matters confided by the Constitution to the three branches of the Legislature an act of legislation will be necessary to confirm these articles, and the House of Representatives, as one branch of the Legislature, are perfectly free to pass the act or to refuse it, judging for themselves whether it is for the good of their constituents to let the treaty go into effect or not."

Again, in volume nine, page 106, of Jefferson's works, he says:

"When money is to be paid, the House of Representatives should be consuited previously to concluding the treaty, or the treaty should be made conditional to the sanction of the House."

Now, sir, in view of this record of the practice of our Government, in view of the provis ions of our Constitution, and of the expressed opinions of the greatest statesman of the Republic, it cannot be claimed by any foreign Government engaged in negotiations with us that the law of this country on this question is not settled and well understood; that a negotiation of this kind cannot be made and consummated so as to bind the Government without the consent of Congress, and that until such assent is given such negotiation is without force or effect, and that no act of the executive department not authorized by Congress can make it effective or clothe it with vitality. And I have no hesitation in saying that the unauthorized and unwarranted act of the President in taking possession of this territory was not binding on the Government, and should have no influence in the investigation of the case or its final decision; and to give such unauthorized acts any influence in the case would be setting a dangerous precedent for the future.

I come now to the question as to what action should be taken by the House in relation to this treaty. I, for one, cannot consent to do what the Committee on Foreign Affairs ask, to pass this bill making the appropriation without any accompanying declaration of the opinion of the House as to the regularity and the legal ity of the acts of the President in relation to the treaty, and as to the rights and prerogatives of the House in such cases. To do this would, in my opinion, as I have before stated, be a tacit admission of the power of the President to do the same acts in the future, and would be establishing a precedent fraught with danger.

I am willing, under the circumstances of this case, to vote for this appropriation, if, by the adoption of a proper preamble to this bill, or by some accompanying resolutions, the House will repudiate the claim of the President to exercise such powers, and assert its constitutional prerogatives and rights in connection with all subjects which, by the Constitution, are submitted to the control of Congress. But, sir, if not accompanied by some such declaration, I shall deem it my duty to oppose this bill. I care not how valuable this territory may be; for it is of far more importance that the constitutional liberties of the people should be preserved than that we should acquire wealth and empire.

Mr. Chairman, we can engage in a reckless career for wealth, power, national aggrandizement, and the unlimited extension of our territory; the temptation is great to do so; the field is inviting. Other republics which have gone before us have set us the example, and we may follow in their footsteps; but, sir, would it not be more wise to legislate with a view to the liberty, the security, and the happiness of the people and the perpetuity of our Government? And it should be remembered that one of the greatest securities for the liberties of the people is in the control given by the Constitution to the House of Representa tives over the Treasury of the nation; and that when that security is taken away and the President has unlimited control over the public purse, subject only to the consent of the Senate, one of the strongest safeguards of the people against oppression is broken down.

It has always been a maxim in connection with liberty in this country and in England that all public money is from the pockets of the people, and that it should be expended by none but their representatives. I conjure the

House not to abandon this doctrine now, or surrender up this dearest right of the people. The Constitution has carefully provided a system of checks and balances which are essen tial to constitutional liberty. The powers of the Government are distributed among the different departments of the Government in such manner that each one is a check upon the other. But, sir, if this unlimited and supreme power is conceded to the treatymaking department, then the Constitution is a mockery and a cheat, the President and the Senate constitute the Government, and the people have nothing to do but to submit to the despotism thus established.

I shall, Mr. Chairman, offer an amendment to the bill, which, if adopted, will remove my objections to it, and it will receive my support; but if that amendment or something substantially the same is not adopted, I shall feel it my duty to vote against the bill.

The debate was continued by Mr. BOYER and Mr. PRUYN. [Their remarks will be published in the Appendix.]

Mr. PRICE obtained the floor.

Mr. WASHBURN, of Wisconsin. It is now getting late, and there are few members pres

ent.

As this is a question of great importance I would suggest that the committee now rise, with the understanding that the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. PRICE] shall have the floor, after I shall occupy it to-morrow as was agreed upon to-day.

Mr. MAYNARD. If the gentleman from Iowa does not wish to go on, I would like an opportunity to say something.

Mr. JOHNSON. I hope I may be allowed to submit some remarks to-night.

The CHAIRMAN. The order of the House requires that at the close of the morning hour to-morrow, the floor shall be assigned to the gentleman from Wisconsin, [Mr. WASHBURN,] and the floor must next be awarded to some gentleman on the other side.

Mr. HIGBY. I do not know why there should be any objection to permitting the debate to go on to-night with the understanding that the gentleman from Iowa shall hold the floor at the adjournment.

Mr. WASHBURN, of Wisconsin. If the gentleman from California [Mr. JOHNSON] goes on to-night, the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. PRICE] can take his place to-morrow.

Mr. JOHNSON. Certainly; the gentleman from Iowa can take my place to-morrow.

The CHAIRMAN. When the gentleman from Wisconsin has finished his remarks, the Chair will feel obliged to give the floor to some gentleman on the opposite side of the question.

Mr. WASHBURN, of Wisconsin. But if every one assents to the arrangement sug gested, I do not see why it should not be carried out?

The CHAIRMAN. Does the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. PRICE] yield his place to the gentleman from California, [Mr. JOHNSON?]

