been printed, to my knowledge; and I hope the gentleman will withdraw his motion to reconsider, and allow the laws to be printed.

[A message in writing was here received from the President of the United States, by the hands of his Private Secretary, MILLARD P. FILLMORE.]

Mr. RICHARDSON. This is the first instance, I believe certainly the first I have been able to find-when the laws of a Territory have been sent here without being printed. It has been the invariable practice of Congress and of this House, from the foundation of the Government to the present time, to send those laws to the Committee on Territories. I know of no very good reason why they have been sent there. I do not recollect any instance in which they have reported upon them. They have been invariably sent there in printed form; and it may be, if we depart from the custom of Congress on this subject, we may see the necessity arise for such action. I think it is necessary that these laws should be printed and sent to that committee, whose duty it is to examine them, and see what they are. I have no doubt, sir, that while you and myself were members of that committee, at a former Congress, that some members of the committee at all times examined the laws passed by the Territories-though few in number sent to them. Those Territories are now increased; they are remote and distant from

us,

and their legislation becomes a matter of deep importance to us in some instances. I do not know, and I do not believe, that there is anything improper in the legislation of New Mexico. I do not know such to be the fact in any of the Territories. It is necessary, however, that these things should be brought before the country. Every gentleman should have the opportunity of examining them, if he is disposed to do so; and it may become important hereafter, in relation to another Territory, to which we have given laws, and to which we are bound to give government. I think it is necessary, then, that this motion to reconsider should not prevail; and that those laws should be printed, that they may come before the committee; and that gentlemen here and elsewhere may have an opportunity of examining them, to ascertain what they are. It is true, sir, that in the Territory from which they come, a large portion of the citizens there have but recently been brought into the United States. We have a guardianship to some extent over them; and if we do not expect to find anything wrong or improper in those laws, still it is necessary that we should examine them.

Mr. CLARK. I wish to inquire if this is not resolution day, and whether the regular order of

business is not to call the States in order?

The SPEAKER. It is: but this is a privileged question, and must be first disposed of.

Mr. JOHNSON, of Arkansas. I wish merely to answer the question of the gentleman from New Mexico, [Mr. WEIGHTMAN,] and then submit two or three remarks in regard to this matter. I made the motion to reconsider at the last session of this House. I would withdraw that motion to gratify the gentleman, but I believe that the motive which he has chiefly in view is entirely a mistaken one. I have no idea myself, nor do I believe any one else has, that there is anything wrong in the legislation of that Territory. If I thought so, I would be willing to incur any amount of expense that might be necessary to enable this House to correct any wrong legislation there. So far from my motion having any effect in the shape of a reflection upon the legislation of that Territory, it is rather an exhibition of the confidence of this House in its legislation. For these reasons-with all willingness in the world to gratify that gentleman, [Mr. WEIGHTMAN]-I shall decline to withdraw the motion to reconsider. But to look at the matter of printing itself, I submit to the House, if they will examine the matter, they will find that these laws, when printed, will form a respectable sized volume. Now, I would be glad if any gentleman will inform me how many copies of it will have to be printed. I presume there will be enough printed for every member of this House, and enough extras for the committees to act upon, and still a surplus beyond what will be so required. I am aware of the fact that the Government of the United States has to pay all the expenses of the government of every Territory, and that in paying those expenses, the printing these laws comes in as a part. But they will have to be printed at home.

If we pay a double expense of having them printed
again here, there will be but this limited number
printed, which will not be sufficient to answer the
purposes of home consumption.

Then the only object there can be in incurring
this unnecessary expense in printing is this, that
we may have perfectly in our power to run
through a long list of laws passed by a Territory,
the substance of which we can ascertain, in nine
cases out of ten, or in twenty-nine cases out of
thirty, just by a casual glance at the titles of the
laws. Now, this matter has been referred to the
Committee on Territories; and 1 suggest whether
it would not be wise for them to run through those
laws by their titles, and report back to the House
such, which will not be ten at the outside, as they
desire to have printed. The House will grant the
request at once.

Then where is the necessity for printing all these laws, of such varied character? Almost every member is familiar with the laws of his own State, and with the varied character of the enactments thereof; hence he must see how perfectly futile, idle, and useless it will be to print all these laws of the Territory of New Mexico, with the view to any practical good? If they were never to be printed elsewhere, I would say print; but they are to be printed at home, and it is not necessary to print them here.

Mr. RICHARDSON. If the gentleman from Arkansas [Mr. JOHNSON] will allow me to interup him, I will say that the labors of the Committee on Territories are going to be pretty arduous. We have gone far enough to see that. It will take the committee some time to determine what they want printed, if anything. The expense of printing is not very great, and the amount that will be printed will be the usual quantity ordered by the House, for the use of the House. It may become very important, hereafter, that these laws should be printed.

Mr. JOHNSON, of Arkansas. The gentleman refers to the amount of labor devolving upon the Committee on Territories. How long will it take to turn over fifty, sixty, or a hundred pages of manuscript, when there will never, probably, be more than one title upon a page, and look out those acts which the committee wish printed, and report them to the House, without taking the trouble of any deeper investigation?

