consume more than a few minutes, and then we can take up the veto message.

Mr. STUART. If the bill of the Senator from Delaware be first in order on the table, and if it will lead to no debate, as he supposes, I am willing to withdraw my motion, so as to allow that bill to be taken up; but I assure the Senate that I am exceedingly anxious to dispose of the other question, for it stands in the way of other busi

ness.

Mr. CLAYTON. The gentleman cannot be more anxious than I am to dispose of the veto message; but I wish to take up the first bill in

order.

Mr. ADAMS. I desire to inquire of the Chair if the veto message is not first in order?

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The first bill now on the orders of the Senate for consideration is the bill spoken of by the Senator from Delaware. Immediately after that is the act making a grant of public lands to the several States of the Union for the benefit of indigent insane persons.

Mr. CASS. I agree with my colleague on this matter. If the vote can be taken on the bill of the Senator from Delaware, without discussion, I have no objection to its being taken up. After that I shall be in favor of taking up the veto message. I believe we ought to have a vote upon that. Then, for myself, I shall vote against every proposition to bring other business before the Senate until the homestead bill be taken up.

Mr. HUNTER. I have no objection to taking up the bill of the Senator from Delaware, if it be understood that the amendment which is pending will be withdrawn; but surely he does not suppose that the amendment will be voted on without debate.

Mr. CLAYTON. I suppose that if the bill be taken up that amendment will be withdrawn in the course of a very few minutes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from Michigan withdraw his motion? Mr. STUART. Yes, sir.

The Senate then resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill for the more effectual suppression of the slave trade in American-built vessels, the pending question being upon the amendment offered on Saturday last by the Senator from Indiana [Mr. PETTIT] to add the following additional sections:

SEC. And be it further enacted, That the sum of $250,000 be, and is hereby, appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the order of the proper officer of the American Colonization Society, for the year ending 30th June, 1855, for the purpose of enabling said society to establish a line of steam vessels consisting of two steamers, Said steamers shall each make three trips within the year, and, as near as possible, at regular intervals, alternating between the ports of New York. Baltimore, Norfolk, Savannah, and New Orleans, and the west coast of Africa, touching at such places as said society shall direct.

SEC.. And be it further enacted, That the Government of the United States shall have the privilege of transporting to and from West Africa, the Government mails, and likewise the Government stores, each trip.

SEC.. And be it further enacted, That said society shall arm each steamer with one long heavy gun, on a pivot, and two small guns, and shall man them with a proper complement of seamen to render efficient service, under private commissions from the Government, to repress and check slavers on the line of their voyage between this country and the west coast of Africa, and along the line of said coast, and on their return voyage shall run down said coast as low as Cabarda, and return cruising along said coast as high as the Gambia.

Mr. CLAYTON. In regard to that amendment, I have to say that I trust the honorable Senator who offered it will see the propriety of withdrawing it. I understand, distinctly, that the Colonization Society has not desired any such proposition to be moved to this bill. The Colonization Society has not interferred, in any way, to amend or alter the bill. In relation to the proposition itself, I wish to say, that if the object of the honorable Senator be to establish a line of steamers between this country and Liberia, he will always find me friendly to a proposition of that description, if offered in the proper place. I trust the honorable Senator from Indiana, seeing these things, will not be disposed to obstruct the passage of this measure, which is a very important one.

Mr. PETTIT. Mr. President, before I sit down, I shall withdraw the proposed amendment; but, before doing so, it is proper that I should make a very short explanation. I offered this amendment at the instance of the Rev. James Mitchell, who is the agent of the Colonization Society for

five States in the West-Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin-as I understand. He presented me the paper, requesting me to offer it as an amendment. I now understand, from the Senator from Delaware, that the Colonization Society do not desire it offered to this bill, and, therefore, at the suggestion and with the concurrence of the gentleman at whose instance I offered it, I withdraw it.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read a third time, and passed.

INDIGENT INSANE BILL VETO.

On motion by Mr. STUART, the Senate resumed the consideration of the bill making a grant of public lands to the several States of the Union for the benefit of the indigent insane persons, which had been returned by the President of the United States with his objections.

Mr. BRODHEAD addressed the Senate in support of the veto message. [His speech will be found in the Appendix.]

Mr. STUART. There are many Senators not now here who hardly anticipated that a vote would be taken on this question to-day; and, if there be no objection, I suggest that the further consideration of the bill be postponed until tomorrow at one o'clock, or two o'clock, as may suit the pleasure of the Senate, with the understanding that at that time the vote will be taken. If that be done, I shall then ask the Senate to take up the next special order, which is the homestead bill.

Mr. BELL. I should have no objection to that proposition, but that I should like very much to see a pretty full attendance of the Senate when the question is taken.

Mr. HUNTER. There will be then.

Mr. BELL. A number of Senators are not now in the city, but are anticipated to be in a few days. I think, therefore, it would be better to postpone the time of taking the vote a little longer. I do not suppose any one desires to discuss it

further.

Mr. STUART. So far as I am concerned, it is immaterial whether the Senate disposes of it tomorrow or Monday. I should be entirely willing to consult the views of the Senate on the subject; but my desire was to fix a day for taking the vote, that Senators may be here.

Mr. BELL. I should prefer Monday. I do not know whether any advantage would result from it; but I think we shall be more likely then to have a large attendance of Senators than to

morrow.

Mr. STUART. I have no objection to it. Mr. WELLER. I think it would be utterly impossible to fix a day to suit the convenience of all the Senators. I have no doubt we shall have as many in attendance to-morrow as on Monday; and if there is no gentleman who desires to continue the debate, I should prefer, individually, to take the vote to-morrow, in order that we may proceed with other business, which must necessarily be disposed of. I shall, therefore, move, unless the Senator from Michigan makes the motion, to postpone it until to-morrow.

The Senator

The PRESIDING OFFICER. from Michigan submits that motion. Mr. STUART. I submitted it with a wish to get the general understanding of the Senate as to the time, not to consult my own convenience at all.

Mr. HUNTER. I hope the vote will be taken to-morrow at one o'clock.