Mr. PRICE. If by unanimous consent it can be agreed that the gentleman from California shall take my place this evening, and that I shall follow the gentleman from Wisconsin to-morrow, I have no objection.

Several MEMBERS. All right.

The CHAIRMAN. The unanimous consent of the committee is asked for the arrangement just stated? Is there any objection? There was no objection.

Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Chairman, on account of the deep interest felt by California in the speedy settlement of all questions of difficulty concerning the purchase by our Government of Alaska, I deem it my duty as a Representative to give my views to the House. The interest felt by California in regard to this matter does not proceed from uncertain or chance hope of profit, but comes from a knowledge of the great commercial advantages to accrue from that acquisition, a knowledge obtained by nearly twenty years of intercourse with the little settlements along the borders of that territory. This purchase extends up from the parallel of 54° 40′ north latitude to the north

ern extremity of the continent, embracing many valuable islands, one of which, Kodiak, is large enough for a respectable sized State, and it extends west from the one hundred and fortyfirst to the one hundred and ninety-third degree west longitude. Within the limits of this purchase there is more of the earth's surface than there is in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, Ireland, England, and Wales combined. Yet some gentlemen honestly and conscientiously oppose paying the purchase money. It is estimated that the area of this territory is over five hundred and seventy thousand square miles, and that the length of mainland coast is more than four thousand statute miles. Imperfect as it may be, our Coast Survey shows that this whole extent of water front is "indented by capacious bays and commodious harbors without number, embracing the peninsula of Alaska, one of the most remarkable in the world, fifty miles in breadth and three hundred miles in length, piled with mountains, many volcanic, and some still smoking, penetrated by navigable rivers, one of which is among the largest of the world, studded with islands which stand like sentinels on the coast, and flanked by the narrow Aleutian range which, starting from Alaska, stretches far away to Japan, as if America were extending a friendly hand in trade to Asia." It is estimated that the coast line, including bays and islands, is not less than eleven thousand two hundred miles.

Now, as to the value of all this, for its fisheries, furs, timber, ice, agricultural productions, &c., we are furnished with abundant proof to establish the fact that no waters in the world can yield the toiling fisherman so rich a harvest as he may gather in the waters immediately under that northern coast. Oysters, clams, and crabs are found in abundance; also an odd species of the herring, and also the salmon, the herring, the halibut, the cod, and the whale, until all these fill and thicken the waters. From the lights received upon the subject it is not too much to suppose these the greatest fisheries in the world. The advan tages to the country from the opening of these fisheries will be incalculable. It should be borne in mind that the cod fisheries of the Atlantic coast was for a long time one of the chief sources of the development and wealth of the northern States, and was the great school in which we' trained our seamen and made efficient our merchant marine. always a paying business; it never failed to yield a profit. Yet this Government thought it quite necessary to aid it by subsidies, because it was a school for the training of the adventurous seaman who carried the American flag and American commerce over every sea to the remotest ends of the earth.

It was

The northern Pacific fisheries are probably ten times as extensive as are those on the Atlantic, yet the Atlantic fisheries employ over one hundred thousand tons of shipping and ten thousand men, yielding nearly three millions annually. It is a well-known fact that the Atlantic fisheries are diminishing in yield, and that we must look to some new field in which to restore to us and keep up that great branch of maritime and commercial industry. Last year alone twenty cargoes, making one thousand one hundred and eighty-three tons of dried fish, were brought into San Francisco. Pay this money, give us a government for the country, and next year San Francisco will receive ten times the number of tous received last year. England, as a wise commercial nation, has always paid a great deal of attention to her fisheries, and in our fostering care of our Atlantic fisheries we have only imitated her example. Last year, as may be seen by the inspector's report, London received through Billingsgate one thousand six hundred and sixty-six tons of salmon, worth $1,069,015. Now, do not be encouraged to hope this House is to receive anything through that "gate." I expect to see the day, however, when Alaska salmon will compete in the London markets with the salmon taken from Welsh waters.

France pays millions a year in bounties to her hardy fishermen. She pays nearly one million yearly in fostering her fisheries in American waters. Canada pays a bounty of four dollars per ton to enable her fishermen to compete with ours, and to train up her young men for the sea, that she may build up and improve her merchant marine. We need no bounty for our Alaska fisheries. Clear away the difficulties, and in three years we can sup ply the markets of the world with fish. And in addition to this and other advantages, some of which I shall briefly notice, in five years from the organization of government in Alaska San Francisco will enter and clear more tonnage than New York does to-day. But we will by no means rival New York, for her increase will almost be in proportion to ours. The great value of the furs of Alaska, as well as its great abundance, is known to all the world, and needs but a passing notice. It is admitted by all that every animal wearing a fur coat may be found in that country, some of them in great abundance. With that country in our hands, and under a proper government, we may handle the fur trade with other countries as we choose. Is it not something to be masters of this great branch of commerce? In the partial and limited examinations made it has been ascertained that Alaska has deposits of coal, copper, and gold; also forests of the best ship-building timber trees. And if we believe the official reports we have from there, and I do, the climate of that country, particularly Kodiak and Sitka, is not worse, but far better than that portion of Canada lying north and east of Quebec. That being true, it is safe to say that all the hardier grain, such as winter wheat and barley, may be grown in that country, in addition to the numerous hardy vegetables which we know grow and flourish there. A country of such vast extent, with such a variety of valuable productions, should be considered of inestimable value to any government having the least hope of maritime great

-ness.

