the 

world. While one calls to mind the history of such places, be feels that here is room and scope enough for individual wealth far more dazzling, for national 

greatness far more imposing, and a renown far more glorious. Frnm all this one is led to the conclusion that the time is rapidly approaching, if it have not already arrived, when the Atlantic and Pacific must join hands across the Isthmus. I have shown that there is no sea in the world which is possessed of so much importance as this southern sea of oursi that with its suc- cession of harvests there is, from some one or other of its r1ver basins, a crop always on the way t<> market; that it has for back country a continent at the 

north and another at the south, and a world both to the east and the west. I have shown that it is contiguous to the two first, and convenient to them all. 

The three great outlets of commerce, the delta of the 1\fississippi, the mouths of 

the Hudson and the Amazon, are all within 2,000 miles-ten days' sail-of Darien. 

It. is the barrier which separates us from six hundred millions of people-three- fourths of the population of the earth. Break it down, therefore, and this coun- try is placed midway between Europe and Asia; this sea becomes the center of 

the world and the focus of the world's commerce. Open this as a highway, and 

you will give vent to commerce, scope to energy, and range to enterprise, which 

in a few years hence will make gay with steam and canvas parts of the ocean that are now unfrequented and almost unknown. Old channels or trade will be broken up and new ones dl>ened. I greatly desire to see our country the stand- ard-bearer in this great work. 

The railroad across the Isthmus of Panama will speedily lead to the construc- tion of a ship-canal between the two oceans, foro. railroad can not do the busi· ness which commerce will require for it; and by showing to the world how im· mense this business iB, men will come from the four quarters to urge with plll'Se 

and tongue the construction of a ship-canal. Owing to the course of the winds, the direction of the currents, and other 

physical circumstances British merchants are ten days' sail and upward nearer than we are to all the markets of the world, except those of the Caribbean Sea 

and Gulf of Mexico. They are next door to a11 t-he markets of Europe, to Bra- zil, to Cape Horn, the Cape of Good Hope, and consequently to all ports beyond them they are practically some ten or fifteen days' sail nearer than we are. A 

vessel from the United States bound for the southern hemisphere first sails 

nearly an east course until she arrives in the vicinity of the Azores and Canary 

Islands; she then puts her bead south for the first time. 

Now, while the American vessel is sailing this route the English vessel that 

sailed on the same day for the same market bas passed those islands and is far • on her way. For the reason that the Cape de Verde Islands are some ten or fifteen days nearer to England than to America, England is that mncb nearer to the southern hemisphere; for ve sels generally, whether fmm the United 

States or from England, are in the habit of passing by these islands on their way thither. Therefore the Englishman meets the American in all the markets of 

the world, except those of the Gulf and the Caribbean Sea, with the advantage of ten days and upward. · 

I have said all that I deem it proper to say on this occasion in respect 

of this great enterprise, the Nicaraguan Canal. I have said that I favor 

also the building of a ship-railway canal from the Gulf of Campeachy 

tp the Gulf of Tehuantepec across that isthmus. I am in favor of any 

and every American enterprise that will concentrate capital and force 

for the doing of that which is absolutely indispensable under the com- mand of the Almighty, the very Heaven that has poured these blessings 

upon us. If we should be, with our capit..'ll, our genius, our industry, our 

courage, our resources of every kind, negligent of the duty of improving the advantages of this great southern Mediterranean of ours, to say 

nothing of the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington Territory, 

and the coasts that reach up to Maine along the Atlantic-if we should 

neglect this great opportunity to do all that we can for the benefit of 

this great work, I for one should feel that we ought to rest under a 

very severe condemnation. 

It seems that the only possibility now of doing anything is through 

the instrumentality of corporations to be created by the Government of 

the United States. and the assistance of our enterprising individuals in 

reaching out to build these great works. Far be~er wouln H h:lve 

, 

" 
1446 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 7, 

been, and much. more would I have preferred it, if the Government of 

the United. States in the exercise of its natural right and duty had gone 

forward and by an agreemint with Nicaragua or with Mexico or with 

Colombia had built this great work. 