Several SENATORS. Say two o'clock. Mr. HUNTER. Well, two o'clock. Mr. WILLIAMS. I do not intend to detain the Senate by giving my views at length upon the bill; but before the vote is taken, I desire to make a few remarks upon it.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair understands that the motion is to postpone the further reconsideration of the bill until to morrow at two o'clock, with the understanding that the Senate will then proceed to a vote upon it.

Mr. HUNTER. I would suggest that it had better probably be postponed until one o'clock. I understand there are several Senators who wish to speak a few minutes upon the bill. There are at least two.

Mr. STUART. I have no objection to making one o'clock the hour.

Mr. WELLER. I think, if we postpone it to two o'clock, we can, by that time, get through with the bill which we had under consideration to-day, to provide for the construction of a telegraph from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I think we shall have ample time to dispose of that, if this bill be postponed until two o'clock. I therefore prefer that hour.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair will suggest to the Senator from California that, according to the usage of the Senate, when a question is once up, it cannot be laid aside without being disposed of in some way by a vote of the Senate; so that if the bill to which he alludes should be taken up to-morrow, and it should not be gotten through with by one o'clock, the Senate will continue considering it, unless a majority determine otherwise.

Mr. HAMLIN. I concur in what the Chair has said; but still, if it be the sense of the Senate to proceed to the consideration of the veto message, I should not desire to interpose objection to it. If, however, as suggested by the Senator from California, we could dispose of the other, it would be better for us to postpone this until a later hour-say half past one o'clock.

Mr. STUART. The difficulty anticipate, if we postpone this bill beyond one o'clock, is, that we shall not dispose of it to-morrow, but shall adjourn before it is acted upon. I am entirely disposed, as I said, to consult the convenience of every Senator, if I can; but it seems to me it would be as well to say one o'clock as the hour to which we should postpone it; and by that hour, if we have not got through with the telegraph bill, it can be postponed until next day, and we shall succeed in disposing finally of this question to

morrow.

Mr. CASS. Why not go on with the discussion of this bill now? We must settle it.

Mr. STUART. If the Senator from New

Hampshire is disposed to go on to-day, I certainly shall withdraw my proposition to postpone, and hear him to-day.

Mr. JOHNSON. The Senator does not desire to go on now.

Mr. WILLIAMS. I am not very particular about it. I do not propose to discuss the merits of the bill; but before the vote is taken, I wish to occupy about twenty minutes.

The motion to postpone until one o'clock tomorrow was agreed to.

Mr. HUNTER. I think eleven would be a much better hour. It is to be remembered that the appropriation bills are nearly all to be acted upon yet. When they come here, they will have to be referred to the Committee on Finance. A great deal of labor will be devolved upon that committee, and it is hardly to be expected that they can meet and prepare for the action of the Senate on these bills before nine o'clock in the morning. We ought to have some time in the morning to attend to our committee duties; and I therefore think eleven o'clock will be a much better hour to appoint. That has been the usual course heretofore.

Mr. ADAMS. My purpose in introducing the resolution was that we should have morning sessions, which would be more pleasant and agreeable to Senators than our present evening sessions. I have no particular choice myself, however. If it be the general sense of the Senate to strike out "nine" and insert "ten," I should have no objection. To insert "eleven" would not answer the purpose I had in view in desiring the morning session. I only want the sense of the Senate in reference to it.

Mr. JOHNSON. 1 desire to ask the chairman of the Committee on Finance a question. Have you received any of the appropriation bills yet? Mr. HUNTER. None. Mr. JOHNSON. Has any come here yet? Mr. HUNTER. We have acted upon one or

Mr. JOHNSON. Then what is the use of meeting at an earlier hour? I doubt very much whether it is necessary to force this thing as yet. With the entrance into this body of the very first appropriation bill, I am willing to vote for an earlier hour of meeting; but I am not willing to vote for it when there are none of those bills before us.

I am very well satisfied that if we meet here at nine o'clock, we shall not adjourn before three o'clock. That is the opinion of but one member, it is true; but it is the opinion of very few, I think, that we should adjourn any earlier than that. Then why meet at an unusually early hour? I think we sit now, from twelve o'clock, as long as the nature of the public business requires us to do. We are getting along very well with the business. We are not behind-hand. A vast amount of the business of this body has been transacted and sent to the other House, and there is, comparatively, very little before us. I do not believe that we ought to make this change in the hour of meeting yet. I doubt very much whether it ought to be made until the Committee on Finance are ready to report some one or other of the appropriation bills to us. The committee must have time to labor. They ought to have until the hour of twelve. If we make this change, and meet at the unusually early hour proposed, before they have prepared and matured any of the appropriation bills, they will have to be excused from service in this body for the time being, and be compelled to go and attend to their committee duties while we are in session. The gentlemen composing that committee have interests here to attend to; and we are entitled as much to their counsel as to that of others; and they themselves are entitled to ours; but if we meet at an earlier hour they will be compelled to attend to their committee duties while we ourselves are in session. Every one will see that it is almost impossible for them to meet at a late hour in the evening to transact committee business. The evenings are excessively oppressive. The mornings themselves are oppressive; but the evenings excessively so.

I think it will be wise, and I hope for the present we shall do so, for this body to hold on to its position, and meet as it always does at twelve o'clock, and continue to sit through the day to the usual hour; for at the least, say what we will upon the subject of our sitting here through the day, there are few who will not say that this is the coolest place in the city. It is as little uncomfortable, if not less so, than any other place in the city. I do hope that the Senate will not change the hour of meeting at all, until there is some absolute necessity imposed upon us by the nature of the business brought before us; and I do not see how that can be the case, until the appropriation bills are brought here.

Mr. STUART. I suggest to the Senator from Mississippi to modify his resolution as to the time when it shall go into operation-to say "Monday next," in place of "hereafter." Perhaps we could adopt the hour of ten o'clock, on and after Monday next.

Mr. ADAMS. I accede to that proposition. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Then the Senator from Mississippi, modifies his resolution so as to make it read:

"Resolved, That the Senate meet on and after Monday next, at ten o'clock, a. m.