[Here a message was received from the Senate by the hand of ASBURY DICKINS, Esq., their Secretary, accompanied by several bills, which had passed that body.]

Territories. It ought not to amount to any cor sideration. What is our position here? Under the organic law of that Territory we sustain the e same relation to it that the President of the United Stotes does to the legislation of this body. It s our duty to examine and approve or disapprove of their legislation. And the proposition is mad e here to deprive this body of the means of determining its own judgment of approval or disapproval. In the case of New Mexico, I presum that their legislation is squared to the Constitution of the United States-that it is subordinate to the organic law of the Territory.

Mr. JOHNSON, of Arkansas. Before the gentleman goes any further, I will correct him upor one point. No proposition is made to deprive the House of the power of examination into it—no at all, You cannot define it in that manner.

Mr. CARTTER. I define my own ideas in my own language, and when I wish to use a dictionary, I hope the gentleman will permit me to select my own. The proposition is to cut off the printing of these laws, and to shut them up in the ar chives of a court; and if it is not one to shut them out from the criticism and personal examination of this House, I do not understand the force of a measure. Now, sir, I do not know but they are all right, and, as I have remarked before, in pursuance of and in subordination to the Constitution of the United States and the organic law of the Territory. Whether right or wrong, is immaterial to my position-I do know that this House is the responsible body to know whether they are right or wrong; and I know that the suppression, or the denial of the privilege of reading themfor it amounts to that-is a denial of the privilege of judgment.

Now, to a single remark of the gentleman from Illinois, [Mr. RICHARDSON,] that the Territories are multiplying; that they are measuring greater distances from us; that their relations to us are becoming more interesting, and that these relations are becoming more complicated with the machinery of this Government. And precisely as you multiply their number, increase their distance, and augment the complication of their relations, precisely in that ratio rises the responsibility of this body, and the necessity of a thorough examination of what they do, with a view of preserving the organic law of that Territory. I have no doubt of the ability of the gentleman in relation to monetary affairs; but he will agree with me, that this is but a two-and-sixpenny question of printing. I have no doubt that he has examined Mr. JOHNSON, (resuming.) The object of all these laws and knows they are all right; but printing these laws, then, is merely, as I have he will not ask us to indorse his opinion. I go s'ated, for the purpose of enabling the committee for light. I go for displaying them before the to examine them. The amount of labor which American people, that they may know what their they have to encounter, is, as it seems to me, a infant brethren are about-that we may know matter of moonshine, for the honorable chairman it-that we may stand guard over these Territoof that committee himself says that it is not prob- ries under the Constitution, and under their orable that they will want many of them printed.ganic law; and that if there is anything wrong, it It is very probable, he says, that they will want none. I never heard of one that was printed by the order of this House from any cause of necessity growing out of their consideration here. It is not necessary to the power of supervision of this Congress over those laws. It is not necessary that we should adopt or that we should approve them. They stand as the laws of this land, unless they are taken up by the House, considered, and rejected. So that we do not have to approve them by any action, and it is only by positive acts that they ever stand rejected. Under these circumstances, it seems to me that every guarantee that is necessary, is left to us for security without printing them at all, if the committee will merely take the pains to run through them. I will say in conclusion, that so far as I have anything to do with it, I am done with it. I am perfectly willing that these laws shall be printed, if it be the desire of the House; and if I had been satisfied that there was a decided majority in favor of it, I would never have made the motion at all.

Mr. CARTTER. The question made by the chairman of the Committee on Territories is, whether we will order the printing, and thus bring before this body the territorial laws of New Mexico. I understand the objection made by him to be based upon pecuniary considerations, chiefly. It is a sufficient answer to that objection, as it appears to me, that pecuniary considerations amount to nothing, comparatively, when contrasted with our position as a National Legislature to the

may not be permitted to steal into a precedent, to become an authority, without our knowing it. Let us not shift the responsibility upon the committee in this respect, although that committee is an able one and will perform its duty. I go for printing.

Mr. RICHARDSON. The cost of printing this document will be about $100. The expense of our deliberation is about $800 per hour. Upon the score of economy, I just submit the question, whether it is cheapest to have this printed, or to debate it an hour? If I had the chance, I would move the previous question.

Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I think the true course in this matter would have been to refer the question to the Committee on Territories. That committee could have examined these laws and all the papers accompanying them, and when they make their report back to the House it could be with a recommendation to print the whole document, or such part of it as they thought might be necessary. It is certainly not customary, I think, to print when first a subject is referred to one of the standing committees. I will not consume the time of the House; but I think our true course and best policy would be to reconsider the vote ordering this document to be printed, and refer the question to the Committee on Territories, let them examine the laws, and report back to the House whether it is necessary to print all or any part of them. I ask for the previous question.

board! Yet he is one of the most fortunate among his countrymen-many of whom are suffering incredibly.