Sitka and Kodiak are at present the principal ports of the territory. Sitka is a little nearer to San Francisco by direct line, but not nearer, I suppose, by the track of vessels. It is also more difficult of access and has not so good a harbor; still the harbor is large enough to shelter and protect at anchor eight or ten of the largest vessels. Kodiak is five hundred and fifty miles from Sitka, but nearly in the same latitude, being nearly west of that place. It is possessed of a good harbor, easy of access, deep water, the best of anchorage, and a convenient wharf. Numerous cod-fish banks are found near by; it is also most convenient to the whale fisheries, and is the place from whence San Francisco gets its supply of ice, instead of Sitka, as generally supposed. Although further north, it has a much better climate than Sitka, cattle doing well upon the island without care or attention, grass being in great abundance. Salmon, halibut, and cod-fish are found in abundance around the island. Upon the whole, without going further into details, Kodiak should be the capital at present.

Unless we intend to have a rupture with Russia, and give up the purchase, we should act speedily in this matter and provide a gov. ernment for that country. The great interests of our Pacific commerce require it. At present there are no custom-houses in the territory, the Treasury Department having an agent at Sitka alone. Vessels clearing at San Francisco for Kodiak are compelled to travel one thousand miles out of their way to report to that agent before going to the place of their destination. There is now nothing to prevent English enterprise, or any other, from sailing up the Strikeen river and bartering whisky and fire-arms with the Indians for their valuable furs, which should be poured out through the regular channels of commerce to enrich our country. There is not a light-house on the coast to protect our already important shipping interests there; and without government there is no protection to those that are now settled

in the country; besides, the want of government prevents thousands from going there to settle

Gentlemen are alarmed when they come to consider the expense of an organized government in Alaska, but they should not be. No military force will be needed, none whatever. Two revenue cutters is all that would ever be needed to keep order in that country. Owing to the peculiar topographical features of the coast, two or three light-houses only would have to be erected. There should at least be two custom-houses, one at Kodiak and one at Sitka. The civil government may be a very cheap one until the country begins to show its importance. A Governor and an Indian agent, who shall be ex officio secretary of the Territory; a surveyor general, and a register and receiver; one judge, who shall sit with justices of the peace, and we have a complete system and at little cost. It is objected that the treaty-making power does not go to the extent of obliging us to make the necessary appropriation to carry out this treaty. I think it does. If the question of the purchase of territory was now up for the first time I should say that the Constitution did not justify it. But it is not a new question. It was decided the other way early in the history of our Government in the matter of the Louisiana purchase, and is not now an open question.

The President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, may make treaties of purchase, and in this purchase they have not exceeded their constitutional powers. Now, I understand it to be our sworn duty to make appropriations to carry on the Federal Government because that Government is the object of the Constitution which we are bound to carry out if we can. If this be correct, and I think it will not be denied, then if this purchase is justified by the Constitution it is our sworn duty to carry the provisions of the Constitution to that country for the protection of the people, who have a right to the protection of its provisions. How may this be done? In one way only; that is, by making needful rules and regulations (laws) for the government of that territory under the Constitution. And more, if the reasoning be correct we cannot escape the duty of making this appropriation. all other debts constitutionally contracted by the Government, its force on us is a part of the force of the Constitution itself.

Like

I do not desire to argue the question as to whether we must make this appropriation; the national importance of this purchase is so manifestly great that we should first consider its advantages to the Republic, and we will never have to go further. By this purchase our sea-board on the Pacific is made greater than on the Atlantic, and is extended close up to the borders of Asia. The Pacific sea board, although so extensive, has a much less number of harbors than the Atlantic, being mostly rock-bound, but in nowise dangerous to navigation, and may be protected easier than any similar extent of sea coast in the world. Pay this money, give us a territorial government, and it will be the opening of a new field of enterprise to our merchant marine, in its vast fisheries and fur trade traffics, which will necessarily bind us more closely with our China and Japan trade, and tend to consolidate in the hands of our merchants and in our commerce the greater portion of the mercantile traffic of that section of Asia and its island dependencies. The great national advantages in giving to the United States the jurisdictional preponderance on an ocean destined to become the great maritime highway of the future, opening to our merchants a certain road to the attainment of the largest proportion of the world's traffic, and placing within our grasp the proud distinction of being the greatest commercial government of the globe, peacefully taking and wearing the palm so long held by England through toil, bloodshed, and the expenditure of countless millions of treasure, is such a victory of peace and statesmanship that we should not hesitate one moment. While I admit the in

calculable advantages to accrue to the Pacific States from this purchase, I still insist that the benefits will not be local, but extend to the whole Union, creating an incentive, in solid profits, to the marine of the whole country, until darkness shall no longer dwell upon the face of the waters anywhere that an American vessel can float.

