My desire to secure repose and quiet to the country upon this subject will also compel me to vote to lay on the table the resolution offered by the late Senator from Mississippi reaffirming the compromise. I consider that resolution, although not so intended by the mover, an indirect impeachment of the law, throwing doubt upon its supremacy, and opening the door for renewed agitation upon a subject which the country desires should remain at rest.

One of these resolutions declares-

"That New Jersey, one of the original thirteen States, has always adhered to the Constitution, and is inalienably attached to the Union, and that she will resist, to the extent of her ability, any infraction of that sacred instrument."

Mr. President, it was scarcely necessary for the Legislature to declare at Trenton, or for me to repeat the declaration in the Senate of the United States, that the people of New Jersey had always adhered to the Constitution, and were inalienably attached to the Union." I did suppose that that was a fixed fact, and need not to be re-resolved

upon.

Devotion to the Constitution and the Unionone and the same-is a universal feeling in New Jersey-a domestic passion-as pure as the genial air of her green hills, and as notorious as her revolutionary battle-fields. It is written in her history from the earliest annals to the present hour, and it is recorded in the proceedings of the convention which formed the Constitution, where it appears that New Jersey had the honor to make the first suggestion to her sister States which led to the formation of our glorious Union.

no fault of mine. It would, likewise, be quite superfluous for me to enter upon any vindication of the course which New Jersey has taken in relation to the subject-matter of these resolutions If, unfortunately, she may, by that course, have alienated from her the affectionate regard of any of her sister States of the North, I can only for her, regret such a result, and say, that what she has done was intended for the welfare of the Union-the whole Union, and nothing but the Union. It was not that she loved Cesar less, but that she loved Rome more." If the men of the South are not satisfied with her course, all that I will say to them is, that they are hard to please.

but just. True to themselves, and true to virtue and patriotism, no foot of her soil was wrenched by fraud or force from the original savage proprietors. The last shadow of an Indian claim, a claim to some reserved hunting and fishing grounds, was voluntarily extinguished by purchase many years ago. She has as much pride in looking back to her colonial as to her national history. In the long struggle with insolent governors and royal prerogative, her people were never driven back one hair line from the assertion and maintenance of all the rights conferred upon them by their original grant; and when the final struggle for independence came, she was then among the first to enter the bloody arena. She threw overboard the Royal Government, and established a free constitution before the Declaration of Independence, and in advance of her sister States, with the exception, I believe, of New Hampshire and South Carolina. Of the part which she took in that memorable struggle, she has memorials which will never perish. Bunker Hill and Lexington and Brandywine and Charleston were glorious, but not altogether successful fields. They wear the laurels of Thermopyle. But the Marathons of the Revolution are in New Jersey. Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth-commemorate victories. From their bloody fields freedom sprung disenthralled and invigorated. None of the "Old Thirteen" made more costly pledges to the cause of Liberty and the Union. On her territory everywhere may be seen the marks of hostile armies. None of her old household homesteads, but are rich with the legendary tales of plunder and cruelty suffered at the hands of the enemy. Few of her old families, but gave of their best blood to the cause; and when the struggle was ended, she reposed on the sacrifices she had made, and left to others the task of boasting of their achievements. She had performed her duty and was satisfied.

Mr. President, it is a subject of regret as well as surprise to me, that the differences of opinion in regard to the construction of the Constitution should continue to excite in the minds of a portion of our fellow-citizens, such strong feelings of bitterness and resentment. Differences of opinion acrimonious and exciting, in relation to the interpretation of the Constitution, are no novelties. Bitter controversies growing out of such diversities of opinion, disturbed the country long since quite as generally as that which is referred to by these resolutions. Happily they were not of long duration. They subsided when the will of a majority of the States became known. Why, sir, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, great diversities of opinion existed among the founders of the Republic. Formidable parties in Massachusetts, in New York, in Pennsylvania, and in Virginia, vehemently opposed its adoption, and in many of the smaller States there were great objections to some of its provisions. It is known that it was not the plan preferred by New Jersey,¦tion at Annapolis, in 1786, with full powers to reand differed in many respects from the one pre

But, sir, our loyalty to the Constitution is not derived from, nor sustained by, the principle stated in the preamble to these resolutions. It is there asserted that the Constitution is a compact between the several States, and that it was established by the States in their sovereign capacities. I will read that part of the preamble:

"Whereas the Constitution of the United States is a compact between the several States, and forms the basis of our Federal Union:

"And whereas the said States, through their representatives in sovereign capacities as States, by adopting said Constitution, conceded only such powers to the General Government as were necessary to form a more perfect ⚫union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general wel'fare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and posterity,"

These are not Jersey words nor Jersey sentiments. They are taken from the vocabulary of another State, and are the teachings of a political school in which the people of New Jersey (if their Senators are) have never been instructed. Our devotion to the Constitution rests upon a foundation deeper and broader than that formed by a mere compact between the States. Our allegiance is to a national Union ordained and established by the people of the United States. This is the Union which the people of New Jersey helped to form. This is the Government which they are ever ready to sustain with free and loyal hearts.