Mr. GWIN. I hope that the resolution will pass in the amended form, which fixes Monday next for its operation. I differ entirely from the Senator from Arkansas when he says that we should not meet yet before twelve o'clock. There is no doubt that this is the coolest place in the city. As far as the Committee on Finance is concerned, I am a member of that committee, and I have no doubt that we can find time to attend to our business, and meet at an earlier hour than we now do. I think we can get through with our business very well by meeting, on and after Monday next, at ten o'clock. I am sure the chairman of the committee will look to it that we get the appropriation

bills ready for the Senate by that hour. There are some very important measures which ought to be discussed this session, and I think that by meeting from Monday next at ten o'clock, we shall be able to bring forward the appropriation bills.

Mr. HAMLIN. The Senator from Mississippi having modified the resolution, it is necessary for me to modify my amendment so as to strike out "ten" and insert "eleven." I make the motion because I think there is force in the suggestion which fell from the chairman of the Committee on

Finance; and because I believe we shall do just as much work if we meet here at eleven, as we should if we met at nine or ten. From eleven to half past three, this hot weather, is as long as we can be expected to meet here; and we shall accomplish as much work in those hours as if we met earlier. For that reason I make my motion.

Mr. WALKER. I should like to hear the ideas of the Chair on this question. [Laughter.] The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair is not at liberty to give them. [Laughter.] Mr. BRIGHT. I shall vote against any motion to change the hour of meeting, until nearer the close of the session. If, during the last week, it should be found necessary to meet at an earlier hour, I shall be willing to do it; but for the present the hour ought not to be changed. If Senators, who are in favor of the resolution, will look back to the precedents, they will find that this is earlier than the change has heretofore usually been made. But if it is proposed to make that change, I think it will be just to the Committee on Finance, that the mornings on which they hold their regular meetings, Tuesday and Friday, be excepted, so that they may not be denied a participation in the deliberations of the Senate. They will be excluded if we meet here at an earlier hour than twelve, or earlier than eleven at any rate.

There is a mistaken impression abroad, that unless we are sitting here we are not at work. Now, sir, the most laborious services that I perform are outside of this Senate Chamber, getting business ready, and attending to business in the different Departments. I feel the necessity of having time as much for that as I do to come here, and discharge my duties. I hope, therefore, it will be the pleasure of the Senate to let the hour of meeting remain as it is until we ascertain by experience that our business drives us to an earlier hour. Then we can change the hour to eleven o'clock; but under no circumstances should we meet earlier than that.

Mr. SEWARD. I concur in what has been said by the Senator from Indiana, and as the honorable Senator in the chair [Mr. BADGER] is, by his position, precluded from making a response to the question of the Senator from Wisconsin, [Mr. WALKER,] I will answer for him. I announce, therefore, that the Chair concurs also with the Senator from Indiana; that it is better that the meeting should continue at the usual hour, until some occasion arises for a change. [Laughter.]

quarter. We may have occasion for changing the hour of meeting before the end of the session —perhaps ten days before its close. I agree in this matter with the chairman of the Committee on Finance, [Mr. HUNTER,] and I hope the Senate will not adopt the resolution.

Mr. CASS. A good deal has been said in the Senate, almost foreign, in my opinion, to our discussions, which has done great injustice to the body. As the Senator from Indiana has well observed, an idea seems to prevail through the country, which is fortified by a great deal of what has fallen from Senators, that we come here in the morning and spend an hour or two, and that that is all we do as members of Congress. A more fallacious idea could not prevail. You know, sir, and we all know, that a large portion of the business of the Senate, and of the other House is done in committees. The principal part of it is matured there. Facts are investigated, principles examined, and reports made, by which we are very much guided; and a great portion of the labor of the Senate consists in the preparation of that business. There is not a member of the Senate who, day after day, I might almost say, hour after hour, is not required to go to some of the Departments to investigate some matter connected with some of his constituents. Then we have an immense correspondence to attend to. The task of franking and overseeing the direction of the great number of speeches and documents which we send to our constituents, is no slight one. When a man has to sign his name forty thousand or fifty thousand times he feels that he has a serious job before him. I believe those numbers are not very unusual, and I know by my own experience that they are sent. I mention these facts, although they are well known to Senators, because they are necessary in justification of the Senate. It is generally pretty hard work for us to attend to all these duties. I have been a working man all my life, and generally a pretty hard one; but I never worked harder than I have done as a member of Congress. I rise every morning before the sun and begin my labor; and I find myself pretty tired by the time night comes on. The idea is perfectly fallacious, that the little time which we spend here is all the time which we employ in executing the duties intrusted to us.

Besides that, questions come up which require consideration and examination, and I regretted very much, the other day, to hear some remarks which fell from the Senator from Georgia, [Mr. DAWSON,] who is not now in his seat. He talked about extemporaneous discussion-skirmishing, as he called it, being the best mode of carrying on debates. I do not believe a word of it. He has a very incorrect estimate of himself, of this body, or of the country, who comes to the Senate to mingle in its debates unprepared. I am not in the habit of doing that. The higher the subject, the deeper should be its consideration. Skirmishing never gains victories, either on the battle-field, or in mental conflicts. It was not through skirBut, to be serious. If we meet at nine, or at mishing that the great orators of ancient and ten o'clock, we must meet with some purpose, modern days obtained their eminence. Their exeither to sit until the customary hour, or to adjourn ample is good for us. It was labor, incessant, at an earlier hour of the day. Now, I think it eternal, and unmitigated labor, by which they very clear, if this intensely hot weather is to con- obtained their reputations. That labor we must tinue, that it will not be within the bounds of go through with in the investigation of all subhuman endurance for Senators to go through their jects; and I repudiate in toto the idea of the honorduties on committees, which require an hour every able Senator from Georgia, that it is best for us day, and then to sit here either five or six hours, to come here and carry on a skirmishing, extemand also to perform the necessary labor which poraneous debate, on the most solemn questions attendance upon the Departments requires from which come before us. I am not one of those many Senators, to say nothing of the time re- who measure the value of legislative labors by the quired for the examination of subjects which thickness of the statute-books. I would rather, come before us. If the expectation be that we sometimes, take the proportion in the inverse ratio. shall adjourn at an earlier hour of the day, I con- I believe advantages arise to this Government from cur with the Senator from Arkansas, that an earlier discussion here; it turns the attention of the pubmeeting is unnecessary. I do not see any preslic to great subjects. There is no discussion in sure of public business upon us now to require it I think no good reason has been assigned for it, except the supposition that it may be more convenient during this hot weather. I believe that is a fallacious view; but if not, this proposition comes too late, for we are passing through, and probably coming to the end of the intense heat under which we are now suffering. If the idea be that we are to change the time in order to shelter ourselves from the heat, then the motion comes too late, for I presume that the weather is going to change. We have had ten of these hot days; the wind must now set in from another