There is certainly no power in the world that has the natural right 

to prevent us from entering into some convenient arrangement with 

the local authority to bnild any ship-railway or any canal that we desire to build which may be for our advancement, but I consider that 

the duty might arise even above that. I believe, and I assert, that it 

does rise above that, that when even the local authority undertakes to 

build a canal or a ship-railway without :first geij;ing the consent of the 

United States Government and providing for the protection and the 

welfare of the American people, that government is violating a duty 

which we can not overlook. 

We must look out for this continent and take care of it. It is in a large sense our inheritance, not in a selfish sense, but in the sense of 

being trustees for the bestowal of the benefactions of a kind Providence 

upon the people around us throughout the length and breadth of this 

great hemisphere. 

One observation more must be made, and that will close my remarks. 

The progress of the western hemisphere has none of those incidents 

of depression and of controversy leading to bloodshed, to rapine, to all 

manner of human entanglement and conflict which has beset the whole 

of Asia and nearly all of Europe and as much of Africa as has been 

civilized. Read the conflicts of those people back through the ages of 

history, and you will :find that 60 or 70 per cent. of them have been 

provoked sooner or later by their differences in religion; whereas this 

people, from Greenland to Patagonia, recognize but one religion, and 

that the Christian religion. • 

We have here no Mohammedanism, we have no Chinese paganism, we have no African or Egyptian idolatry, but the great broad foundation 

of a universal concurrence in that grand idea upon which governments are formed and in respect of which they may be always in harmony. 

We rest from Greenland to Patagonia :fixed in all of our institutions, 

governmental and social, upon the basis of an acknowledgment of the 

Christian religion; so that it seems that a door is open to us for un- limited and unobstructed progress which we have but to enter like 

honest men and follow up the command which God seems to have 

rested upon us, that we should go forth as a nation and as a people to 

bless and prosper mankind. 

MESSAGE F_ROM THE HOUSE. 

A message from the Honse of Representatives, by Mr. CLARK, its 

Clerk, announced that he was directed to request the Senate to return 

to the Hoose of Representatives the bill (H. R. 8976) to incorporate 

the Washington Cable Railway Company of the District of Columbia. 

BILL INTRODUCED. • 

Mr. SHERMAN introduced a bill (S. 3273) granting a pension to 

Susan Edson, M. D., an army nurse; which was read twice by its title, 

and referred to the Committee on Pensions. 

ESTATE OF C. 1\1. BRIGGS. 

1\Ir. SPOONER. I move that the Senate insist on its amendment to 

the bill (H. R. 3828) for the relief of the estate of C. 1\I. Briggs, deceased, and ask for a conference upon the disagreeing votes of the two 

Houses thereon. 

The motion was agreed to. 

By unanimous consent, the President pro tempore was authorized to 

appoint the conferees on the part of the Senate, and Mr. SPOO.NEB, Mr. 

DoLPH, and Mr. Jo.NES, of Arkansas, were appointed. 

EXECUTIVE BUSIN~S. 

Mr. CAMERON. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of executive business. 

The motion was agreed to, and the Senate proceeded to the consideration of executive business. After 57 minutes spent in executive 

session the doors were reopened, and (at 5 o'clock and 47 minutes p. 

m.) the Senate adjourned until to-morrow, Tuesday, February 8, at 12 

o'clock m. 

NOMINATIONS. 

Executive nominations received by the Senate the 7th day of Februa1-y, 1887. 

CHIEF JUSTICE OF SUPREME COURT OF ABIZON A. 

James H. Wright, of Missouri, to be chief justice of the supreme 

court of the Territory of Arizona, vice Sumner Howard, resigned. 

CHIEF JUSTICE SUPREME COURT OF W ASHINGTO.N TERRITORY. 

Richard A.. Jones! of Oregon, to be chief justice of the supreme court 

of the Territory of Washington, vice RogerS. Green, term expired. 

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE SUPREME COURT OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 

Frank Allyn, of Iowa, to be associate justice of tl;le supreme court 

of the Territory of Washington, vice John P. Hoyt, term expired. 

INDIAN AGEXT. 

J. M. Needham, of Franklin, Ind., to be agent for the Indians of the 

Lemhi Agency in Idaho, vit:e Robert Woodbridge, to be removed. c CONSUL·GENERAL. 