The Legislature of New Jersey will therefore pardon me if, on this occasion, I shall take for my rule of conduct the preamble to the Constitution of the United States in preference to that prefixed to these resolutions.

The resolutions were read.

Mr. STOCKTON. I have also had the honor to receive the resolutions passed by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, which have just been presented by my honorable friend and colleague. Those resolutions, sir,

Nor has New Jersey been less true to the Union. in peace than in war. Among the first in her exertions to achieve our liberties, she yields to none the palm of superior exertions in maintaining them. When the imperfections of the Articles of the old Confederation became manifest, she was the first to clothe her Commissioners to the Conven

model the whole form of Government. She united with New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia, in giving the first impulse to the movement which produced the Constitution. She was only second to Virginia in sending delegates to the Constitutional Convention; and when the Cou

sylvania and Delaware, in its ratification. She was the first, as I stated the other day, to approve the important amendments to the Constitution which secured freedom of religion and of speech, and the

and jurist, Judge Patterson, from New Jersey. But that was the age of self-sacrificing virtue. Our fathers sacrificed their feelings, their personal interests and ambition, to the public safety. They magnanimously acquiesced in the will of the ma-stitution was formed, she took the lead, with Pennjority of the States, and exerted their best faculties to perfect the Constitution, and to hand it down to posterity as a bond of Union. Following the example of the wise and patriotic founders of the Constitution and their cotemporaries, I can per-right of petition, which have been the safeguards ceive no reason why we should refrain from uniting as they united, in a spirit of generous conciliation, to preserve the Constitution hereafter from infraction, and to restore that harmony and those fraternal feelings which should exist between the different parties to this compact, and which are so essential to its beneficial existence, as well as to the happiness of mankind.

Mr. President, the passage of these resolutions has given ine no ordinary satisfaction. They were unanimously adopted in each House of the New Jersey Legislature. They imbody the undivided sentiment of that State. There, at least, no dissenting voice is now audible in opposition to the compromise measures. This unanimous declaration of the opinions of New Jersey, is entitled to great respect from the States of this Confederacy. It Is a voice from the Flanders of revolutionary America. New Jersey is that State which, more than any other, was the battle-field of the Revolution. And is it too much to expect, that her example should exercise a salutary influence upon Congress, and the whole country for all time? Certainly not, if unsparing sacrifices for the achieve ment of freedom, and unfaltering fidelity in maintaining it, deserve commendation and respect.

Sir, New Jersey has produced her heroes and her statesmen, but not her historian. When her history is written, that will be her culogy. There is no stain on her escutcheon. Her sons can trace

back their ancestry through many generations without finding their blood curdling in the veins of a slave. Her territory was settled by freemen, by men whose pride it was, not only to be free,

of the States against the encroachments of the General Government. She furnished her full proportion of those great men whose eloquence and wisdom have guided your public councils, and whose heroism has adorned your military ammals. The first bright names given to glory in the war of 1812, were those of Pike and Lawrence, true representatives of the Jersey Blues. The first died in the arms of victory at Little York-the other with the memorable words "Don't give up the ship," on his lips. There she is. Though small, comparatively, in territory, she yields to none in hoitor, virtue, and patriotism. She has never been at your doors begging importunately for her share of the "loaves and fishes." If in the lifetime of this Government, now embracing a period of three generations of men, she has ever had more than two Secretaries of a Department, and one Judge of the Supreme Court, I have forgotten it. She has never had even one foreign Minister. With a long extent of sea-coast, and with an imperfect tide-water navigation running into the heart of the State, she has never received any assistance from the General Government worthy a name, in aid of her harbors and rivers. With her mountains full of iron, zinc, and other mitterals-with her territory dotted all over with manufacturing establishments, she has borne without a murmur her share of the injuries sustained from an ever-changing revenue system. It may be truly said of her, that whilst she has borne her full proportion of the burdens of the Government, of its direct benefits she has asked little and received less. Still, there she stands, this day as of old,

heart and hand, with her treasure and her resources, and her blood, pledged to a strict construction of the Constitution and to the Union of the States.