Turkey, none in Russia; but wherever there is freedom, there is discussion; and the more freedom, the more discussion.

I repeat, that the duties of a member of Congress are laborious and incessant; and if he is a conscientious man, as I believe we all are, he can only discharge them by untiring labor. I have no idea that my own labor is greater than that of other members, and in one respect I am more favored, as the Senate has excused me from serving upon any of the standing committees, except that on the library.

Now, with respect to the proposition before us,

I wish to say that I shall be willing to meet at eleven o'clock at the proper time-although not yet for I believe if we meet at eleven, and sit four hours a day, it is as much as we can well do, and have time to attend to the other business which we are required to perform. But I do not think it is necessary yet to meet any earlier than we now do.

Mr. MALLORY. My friend from Mississippi, I presume, supposes that his proposition will facilitate the business of the Senate. I shall vote against it, because I think it will retard the business. I shall be, however, prepared to vote at any time for a continuance of our session as late throughout the night as may be proper. I think we should accomplish much more business if we had a recess, say, from three o'clock to eight o'clock, and then meet a few hours in the evening; but, sir, a radical objection to meeting at ten o'clock, in my judgment, is this: all of us from the new States have a great deal of business with the Departments. We are in the habit of meeting there; and they do not open before ten o'clock in the morning, and do not fairly get under way, perhaps, with their business, until half-past ten o'clock. We shall be compelled to be there. That business is, perhaps, as equally important as any we have to attend to here. Another objection is, that none of us reach our committee rooms at present, with the utmost haste, before half-past ten o'clock. Much of our business, as has been said, is effected in committee. If we meet at ten o'clock we can. not get there sooner than we do now, residing, as we do, at a great distance from the Capitol. If then, our having to be at the Departments and the committee rooms at those hours is a sufficient objection to the resolution, it ought not to pass. But if any Senator will bring forward a proposition to have a recess from four to eight at night, I am very well convinced that we could accomplish much by adopting that course.

Mr. BRIGHT. I move that the resolution lie upon the table.

Mr. ADAMS called for the yeas and nays, and they were ordered; and being taken, resultedyeas 27, nays 14; as follows:

YEAS Messrs. Allen, Bell, Bright, Brodhead, Butler, Cass, Chase, Clay, Cooper, Dixon, Evans, Fessenden, Fitzpatrick, Gillette, Hunter, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mallory, Norris, Pettit, Pratt, Sebastian, Seward, Slidell, Sumner, Toucey, and Wade-27.

NAYS-Messrs. Adams, Badger, Brown, Geyer, Gwin, Hamlin, Jones of Tennessee, Mason, Rockwell, Rusk, Stuart, Walker, Weller, and Williams-14.

So the resolution was ordered to lie on the table. WILLIAM BROWN.

dence of the injury but record evidence after the lapse of twenty-five years. As there is no doubt of the identity of the petitioner, and satisfactory evidence of the fact that he was wounded in his foot during the engagement of the l'Insurgente, and that he is now, and has always been, a cripple from that cause, the committee are of opinion that he is entitled to a pension under the provisions of the act of July 1, 1797.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read a third time, and passed.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. WEDNESDAY, July 5, 1854. The House met at twelve o'clock, m. Prayer by Rev. HENRY SLICER.

The Journal of Saturday was read and approved. RESIGNATION OF HON. GILBERT DEAN. The SPEAKER laid before the House the fol

lowing letter from Hon. GILBERT DEAN, tendering his resignation as a member of the present Congress:

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 3, 1854.

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that I have this day resigned my seat as a member of the Thirty-Third Congress. In parting with this body, I tender to its members my sincere wish for their prosperity and welfare.

For yourself, sir, believe me truly, &c., G. DEAN. Hon. LINN BOYD,

Speaker of the House of Representatives. The communication was laid on the table, and ordered to be printed.

The SPEAKER laid before the House a communication from the Treasury Department, relating to the leases made with the Bank of Commerce and the Bank of the State of New York, for their respective buildings, for the use of the assay office, in the city of New York.

On motion by Mr. ROBBINS, the communication was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means, and ordered to be printed.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. The SPEAKER stated that the question before the House was on recommitting to the Committee on Public Lands the bill "granting lands equally to the several States to aid in the construction of railroads, and for the support of schools,' which the gentleman from New York [Mr. BEN

on

Mr. BENNETT addressed the House in ex

The bill for the relief of William Brown was read a second time; and, on motion by Mr. HAM-NETT] was entitled to the floor. LIN, considered as in Committee of the Whole. It proposes to direct the Secretary of the Inte-planation and defense of the bill, and in reply to rior to place the name of William Brown, alias Billy Brown, a colored man, now a resident of Portland, Maine, on the pension roll, at ninetysix dollars per annum, commencing May 30, 1844, and continuing during his natural life.

the speech made by Mr. DISNEY some time since on the subject of the disposal of the public lands. His speech will be found in the Appendix.]

Mr. B. then withdrew the motion to recommit,

and moved that the further consideration of the bill be postponed until the third Tuesday of December next, and also moved the previous question upon that motion.

Mr. DISNEY. I trust the gentleman will withdraw his motion for a moment, as I want to say a word or two to him. He has made some remarks in reference to a speech which I have made, which naturally calls for a response. I will not be very severe upon the gentleman. [Laughter.] ask the gentleman to give me an opportunity to reply.