"It has been suggested, and we think wisely, now that it is apparent to everybody that nothing can be done for Hungary, with the funds recently raised here, that the committee get together and call upon the donors, through the press, for permission to use this fund for the benefit of the

Mr. FICKLIN. I will inquire what is the reg-suffering Hungarians in our midst! This is feasible, prac

The question was then taken, and the decision of the Chair was sustained.

make up a complete set, have offered very consi erable sums for a single report, and in some i stances been unable to obtain it. This fact is suf ficiently indicative of the value of the work, ar d of the great demand for it by a certain class of the people of the United States.

I hope that the amendment just offered by the gentleman from Maine [Mr. FULLER] will prevail, and that the House will not, at this time-a more important occasion than has ever before occurred in the progress of this work-reduce the usual number of copies.

Mr. FULLER said: I deem this document of vast importance to the whole country, indeed, of more real value than perhaps two thirds of the documents annually ordered to be printed by Congress. Three hundred and twenty thousand dollars was appropriated the past year to defray the expense of the Coast Survey. This work now proposed to be printed, is the legitimate fruit of that expenditure; and not to occupy too much of the time of the House, the following points will show the importance of publishing a larger num- Mr. VENABLE. I simply rise to add my tesber of copies of the annual report of the Superin-timony to that of the gentleman from Tennessee, tendent of the Coast Survey than has heretofore [Mr. STANTON,] who has just taken his seat, as t been done: the great importance of this work, and of diffusing it widely through the country. I should be uragrateful to the Coast Survey, and to the gentleme n conducting it, if I did not recognize and acknow]edge the vast importance it has been to the coast of North Carolina, not only as regards the safety of our navigation, but also with reference to the reduction of the insurance on the cargoes of vessels, and on the vessels themselves, and the convenience of all who are engaged in the commerce of our coast; all of which has been secured by the faithful, able, and diligent work of the Coast Survey.

1. It will give two thirds the work of the season, and most of the work of former seasons.

2. Sixty-five sketches will accompany it, forty of which will be charts for the navigator, eighteen sketches will relate to the western coast, and thirteen sketches will show sites for light-houses, &c.

3. It will give a list of 3,240 geographical positions, the first ever published, and bringing the work down to July, 1851. This list will not be published again for several years. Hence the necessity of a large supply for the Coast Survey of

fice.

monly made, by the members of this House, of
documents of this kind. In the first place, many
are distributed where there is little demand for
them, and a great many go into the interior of the
country, where they excite but very little interest,
and certainly where they are of very little use.
Now, the officers of the Coast Survey, upon the
contrary, know precisely where they can be used
for the best interests of the country. Having no
possible object or motive to distribute them in an
improper quarter, it is just and right that the larger
quantity should go to that office. I think, how-
ever, that the committee should have reported in
favor of a larger quantity of this document. It
contains a larger quantity of valuable matter than
it has contained in former years; and that matter
of a different character and description. At the
last session of Congress the special Committee on
Printing reported in favor of printing six thousand
extra copies of this document; three thousand,
perhaps four thousand, of which were to go to the
Coast Survey. That report was so amended by
this House as to increase the quantity to ten thou-
sand. The Coast Survey report of this session
contains a great variety of valuable matter, not
contained in the report of last year. There are a
large number of geographical positions contained
in this report. Of these, I think, there are about
three thousand positions, and a large number of
points upon the coast of the United States; the
latitude and longitude of which are important to
be known to navigators. It is equally important
that these positions should be communicated to
merchants and sea-faring men, and all who are en-
gaged in the commercial transactions of this or
any foreign country. On this account, therefore,
I had hoped that the Committee on Printing would Another, and additional reason, which gives in-
increase the number of copies to more than six creased importance to this report is, that by act of
thousand. I protest against the distribution made Congress approved March 3d, 1851, it is made
by this House of five thousand to the House, and the duty of the officers in charge of the coast sur-
one thousand to the Coast Survey. I ask the vey, to examine and report upon light-houses,
House to content itself with three thousand copies, beacons, buoys, piers, &c., &c.--information which
and let the other three thousand go to the Coast has been greatly desired-and this report contains
Survey. There will be no impropriety in this valuable information upon that branch of the ser-
course. If we get three thousand, it will be a suffi- vice. If no more than five thousand copies be
cient number for distribution to all of our constit-printed, the share which would be assignable to
uents who are interested in the report. The me, will not supply the academies and public libra-
Superintendent of the Coast Survey, and all of theries in my district with a copy.
officers engaged in the survey, will make a much
better distribution of the three thousand copies
that will be allowed them, than we can possibly
make. I move an amendment, then, that three
thousand be printed for the use of the House of
Representatives, and three thousand for the Coast
Survey.

Mr. FULLER, of Maine. Is it in order to move an amendment to the amendment? The SPEAKER. It is.

Mr. FULLER. I move to make the number ten thousand.

Mr. EVANS. I accept the amendment.

Mr. FULLER. The expense of this Coast Survey to the Government was over $300,000. This report, as I understand it, is the legitimate fruit of that expenditure.