It is not a measure for the present alone, but has much to do with the future permanence of our republican Union, and, in a political sense, should be viewed with deepest interest. It removes a foreign flag from the shores of America, and confines to narrower limits one of the great Powers of the earth. It extends our territorial jurisdiction, and greatly lessens the probability of a consolidation of empire and an overthrow of our Republican institutions, a calamity greater than all other evils that might befall us as a people. As a Representative from California I may be pardoned for a particular notice of the advantages to accrue to that State by this acquisition. California is a young State, but is mature in all that constitutes the elements of a rising and prosperous Commonwealth. Minerva-like, she sprung out fully developed from the fertile brains of her own statesmen. As a commercial, agricultural, mechanical, and wealthproducing State, despite disasters from floods and fires, she has attained a greatness which makes the records of her prosperity appear almost fabulous. Experience has developed her channels of prosperity, and she stands today the most notable example in the world of the energy, enterprise, and industry of a people. Scarce nineteen years ago her hills and plains were settled by the best young bloods of our country, when she commenced an existence with all the elements to make her an excelsior State.

With her first life she was possessed of all the advantages of the improvements of the age, and did not have to grow into their use by overcoming the prejudices of the past. We are of the present time, and availing ourselves of the advantages of the day, and as each progressive benefit for the community is developed, we have incorporated it with our daily life, thus lending vitality ever to our young blood and venturesome spirits. Too much honor can never be done the young men of California. Among us are settled young men from every country in Europe. With the liberal spirit of the age and our own institutions we have adopted all that is good to the com. munity from each. Such valuable traits, methods, and means of future benefit as was consonant with our institutions we have wove into the fabric of our social as well as business life, and have thus become more liberal and expansive in our views, more progressive in our exertions. We differ essentially in our manners and customs from other communities which are trammeled by old-fashioned routine and by old traditions, and worse, by old prejudices. We are daring and venturesome. Old fogies would call us daring, extravagant, and, perhaps, reckless, but our course is controlled by rules of progress and commerce which accord with the spirit of the age, and so we make our paths of industry broader, brighter, and more inviting than can be found elsewhere. The wants of the community and the natural impulse of enlarging the sphere of commercial interests-an interest which binds together the States of this Union-rationalizes our progress.

We need no better example to illustrate this than the recent change into our hands of the trade of China via California, which will eventually make San Francisco the center of the commercial world, and place in the lap of her queenly and capacious robes the wealth of Asia, however this may be to the disadvantage of England. This is one of the revolutions resulting from our progress; and does it not reflect equal credit on the commercial enterprise of the great marts of the Atlantic whose interests are so closely interwoven with our own as to be almost identical. Any benefit

accruing to California is a benefit to them in a commercial point of view. We are raising up in our youths, as it were, a new nationality, educated on a scale unknown elsewhere in the Union. The blessings of a free education are not confined to the channels of English knowl edge alone, but the French, Spanish, and German classics are taught in our public schools, as also the fine arts, the law, medicine, mechanics, metallurgy, music, and painting, while theology is not neglected. We intend that our posterity shall possess the same vigor, mentally, that a beneficent God has given them physically; for we are blessed with a climate beyond compare and a soil teeming with richness, bearing with astonishing prolificacy all the cereals and fruits of the most temperate as well as tropical climates. Our only anxiety is to afford employment to our greatly increasing population, who will dispute every avenue leading to advancement with our own sons. We cannot confine them to mercantile, mining, or mechanical life entirely; they cannot all become lawyers, doctors, divines, poets, or literary men. We need a new sphere of action for many. We need a mercantile marine of our own, to cover the Pacific with our own fleets, to advance in the art of ship-building, navigation, and commerce abroad by sea.

The waters washing the shores of Alaska are to be the future fields of these new sources of prosperity. The fisheries, the fur trade, the lumber trade, all of which that territory is wealthy in, must become sources for the use of our increasing wealth and the development of new industrial pursuits. We cannot halt in our progress; our taste of greatness is too palatable for us ever willingly to upset the banquet-tables; our motto is onward and upward. Progress cannot retrograde; it must advance, and it is our duty as legislators to lend our aid in its behalf. Give our people the right to avail themselves of these benefits by honorably discharging a debt honorably and fairly incurred, a debt the non-payment of which affects the national repute, and it will not be many months before the realization of what I portray will gratify and gladden the whole country.

We, having the national credit in keeping, should recollect that our capitalists, looking upon the purchase of Alaska as a commercial transaction, view the non-compliance of treaty stipulations as making investments in that territory or in its commerce dangerous; and it is certain that California enterprise cannot have its full flow and energy in that direction until that compliance is had and the treaty honorably fulfilled. The past has been full of experience, sad and otherwise, to our people, and through the trials of fire that we have been subjected to we should take lessons of wisdom in finance, commerce, and, in fact, in statesmanship. While we are glorifying our steam communication with Asia, it is well to reflect that the possession of Alaska is an adjunct to its success and prosperity.

The course of ocean navigation varies on the Pacific owing to the prevalence of the trade winds. Six months in the year it traverses to the south by or near the Sandwich Islands, and the other six months it is by the north, following the course of the Alaska peninsula and the Aleutian group of islands which stretch out, indicating a past connection with the islands of the China and Japan seas. Coal is essential to the use of our Pacific steamers; this is to be found in Alaska. Ship timber is another essential; Alaska abounds therein. So did Maine and so did Washington Territory; but the European Governments, with a keener eye to future need, have for years been supplying themselves from the latter, while we have exhausted the lands of the former to such an extent that the interests of our commercial marine demand at our hands as legislators the repeal of the duties imposed on the importa tion of lumber from the Canadas. We daily lament the decadence of our ship-building interests; let us cease our lamentations and breathe new life into this great interest by

giving to our artisans and capitalists the opportunity of covering the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, Japan, China, and Yellow seas, with our ships, so that each Asiatic port may be alive with our seamen, filled with our ships, and canopied all over with the American flag, which, if we will it, may majestically wave all other flags from the sea, and beckon a commanding invitation to the wealth of the world to enter and tarry in our ports. These are considerations well worthy of reflection; I do not draw an imaginary future when I make these assertions.