Mr. BENNETT. The gentleman can take any opportunity, if the consideration of this bill is postponed.

Brown was one of the crew of the United States frigate Constellation, and served as a powder-boy during the engagement of that ship with the French frigate l'Insurgente, on the 9th of February, 1799, which resulted in the capture of the latter. During the engagement he was wounded in the foot, which has made him a cripple ever since. When his papers, establishing the fact and extent of his disability, were filed with the Commissioner of Pensions, that officer, supposing that the claim was founded on the eighth section of the act of 1800, rejected it, on the ground that the injury was anterior to the passage of the act, which was prospective only. In point of fact, however, the claim is covered by a similar provision for a pension to those disabled in the line of duty, in the eleventh section of the act of July 1, 1797, "providing a naval armament," and under which the frigate Constellation, together with the frigates United States and Constitution, were manned and employed. That act was temporary, but did not expire by its limitation until the 4th of March, 1799, and the injury was received by the petitioner on the 9th of February in that year. It appears by a letter of the Commissioner of Pensions of May 28, 1844, that the proof in the case is satisfactory, but that a rule of the Department Mr. HOUSTON. As the morning hour is prevents his exercising any discretionary power. nearly out, I move that the rules be suspended, The rule alluded to is that which excludes all evi-and that the House resolve itself into the Com

Mr. DISNEY. Does the gentleman refuse to withdraw his call?

Mr. BENNETT. I cannot withdraw the motion. The gentleman once refused to allow me to make an interruption, and I do not know why I should comply with his request.

Mr. CHASTAIN. I move to lay the bill upon the table; and upon that motion I call for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BENNETT. Does not the motion to postpone take precedence of that motion?

The SPEAKER. It does not.

mittee of the Whole on the state of the Union. I make this motion in order that we may go into committee, and finish the civil and diplomatic bill.

Mr. BENNETT. If the motion of the gentleman from Georgia takes precedence of mine, I withdraw it, and renew my motion to recommit the bill.

The SPEAKER. The Chair is of opinion that the motion cannot be made while the motion to lay upon the table is pending.

Mr. BENNETT. Then I adhere to my former motion to postpone.

Mr. FENTON. I ask the unanimous consent of the House to report a bill, "to increase the compensation of collectors of customs," merely for the purpose of reference.

Mr. LETCHER. I object.

Mr. RICHARDSON. I desire to understand precisely the state of the question before the House. Does the gentleman from New York move to recommit merely to keep the bill before the House?

gentleman from Georgia [Mr. CHASTAIN] cuts off The SPEAKER. The motion made by the

the motion to recommit.

The gentleman from New York indicated his desire to withdraw the motion to postpone until the third Tuesday in December next, and to make lay upon the table, however, will cut that motion the motion to recommit the bill. The motion to

off.

Mr. RICHARDSON. What I desired to know is, whether the object of the gentleman from New York, in making his motion, was to prevent the gentleman from Ohio from replying to his remarks?

Mr. DISNEY. That is the object, of course. Mr. RICHARDSON. If it is, then we may as well vote upon the motion to lay upon the table

now.

Mr. BENNETT. I am willing the gentleman from Ohio should take his own course in reference to replying. He will, no doubt, have an opportunity.

Mr. CHASTAIN. At the suggestion of some friends around me, I will withdraw the motion to lay upon the table, and allow the question to be taken upon the motion to postpone.

Mr. BENNETT. Ithen withdraw the motion to postpone, and move to recommit the bill to the Committee on Public Lands.

Mr. DISNEY obtained the floor.

Mr. CLINGMAN. I ask that the question may be taken upon the motion to go into the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. The motion was agreed to.

The rules were accordingly suspended, and the House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, (Mr. ORR in the chair.)

CIVIL AND DIPLOMATIC BILL.

The CHAIRMAN. When the committee was last in session on the civil and diplomatic appropriation bill, the question before the committee was on agreeing to the amendment of the gentleman from Arkansas [Mr. GREENWOOD] to the amendment proposed by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. CHANDLER,] upon which tellers had been appointed.

The pending amendments were reported as follows:

Add to the amendment proposed by Mr. CHANDLER, which is as follows:

"For continuing the aqueduct for bringing water into the city of Washington, agreeably to the plan adopted by the President of the United States, according to the provisions of the act of Congress, approved March 3, 1853, $500,000,"

-the words:

Provided, That no portion of the foregoing amount shall be applied unless the corporations of Georgetown and Washington shall appropriate and pay a sum equal to one fifth of the amount, to aid in the construction of the waterworks proposed.

Messrs. FRANKLIN and CURTIS were appointed tellers.

The question was taken on Mr. GREENWOOD's amendment; and it was agreed to; the tellers having reported-ayes 75, noes 41.

Mr. OLDS. I move the following amendment, as an addition:

Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be expended unless in pursuance of a contract to be entered into for the furnishing of all the material, labor, tools, and ma

chinery of every description, and every matter and thing relating thereto, and the completion of the entire work in

a masterly and workman-like manner, after first inviting proposals for sixty or more days, in the daily journals of this and other cities throughout the Union; the advertisements to call for proposals for the Great Falls work, as reported on, and recommended by Lieutenant M. C. Meigs; for the Rock Creek work, as reported on, and recommended by Colonel George W. Hughes, and for lifting by steam, or water power, from the Potomac or Rock Creek, not less than nine million of gallons of pure water daily, (sufficient for three hundred thousand inhabitants,) and elevating the same to some convenient location, at or near Georgetown, to two hundred and fifty feet above high tide, into a distributing reservoir, which shall contain not less than fifty inillion of gallons: And it is further provided, That persons proposing shall accompany their bids with the guarantee of two or more responsible surities, who will enter into bond with the United States that the work shall be completed within a reasonable time, and be permanent and efficient for five years after its completion; the President of the United States to accept such plan and proposal as, in his judgment, is best for the Government, after first submitting them to a board of three civil engineers, who shall report their opinion of their relative merits in writing, as to which plan is best for the interests of the Government: Provided further, That the whole cost does not exceed the sum of $2,300,000 if the Great Falls report is adopted; $1,000,000 if the Rock Creek project is adopted; and $600,000 if the project to lift by steam or water is adopted.