Mr. GIDDINGS. I rise to a question of order. This debate is out of order, and I'call the attention of the Speaker to the 26th rule of the House, and also to the 21st joint rule. The 26th rule provides that the whole of this day shall be appropriated to the reception of resolutions. The 21st rule provides" that it shall be in order for the Committee on Printing to report at any time." Now, I regard it as a violation of the rules entirely to occupy this day in discussing reports of that committee. The report will lie over, and certainly it is not in order to occupy the day appointed to resolutions in the discussion of reports.

The SPEAKER. The Chair does not recollect what the practice of the House has been upon this subject. The joint rule of the two Houses provides "that the Committee on Printing may report at any time." It makes no provision in regard to the discussion or disposition of the report which they may make. The rules of this House appropriate this day to the calling of States for resolutions. The Chair was under the impression that the joint rule would be controlling, and that the authority to report carried with it the authority to dispose The Chair thinks that is the proper construction of the rule, and that it is in order to dispose of the report thus made.

Mr. GIDDINGS. For the purpose of testing the sense of the House, I take an appeal.

4. It will present the methods of copying plates by the galvanic battery, pursued in the Coast Survey office, showing the numerous improvements that have been introduced. Plates can by this process be made in eight to ten days, which take years to engrave.

5. There will be a large amount of geographical information imbodied in this report.

It interests alike the Atlantic coast, the Pacific coast, and the great lakes of the North and the Northwest.

Every man can refer to the coast survey with just pride, as a standard and scientific work, alike creditable to our own Government and the age in which we live.

As it is a work in which the navigating and commercial interests of my district and State have a deep interest, I hope the amendment will prevail.

Mr. STANTON, of Tennessee. I think there is nothing of a domestic character in which this Government is engaged, or which this Government ever does, that is more important to some of the greatest interests of the country, than this very work known as the Coast Survey. The present report, combining the results, and the very important results of the operations of many years, is perhaps more important than any report ever before published, and contains more useful information of a practical kind. Under these circumstances, it struck me with some little astonishment that the Committee on Printing should not be willing to give the usual number of extra copies.

It has been stated that the engravings or sketches contained in this report are sixty-five in number. Now, it ought to be known to the House that all the engraving has been done by the Coast Survey itself, and that there will be no expense for engraving consequent on the printing of this extra number. They have done it by the galvanic process, as is known to every gentleman here who has taken the trouble to inquire into the matter. That expense, therefore, will not be attached to this printing. The expense of these additional copies will merely be for the paper and press-work-a very inconsiderable amount. When we consider the mass of printing, of a very different character to this, that is performed at the public expense, I do not see any good reason for reducing the number of extra copies usually ordered.

I am informed by the Superintendent of the Coast Survey, that these reports have been so much in demand, that parties endeavoring to

I know of no document which will be published during the whole session, which has a higher claim to be generally diffused and circulated throughout the United States, than this.

I hear gentlemen say that they represent inland constituencies; that the ocean touches no part of their districts; and that they have, therefore, no use for this work. I should be much indebted to those gentlemen if they would give their copies of it to me. I found no document which I received during the last Congress, so desirable, so much coveted, or so frequently sought after as this, and I trust that if we amend the resolution at all, it will be to increase the number. I shall vote with great pleasure for the highest number proposed, because it will diffuse throughout the whole country an amount of information which can be obtained nowhere else, and which is of great value.

The reason why this work is so valuable is, that it is based upon certainty. The coast surveys heretofore have been mere nautical surveys and nautical charts, but here we have geodetic surveys. The topographical surveys are made with reference to the actual shape of the earth; the hydrographic surveys presume the earth to be a plane, and being based upon that presumption, although the chart may be accurate with regard to a single port, it must mislead you when that chart is compared with the chart of another port. In the present surveys, the hydrographic are taken by the Navy, and the topographical by the Engineer Corps of the Army. These surveys having reference to the shape of the earth-to use a phrase of surveyors-the plats will meet, and if all the surveys are laid together, you will find that they represent precisely the spheroidal shape of the earth.

This work has been prepared by gentlemen well qualified by scientific attainments to give us valuable information. We have a sea-coast extending from the mouth of the Rio Grande to Maine; a coast, too, upon our lakes; and it is of the first importance to our navigation and commerce, that the whole of it should be fully understood, with that certainty which can only be attained by surveys. I hope, therefore, that this information will be diffused throughout the whole country.

Mr. HOUSTON. The gentleman from Maryland, [Mr. EVANS]-as well as some of the other gentlemen who have addressed the House upon this subject-is, I think, mistaken as to the action of the House heretofore. I understand the gentleman from Maryland to say that at one or other of the sessions of the last Congress, there were some three or four thousand copies given to the office of the Coast Survey. Now, at the first session of the last Congress the Committee on Printing reported to the House, that four thou sand five hundred extra copies should be printed, and that five hundred of them should be given to the office of the Coast Survey; and the House agreed to that report.