ENTERTAINMENT OF LOUIS KOSSUTH. Mr. SEWARD, in behalf of Mr. SHIELDS, during his absence, submitted the following resolution for consideration:

Resolved, That the expenses incurred in the reception and entertainment of Louis Kossuth and suite, during their late visit to the capital, by invitation of Congress, be paid out of the contingent fund of the Senate, when approved by the committee of reception, to an amount not exceeding $5,000.

EXILED IRISH PATRIOTS.

The Senate resumed the consideration of the resolution expressive of the sympathy of Congress for the exiled Irish patriots, Smith O'Brien, Thos. F. Meagher, and their associates.

passion.

The motion to print was agreed to.

PAPERS WITHDRAWN AND REFERRED.

On motion by Mr. BADGER, it was

Ordered, That the petition of the heirs and legal representatives of the late Joseph Pearson, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee of Claims.

On motion by Mr. ATCHISON, it was Ordered, That the petition of Charles A. Grignon, on the files of the Senate, be referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

On motion by Mr. JONES, of Iowa, it was Ordered, That the documents on the files of the Senate, relating to the claim of Emilie Hooe to a pension, be referred to the Committee on Pensions.

REPORT FROM A STANDING COMMITTEE. Mr. FOOT, from the Committee on Revolutionary Claims, to which was referred the bill for the payment of outstanding loan office and final settlement certificates issued for money loaned, or for services or for supplies, during the revolutionary war, reported it back without amendment.

BILLS INTRODUCED.

On motion by Mr. ATCHISON, it was
Ordered, That the further consideration thereof be post-

NON-INTERVENTION.

The Senate resumed the consideration of Mr.

CLARKE's resolutions on the subject of non-inter

vention.

Mr. CLEMENS spoke at length on the subjects embraced in the resolutions. His speech will be found in the Appendix.

Mr. MILLER. As I have something to say in regard to these resolutions, and as the subject of them is "intervention or non-intervention,' and as I do not wish to intervene between this and other important business under consideration by the Senate, unless some other Senator is ready to speak on this subject, I will move that the further consideration of them be postponed until some day next week-say Tuesday next.

Mr. ATCHISON. If it is in order to amend the motion of the Senator from New Jersey, I will move to postpone the further consideration of these resolutions until the first Monday in April. I do this that the Senate may act upon measures which are now before it, of great importance to the people-practical measures, in some of which the Southwestern and Western people feel a deeper interest than in any other question; especially questions of the kind that are now being

discussed. I refer to our land bills.

Mr. FELCH, agreeably to previous notice, asked and obtained leave to introduce a bill to authorize the sale of reserved lands and for other purposes; which was read a first and second time by its title and referred to the Committee on Public Lands.

Mr. SEWARD, agreeably to previous notice, asked and obtained leave to introduce a joint resolution concerning the publication of a compendium of the several censuses of the United States; which was read and passed to the second reading.

COMPENSATION OF DISTRICT JUDGES. The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution submitted yesterday by Mr. CASS, to instruct the Committee on the Judiciary to inquire into the expediency of increasing the salary of the district judge of the United States for the district of Michigan; which having been amended on the motion of Mr. SEWARD, and on the motion of Mr. DAWSON, was agreed to, as follows:

Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be instructed to inquire into the expediency of increasing the salary of the district judge of the United States for the district of Michigan; and the salary of the judge of the northern district of New York; and of the district judge of the State of Georgia.

ENGROSSED BILLS PASSED.

The following bills were severally read a third time and passed:

An act to change the times for holding the United States district courts in Alabama, and for ather purposes; and

An act authorizing a new register to the Amerian-built ship Obed Mitchell.

NOTARIES PUBLIC.

The engrossed bill to amend an act entitled "An act to authorize notaries public to take and certify Oaths, affirmations, and acknowledgments, in cerLain cases," was read a third time.

On motion by Mr. CHASE, it was Ordered, That the further consideration thereof be postoned until to-morrow.

Mr. SEWARD. The motion to postpone till the first Monday in April, I should regard as equivalent to an indefinite postponement. And regarding the matter in that light, I ask for the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered, and taken, and resulted-yeas 15, nays 24; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Atchison, Butler. Downs, Fish, Foot, Hamlin, Hunter, Jones of Towa, King, Morton, Norris, Rusk, Sebastian, Spruance, and Underwood-15.

NAYS-Messrs. Badger, Bell, Borland, Cass, Chase, Clarke, Clemens, Davis, Dawson, Dodge of Wisconsin, Dodge of Iowa, Douglas, Felch, Geyer, Houston, Jones of Tennessee, Miller, Seward, Shields, Smith; Soulé, Sumner, Upham, and Wade--21.