Mr. OLDS. Gentlemen of the committee are allaware, doubtless, that generally all public works undertaken by the Government in and about this city cost a great deal more than the estimates made under which they were commenced. We have rumors that the probability is that these water-works will cost five, six, or seven millions of dollars, and perhaps a good deal more than that. We also have rumors afloat about this city-I do not know whether they are well founded or not-that the best plan has not been adopted; and that some other plan could be adopted which would not cost perhaps more than $600,000, and which would effectually supply this city with pure water. The amendment I have offered proposes not to defeat the water-works, but that a contract shall be made after having advertised for proposals, and that contracts shall not be entered into at a cost greater than the estimates made by the engineers. It also proposes to give the revision to the President or the United States, of the plan adopted, that he may take the one costing $2,300,000, or the one costing $1,000,000, or the one estimated to cost $600,000-in short to make a revision of the plan.

It appears to me that there can be no objection to the amendment I have offered. It is not to defeat the water-works, but it is that you shall not undertake them, unless you have a responsible bid within the estimates of the engineer. How can you, Mr. Chairman, I, or any other member here, go home to our constituents, and tell them that we have voted for an appropriation of $500,000 towards supplying the city of Washington with pure water, when they have rumors afloat all the while, that before these water-works are completed they will cost some $6,000,000 or $7,000,000 to be taken out of the Treasury of the United States. When the contract is made with responsible persons, who undertake to complete the works fully, fairly, and in a workman-like manner, within the estimates of the engineers, then we can go home and justify ourselves, if we shall be called upon to give a vote of $500,000 for these waterworks. I hope that the amendment I have offered, which is certainly a judicious one, will be agreed to.

Mr. CRAIGE obtained the floor.

Mr. SMITH, of Virginia. Will the gentleman from North Carolina yield me the floor for an instant?

Mr. CRAIGE. Certainly.

Mr. SMITH. I want to ask the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. OLDS] to allow me to tender the paper which I send to the Clerk's desk, as a substitute for his amendment. I hope that when he has heard it read he will accept it.

Mr. OLDS. Well, let us hear it read. Mr. SMITH's amendment was read, as follows: Provided, That none of the money hereby appropriated shall be expended in the construction of said aqueduct until contracts shall be entered into by the President of the United States with good and responsible persons for such portions of the work to be executed, and materials to be furnished, as will, in his opinion, secure the faithful completion of the work upon the plan above referred to, for the sum of $2,300,000 or less, and within two years from the date of the contracts; and it is hereby declared to be the true intent and meaning of the act of Congress under which the President adopted said plan for bringing water into the city of Washington, that the sole and exclusive use of the water to be brought by said aqueduct is for the purposes of the Government establishments in said city to the extent they may require it, and the cities of Washington and

Georgetown, and the inhabitants thereof, may, upon such terms and conditions and under such regulations as may hereafter be prescribed by act of Congress, use the surplus water: Provided, that the whole expense of the additional pipes necessary for the distribution of such surplus water through the said cities, shall be borne exclusively by the corporations of said cities respectively.

Mr. OLDS. I do not accept the proposed amendment. It does not provide so effectually as

the other does.

Mr. CRAIGE. I must prefer the amendment which has been last read to that which has been offered by the gentleman from Ohio. I have no sort of objection to the limitations and conditions prescribed in the amendment of the gentleman from Virginia, [Mr. SMITH,] because, notwithstanding the rumors that have been spoken of by the gentleman from Ohio and others, I feel the utmost confidence that this work can be built within the estimate. I have taken the pains of investigating the estimate of Captain Meigs. I have taken the pains of investigating the work itself: and I repeat that I feel the utmost confidence in his calculations. I feel assured that the work can he built for the amount estimated. And, therefore, it is that I say I have no sort of objection to the amendment proposed by the gentleman from Virginia, or to the restrictions and limitations therein contained.

But my objection to the amendment of the gentletnan from Ohio is simply this: after the passage of the first appropriation of $100,000 for this purpose, which authorized the President to commence this work after the different surveys had been made of Rock Creek, Little Falls, and Great Falls, the latter-the plan for bringing the water from Great Falls-was adopted by the person who was thus authorized by act of Congress to fix it. And under that the work has been commenced; under that a large portion of the conduit has been commenced, a large portion of the excavations have been made, and a great amount of the tunneling has been executed. I have examined it all, and I am satisfied that what has been done up

to this time has been done within the estimate and this is the most important part of the work. Mr. SMITH, of Virginia, (interrupting.) If the gentleman from North Carolina will permit me to interrupt him, I would state to the committee that the only decided and radical objection which I have to the amendment of the gentleman from Ohio, is this: it calls on the President to adopt a plan. Why, sir, the President has adopted a plan once. The very plan which has been already commenced is the plan which he adopted. Now, the gentleman proposes that the President shall adopt another plan; and if this should be done we might be again compelled to change it, for want of money, or owing to the reports of Madam Rumor. This plan has been carefully prepared and reported by competent engineers.

Mr. CRAIGE. I think the work would never be ended, and therefore it is that I oppose the amendment of the gentleman from Ohio. I apprehend that if the matter were investigated, it would be found that the outside pressure brought to bear from the different plans other than that adopted by the President, is the basis on which these rumors were founded. I should like, Mr. Chairman, that those who have spoken from these various rumors, to prove that the work would cost on which their estimates are based. $6,000,000 or $7,000,000, would give us the data

Let them tell us why it will cost this $6,000,000 or $7,000,000. The engineer who has this work $2,500,000. The figures are put down, and every in charge has told us why it will cost only man can have the opportunity to judge as to the correctness of the calculations, whether they are extravagant or not. But as to these various rumors in relation to the cost of this work, how can you tell whether they are well or ill founded? Does this rumor give us the calculations as to the various items of the work? Not at all. It does not tell us whether the calculations for the tunneling are too large, or anything of that kind. There is no such thing as that, but it is all vague and idle rumor, and nothing else.