Mr. EVANS. The gentleman misunderstood me. I did not say that the Coast Survey had four thousand copies, but that the committee reported

in favor of four thousand copies, and that the House increased it to six thousand copies.

Mr. HOUSTON. I understood the gentleman to say that they increased the number to six thousand to be divided equally between the House and the Coast Survey office.

Mr. EVANS. Oh no, I did not say that.

Mr. HOUSTON. I am not speaking of the gentleman's proposition, but of his argument. Mr. EVANS. The gentleman misunderstood me. I said that the House increased the number to six thousand. I am in favor of ten thousand DOW.

Mr. HOUSTON. At the first session of the last Congress, the House did not increase the number reported by the committee, but adopted the report of the committee, ordering the printing of four thousand five hundred extra copies-five hundred of which were given to the office of the Coast Survey. At the second session of the 31st Congress, I find by the Journal that the committee reported that six thousand extra copies of the report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey be printed -five thousand for the use of the House and one thousand for the Coast Survey office. So that instead of the Committee on Printing having now departed from the usages of the House, they are in fact conforming to those usages more strictly than we should be if we agreed to this amendment.

referred as having occurred in the last Congress,
and you will find the same in previous Congresses.
I do not intend to investigate or discuss here the
merits or demerits of this Coast Survey. I am
willing to acknowledge its merits; but while I do
that, I do not feel called upon to go further than the
committee have gone in the printing of extra copies
of the report.

Mr. STEPHENS, of Georgia. I think that all
the copies of this report that are ordered to be
printed-and I am not now going to discuss the
propriety of the number-ought to be left with the
Coast Survey for distribution to those persons who
may want them. The gentleman from North
Carolina Mr. VENABLE] says that this document
is very much sought after in his district. He rep-
resents an interior district, I believe, and so do 1,
and I can say that the document is never sought
after from me, in my district, although I do not
doubt that it is much desired in some of the dis-
tricts of the country-those along the coast. It is
but a waste of money to give me a number of
these documents to distribute. I know not to whom
to send them. Persons wanting them do not write
to me for them. Now, if they are all left in the
Coast Survey office, they can distribute them in
the best manner. I, therefore, heartily concur in
the suggestion of the gentleman from Maryland,
that at least half of whatever number we order
should go to the Coast Survey, and if it was in
order I should move that the whole of them should

In deciding on these propositions to print, we are not only called upon to consider the direct and Immediate expense of the particular item of print-go to that office. ing; they involve considerations of a much higher character.

Mr. FULLER, (interrupting.) Can the genleman state what will be the expense of this extra Printing?

Mr. HOUSTON. I do not know what the expense would be, and I am not going to argue pon that subject. I intended to present this view to the House: that on a proposition of this sort, we have only to refer to the legislation of ConTess heretofore to see how all these things grow nd increase. The expense at this or the preceding Congress may be too small and trifling to cupy our time for consideration or investigation, yet these things grow and enlarge until after a while they become so large as to be serious items-as in the case of the orders to print the Patent Office reports. As a proof of this, gentlemen have only to look at the contingent fund of this House for printing, which has increased within The last few years from fifty thousand or seventy-five thousand dollars, to nearly three hundred thousand dollars. Why is this? How has it been brought about? It is because these various small items represented to us, which we readily adopt, and then they go on enlarging session after session, ntil finally they become serious items of expenditure.

There is another consideration involved in this proposition Gentlemen tell us that these members who represent interior districts and whose constituencies are not, therefore, so deeply interested in these documents, can hand them over to those who represent constituencies on the seaboard. It is very true that they could do so. But is that the object of our legislation? Are we to make appropriations for the printing of large numbers of documents which do not-according to the confession and admission of the gentlemen themselves-interest all parts of the country? If it is true that all parts of the country are not interested in this document, then the number reported by the committee is large enough.

I am informed that the Senate have ordered ten thousand extra copies of this report of the Coast Survey to be printed, and, if I am not mistaken, five thousand copies go to the Coast Survey office; and yet it is proposed here to give several thousand copies more to that office. How many copies of the report of the Secretary of the Treasury do you give to that officer to distribute? How many copies of their reports do you give to the officers of the other bureaus and departments of the Government for distribution? None at all. Not a copy. But this is to be an exception to the general rule; and, singularly enough, that exception is attempted to be applied to a document which is admitted by the friends of the proposition to print a large number, to be uninteresting to a large portion of the people of this country.

My object in rising was more particularly to bring before the House the facts to which I have

vessel of so many tons burden, for instance, be furnished with a copy, to belong to the vessel as an appendage to it. In that way we may realize the fruits of this labor, but not by distributing four or five thousand copies among the members of Congress, most of whom live in interior districts, where the work cannot be appreciated and will be of no service. I thoroughly agree with the gentleman from Georgia, that it will be a work of supererogation; and so far as I am concerned, though I represent a district that has some connection with the sea-coast, I should be perfectly satisfied to have only half a dozen copies or so to supply some few individuals, while the resi due of the copies should be deposited in the Coast Survey office for distribution.