E. C. More, of Missouri, to be consul-general of the United Sta.tes at 

the city of Mexico, vice James W. Porch, recalled. 

CONSUL. 

Ernest A. Man, of Osteen, Fla, to be consul of the United States at 

Gothenberg, vice Sidney W. Cooper, deceased. 

POSTMASTER. 

Charles E. Crandall, to be postmaster at Lyons, in the county of 

Wayne and State of New York, in the place of George Hartnagel, re- signed. 

MILITA.RY PROMOTIO.NS. 

Corps of Engineers. 

First Lieut. Walter L. Fisk, to be captain, January 10, 1887, vice 

Adams, promoted. 

Second Lieut. Cassius E. Gillette, to be :first lieutenant, January 10, 

1887, vice Fisk, promoted. 

Second Lieut. Charles L. Potter, Fifth Cavalry, to be second lieutenant, February 2, 1887, 'Lice Gillette, promoted. 

First Regiment of Infantry. 

Capt·. Edward Moale, Third Infantry, to be major, February 1, 1887, 

vice Collins, promoted to the Seventh Infantry. 

TMrd Regiment of Infantry. 

First Lieut. John W. Hanny, to be capt:l.in, February 1,1887, vice 

Moale, promoted to the First Infantry. 

Second Lieut. Frank B. McCoy, to be :first lieutenant, February 1, 

1887, vice Hannay, promoted. 

Seventh Regiment of Infantry. 

1\Iaj. Edward Collins, First Infantry, to be lieutenant-colonel, February 1, 1887, vice Chipman, retired from active service. 

NAVAL PROMOTIONS. 

Commander Henry B. Seely, a resident of New York, to be a captain 

in the Navy from the 13th .December, 1886, vice Capt. Richard L. Law, 

retired. 

Lieut. Commander Thomas Nelson, a resident of the District of Co· 

lumbia, to be a commander in the Navy from the 13th December, 1886, 

subject to the examinations required by law, vice Commander H. B. 

Seely, promoted. 

Medical Inspector David Kindleberger, a resident of Ohio, to be a 

medical director in the Navy, from the 30th January, 1887, vice Medi· 

cal Director J. S. Dungan, retired. 

Surg. Benjamin H. Kidder, a. resident of Massachusetts, to be a. medi· 

cal inspector in the Navy from the 30th January, 1887, vice Medical 

Inspector D. Kindleberger, promoted. 

Passed Assist. Surg. Benjamin F. Rogers, a resident of Pennsylvania, 

to be a surgeon in the Navy from the 30th January, 1887, vice Surg. 

B. H. Kidder, promoted. 

NOMINATIONS WITHDRAWN. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 4, 1887. 

To the Senate of tiLe United States: 

I withdraw the nomination which was delivered to the Senate December 14, 1886, of John McCafferty, to be collector of customs for the 

district of Alaska. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

EXECUTIVE 1\IANSION, Feb1·uary 5, 1887. 

To the Senate of the United States: 

I hereby withdraw the nomination of Thomas T. Tunstall, of Selma, 

.Ala., to be consul of the United States at Asuncion, he having declined 

the appointment. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

REJECTION. 

.&:ecutive nomination rejected 'f?-y'tlle Senate January 26, 1887. 

RECORDER OF DEEDS. 

The nomination of James C. l\Iatthews) of New York, to be recorder 

of deeds in the District of Columbia. 

CONFIRMATIONS. 

Executive nominations conjh·med by the Senate Janua1'7J 29, 1887. 

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. 

Rutledge Willson, of the District of Columbia, to be a jwtice of the 

peace for the District, to be located in Washington. 
1887. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-· HOUSE; 1447 

.ASSA YER OF THE MINT. 

Joseph R. Ryan, of Nevada, to be assayer ofthe mint of the United 

States at Carson, in the State of Nevada. 

CLERK OF COURT IN ALASKA. 

Henry E. Haydon, of Stillwater, Minn., to be clerk of the district 

court for the district of Alaska, vice Andrew T. Lewis, to be removed. 

SURVEYORS OF CUSTOMS. 

