the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from Lake Superior to Puget's sound, on the Pacific coast, by the northern route,' having met, after full and free conference have agreed to recommend, and do recommend, to their respective houses as follows:

"That the House recede from their disagreement to the following amendments, and agree to the same: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23.

That the Senate recede from their amendment numbered twenty-four. "That the House recede from their disagreement to the thirteenth amendment of the Senate, and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: Insert in lieu of said Senate amendment: 'Provided, further, That all mineral lands be, and the same are hereby, excluded from the operations of this act, and in lieu thereof a like quantity of unoccupied and unappropriated agricultural lands in odd-numbered sections nearest to the line of said road, and within fifty miles thereof, may be selected as above provided.

"That the House recede from their disagreement to the sixteenth amendment of the Senate, and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: Strike out the words 'the summit of the Rocky mountains,' in the seventh and eighth lines of said amendment, and insert in lieu thereof 'the western boundary of Minnesota.

"Managers on the part of the House of Representatives

"Managers on the part of the Senate

The same having been read,

The question was put, Will the House agree thereto ?

And it was decided in the affirmative.

So the said report was agreed to.

Mr. Stevens moved that the vote last taken be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to.

Ordered, That the Clerk acquaint the Senate with the concurrence of the House in the said report.

Mr. Stevens, from the committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the bill of the House No. 438, submitted the following report:

The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the bill (II. R. No. 438) to amend an act entitled 'An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes,' approved July 1, 1862, having met, after full and free conference have agreed to recommend, and do recommend, to their respective houses as follows:

"That the Senate recede from their amendment to said bill.

"That the Senate agree to the said bill with the following amendments, to wit:

6

"Page 5, line 6, strike out the word 'three,' and in lieu thereof insert ‘six.' "Page 5, line 13, after the word made,' insert and approved by the court having supervision of the official acts of said guardian.'

"Page 5, line 27, strike out all after the word amendment' down to and including the word 'only,' in line 4, page 6, and in lieu thereof insert 'shall not be construed to include coal and iron land.

"Page 6, line 5, strike out all after the word 'by' down to and including

the word amendment,' in lines 5 and 6, and in lieu thereof insert 'this act or the act to which this is an amendment.'

"At the end of section 4 insert: 'or the improvement of any bona fide settler on any lands returned and denominated as mineral lands, and the timber neces sary to support his said improvements as a miner or agriculturist, to be ascertained under such rules as have been or may be established by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, in conformity with the provisions of the pre-emption laws: Provided, That the quantity thus exempted by the operation of this act and the act to which this act is an amendment shall not exceed one hundred and sixty acres for each settler who claims as an agriculturist, and such quantity for each settler who claims as a miner as said Commissioner may establish by general regulation: Provided, also, That the phrase "but where the same sholl contain timber the timber thereon is hereby granted to said company," in the proviso to the said section three, shall not apply to the timber growing or being on any land further than ten miles from the centre line of any one of the said roads or branches mentioned in said act or in this act. And all lands shall be excluded from the operation of this act and the act to which this is an amendment which were located, or selected to be located, under the provisions of an act entitled “An act donating lands to the several States and Territories which may provide col leges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts," approved July two, eighteen hundred and sixty two, and notice thereof given at the proper land office! 'Page 6, line 16, strike out the word 'of,' where it last occurs, and in lieu thereof insert 'to.

"Page 6, line 22, strike out the word 'repealed,' and insert in lieu thereof the words 'modified as follows, to wit:'

"Page 6, line 25, after the word 'to,' insert which this act!

'Page 7, line 6, strike out the word 'of,' at the end of the line, and in lieu thereof insert 'to.'

Page 7, line 9, after the word 'the,' where it occurs the second time, insert ' requisite amount of

"Page 7, line 9, after the word 'land,' insert appertaining thereto.'

Page 7, line 9, strike out the word 'of,' where it first occurs, and insert 'to' in lieu thereof.

"Page 7, line 13, strike out the word 'of,' where it first occurs, and insert 'to' in lieu thereof.

"Page 7, strike out all after the word 'intervening,' in line 16, to the end of the section.

"Page 10, line 10, after the word 'was,' insert on the completion of such section of said road as provided in this act and the act to which this act is an amendment!'

"Page 10, line 12, after the word 'States' insert and of even tenor and date, time of maturity, rate, and character of interest with the bonds.'