Yet all depends in a great measure on the action of this House in upholding our national credit and honor.

The greatest enterprise of the age, or any age, the Pacific railroad, had to slumber for years from lack of faith in its practicability; who doubts its success and benefits now. It

is erroneous to suppose that all those benefits are to accrue to the Pacific States; but while its benefits will be mutual with the whole country those States will be the last to reap the harvest. This may seem illogical, but I hold that the various branches of the Pacific railroad will benefit the whole Union primarily by building up the vast plateau of the Rocky mountains, as it is termed. The land of the red man, the great plains, will be peopled, and cities, towns, villages, and ultimately States will grow, and all this long before it will confer benefits on the Pacific States equal to those received by the western and Atlantic States, through whose ports and over whose lines of railroad must enter and be transported the population of the great basin of the continent, whose growth into civilization will be as rapid and astonishing as that of California.

The benefits of such gigantic enterprises are cooperative in their nature, and are scattered broadcast over the whole land. The late unfor tunate civil war in our country has severed ties to localities; change of fortune, the heavy hand of misery, the disruption of family ties, all tend to add stimulus to a change of locality, to emigration to new scenes where life may be begun anew, and hope points to the far West as that land of promise. The Pacific railroad I look upon as the great highway open to such, and as such highway it will carry the people who are to add to our empire, and carry civilization into the desert. We do not for one moment think that every train over those broad, iron roads is to be freighted with men, woman, and ehildren for California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington Territory. We expect but our share of the emigration, and are not so selfish as to desire its monopoly. It cannot be laid at our door, then, that all those great national works are but for the benefit of our sturdy young State, as many allege. Nor is the vast outlay they cost to be added to our account current with the Government, for it is well known that many look with regretful eyes on the favors bestowed on California, and call that State a "petted and spoiled child, extravagant in her demands and petulant when not gratified," a statement wholly devoid of truth, uttered, I believe, more as an admonition than as a stigma. We are not presumptuous enough to believe that we are much wiser or greater than the people of other States, and therefore we admit it may be well at times to apply the "break" when we are putting on 66 too much steam." In the acquisition of Alaska we look with an eye to its and to our national import

ance.

Give us Alaska as a Territory organized under a proper government as one of the Territories of the United States, and right soon we will make California so great that you will all boast when you go abroad that you live under the same Federal jurisdiction that we do. And because of our riches, resources, energy, high civilization, and general prosperity, you will all be proud to tell that you have brothers, cousins, or relatives in that State. And our Speaker, when old and worn out in the public service, will recount with pride and with glee what he saw and heard, his haps and mishaps, as he

flitted two or three years ago across our golden sands. I appeal to honorable members, let us be just, let us be honorable, let us be great as this occasion is great, and do ourselves and our country lasting honor. The value of this purchase to our country can be better understood when we consider the unsurpassed richness of California in all that makes up the greatness of a State. Then, briefly as possible I shall try to show what California is to-day, leaving gentlemen to judge what it may be in the future. California is over seven hundred miles in length, having an average width of about two hundred and twenty-five miles. Within the limits of the State there are about seventy million acres of agricultural land, and about fifteen million acres of grazing lands.

California now produces about thirty million dollars per annum in gold and silver, and it is safe to suppose that this yield will not be materially diminished for fifty years to come. Her yield of grain will be this year about forty million bushels-twenty-three million bushels of wheat and seventeen million bushels of other

This

grain. In ten years we will produce, perhaps, not less than three times this amount. will give us one hundred and twenty million bushels-more than enough to feed twelve million people. Our crop of wool last year was over ten million pounds, and in ten years from this time it is safe to conclude it will be fifty millions. This will clothe fifteen million people. I do not know what number of gallons of wine we produce, but I do know that we produce the best grapes that are grown in the world, and that in a few years, when our young vineyards have matured, we can supply all the people in the United States with a pure article of as good wines as ever gladdened man's heart or made a soul merry. There is no country on earth where cattle do better than in California, and sheep and hogs multiply faster there than in any other country on the globe. We have fruits of all descriptions, unsurpassed in yield and in delicacy of flavor. Our State is overflowing with corn, wine, and oil, and we must have, we will have, ships to carry these good things abroad. And we must have the furs, fish, and timber from Alaska to increase, diversify, and vitalize our commerce.

We have at this time seven hundred and fifty-six vessels, with an aggregate of one hundred and forty-six thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight tons burden, belonging to the city of San Francisco; but this is not more than one third the tonnage demanded by our commerce. Because of our richness and greatness the Atlantic States have kindly sent the iron horse on his mission to bring away our products, to empty our granaries and our factories and our warehouses of their rich Oriental fabrics. The continued greatness of California does not depend upon this purchase, but I believe it will be worth more to her, in a commercial point of view, than all the gold in all her hills. Then let us vote this appropriation; for an increase in California's commerce is equally beneficial to all parts of the Union.