On the contrary, those who advocate this work give us the details. They have looked into it, examined the matter, and have made careful estimates of the cost of each and every part of the work, such as the stone masonry, the excavation, and every different part of the work mentioned in that report. And they report that it can be built

The CHAIRMAN. Does the gentleman wish to have his amendment come in at the end of the proviso which has been adopted?

Mr. SMITH. No, sir, as a substitute for that amendment.

The CHAIRMAN. That will not be in order. Mr. TAYLOR, of Ohio. May not the gentleman from Virginia move to strike out all after the original amendment of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and to insert his amendment?

The CHAIRMAN. He may not. The committee have agreed to insert what the gentleman proposes to strike out.

Mr. SMITH, of Virginia. The committee will observe that that amendment was designed to come in after the rejection-which I hoped would happen of the amendment of the gentleman from Arkansas, [Mr. GREENWOOD.] Still, I offer it now with the hope that when we get into the House the amendment of the gentleman from Arkansas will be rejected.

Mr. OLDS. You cannot get a separate vote then.

Mr. SMITH. Certainly we can. Looking at it in that point of view, I ask the committee to contemplate what is proposed. Madam Rumor, said the aged and honorable gentleman from Ohio, is busy on the subject. Now, I head off Madam Rumor with the stipulation that this work shall be contracted for at a sum not exceeding the estimate. So Madam Rumor dies beneath that stipulation, and I shall have the support of the gentleman from Ohio. That is not all."

My amendment goes further, and declares the object of this improvement is to supply the public edifices with water, and those alone; and it expressly stipulates that the cities of Washington and Georgetown shall be at the entire expense of the pipes for the distribution of the water to individuals. These are two fundamental and important provisions. Then these contracts are to be made by the President, with responsible persons, and at a sum not to exceed in the aggregate the estimate. I advert to these things, for I cannot imagine, for my soul, a more practicable scheme within the limits of the estimate. I cannot imagine a proposition which addresses itself more thoroughly and satisfactorily to the intelligence of a body than that embraced by the amendment does to this committee. I trust, without wishing further to detain the committee, that the amendment may be adopted.

Mr. STANTON, of Tennessee. I oppose this amendment, Mr. Chairman, for the reason that if it should be adopted in its terms, this work will cost $2,300,000, and introduce into the city of Washington sixty-seven millions gallons of water daily, which is, as I have said heretofore-and the

assertion has not been disputed-nearly fifty times as much water as has ever been calculated by any engineer for any population in the world. According to the statement of Colonel Hughes, in his report, thirty gallons per day is as much as has ever been calculated for every man, woman, and child in a city.

Mr. VANSANT. With the gentleman's permission, I would ask him whether Philadelphia, New York, and Boston do not each consume a greater quantity of water daily than that indicated? Also, whether Philadelphia does not consume, by the report of 1852, thirty-eight wine gallons of water for each inhabitant, whether Boston does not consume fifty-eight gallons daily for each inhabitant, and whether New York does not consume daily, for a greater part of the season, ninety gallons for each inhabitant?

Mr. STANTON. Suppose the gentleman's statement to be correct. It is unquestionably true that in this case the water is to be applied to manufacturing purposes. It is unquestionably true that in this case the engineer proposes to bring sixty-seven millions gallons of water into the city, and to use a large proportion of it for manufacturing purposes. Then here the Government of the United States proposes to bring into the city of Washington, with a population of forty-five thousand inhabitants, sixty-seven millions gallons of water daily at a cost of $2,300,000, three fourths of which water is, for fifty years to come, to be used for manufacturing purposes.

Now, this amendment says that it is for the Government only; but something has been said in reference to a change of plan. Now, I wish to call your attention, Mr. Chairman, and the attention of the committee, to the fact that since the commencement of the present Administration, or rather since the transfer of the public works to the hands of the War Department, the law has been violated in reference to the work on the Capitol. The plan adopted by the President of the United States has been, without authority of law, altered, at an additional expense of half a million of dollars.

Mr. CRAIGE. I have heard this statement time and time again. Will the gentleman from Tennessee say how the law has been violated? I say it has not been violated.

Mr.STANTON. I will tell the gentleman how. I say that the letter and spirit of the law has been violated. The law in the first instance appropriated a certain amount of money to be expended upon the wings of the Capitol according to such plan as might be adopted by the President. President Fillmore, after consulting with the Committees on Public Buildings in both Houses of Congress, for many months together, adopted a plan, and after the work was transferred to the War Department, and placed under its control, the Secretary of War and his engineers altered the plan

Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. I rise to a question of order. I wish to inquire of the Chair whether, under the rules of the House, the gentleman from Tennessee is not bound to discuss the proposition now pending?

Mr. STANTON. I am discussing that proposition.

The CHAIRMAN. The Chair thinks that the point of order inade by the gentleman from Indiana is well taken, and he does not think that a discussion with reference to the wings of the Capitol is in order, when the amendment pending relates to works for supplying Washington with

water.

Mr. STANTON. I am discussing the proposition to change the plan and adopt a cheaper one for bringing water into the city of Washington. I say that if the President, without authority of law, can alter the plan with reference to the Capitol, Congress, by authority of law, can alter and abolish an extravagant and outrageous proposition to bring ten times as much water into the city of Washington as is needed, at a cost of three or four times the amount at which it can be done. I say that the Congress of the United States can do that by authority of law, which the President, without authority of law, has done.

Mr. CRAIGE. The gentleman from Tennessee labors under great misapprehension with regard to a change of plan by the President. I have heard that assertion over and over again. It is

Mr. SMITH. I will accept the modification suggested by the gentleman from New York; and I propose to modify still further by adding at the end the following:

And provided further, That twenty per cent. on the estimate of the work done on each contract, shall be retained till the completion of the contract.

Mr. SEWARD. Is it in order to move now to amend the amendment of the gentleman from Virginia?

The CHAIRMAN. Not at this stage of the question.