"Page 10, at the end of section 10, insert: 'That if any of the railroad companies entitled to bonds of the United States, or to issue their first mortgage bonds herein provided for, has at the time of the approval of this act issued or shall thereafter issue any of its own bonds or securities in such form and manner as in law or equity to entitle the same to priority or preference of payment to the said guaranteed bonds or said first mortgage bonds, the amount of such corporate bonds outstanding and unsatisfied or uncancelled shall be deducted from the amount of such government and first mortgage bonds which the company may be entitled to receive and issue; and such an amount only of such government bonds and such first mortgage bonds shall be granted or permitted as, added to such outstanding, unsatisfied, or uncancelled bonds of the company, shall make up the whole amount per mile to which the company would otherwise have been entitled: And provided, further, That before any bonds shall be so given by the United States, the company claiming them shall present to the Secretary of the Treasury

an affidavit of the president and secretary of the company, to be sworn to before the judge of a court of record, setting forth whether said company has issued any such bonds or securities, and if so, particularly describing the same, and such other evidence as the Secretary may reguire, so as to enable him to make the deduction herein required; and such affidavit shall then be filed and deposited in the office of the Secretary of the Interior. And every person swearing falsely to any such affidavit shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and on conviction thereof shall be punished as aforesaid: Provided, also, That no land granted by this act shall be conveyed to any party or parties, and no bonds shall be issued to any company or companies, party or parties, on account of any road or part thereof made prior to the passage of the act to which this act is an amendment, or made subsequent thereto under the provisions of any act or acts other than this act and the acts amended by this act.'

66

Strike out all of section 11.

Page 11, line 25, strike out 'one,' and insert 'two' in lieu thereof.

Page 11, line 27, strike out and for the,' and insert but to aid in the construction of' in lieu thereof.

Page 12, line 1, insert not' after the word 'shall;' same line, strike out 'the same,' and insert 'any' in lieu thereof; same line, strike out all after the word 'bonds' down to and including the word 'road,' in line 2.

"Insert at the end of section 15, and it shall not be lawful for the proprietors of any line of telegraph authorized by this act, or the act amended by this act, to refuse or fail to convey for all persons requiring the transmission of news and messages of like character, on pain of forfeiting to the person injured, for each offence, the sum of one hundred dollars, and such other damage as he may have suffered on account of said refusal or failure, to be sued for and recovered in any court of the United States or of any State or Territory of competent jurisdiction!'

"Insert after section 15 the following, as an additional section: 66 6 SEC. -. And be it further enacted, That any two or more of the companies authorized to participate in the benefits of this act are hereby authorized at any time to unite and consolidate their organizations, as the same may or shall be, upon such terms and conditions, and in such manner, as they may agree upon, and as shall not be incompatible with this act or the laws of the State or States in which the roads of such companies may be, and to assume and adopt such corporate name and style as they may agree upon, with a capital stock not to exceed the actual cost of the roads so to be consolidated, and shall file a copy of such consolidation in the Department of the Interior; and thereupon such organization, so formed and consolidated, shall succeed to possess and be entitled to receive from the government of the United States all and singular the grants, benefits, immunities, guarantees, acts and things to be done and performed, and be subject to the same terms, conditions, restrictions, and requirements which said companies, respectively, at the time of such consolidation, are or may be entitled or subject to under this act, in place and substitution of said companies so consolidated, respectively. And all other provisions of this act, so far as applicable, relating or in any manner appertaining to the companies so consolidated, or either thereof, shall apply and be of force as to such consolidated organization. And in case, upon the completion by such consolidated organization of the roads or either of them of the companies so consolidated, any other of the road or roads of either of the other companies authorized as aforesaid (and forming or intended or necessary to form a portion of a continuous line from each of the several points on the Missouri river hereinbefore designated to the Pacific coast) shall not have constructed the number of miles of its said road within the time herein required, such consolidated organization is hereby authorized to continue the construction of its road and telegraph in the general direction and route upon which such incomplete or unconstructed road is hereinbefore authorized to be built, until such

