The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-07-03

Congress - Postal Telsgraphs The Chinese
Question in the Senate, Public Lands
and Indian Treaties In the House.
Mr.. Ramsey, who has had the subject of
postal telegraphy under advisement for some
time, reported in the Senate yesterday from
the Committee on Post Offices bill to estab-
lish transatlantic postal telegraph service by
an American cable. This is very important
measure. We cannot have too many cables
nor can we adopt the postal telegraph system
too soon. II would be well, however, to ex-
pertinent in the matter, as many old fogies
insist upon experimenting upon everything
before adopting it, even SO self-evident
proposition as the postal telegraph sys-
tenn, by purchasing some of the lines
inside our own limits Eventually and
inevitably all the lines, both land and
cable, will be run by the government; but an
experiment or two will have soothing effect
on the doubters. The bill to amend the natu-
ralization laws was further considered. Sew
eral of the prominent democratic Senators
made strong speeches against it, Mr.. Thurman
insisting that 1t made naturalization impos-
sble and would discourage immigration, while
Mr. Conkling, on the other hand, stated that
there was actually nothing in 1t that was not
in the present law. The Senate substitute for
the House bill was finally rejected, and the
two last sections were pinned on to the House
bill as an amendment. The Chinese question
came up on motion Of Mr.. Sumner to strike
out the word white from the naturalization
laws. Messrs. Stewart, Corbett and several
other prominent Senators from the Pacific
coast, both republican and democratic, and
also Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, were
among those who voted against the amend
ment on account of the Chinese importation;
but it was carried nevertheless. These dis
senting gentlemen are trying to serve two
masters, and they find it extremely unsatisfac-
tory work. The present voting population is
their predominating lord just now, and while
serving them they reject the interests of that
large class just looming up upon which
this very vote of the Senate proposes to confer
the powerful ballot When the record of their
vote is pointed out to them ten years hence
they will feel very much like James Brooks
felt in the House recently when he was charged
with having been Know Nothing.
The questions of public lands and Indian
treaties were the texts of some very important
discussions and decisions in the House yester-
day. The Senate, as we have frequently seen
before during the present session, has pred-
lection for disposing recklessly of our national
domain to begging railroad companies or to
other speculative corporations. BY these
wholesale donations not only are our spare
lands fast slipping from our grasp, like
the patrimonial acres of spendthrift,
but the honest settlers, who have paid
the government prices for their lands, and
have made homesteads for themselves and
their children on them, are sometimes elected
and find themselves rendered penniless to
crafty the craving avarice of the railroad
lobby. The House has been almost uniformly
opposed to indiscriminate land grants, and Mr..
Julian, from the Committee on Public Lands,
reported several bills on the subject yesterday,
which were promptly passed. One of them
was entitled q bill for the protection
of settlers-not from Indian marauders-but
from this rapacious spirit Of the lobby and the
reckless legislation of the Senate. 1t provides
that bona fde settlement under the Pre-emp-
ton or Homestead laws creates contract
between the government and the settler, and
the latter claim shall constitute vested right
of property. Another bill was to forbid the
conveyance of Indian reservations by treaty
to any railroad companies or other set Of specll-
lators; for it must be known that the Senate
frequently gives away to these lobbyists the
reservations which are set aside for the exclu-
sive use of the Indian tribes, as kind of
Wards Island whereon to raise our national
paupers and prevent their depredating on the
respectable people of the neighborhood. Even
these are given away, and the Indian, who Is
kept within his reservation on pain of being
shot if he crosses the line, finds suddenly that
there is no line and that the bottom of his
reservation has dropped out under him. Then
ensue wars and depredations, of course. Mr..
Julian's bill on this subject was also promptly
passed. Another Indian discussion ensued on
the report of the conference committee on the
Indian Appropriation bill, the conferees
on the part of the Senate having insisted that
the exclusive right Of determining treaties lay
with that body, and that the House has nothing
to do with them except to vote the appropria-
tons. The House conferees held this to
mean that the appropriations must be voted
for whether the House objected to them or not,
and they would not accept this view of the
case. The House, in the discussion that en-
sued, seemed pretty much of the opinion of the
committee in this matter, and another confer
ence committee was appointed. There has long
been serious disagreement between the
House and Senate as to the treaty-making
power, and, as the Senate has almost uniform