But the only question with me is whether it is competent for Congress to expend money for this purpose; and while the gentleman from Georgia was addressing the House upon this subject, it occurred to me that if we did not think proper to order this work to be distributed among the navigators of the United States, we might, at least, place it in such a condition as to enable them to obtain it by adopting the policy which is usually pursued by the State governments in reference to the publication of the decisions of their courts of appeal. In my own State, so many copies of those decisions are ordered to be printed at the public expense, and then a sufficient number is also printed to supply the practising attorneys throughout the Commonwealth, and others who may want them, at the cost of the work.

I am not particular in relation to the manner in which this thing shall be done, or whether it shall be done entirely, or only in part at the expense of the Government; but as the publication is to be made, as the printing is to be done, as the copies are to be furnished, and as they must ultimately be paid for out of the Treasury of the United States, let us adopt that mode by which the country can reap the most benefit-that is by causing the distribution of the work among those who are engaged in navigation. Let the work be distributed along the coast where it may be useful. It can be of no service to gentlemen residing in the interior of the country, except to some few literary men who would make this study a matter of amusement. Generally speaking, it would be of very little service to any other class of our citizens but commercial men and navigators.

Mr. HAMMOND. It is not my purpose to oppose either the resolution offered by the chairman of the Committee on Public Printing, or the amendment. Bui I do desire to know what it is I am about to do, and I desire the House to know what it is they are about to do. Now, I wish to know from the gentlemen who compose the Committee on Public Printing, whether they intend that all the plates and charts that accompany this report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey shall be printed? This is a question which will come up appropriately on the report of the Committee on Engraving. It may seem extraordinary that there should be any doubt whether the charts which accompany this report are to be printed with it, but it will not seem so extraordinary when gentlemen are reminded that they refused, the other day, to publish the maps from the Commissioner of the Land Office showing the public lands that have been surveyed, and the character of those lands-whether swamp or mineral, or of what character-maps which are certainly as import-resolution more particularly with reference to that ant as these charts. These charts are no more interesting to our constituents upon the sea-board than were these maps which the House refused to publish the other day to our Western settlers and to all who are migrating to the West.

But it has been said by the gentleman from Tennessee, [Mr. STANTON,] that this engraving has already been done, and that no additional expense will be incurred except that which pertains to the press-work and paper. It is very true that these charts have been engraved upon copper, but to publish the large number of extra copies which will be ordered, in time to be of any use to the House during the present session, the impressions will have to be transferred from the copper to stone, and the expense of that transfer will be added to the expense of the printing and paper, which by itself will be a material item in so large a number of copies as five or ten thousand. Yet I suppose it would be as extraordinary to imagine that any person could understand this report without the charts as it would be to expect that a child could learn geography without an atlas. The House need not be surprised, if they pass this resolution intending the charts to be published, if six or seven thousand extra copies should cost at least upwards of $2,000.

Mr. MEADE. It seems to me that to carry out the policy that governed us in ordering this printing, some steps should be taken to secure its fruits. I agree with the gentleman from Georgia, [ME. STEPHENS,] that the distribution of these works among the members of Congress is of very little use, and does not answer the purposes for which they should be published, and that is to improve the commerce and facilitate the trade of the country. If we intend to appropriate to ourselves any benefit that may be derived from the work of these officers, we should distribute their reports among the owners of vessels. Let every

Now, inasmuch as to secure the object at which I have hinted, it would be necessary to draft this

object, I should prefer that the subject should be passed over for to-day, so as to afford members an opportunity of preparing amendments, which would secure the object which we all have in view -to make such a distribution of this work as will enable those most interested in it to derive most profit from it. I suggest to the friends of the measure, the propriety of passing it over for the present.

Mr. STANTON, of Kentucky. I should regret exceedingly to see this resolution disposed of in the manner proposed by the gentleman from Virginia, [Mr. MEADE,] or in any other way which would produce the slightest delay. The eminent gentlemen who are at the head of the Coast Survey, are very anxious that the resolution should be adopted. They have appealed to me to urge its passage, that the work may be in a state of progress as soon as possible; and surely if we intend to give to the country the benefit of so important a report, we should do it immediately.

As a member of the Printing Committee, I have had an opportunity of learning the wishes of the gentlemen having charge of the Coast Survey, in regard to the printing of these extra numbers of the report. They ask for ten thousand copies. In view of the interesting and valuable character of the work, I do not think this number too many. It differs materially from the report of last year, because it contains highly important and valuable information not contained in other reports. It brings the work down to July, 1851, and imbodies a variety of geographical and other valuable facts connected with the work, and interesting and important to the country, never before published. By the aid of the gentlemen having charge of the Survey, I am enabled to afford some idea of what the report will contain:

"It will give two thirds of the work as it has progressed the present season, and nearly all of former seasons, "It will contain sixty-five sketches, forty of which wili

be charts, valuable for purposes of navigation; eighteen will relate to the western coast, and thirteen will show suitable positions for light-houses, &c.