continuation of the road of such consolidated organization shall reach the constructed road and telegraph of said other company, and at such point to connect and unite therewith. And for and in aid thereof the said consolidated organization may do and perform, in reference to such portion of the road and telegraph as shall so be in continuation of its constructed road and telegraph, and to the construction and equipment thereof, all and singular the several acts and things hereinbefore provided, authorized, or granted to be done by the company hereinbefore authorized to construct and equip the same, and shall be entitled to similar and like grants, benefits, immunities, guarantees, acts, and things to be done and performed by the government of the United States, by the President of the United States, by the Secretaries of the Treasury and Interior, and by commissioners, in reference to such company and to such portion of the road hereinbefore authorized to be constructed by it, and upon the like and similar terms and conditions, so far as the same are applicable thereto. And said consolidated company shall pay to said defaulting company the value, to be estimated by competent engineers, of all the work done and material furnished by said defaulting company, which may be adopted and used by said consolidated company in the progress of the work under the provisions of this section: Provided, nevertheless, That said defaulting company may at any time before receiving pay for its said work and material, as hereinbefore provided, on its own election, pay said consolidated company the value of the work done and material furnished by said consolidated company, to be estimated by competent engineers, necessary for and used in the construction of the road of said defaulting company, and resume the control of its said road; and all the rights, benefits, and privileges which shall be acquired, possessed, or exercised, pursuant to this section, shall be to that extent an abatement of the rights, benefits, and privileges hereinbefore granted to such other company. And in case any company authorized thereto shall not enter into such consolidated organization, such company, upon the completion of its road as hereinbefore provided, shall be entitled to and is hereby authorized to continue and extend the same under the circumstances, and in accordance with the provisions of this section, and to have all the benefits thereof, as fully and completely as are herein provided touching such consolidated organization. And in case more than one such consolidated organization shall be made pursuant to this act, the terms and conditions of this act hereinbefore recited as to one shall apply in like manner, force, and effect, to the other: Provided, however, That rights and interests at any time acquired by one such consolidated organization shall not be impaired by another thereof. It is further provided that, should the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California complete their line to the eastern line of the State of California before the line of the Union Pacific Railroad Company shall have been extended westward so as to meet the line of said first-named company, said first-named company may extend their line of road eastward one hundred and fifty miles, on the established route, so as to meet and connect with the line of the Union Pacific road, complying in all respects with the provisions and restrictions of this act as to said Union Pacific road, and upon doing so shall enjoy all the rights, privileges, and benefits conferred by this act on said Union Pacific Railroad Company!'

'Page 14, line 20, after the word 'in,' insert 'this act and!'

'Page 15, line 3, after the word 'under,' insert 'this act and.'

'Page 17, line 4, insert after the word 'be' the following: 'consistent with public policy and the welfare of the said Indians.'

"At the end of section 19 insert: 'Provided, That no government bonds shall be issued to the said Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company to aid in the construction of said extension of its road: And provided, further, That said extension shall be completed within the period of ten years from the passage of this act.

"DEC.

And be it further enacted, That before any land granted by this

act shall be conveyed to any company or party entitled thereto under this act, there shall first be paid into the treasury of the United States the cost of surveying, selecting, and conveying the same by the said company or party in interest, as the title shall be required by said company, which amount shall, without any further appropriation, stand to the credit of the proper account, to be used by the Commissioner of the General Land Office for the prosecution of the survey of the public lands along the line of said road, and so from year to year until the whole shall be completed, as provided under the provisions of this

act!

'That the House agree to the said bill as amended.
"Managers on the part of the House of Representatives-

Mr. Stevens moved the previous question; which was seconded and the main question ordered, and under the operation thereof the report was agreed to.

Mr. Stevens moved that the vote last taken be reconsidered, and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; which latter motion was agreed to.

Ordered, That the Clerk acquaint the Senate with the concurrence of the House in the said report.

Mr. Allison, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee had examined and found truly enrolled bills and joint resolutions of the following titles, viz:

S. 271. An act relating to the law of evidence in the District of Columbia; S. Res. 74. Joint resolution requesting the President to appoint a day for national humiliation and prayer;

S. 315. An act in relation to the sale of reservations of the public lands; S. Res. 67. Joint resolution for the relief of Thomas J. Galbraith;

S. 325. An act to repeal the act of the 17th of June, 1864, prohibiting the sales of gold and foreign exchange;

S. 154. An act to provide for the better organization of the Quartermaster's department; and

S. 228. An act providing for satisfying claims for bounty lands, and for other purposes;

When

On motion of Mr. Cox, at 10 o'clock and 50 minutes p. m., the House adjourned.

SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1864.

The following memorials, petitions, and other papers, were laid upon the Clerk's table, under the 131st rule of the House: By Mr. The memorial of a delegation from the State of Florida, praying for the passage of a law admitting a representative from that State during the rebellion; which was referred to the Committee of Elections.

By Mr. Eckley: Two memorials from citizens of the State of Ohio, praying