Mr. SEWARD. 1 want to move to strike out the words stating what is the true intent and meaning of the act of Congress under which the plan was adopted.

The CHAIRMAN. That would be having an amendment in the third degree.

Mr. SEWARD. This is the manner in which I propose to amend the amendment of the gentleman from Virginia.

The CHAIRMAN, (interrupting.) The gentleman from Georgia will perceive that there would be no end to amendments, if this were received, as some other gentleman might propose to amend his amendment before acting on it.

The question was taken on Mr. SMITH's amendment to the amendment; and it was agreed to.

The question recurred on Mr. CHANDLER'S amendment, as amended.

rocks, not one cent of expenditure is estimated for. If gentlemen will take the trouble to look at the report of Captain Meigs

Mr. TAYLOR. What page?

Mr. STANTON. Page 25. If they will look at this report, they will see that he speaks of the floods rising twenty feet above this conduit, and see also, by his estimates, that he has omitted to estimate for at least three fourths of the work which will be required at this point. The Croton aqueduct rests upon and is covered up for its protection with solid masonry. It would not otherwise have lasted a single year. But one of the city papers, feeling the force of this omission, has attempted to justify it, by referring to the Boston aqueduct, which, it is alleged, was laid in a trench dug in the earth, and covered up in the manner proposed by Captain Meigs for the Washington aqueduct. In the first place, the Boston aqueduct is a small affair compared with the one projected by Captain Meigs. It is only six feet by four, while this is nine feet, and the one is only about a third as large as the other. In the second place, the conduit was only laid on the earth in some places, and was sustained and protected by masonry in others. But I have before me a description of this work, printed in Boston, which says that laying the conduit on the earth was but an experiment, which has proved unsatisfactory. The aqueduct leaks, and is cracked in places, in consequence of this experiment. Captain Meigs is unfortunate in the adoption of plans which have failed and exploded before he took them up, as may be seen in the plan for the ventilation of the Halls of Congress, as well as in this of the aqueduct. But it is useless to dwell further upon this point. If the work goes on, there must be a great expenditure of money not estimated for, or the structure will not stand a single year.

Captain Meigs's estimate for the brick work of the conduit is $4 50 per running foot. It is based upon a calculation that the brick can be laid in the conduit at $14 per thousand, including every

Now, he has contracted for forty millions of bricks, at $8 75 per thousand. This leaves $5 25 for all other expenses-laying the bricks, furnishing cement, sand

Here the hammer fell.]

Mr. STANTON, of Kentucky. If in order, I move to reduce the original appropriation $300,000, so as to enable me to make a few remarks. I simply desire an opportunity to defend the positions which I have heretofore taken in re-expense-the bricks, cement, lime, sand, &c. gard to this work. All I have said heretofore in relation to the estimates, was based upon a critical examination of the report of the engineer, and did not rest, as the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. CRAIGE] seems to suppose, upon mere conjecture or outside rumors. I listen to no outside rumors in reference to this matter, because I have had before me all the facts and figures necessary to enable me to make up my own judgment; and I think I understand them without the aid of outsiders. Nor am I the advocate of what the gentleman calls outside projects. All I have said on this subject has been in reference to plans and projects presented by the officers of Government.

I have said that these estimates are false and delusive; and if the appropriation is made under the conviction that they are accurate, and that the work can be done in a substantial manner for the

amount, this House and the country will be wofully deceived. In a five-minute speech it is impossible for me to explain them fully, so as to show in what particulars they fall short of the sum which must be expended. But I can point out a few: Captain Meigs, for instance, proposes to construct from the dam across the Potomac a brick conduit three fourths of a mile long. Here are his figures:

2,985 feet lineal, 9 inches thick.
946 feet lineal, 1 bricks thick.

3,931-three-fourths of a mile.

Now, we are given to understand that this part of the conduit will at times be "twenty feet under water," in consequence of the great floods which take place every year at that point. This comes from Captain Meigs's report, not from outsiders. It is his own language, not mine. This brick tube is not to rest upon solid masonry, and cov ered over with stone work firmly and solidly built for its protection, but is to lie in a trench dug in the earth, and only covered over with loose earth and rock. It will be nine feet in diameter, and not more than one and a half bricks thick. There is no estimate, not one cent, for a foundation and masonry for the support and protection of this conduit. No, sir, none. To make the conduit secure, to protect it from destruction by the immense floods rising twenty feet above it, and bringing down with the torrent huge trees and

Mr. TAYLOR, of Ohio, obtained the floor.Mr. CRAIGE. I ask the gentleman from Ohio to allow me to say a word. I was very anxious to have some data upon which these estimates of Captain Meigs's may be tested. I was very much in hopes that my friend from Kentucky, who has just taken his seat, and who is not influenced by any outside plans, would have furnished such data. But, sir, instead of doing that, he spent his whole five minutes in reference to the plan of Captain Meigs.

The only reason he gives for doubting the correctness of those estimates is, that he allows only $4 50 or $5 for brick work, when the cost would be $14 per thousand. The gentleman says, too, that he pays $8 81 per thousand for the bricks. Why, sir, the reason for that, as he very well the contractor who agreed to furnish them for knows, is stated by Captain Meigs himself that $5 88 failed to carry out his contract.

Then the gentleman speaks about the protection Captain Meigs proposes for the conduit. Why, sir, that is not the conduit that is to bring the water to Washington at all. It is merely the one that is to be placed at the head of the work in order that it may not be flooded at the start.

Mr. TAYLOR. I must interrupt the gentleman. I wish to say a few words upon the subject myself. If we had not an official report before us, I confess that the good sense, the experience of the gentleman from Kentucky, and the attention he has given to this subject, would divert me from my support of this truly great national work, for such I consider it. He is a gentleman of great experience, and understands a great deal about this kind of business. But, sir, there are other men of experience. General Totten, the Chief Engineer of the United States Army, is a man who, as an engineer, has no superior in this country, and, perhaps, none in any other country; He is a man of unimpeachable reputation, and yet he in every way confirms the report of Captain Meigs, made to Congress in 1853.

Sir, all these representations that this work is to cost five or six niillions are delusive and imagin