So the motion to postpone till the first Monday in April was not agreed to.

Mr. HUNTER. It seems to me that we ought not to postpone the further consideration of these resolutions to a very distant day; and I would suggest to the Senator from New Jersey, whether it would not be better to fix an earlier day than the one he has named, and dispose of them entirely. I think this practice of taking up a subject and debating it for a while and then postponing it, leads to great delay, and I hope it will suit his convenience to take up this matter on an earlier day than that he has named, and continue it till it is disposed of.

Mr. MILLER. If I consulted my own wishes I would prefer to say Tuesday next. On the suggestion of the Senator from Virginia, I will say Tuesday next, if that be agreeable to him.

Mr. BADGER. I hope my friend from New Jersey will vary that motion, though I entirely agree with what has been said by the honorable Senator from Virginia. But here is my friend from lowa [Mr. JONES] with his bill, to which an unexpected and, to him, distasteful amendment has been proposed, a practical measure in which the State of Iowa is deeply interested, and I really think we owe it to him to dispose of that measure within some reasonable time. I move to postpone the further consideration of these resolutions till this day fortnight.

Mr. HUNTER. I hope we shall be able to dispose of the bill in which the Senator from

ters.

Mr. HUNTER. When we take up a measure of this sort, it is better that we should continue to act upon it until it is disposed of. I am willing to postpone this subject long enough to enable the Senate to act finally upon the bill in which my friend from Iowa is so much interested. When it is again taken up, I hope it may be finally disposed of.

Mr. BADGER. In a spirit of compromise, to which my friend from Virginia knows I am inclined, I will vary my motion, so as to postpone the subject till Monday week.

Mr. SMITH. I desire to state, that what is

usually denominated the French spoliation bill, was made the special order for Monday next, and I am very anxious that it shall be disposed of next week.

Mr. HUNTER. It is proposed to postpone this question till Monday week.

The motion to postpone the further consideration of the subject till Monday week, was agreed to.

RAILROADS IN IOWA.

On the motion of Mr. JONES, of Iowa, the Senate resumed the consideration of the bill granting the right of way and making a grant of land to the State of Iowa, in aid of the construction of certain railroads in said State, the pending question being on the amendment offered by Mr. UNDERWOOD to the substitute reported by the Committee on Public Lands.

Mr. BELL. I did not design to occupy the attention of the Senate for a great while. In the few remarks which I intended to submit, I proposed to make this as serious and impressive a subject as I thought it deserved to be. I am taken somefriend from lowa, but I will attempt to go on, colwhat by surprise at the motion of my honorable lecting my thoughts as best I may, upon the oc

casion.

I mentioned the other day that this was a subject of annual discussion. I suppose that it has not been omitted at any session during the last twenty years. It is, therefore, very difficult to throw out any new arguments of much weight or importance on the subject.

Mr. BADGER. I think it is extremely unjust to my friend from Tennessee, to require him to go on now. I therefore move to postpone the further consideration of this subject until to-morrow.

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. JONES, of Iowa. I wish to give notice that I shall, to-morrow morning, move to dispense with the consideration of private bills, in order that the Senator from Tennessee may proceed with his speech.

Mr. EVANS. There is upon the Speaker's table a bill which has passed the Senate, for the relief of Colonel Mitchell. I want the House to allow it to be taken up, and, when I have said a few words about it, refer it to the Committee on Military Affairs.

Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I object to it, and call for the regular order of business. Nearly the whole day was lost yesterday by taking up matters by general consent.

Mr. EVANS. I was in hopes there would be no objection.

Mr. JONES. If the House is disposed to take up the business on the Speaker's table regularly, I have no objection to it; but I do object to this taking up of bills out of their proper order.

REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES.

The House then proceeded with the regular

32D CONGRESS, 1ST SESSION.