Give us this appropriation and then a territorial government for Alaska, and the good this will do us, considered with the benefits to accrue from the Pacific railroad and our commerce with China and Japan, will in ten years bring to San Francisco the chief merchants of the world. From every land we will receive orders for our grain, for our woolen goods, for our fish, and our furs. We will cover all the seas with our ships and control the commerce of the nations. Our hills and valleys will afford happy homes for millions who fail in other countries to meet that thrift and prosperity which always follows industry and frugality with us. The industrious of every land are invited to take wealth from our inexhaustible mines, and to make homes upon our fertile lands, where they may joyfully spend their lives with peace and plenty in the cool, refreshing shade of their own vine and fig tree.

With our great future so near at hand as to plainly be seen it is hardly possible that this Alaska purchase, adding so much to our com

mercial importance as it does, can be rejected; for, as I have already stated, the advancement of California in this particular is the advancement of the whole Union.

The other States of this Union, and the Federal Government which they ordained and established, shall have the history of their greatness written in letters of gold taken from California's mines. California's "corn, wine, and oil" shall sooth the wounds of the afflicted, make joyful the hearts of the oppressed, and drive away hunger from the poor and needy all over our land. Will you yield us this purchase for the benefit of our commerce?

Mr. MAYNARD obtained the floor, but yielded to

Mr. BANKS, who moved that the committee rise.

The motion was agreed to; and the committee accordingly rose, and the Speaker having resumed the chair, Mr. GARFIELD reported that the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union had, according to order, had the special order under consideration, being House bill No. 1096, making an appropriation of money to carry into effect the treaty with Russia of March 30, 1867, and had come to no resolu tion thereon.

And then, on motion of Mr. GARFIELD, (at ten o'clock and ten minutes p. m.,) the House adjourned.

IN SENATE.

WEDNESDAY, July 1, 1868.

Prayer by Rev. E. H. GRAY, D. D.

On motion of Mr. HARLAN, and by unanimous consent, the reading of the Journal of yesterday was dispensed with.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a letter of the Secretary of the Interior, communicating an estimate from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of appropriation required to pay the damages sustained by settlers in Niobrara township, Nebraska, by reason of locating the Santee Sioux upon lands owned by them, in the year 1866; which, on motion of Mr. HARLAN, was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs, and ordered to be printed.

PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS.

Mr. HARLAN presented a petition of citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, praying that a pension be allowed to the soldiers and sailors of the war of 1812, and to the widows of those that have died; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions.

He also presented a petition of Thomas J. Brooks and others, employés of commissaries of subsistence, asking to be included in the bill giving twenty per cent. additional compensation to clerks and others; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

He also presented a petition of members of the bar of the District of Columbia, praying an increase of the salary of the judge of the orphans' court of the District; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. HOWE presented a petition of Lewis John, for himself and others, members of the Oneida tribe of Indians, praying that they may be granted bounty for services rendered during the war of 1812; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions.

Mr. MORGAN presented a memorial of

Andrew J. Berrian, praying indemnity for dam ages occasioned to his property in Tennessee during the rebellion by rebel soldiers; which was referred to the Committee on Claims.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I present the petition and protest of the settlers upon the Cherokee neutral lands in Cherokee county, Kansas, setting forth that the settlers of the Cherokee neutral lands settled there under the conviction that as soon as the Indian titles were extinguished they would have a right to the benefit of the preemption and homestead laws, and that they are now in danger of losing their homes and having them transferred to railroad corporations; that they believe they are entitled, as soon as the Indian titles are extinguished, to the benefit of the preemption and homestead laws, and that in the name of twenty-five thousand men, women, and children now living on these neutral lands they protest against the selling of any of these lands to others than actual settlers. I move the ref erence of this petition to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. YATES presented the petition of Isaac Rutishausen, praying compensation for services rendered as assistant assessor of the eleventh division of the first district of Illinois, the same having been withheld on account of his failure to take the oath of office; which was referred to the Committee on Claims.

Mr. CONKLING. I present the protest of numerous wholesale liquor dealers of the city of New York, protesting against the sections applicable to them in the tax bill now undergoing examination by the Committee on Finance. The protest is long and particular, a very instructive statement, I think, and it contains numerous objections which the memorialists deem conclusive. I move that the memorial be referred to the Committee on Finance.

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. SUMNER. I present the petition of Alexander H. Bullock, Governor of Massachusetts, and a large number of other distinguished citizens of Massachusetts, protesting against any sanction by Congress of a recent act by the Legislature of California giving rights to certain persons in the Yosemite valley, asking that it may be kept sacred to the public in all times. I move the reference of this petition to the Committee on Private Land Claims.

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. THAYER presented a remonstrance of H. Williams and forty-three others, citizens of Neosho Falls, Kansas, against the pending treaty with the Great and Little Osage tribe of Indians, with a prayer for the protection of the settlers and the school interests of Kansas; which was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

He also presented a remonstrance of J. J. W. Fox and others, citizens of Osage county, Kansas, against the pending Osage treaty, together with the objections of the State superintendent of public instruction against said treaty; which was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

Mr. THAYER. I also present the protest of White Hair, principal chief, and nine other chiefs and head men of the Osage nation, against the ratification of the pending Osage treaty, setting forth the threats and inducements held out by the commissioners to secure their signatures to said treaty, and a declaration that the tribe does not want it confirmed. Also, that the rest of the chiefs of the nation are absent on a buffalo hunt, otherwise they would have signed with them. I have been requested to ask that this remonstrance be read to the Senate.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The remon strance will be read if there be no objection. Mr. EDMUNDS. I object. I want to save time.

be read unless by a vote of the Senate. The question is, Shall the paper be read?