Robert Brand, of illinois, to be surveyor of customs for the port of 

Galena, in the State of illinois. 

Louis J. Weiler, of Indiana, to be surveyor of customs for the port 

of ltfichi.gan City, in the State of Indiana. 

Ul\TJTED STATES ATTORNEYS. 

George A. Allen, of Pennsylvania, tom; attorney of the United States 

for the western district of Pennsylvania. 

Daniel N. Lockwood, of New York, to be attorney ·of the United 

States for the northern district ofNew York. 

APPRAISERS OF MERCHANDISE. 

Francis A. Hoffman, jr., of illinois, to be appraiser of merchandise 

in the district of Chicago, in the State of illinois. 

Francis B. Laurenson, of Maryland, to be appraiser of merchandise 

in the district of Baltimore, in the State of :Maryland. 

TERRITORIAL JUDGES. 

William G. Langtbrd, of Washington Territory, to be associate justice of the supreme court of the Territory of Washington. 

James Spencer, of Whitehall, N. Y., to be associate justice of the 

supreme court of the Territory of Dakota. 

RECEIVERS OF PUBLIC MONEYS. 

Daniel J. Sullivan, of Prescott, Ariz., to be receiver of public moneys 

at Prescott, Ariz. 

Bishop Gordon, of Redwood Falls, Minn., to be receiver of public 

moneys at Redwood Falls, Minn. 

REGISTERS OF THE LAND OFFICE. 

Michael F. Battelle, of Luverne, ltfinn., to be register of the land 

office at Fargo, Dak. 

Surville J. De Lan, of Denver, Colo., to be register of the land office 

at Glenwood Springs, Colo. 

UNITED STATES CONSULS. 

Enoch J. Smithers, of Delaware, formerly con.Sul at Chin-Kiang, to 

be consul of the United States at Tien-Tsin. 

Seth A. Pratt, of North Weymouth, Mass., to be consul of the United 

States at Zanzibar. 

Isaac R. Diller, to be consul of the United States at Florence. 

Promotions in the Army. 

CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 

Capt. Henry M. Adams, to be major, January 10, 1887, vice Suter, 

promoted. 

First Lieut. William M. Black, to be captain, December 31, 1886, 

vice Greene, resigned. 

Second Lieut. Hiram M. Chittenden, to be first lieutenant, December 31, 1886, vice Black, promoted. 

Additional Second Lieut. Thomas H. Rees, Corps of Engineers, to 

be second lieutenant, December 31, 1886. . 

TWENTIETH REGIMENT OF INFANTRY. 

Harry D. Humphrey, of Idaho, to be second lieutenant, January 10, 

1887. ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT. 

Second Lieut. William W. Gibson, Third Artillery, to be first lieutenant, January 10, 1887. 

MAJOR OF CA V .A.LRY. 

William P. Chambliss, Fourth Regiment of Cavalry, to be major ot 

cavalry. 

.A.PPOINTl\fE NT IN THE NAVY. 

Albion S. Keith, to be an ensign in the Navy, on the retired-list. 

POSTMASTERS. 

Henry Fox, to be postmaster at Healdsburgh, in the county of So-

;noma and State ~f California. 

James :M:. Miller, to be po.st:master at Vacaville, in the county of 

Solano and State of California. 

Edward Ingram, to be postmaster at Monterey, in the county of 

:Monterey and State of California. 

. P. S. Latch, to be postmast er at Appleton City, in the GOunty of 

Saint Clair and State of Vissouri 

Lewis Brown, to be postmaster at Newport, in the county of Newport and State of Rhode Island. · 

Edwin Judkins, to be postmaster at Franklin, in the county of Merrimack and State of New Hampshire. -

Edwin S. Merrill, to be postmaster at Winchendon, in the county 

of Worcester and State of Massachusetts. 

Buren S. Wasson, .to be postmaster at La Porte City, in the county 

of Blacl!: Hawk and State of Iowa. 

William J. Coogan, to be postmaster at Pittsfield, in ·the county of 

Berkshire and Stat-e of Massachusetts. 

James R. Hall, to be postmaster at I(oward, in the county of Elk 

and State of Kansas. 