by even numbers as aforesaid, and appropriated as aforesaid) shall be held by the State of Missouri for the use and purpose aforesaid: Prorided, That the lands to be so located shall in no case be further than fifteen miles from the line of the road in each case, and selected for and on account of each of said roads: Provided further, That the lands hereby granted shall be exclusively applied in the construction of that road for which it was granted and selected, and shall be disposed of only as the work progresses, and the same shall be applied to no other purpose whatsoever: And provided further, That any and all lands heretofore reserved to the United States by any act of Congress or in any other manner by competent authority, for the purpose of aiding in any object of internal improvement, or for any other purpose whatsoever, be, and the same are hereby reserved to the United States from the operation of this act, except so far as it may be found necessary to locate the routes of the said railroad through such reserved lands, in which case the right of way only shall be granted.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the sections and parts of sections of land which, by such grant, shall remain to the United States, within six miles on each side of each of said roads, shall not be sold for less than double the minimum price of the public lands when sold.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said lands hereby granted to the said State shall be subject to the disposal of the Legislature thereof, for the purposes aforesaid, and no other; and the said railroads shall be and remain a public highway, for the use of the Government of the United States, free from toil or other charge upon the trasportation of any property or troops of the United States.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the lands hereby granted to said State shall be disposed of by said State only in manner following, that is to say: that a quantity of land not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections on each road, and included within a continuous length of twenty miles of said road, may be sold; and when the Governor of said State shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior that said twenty miles of said road is completed, then another like quantity of land hereby granted may be sold, and so from time to time until said road is completed; and if said road be not completed within ten years, no further sales shall be made, and the land unsold shall revert to the United States.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the United States mail shall, at all times, be transported on said rail. roads, under the direction of the Post Office Department, at such price as Congress may by law direct.

Mr. HALL continued. It is not my intention, at this time, to trouble the House with a speech. I took occasion, in the early part of the session, to express my views upon the subject imbodied in the bill; and I now merely wish to call the attention of the House to the condition of the two roads embraced in it.

Both these roads, or rather, both the companies for constructing these roads, have been chartered by the State of Missouri, and for which she has loaned the credit of the State to the amount of

three and a half millions dollars-a million and a half to the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad and two millions to the St. Louis railroad. The St. Louis road is three hundred and fifty miles long, and the Hannibal and St. Joseph road about two hundred miles long. As I said, the State of Missouri has loaned its credit to the amount of $3,500,000, in order to secure the construction of these roads; so that they are not mere visionary affairs, gotten up for the purpose of making capital out of, but they are roads in relation to which the State of Missouri has heretofore manifested a great interest, not only by granting charters and memorializing Congress upon the subject, but by becoming responsible for a large amount of money invested in these works.

But I wish to call the attention of the House to another fact. These roads will not only increase the value of the public domain through which they pass, but, running as they do through the whole State, they furnish an outlet to the great public domain of the West to the Eastern and Southern markets. In this respect, therefore, this bill stands upon more favorable ground than the bill that passed the House in the first session of the last Congress in favor of the Illinois railroad.

But some apprehension has been expressed that while these grants are being made nominally for the State of Missouri, that they are really for the benefit of private individuals. This objection was made a few weeks ago by the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. SWEETSER,] and by others. I am fully aware of the mischief of permitting large tracts of land to pass into the hands of a few individuals, to be held up fifteen, twenty, or even more years, at exorbitant prices, and thus kept unsettled. I do not believe that the State of Missouri would ever fasten on herself so ruinous a policy.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1852.

With the view, however, of removing the objection entertained-that this grant might result in the exclusive benefit of a few individuals-I have endeavored to prepare an amendment, which, in in its operation, shall confine this grant exclusively to the State of Missouri, for the benefit of the people of that State, and I therefore ask leave to offer the amendment, which I desire now to be read, and then I will say a few words further.

The amendment was then read, as follows: "And be it further enacted, That the lands hereby granted shall not be transferred to any corporation or company, but shall be sold to actual settlers only, in quantities not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, or one half section, to each actual settler; and the proceeds of such lands shall be faithfully applied by said State to the objects and in the manner hereinafter specified, in such way as to secure the benefits hereinbefore made to the people of said State of Missouri."

The purpose of that amendment is to prevent the State of Missouri from transferring the lands proposed to be granted to any company or corporation, and to require them to be sold in small parcels to actual settlers, and then to secure the proceeds in such a manner as to inure directly to the benefit of the people of the State of Missouri. I have endeavored to make it as stringent as I possibly could, and I have now to say to gentlemen of this House, that if the amendment I have offered be not sufficiently stringent for the purpose of securing the object I have in view, and have expressed, then prepare another more stringent, and I will adopt it; for I tell gentlemen I do not want this land to go to corporations or companies, but to the people of the State of Missouri. I want it so disposed of and settled as to result to the benefit of the people at large. I am well aware that the proposition will be made to commit this bill to the Committee of the Whole upon the state of the Union. I wish to say a word or two in regard to that subject, and then I shall have done. Gentlemen who have any experience in this House know full well, that if this bill is so referred, that will be the last of it, and you will never hear of it again. Therefore I ask it as a favor of this House, if they are not prepared to pass this bill, that they will vote it down and reject it, in preference to committing it to the Committee of the Whole upon the state of the Union. I would infinitely prefer that the bill should be laid upon the table this morning, than to have it committed to that committee. I do not ask the previous question. I do not desire to stifle debate. I am willing that the matter should be debated as long as gentlemen desire. I do not fear investigation. On the contrary, I court it. But if gentlemen are not inclined to debate it, and if they are not prepared to vote for it, I ask it, as a special favor, that they vote down the bill, lay it upon the table, reject it, kill it; but do not refer it to that committee, where we, who know the operation of that committee, know it will be killed effectually.

Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I desire to say a few words on

Mr. PHELPS. I desire to obtain the floor for the purpose of submitting an amendment, which I send to the table.

The SPEAKER. Does the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. HALL] yield the floor? Mr. HALL. I do.

Mr. JONES. Then I claim it.

A VOICE. Let the amendment of Mr. PHELPS be read.

The amendment, to come in at the end of the amendment, was read as follows:

"For the support of common schools." The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. JONES] has the floor.

Mr. JONES. I am prepared to say very little upon the subject of this bill at the present time; and I do not think that the House is now prepared to examine or to enter upon its consideration. It is certainly, I think, a very extraordinary request-perhaps a very modest one of my friend from Missouri [Mr. HALL]-to ask that this important bill shall be passed now, without being referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, as is usual. And here, for fear I

NEW SERIES....No. 35.

may forget it, before I proceed any further, I move that this bill be so referred, and that it be printed. I want the bill, together with the amendment offered by the gentleman from Missouri, printed, in order that we may all have an opportunity of examining the bill, and of satisfying ourselves of the principle which is embraced in it, and by which the larger portion of the public lands of the country are to be appropriated for internal improvements by the Federal Government, in violation of the doctrine which I have always understood the Democratic party of this country to be the advocates. I wish to know, I desire that the House may know, the principles which are embraced in this bill. And I should like to hear the advocates of it declare in this House the principles upon which they support it-how it is that they oppose the improvement of the country by means of roads and canals by the Federal Government, and yet will divert the entire public domain from its heretofore legitimate object, and vest it in the States, to be held-whatever may be the phraseology of the law-for the benefit of chartered companies, by companies incorporated by the different State Legislatures.

I would like particularly for the chairman of the Committee on Public Lands to inform the House how many acres of land he proposes to dispose of by the provisions of this bill.

Mr. HALL. I will answer the gentleman, that this law embraces two roads. One of the roads will receive less than five hundred thousand, and the other will receive about a million of acres, being together about one half the quantity granted to the State of Illinois the last Congress.

Mr. JONES. A grant of one and a half millions of acres in this bill! Now, I would ask the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. HALL] how many bills of this character he has now before his committee, and ready to be reported, whenever this one shall have been favorably disposed of by the House?

Mr. HALL. I will answer that question. I believe the committee have agreed to report some ten or twelve bills, which will comprise, according to the nearest estimate we can make, between five and six millions of acres.

Mr. JONES. Then, sir, here is this bill, which is to dispose of one million and a half of acres of land, as we are told by the chairman of the committee who reported it, put forward-and perhaps it embraces a larger amount of land than any other of these bills referred to as the one upon which a trial is to be made; and if this one can be passed, other bills are now ready, as agreed upon by the Committee on Public Lands, to be reported, disposing of some six millions of acres of public lands for similar purposes. Now I ask you, if, in your long experience upon this floor, you have ever known a bill of equal importance as this-disposing of as much of the public property as this proposes to do-brought in here and put upon its passage without even being printed. or even being referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union?

Mr. HALL. I only wish to call the attention of the gentleman from Tennessee to the fact, that the Illinois bill, which granted to that State double as much land as is proposed to be granted by this bill, never was referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, but was passed in the House.

Mr. JONES. Well, Mr. Speaker, I do not know how the gentleman from Missouri voted upon that Illinois bill, but he did not at the time very well approve of the manner in which it was passed here. He thought it should have taken the regular course. If his bill is right, I suppose that, in this House of honest men and faithful representatives, he can secure a majority for it; but if it will not stand the test of investigation, it should not pass. If it is right in itself, he should have no fears of its success, let it take what course it may, upon the motion which I have made.

Mr. HALL. I ask the gentleman from Tennessee if he does not believe that if this bill is committed to the Committee of the Whole House upon

the state of the Union, it will be the last of itthat it will never be reached again this session?

Mr. JONES. No, sir. I say, for the information of the gentleman--though that is unnecessary, because he is apprised of the fact that the rules of this House require the Cominittee of the Whole upon the state of the Union to take up the Calendar in its order, with the exception, perhaps, of appropriation bills; and you must call the first bill upon it, and to lay it aside a motion must be made, and sustained by a vote of a majority of the committee. But there will be important bills-not appropriation bills-reported to this House before the termination of this session, which will go to the Committee of the Whole upon the state of the Union; and, in order to get at them, this House, or the Committee of the Whole, will be compelled to pass to the consideration of this bill in order to reach them.