The question being put, it was decided in the affirmative; and the Chief Clerk proceeded to read the remonstrance.

Mr. HENDRICKS. I think the reading should be suspended. It seems to relate to executive business, and the paper ought to be presented in executive session.

Mr. CONNESS. I move to lay it on the table, and then it can be read in executive session, where it belongs.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Our rules say that when a paper is presented and its reading is asked, and the reading is objected to, it cannot be read unless by a vote of the Senate; and when the Senate have voted that it shall be read, I suppose it must be read.

Mr. HENDRICKS. I have no objection to the reading of the paper, but I supposed it related to executive business, and ought to be presented in executive session.

Mr. THAYER. It is a remonstrance against the ratification of the Osage treaty.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Perhaps it belongs in executive session. That may be an objection. Perhaps it is out of order to offer it in open session, as it relates to a treaty.

Mr. POMEROY. There is no objection to its being read except that it belongs to executive business.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Let it take the same course as the others, and be referred to the committee.

Mr. THAYER. I do not yield to the force of the suggestion that this paper should be presented in executive session. A petition or remonstrance is a public matter, and I think may properly be read. I do not, however, insist upon the reading; but the request was made to me that I should ask for the reading of the paper. I will not ask for its further reading, but simply move that it be referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. The motion was agreed to.

LAND OFFICE REPORT.

Mr. ANTHONY. The Committee on Printing, to whom were referred two resolutions, one to print ten thousand copies of the report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and another from the Committee on Public Lands, for printing thirty thousand copies of the same in various languages, have instructed me to report a resolution as a substitute for them. I should like to have the substitute read, and ask for its present consid

eration.

Mr. EDMUNDS. Will it lead to debate? Mr. ANTHONY. It will take but a minute or two.

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. PoмEROY in the chair.) The substitute reported by the committee will be read.

The Chief Clerk read as follows:

Resolved, That five thousand copies be printed for the use of the Senate, and two thousand copies for distribution by the General Land Office, of the report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office for 1867, without the sketches or illustrations, and without the maps, except the connected map of the United States.

Resolved, further, That an abridgment of the report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office for 1867, containing such portions of it as may best encourage immigration, shall be prepared by him without sketches or illustrations, and without maps, excepting the connected map of the United States; and that two thousand copies be printed for the use of the General Land Office, and also that two thousand copies in English, three thousand copies in German, and one thousand copies in Swedish, be printed for distribution in Europe, under the direction of the Department of State.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there any objection to the present consideration of the resolution? The Chair hears no objection. Mr. CONNESS. I desire to make a motion in regard to it.

A

Mr. EDMUNDS. I think it had better go

over.

Mr. CONNESS. I move to refer it to the Committee on Public Lands of this body, and I desire to submit a very few words in regard

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from Vermout object to the consideration of the resolution?

Mr. EDMUNDS. Yes, sir. I want it to go over until to-morrow and be printed. I have no objection to my friend from California making his suggestion.

Mr. CONNESS. There is no objection, I presume, to my making the motion and to disposing of it now.

Mr. EDMUNDS. The trouble is that it will lead to debate.

Mr. CONNESS. Not at all; there will be no debate whatever.

Mr. ANTHONY. I have a word to say; but not to debate it.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from Vermont object to its present consideration?

Mr. EDMUNDS. No, sir.

Mr. CONNESS. I yield the floor to the chairman of the Committee on Printing first. Mr. ANTHONY. I prefer to hear what the Senator has to say about it.

Mr. CONNESS. That will be on my motion to refer.

Mr. ANTHONY. Well, Mr. President, this is a resolution from the Committee on Public Lands which was referred to the Committee on Printing, and the Committee on Printing reported a substitute for it, and now it is proposed to refer it back to the Committee on Public Lands. I simply wish the Senate to understand it.

Mr. CONNESS. The condition of the case is this: there is a proposition to print a given number of the report of the

missioner of the General Land Office with certain maps accompanying that report. Under the standing rules of the Senate the proposition to print an extra number had necessarily to be referred to the Committee on Public

Printing. That committee now report in favor of a very restricted publication, in my opinion, not one consistent with the highest public interests. I do not mean in saying that to make any condemnation of the committee at this time. But it is a question necessarily involving high considerations, and I desire, and I do not think the honorable chairman of the Committee on Printing should object to that, that the Committee on Public Lands shall have the consideration of the question. They can probably report to-morrow or the day after, and then we can act upon the report. Therefore, I submit now a motion to refer the matter to the Committee on Public Lands, that they may consider this report.

Mr. STEWART. I should like that suggestion to be carried out. I have some amend

ments on my table, and I desire to have those amendments considered by the Committee on Public Lands. The resolution was formerly considered by that committee, and I should like to have them consider the amendments. I hope it will be referred to that committee, and they can report it back at an early hour, perhaps to-morrow morning, after consultation.