Walstine P. Eddy, to be postmaster at Columbus, in the county of 

Cherokee and State of Kansas. Hen~M. Fitzgerald, to be postmaster at Greenwich, in the county 

of Fairfield and State of Connecticut. 

John Q. A. Shelden, to be postmaster at Manhattan, in the county of 

Riley and State of Kansas. 

Henry F. Libbey, to be postmaster at Pittsfield, in the county of Somerset and State of Uaine. 

Sidney B. Warner, tQ be postmaster at East Haddam; in the. county 

of Middlesex and State of Connecticut. 

George F. Thorpe, to be postmaster at Westport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut. 

Simeon Mudgett, to be postmaster at Dexter, in the county of Penobscot and State of Maine. 

Henry C. Tyler, to be postmaster at Deep River, in the county of 

Midd1esex and State of Connecticut. 

William J. Bradbury, to be postmaster at Fairfield, in the county of 

Somerset and State of Maine. 

Bridget Lane, to be postmaster at Summit, in the county of Union 

and State of New Jersey. 

Marshall P. Dowe, to be postmaster at Danielsonville, in the county 

of Windham and State of Connecticut. 

Henry Penniman, to be postmaster at Winthrop, in the county of 

Kennebec and State of Maine. · 

Jacob A. Bowles, to be postmaster at Hickory, in the county of Catawba and State of North Carolina. 

Eckford Moore, to be postmaster at Trenton, in the county of Mercer 

and State of New Jersey. 

Charles W. Jones, to be postmaster at Griggsville, in the county of 

Pike and State of Illinois. - Mary Sue Sellers, to be postmaster at ltiarion, in the county of Marion 

and State of South Carolina. 

John Stuart, to be postmaster at Pipe Stone, in the county of Pipe 

Stone and State of Minnesota.. 

James G . . Kenney, to be postmaster at Provo City, in the county of 

Utah and Territory of Utah. . Thomas J. Douglas, 2d, to be postmaster at Bridgton, in the county 

of Cumberland and State of 1\Iaine. 

Joshua Goodwin, to be postmaster at South Berwick, in the county 

of York and State of Maine. · Elias B. Hinckley, to be postmaster at Stonington, in the county of 

New London and State of Connecticut. 

George Paul, to be postmaster at Iowa City, in the county of Johnson 

and State of Iowa. 

The above confirmation was accompanied by the following report 

from the Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads i which was ordered 

by the Senate to be printed in the RECORD: The Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, to whom was referred the nomination of George Paul to be postmaster at Iowa City, Iowa, in place of Ja- cob Ricord, suspended, has considered the same, and report: That there seems to have been no cause for the suspension of Mr. Ricord other than of a partisan character. He is not charged with anything affecting his in- tegrity as a man or as an officer. Mr. Paul appears to be a p~rson qualified to discharge the duties of the office, and thecommi~tee recommend that he be con- firmed. 

George W. Hess, to be postmaster at Evanston, in the county of Cook 

and State of Illinois. , 

The above _confirmation was accompanied by the following report 

from the Committee on Post-O:ffi,ees and Post-Roads; which was ordered 

by the Senate to"be printed in the RECORD: The Committee on Post-Offices and Post-Roads, to whom was referred the nomination of George W. Hess to be postmaster at Evanston, Ill., to succeed John A. Childs, who was suspended during the recess of the Senate, respectfully 

report: 

That it appears that there were no reasons other than those of a political nature for the suspension of John A. Childs, who was a very efficient and com- petent officer, but, inasmuch as no charges have been made in any way affect- ing his good name and as he does not seek to retain the office, and because no objection has been made to the nomination of George W. Hess, the Committee recommend that the latter's nomination be confirmed. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

MONDAY, February 7, 1887. 

The House met at 12 o'clock m. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. W • H. MILBURN, D. D. 

The Journal of Saturday's proceedings was read and approved. 

ENROLLED BILLS SIGNED. 

Mr. NEECE, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported that 

tlie committee had examined and found duly enrolled bills of following titles; when the Speak-er signed the same: A bill (S. 2652) for the construction of a military telegraph line 

from Sanford, Fla., to Point Jupiter, Fla., and the establishment of a signal station;