Mr. HALL. Do not the special orders take precedence of these bills?

Mr. JONES. The special order overrides all other business, because it is a suspension of all your rules which prescribe the order of business. But let the gentleman and the House oppose the making of special orders; and, in my opinion, unless there be some good, sufficient, and urgent reason why special orders should be made, we should not make them, but rather let the ordinary business of the House take its course according to the rules prescribed for the government of this House.

That bill, I believe, has been printed; but I suppose there are but few members of the House, except those upon the Committee on Public Lands, and those particularly interested in getting these lands appropriated for their roads, who have examined it or know its provisions.

It is impossible that members, sitting in their places in this House, can understand, by the mere reading of a bill by the Clerk at your desk, the provisions contained in it, especially such important ones as are found in this. I think the gentleman himself, upon reflection, will withdraw his request to pass the bill, and ask the House to refer it to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, and that it be printed. In that case we shall all have an opportunity to examine it, and determine for or against it, upon its merits.

Mr. PHELPS. It was my intention to have proposed an amendment to the amendment submitted by my colleague, but I suppose, in the present stage of the question, I am precluded from doing so. I will inquire of the Chair if an amendment can now be offered?

The SPEAKER. An amendment is in order, if pertinent.

Mr. JONES, of Tennessee. I will withdraw the motion for reference until the gentleman can submit his amendments, and then will renew my motion

Mr. PHELPS. I then submit the following

amendment, to come in at the end of that proposed by my colleague:

"For the support of common schools in said

State.

Mr. JONES. I renew my motion to commit the bill and amendment, and that they be printed.

Mr. PHELPS. I hope the bill which is now before the House may not be committed. I am convinced in my own mind that if it is referred to the Committee of the Whole upon the state of the Union, owing to the press of business and the urgent necessity for the consideration of important appropriation bills that will hereafter come up, it will never be reached. It may become necessary at some time then to discharge the committee from its consideration, and it will then be brought before the House for action. There is no disposition on the part of those who advocate the passage of this measure, or others of a similar description, to stifle inquiry, or discussion. At the commencement of this session, when a discussion took place upon the reference of the President's message, my colleague took occasion to develop his views in relation to bills of this character, and the reasons why they should be adopted. I was in the hopes then that those who opposed these measures would have debated the public land system generally, and that we should then have had presented to us the various propositions which were intended to be submitted, in relation to the disposal of the public domain and the peculiar views of gentlemen. In this I was disappointed.

But the gentleman from Tennessee assails the proposition, and wishes to know how we can advocate the disposal of the public land in the way proposed in this bill, when opposed to the appropriation of money for the construction of works of internal improvement by the Federal Government. By the granting of lands to the character of works indicated in this bill, the value of the Government land contiguous is enhanced and its sale rapidly accelerated. Not only are individuals benefited by such grants, but the States also. The State in this case aids in the construction of works which improve the value of the land belonging to the United States. The Government of the United States is the proprietor of a large portion of public land through which this road passes.

I say that a reference of this measure to the Com- A recognizance was made of the road leading mittee of the Whole on the state of the Union, I from St. Louis to the western line of the State. consider equivalent to its defeat. Cannot we dis- Some two or three different roads were surveyed. cuss this bill as well in the House as in the Con- . After having gone westward some hundred miles mittee of the Whole? In the committee mem- or upwards through a section of country where bers are not confined to the discussion of the ques- the land was some ten miles from timber, the tion pending, and I think, therefore, in point of Government lands on cach side were all taken economy, so far as time is concerned, that it is up in consequence of that survey. The expectabest the measure should be discussed in the tions of those purchasing the lands was, that the House. road would be constructed upon the line of that survey. I hold in my hand a statement of the receiver of public moneys of the Clayton land district, in my Congressional district. It is the district through which this survey was made. The total receipts of that land office for the year 1849, for cash sales, were $36,270. In 1850 the sales amounted to $59,425; and for three quarters of the year 1851, the sales amounted to $101,000. These increased sales are to be entirely attributed to the fact, that it was expected the road would pass through that district. It is true that there was a great sale of public lands to emigrants who came to that State to settle there. The number of emigrants to that State is about the same each year, and hence you cannot account for the accelerated sale of these lands except by the fact that the persons purchasing these lands believed that they would be greatly enhanced in value by the construction of that road, and that the road was to be constructed upon the survey thus made. I say, then, if gentlemen will take upon themselves the trouble to make a calculation of the present value of lands, considering that we have public lands which have been in market for twenty-five or thirty years unsold in a certain district of country, they will find that the Government will be the gainer by giving away one half for the purpose of selling the other half in one, or two, or three years. It is a question which every man may calculate for himself, and-

Mr. FULLER. If that is the ground upon which the gentleman bases this claim, why is it this bill provides that in case there is no public land of the Government within the range of six miles on each side of the road, other distant lands may be selected?