Mr. ANTHONY. I have no objection to any disposition the Senate chooses to make of this matter. This is a resolution for printing extra copies of a document which is altogether the most expensive document presented to the Senate at this session. The printing of it, according to the resolution of the Committee on Public Lands, would cost from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. The Committee on Printing have reported, as the Senator from California justly says, a very restricted resolution, cutting it down, I suppose, at least nine tenths. Now, the proposition of the Senator from California is to refer this economical resolution to the same committee that reported the more expens. ive one. I have no objection; but I do not want, when it comes up, that the question shall be taken out of the hands of the Committee on Printing and given over to the Committee on Public Lands. I do not want any. thing done when the Committee on Public Lands are not aware of it.

Mr. CONNESS. That is not my object. My object is to save the time of the Senate. There are a great many facts to be stated which may be considered and collated in the Committee on Public Lands, and we may save much time by that course.

Mr. ANTHONY. If this resolution be referred to the Committee on Public Lands, that committee will of course report in favor of printing some additional copies, and by a rule of the Senate, and by a law of Congress which the Senate cannot suspend, although it very often assumes to do so, that report must go back to the Committee on Printing. When the Committee on Public Lands make their report it must by law go to the Committee on Printing.

Mr. STEWART. Then I will simply ask that that matter lie over until I consult the members of the Committee on Public Lands. Mr. ANTHONY. No, I do not object to the reference; I only wish the Senate to understand what it means.

Mr. CONNESS. I wish to say to the Senator that the object is not to get an additional number recommended by the Committee on Public Lands, and that committee will probably not take that course, but they will offer, as they would to day, the amendments that they will propose. They desire to have the subject considered; that is all.

Mr. ANTHONY. Very well; let it go.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the motion of the Senator from California, to refer this report to the Committee on Public Lands.

The motion was agreed to.

ORDER OF BUSINESS.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I ask the Senate to proceed to the consideration of Senate joint resolution No. 139, excluding from the Electoral College votes of States lately in rebellion which shall not have been reorganized.

Mr. CONNESS. Let us go through the morning business.

Mr. EDMUNDS. The reason why I ask to have this resolution taken up now is that it is a measure of such a nature that I feel quite sure it will require at least ten days-not to make any offensive or unparliamentary remark-at least ten days to pass it, after we shall have once considered it, and therefore it ought to be acted upon one way or the other now. That is all I wish to say.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont asks unanimous consent to consider the resolution indicated by him.

Mr. HENDRICKS. I wish to appeal to the Senator to allow me to call up a bill of some interest, which I have charge of, from the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. DAVIS. I object to taking up the measure indicated by the Senator from Ver

mont.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The motion being objected to cannot be entertained at the present time.

Mr. HENDRICKS. I ask the unanimous consent of the Senate to take up Senate bill No. 486.

Mr. CONNESS. I hope we shall go through the morning business first.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to taking up the bill mentioned by the Senator from Indiana?

Mr. EDMUNDS. I object.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Then it cannot now be taken up.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I move to take up House bill No. 1129, which is a short bill, and will take but little time. It is for the relief of the widow of Colonel Mulligan. I hope nobody will object.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I feel obliged to object. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The motion being objected to cannot now be entertained.

Mr. HENDRICKS. I move to suspend all prior orders, and take up the bill to which I referred, Senate bill No. 486.

Mr. EDMUNDS. That is not in order.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under our new rules a motion to take up a bill is not in order, except by unanimous consent, during the presentation of morning business.

Mr. HENDRICKS. I am glad of it. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Reports of committees are in order.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

Mr. HARLAN, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. No. 503) for the relief of William B. Todd, reported it without amendment.

Mr. NYE, from the Committee on Territories, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. No. 202) to create the office of surveyor general in the Territory of Utah, and establish a land office in said Territory, and extend the homestead and preemption laws over the same, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and that it be referred to the Committee on Public Lands; which was agreed to.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I move now that the Senate proceed to the consideration of House bill No. 1129.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. It cannot be done, except by unanimous consent, until the morning business is through with.

Mr. CONNESS. I desire to offer a resolution.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there be no further reports of committees the presentation of resolutions will be in order.

EIGHT-HOUR LAW.

Mr. CONNESS submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to:

Resolved, That the President be requested to direct the heads of the several Departments of the Government to promulgate the law limiting the hours of labor, recently enacted, with such regulations as will lead to an immediate compliance with the law. ORDER OF BUSINESS.

Mr. EDMUNDS. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Senate joint resolution No. 139, the same that I mentioned before.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That requires unanimous consent. Mr. EDMUNDS. Are not resolutions through with?

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. I do not know. If there be no further reports of committees the introduction of bills and joint resolutions is in order.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of House bill No. 1129.

Mr. EDMUNDS. That requires unanimous consent as much as mine did.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. There seems to be no further morning business.

DISTRICT BUSINESS.

Mr. HARLAN. Idesire to submit a motion. I move that Friday next, after one o'clock, be set apart for the consideration of business pertaining to the District of Columbia. The motion was agreed to.

ORDER OF BUSINESS.

Mr. THYER. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of House bill No. 780, for the relief of Martha M. Jones, administratrix of Samuel T. Jones. I will then yield to any morning business for a few minutes.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The morning business is not through with.

Mr. THAYER. I ask the Chair to put the motion, and then, if it prevails, I will yield for the morning business.

Mr. EDMUNDS. The motion is not in order. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Half a dozen Senators on the floor have submitted similar motions. We must go through with the morning business.

Mr. DAVIS. There is a report here from the War Office in response to a resolution of the Senate passed some time since. I move that the report be printed.