"It will give a list of three thousand two hundred and forty geographical positions, the first ever published. This list will not again be published for many years.

"It will imbody a large amount of geographical information.

"In addition to the foregoing, it will present the mode adopted by the Coast Survey of copying plates by the galvanic battery, and exhibit the numerous improvements which have been introduced into this process. In eight or ten days, plates may be made by this mode which would take years to engrave."

These constitute many of the important features of the report, and when properly appreciated, as I trust they are by the House, will be sufficient to justify the publication of the number of copies asked for.

The gentleman from Maryland, [MT. HAMMOND,] is disturbed by apprehensions that some enormous expense for plates is to be incurred, over and above the press-work and paper. I can relieve him from all fears in relation to that part of the subject. If I understand correctly, the distinguished scientific gentlemen at the head of the Survey, have devised a plan by which plates may be made, through the instrumentality of the galvanic battery, much more easily than was ever known before. In eight or ten days may be accomplished by this process, what hitherto has been the work of years. These plates are all made. They are to be transferred to stone by the gentlemen of the Coast Survey, and nothing then will remain to be done but to take the impressions. The preparation of the plates is therefore a work already accomplished by the Government officers, and need not cost an additional cent to what has already been expended. Impressions can be taken from the stone at the inconsiderable cost of less than one and a half cents per sheet, indeed at the rate of fifty for sixty-five cents. So my honorable friend from Maryland will perceive that all his apprehensions in regard to the enormous expense referred to, are without foundation.

committee, and am now in favor of printing the
number contemplated by the amendment of the
gentleman from Maryland, [Mr. EVANS.] It is
idle to say, that the information to be derived from
the report is only interesting to citizens upon the
sea-coast. This is a great mistake. In the distri-ing, and it was not in order.
bution of those printed by the House last year,
about thirty fell to my share. They were sent to
my residence after the adjournment; and even
there in the distant West I found gentlemen-men
of intelligence and science, eager to get possession
of them. I had no difficulty in distributing them.
Should the ten thousand copies be published, it
will afford to each member not more than forty
copies each; and there is no district in the Union
where that number may not be usefully sent. Be-
sides the demand which exists in our country
with men of science and others interested in the
progress of the Coast Survey, I understand many
applications have been made to the Superintendent
from scientific men in other countries, for copies
of this work. It is not surprising that a work of
so much importance should attract the attention and
elicit the interest of distinguished men,abroad; and
we should be proud that it is so. But it is a matter
of regret, that on account of our niggard policy in
this matter of printing, the distinguished head of
the Coast Survey has heretofore been unable to
supply the demands made upon him for copies of
his report, from other countries. I trust now, sir,
we shall place it in his power to furnish all that
may be asked for. The Senate has considered the
work of importance enough to justify the printing
of ten thousand extra numbers, and I hope the
House will order an equal number.

shall be given to the Coast Survey. I wish to in-
quire whether the gentleman from Georgia [Mr.
STEPHENS] did not move that as an amendment?
Mr. STEPHENS. I did not. There was
already an amendment to the amendment pend-

Mr. MILLSON. I did not so understand it. I understood that the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. EVANS] accepted the amendment of the gentleman from Maine, [Mr. FULLER,] and therefore it would have been in order to move an amendment to the amendment. I would suggest to the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. CAMPBELL,] that before he calls the previous question, he should move an amendment to the amendment giving all the copies which the resolution provides for printing to the coast survey, for distribution.

Mr. CAMPBELL, of Ohio. I rise for the purpose of moving the previous question. Before doing so, however, I desire simply to say, that there is a great defect in the distribution of all these public documents. I represent an agricultural district, and I do not care to have a single copy of the Coast Survey to distribute in my district, and have no demand for them. It is true, if I were to take a large number of bound volumes of reports of any description into my district, and announce publicly that they were there, I should have a great number of gentlemen calling upon me for them. But the great demand in that district is for the agricultural branch of the Patent Office report. While, therefore, I am ready and willing to vote for any reasonable number of copies of the Coast Survey, I should prefer that the whole number ordered should be given to the officers connected with that bureau for distribution, believing that the distribution would be more judicious by those officers than it could possibly be done by the members of this House. There are members here representing districts intimately connected with the subjects treated of in this report, and who will need a good many copies for distribution; but of course they can get them by calling upon the officer to whom they shall be given. I would, therefore, prefer that this resolution should be put in such a shape as to leave the distribution of these reports entirely to the officers connected with the Coast Survey.