Mr. STANTON, of Kentucky, (interposing. I ask the Chair if the morning hour has not ex

The SPEAKER. It has.

Mr. STANTON moved to proceed to the business upon the Speaker's table; which motion was agreed to.

Mr. PHELPS. I will answer the inquiry of the gentleman. It provides that if the sections donated to the State have been sold, that the agents of the State shall have the right to select other lands in lieu of them within fifteen miles on each side of the road. What are the other provisions in that bill? They are, that upon these railroads shall be transported the mails at prices to be determined upon by Congress. The whole question of compensation is left to the discretion of Con-pired. gress. It also provides that the munitions of war shall be transported upon these roads free of cost. The amount that the Government would be compelled to pay for the transportation of munitions of war and of troops over these roads, otherwise, annually would greatly exceed the interest upon the proceeds of the lands which it is proposed to grant to the State of Missouri, were they sold. How is it that supplies to New Mexico and Utah are forwarded? They are now carried entirely through Missouri. The expense for the transportation of property of the United States upon that river during the Mexican war were enormous. I think there were some steamboats laden with munitions States which became a total loss. The amount of of war belonging to the Government of the United Government property lost was estimated at something like $200,000.

I again say, that there is ample remuneration to the Government of the United States, for the

privilege given to the State of Missouri for the se

lection of other lands within fifteen miles of the road, should those along the line of the road have been disposed of.

I trust that the inquiries of my friend from Maine are now answered. It is upon these principles that we justify it. I will proceed now to remark, that as the Government of the United States is the proprietor of the greater part of the public land through which these roads will pass,

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS.

The Speaker laid before the House the follow|ing messages heretofore received from the Presi dent of the United States, viz:

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit herewith a copy of the annual report of the Di rector of the Mint at Philadelphia, showing the operation of the Mint and its branches for the year 1851. MILLARD FILLMORE. WASHINGTON, February 10, 1852. On motion, the said message and accompanyand be printed. ing documents were ordered to lie on the table,

To the Senate and House of

Representatives of the United States: I transimit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior, containing a report from Thomas U. Walter, Archa tect for the erection of the Capitol.

MILLARD FILLMORE. WASHINGTON, February 10, 1852. Mr. STANTON, of Kentucky, moved that the message be referred to the Committee on the Public Buildings and Grounds.

Mr. HOUSTON. This communication is upon the subject of expenditures upon the Capitol." It should therefore properly go to the Committer of Ways and Means, who have charge of the subject already. I make that motion.

Mr. STANTON. The gentleman from Alabama is mistaken. The communication belongs properly to the Committee on the Public Buildings and Grounds.

The question was taken first on the motion to refer to the Committee on the Public Buildings and Grounds, and agreed to.

THE STEAMER PROMETHEUS. To the Senate and House of

Representatives of the United States:

and that as the construction of these roads will enhance the value of those lands, and accelerate their sale, that it is the duty of the General Government to make the donation of lands proposed. I recollect well the time when it was proposed in this House, to graduate and to reduce the price of the public lands. Instead of diminishing the revenue, which would be derived by the Government from the sale of these lands, it was on the contrary increased. We had a remarkable example of that in the case of the Indian reservation within the limits of the State of Mississippi. Certain lands were reserved there for the Indians, no better than the other lands belonging to the Gov-de Nicaragua, by the British brig of war "Express," and also ernment of the United States, the price of which was graduated and reduced after being offered for a certain length of time in the market. They were in the course of some five or six years al sold, realizing to the Government an average amount of $125 per acre. I then say, that the construction of these roads will accelerate the sale of lands upon the line of that road.

I transmit to Congress a copy of the instructions dis patched from the Deparment of State to the Minister of the United States at London respecting the attack on the United States steamer ** Prometheus," in the harbor of San Juan

a copy of the dispatches of Mr. Lawrence to that Depart ment, and of his correspondence with Her Britannic Majes ty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on the same subject. MILLARD FILLMORE. WASHINGTON, February 10, 1852.

On motion of Mr. HOUSTON, it was ordered, that the message and accompanying documents be referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and be printed.