But why is the larger number of ten thousand copies of this report objected to with so much vehemence? Are they more than the country requires or can find use for? We are told that the operations of the Coast Survey for the last year cost the Government about $300,000. Is this a useless expenditure? No gentleman will hazard his reputation for intelligence, by declaring it to be so. If it is important to expend so large a sum of money to obtain hydrographical and topographical information of the condition of our immense line of coast, then surely it is important that that information should be given to the public. Do gentlemen desire that the labors of the Coast Survey shall be known only to those who make them? The whole world is interested in the results of this immense scientific undertaking. It is one, hitherto unequaled by any similar enterprise in the history of nations; and having achieved so much at such immense expense, I am not willing that its benefits should be lost to the world on account of the expense to be incurred by publishing them. The honorable gentleman from Alabama, [Mr. HOUSTON, who is at the head of the Finance Committee of the House, opposes the amendment in- Mr. FULLER, of Maine. Has the gentleman creasing the number of copies to be printed, for a no academies and public libraries in his district? reason which I deem of but very little force indeed. Mr. CAMPBELL. The gentleman inquires if He takes the position, that the expense of printing we have no schools and public libraries in my disthis report ought not to be incurred, because the trict? We have. And I took occasion during the aggregate of expense for printing each year has last Congress to exhibit the number of schools been gradually growing larger. Does not the gen- and academies in that district; but if I wish any tleman know, that with the increase of territory document of this kind to send to any academy, has come an increase of population, and as our college, or public library, I have always found population has increased, so, also, has increased the officers of the Coast Survey ready and willing the intelligence of the country? Is it, then, won- to supply me with anything under their control. derful that with the growth of population and in- If, therefore, it is the wish of the House to print telligence of the country, our printing expenses this document, and distribute it among the memshould grow upon us? Every day's progress bers, I shall propose to some gentleman-for inmakes necessary additional expense in this partic-stance, to a gentleman representing some portion ular. The advancing character of the very work upon the Coast Survey creates the necessity for increased expenditure in the publication of its report. The last report was but a small pamphlet;|| the report this year will embrace four hundred pages, and will be a good sized book well bound. And why has the report grown to such a size? Why, sir, the work has been advancing with great rapidity and success, and the material for the re port has accumulated in due proportion. As a member of the Printing Committee, I opposed the number named in the report of the chairman, because I considered it too small. I advocated in

of the city of New York whose constituents do
not care about knowing the best method of raising
wheat, or what kind of soil is best adapted to the
culture of corn-I say, I shall propose to him to
exchange my portion of the report on the Coast
Survey for copies of the agricultural part of the
Patent Office report, which will be of use to my
constituents.

Mr. MILLSON. As the gentleman from Ohio
[Mr. CAMPBELL] has indicated his intention to
move the previous question, I desire to say that I
am in favor of the suggestion of that gentleman
proposing that all the copies of this document

Mr. CAMPBELL. That is my purpose. Then if gentlemen desire any copies for distribution among their constituents, by calling upon those officers and leaving the names of the persons they wish to send them to, they will be sent. For myself, I do not want a solitary copy, unless institutions of learning in my district desire them; in which case I can obtain them as I have indicated. If it is in order, therefore, I now move an amendment to the amendment so as to provide that all the copies of that document which the resolution provides for printing shall go to the Coast Survey for distribution. I make that motion, and upon it I call the previous question.

Mr. CARTTER. Will my colleague withdraw the demand for the previous question for a mo

ment?

Mr. CAMPBELL. Will the gentleman renew it?

Mr. CARTTER. I will renew it if the gentleman desires it.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Then I withdraw my call. Mr. CARTTER. I am opposed to the amendmend offered by my colleague, [Mr. CAMPBELL,] for the simple reason that I believe that the gentlemen who represent this nation in its various districts upon this floor are fully as capable of distributing this information as a clerk in the Coast Survey office. That is my humble opinion upon the subject.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Will my colleague allow me to ask him a question?

Mr. CARTTER. By all means. Mr. CAMPBELL. Does not the gentleman believe that we should be able to get as many copies from the Coast Survey as we desire?

Mr. CARTTER. I will answer that in my regular course of remark. We have learned by the mover of this proposition that the number of forty copies are given to each Congressional district in the United States; and this enormous number of books seems a subject of great burden to my colleague. He does not know how to dispose of them all in the great "Butler" di rict. We are told, at the same time, that this document brings to light the minute geography of our coast, hitherto unexplained in the geographical books of the country. This is another item.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Will the gentleman allow me one word? I do not pretend that my constituents of the Butler district are very desirous of entering into all the minutiae of the coast survey business; but I doubt whether the gentleman's constituents, notwithstanding he may have sent his forty copies among them, have ever read a single copy. I doubt very much whether my colleague himself ever read one entire, and I put that question to him, whether he ever did read one? I confess I never have, for I feel no interest upon the subject.

Mr. CARTTER. I hold that no gentleman upon this floor who is as incapable of appreciating the importance of this geographical survey as my colleague, by his remarks, has proved himself to be, is entirely at liberty to ask the question as to whether anybody else has ever read this work. Mr. CAMPBELL, (interrupting.) But will my colleague answer the question?

Mr. CARTTER, (continuing.) He is at liberty to ask whether the constituents of anybody have ever read it. But I think if the gentleman will appeal to the colleges of my district-to a public acknowledgment rendered to my humble self, in courtesy for having transmitted this very geographical information to them during the last Congress, he will find an answer to his question. Mr. CAMPBELL. Will not the gentleman