of Nevada, the principle upon which the committee are now legislating being to authorize the main company to construct the line through the Territories, and State companies the road through the States. In order to make the bill harmonize with the amendments already adopted, I move to strike out all after the word "the," in line twenty-one, down to "hereby," in line line thirty-two, as follows:

Eastern boundary of Nevada Territory before it is com. pleted across said Territory by the Nevada company, said first-named company is hereby authorized to continue on in constructing the same across Nevada Territory, and to continue on the same through California, if the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California shall not have completed the same in California upon the terms mentioned in this act, until said roads shall incet and connect, and the whole line of said railroad and telegraph is completed; and the said Nevada Railroad Company, and the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, after completing their respective roads across said State and Territory, are.

And to insert in lieu thereof the following: Western boundary of California before it is completed across said State by the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, said first-named company is hereby authorized to continue in constructing the same through California, upon the terms mentioned in this act, until said roads shall meet and connect, and the whole line of said railroad and telegraph is completed, and the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, after completing that road across said State, is.

The amendment was agreed to.

The Clerk read the twelfth section, as follows: SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That whenever the route of said railroad shall cross the boundary of any State or Territory, or said meridian of longitude, the two companies meeting or uniting there shall agree upon its location at that point, with reference to the most direct and practicable through route, the companies named in each State and Territory to locate the road across the same between the points so agreed upon. The track upon the entire line of railroad shall be of uniform width, to be agreed upon by said companies, so that, when completed, cars can be run from the Missouri river to the Pacific coast; the grades and curves shall not exceed the maximum grades and curves of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad; the whole line of said railroad and telegraph shall be operated and used for all purposes of communication, travel, and transportation, so far as the public and Government are concerned, as one connected, continuous line; and the companies herein named in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, and California, filing their assent to the provisions of this act, shall receive and transport all iron rails, chairs, spikes, ties, timber, and all materials required for constructing and furnishing said first-mentioned line between the western boundary of Kansas (or one hundred and second meridian of longitude) and eastern boundary of Nevada Territory, whenever the same is required by said first-named company, at cost, over that portion of the roads of said companies constructed under the provisions of this act.

Mr. SARGENT. I move to insert, after the word "route," in line six, the words, "and in case of a difference between them as to said location, the President of the United States shall determine said location."

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. SARGENT. I move to insert, after the word "upon," in the eighth line, the words, "except as herein provided."

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. SARGENT. I move to strike out the word "Nevada," in the eighteenth line.

The amendment was agreed to

Mr. SARGENT. I move to strike out the words "western boundary of Kansas or," in the twenty-second line.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. SARGENT. I move to strike out the word "eastern," in the twenty-third line, and to insert "western" in lieu thereof.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. WILSON. I desire to offer a substitute for the fourteenth section of the bill. I will state that it has been submitted to the special committee who prepared this bill, and they concur in it. The substitute was read, as follows: That the said Union Pacific Railroad Company is hereby authorized and required to construct a single line of railroad and telegraph from a point on the western boundary of the State of Iowa, westerly upon the most direct and practicable route, so as to form a connection with the line of said company at some point not further west than the one hundred and second meridian of longitude aforesaid from the point of commencement upon the western boundary of the State of Iowa, upon the same terms and condittons in all respects as are contained in this act for the construction of said railroad and telegraph first mentioned; and said Union Pacific Railroad Company shall complete two hundred miles of the road and telegraph under this section provided for in two years after filing their assent to the conditions of this act, as by the terms of this act required, and at the rate of one hundred miles per year thereafter until the whole is completed: Provided, That a failure upon the part of said company to make said connection in the time aforesaid, and to perform the obligations imposed upon said

company by this section, and to operate said road in the same manner as the main line shall be operated, shall forfeit to the Government of the United States all the rights, privileges, and franchises granted to and conferred upon said company by this act.

Mr. SARGENT. That amendment is entirely satisfactory to the select committee. We think that its terms are just and reasonable. It meets with the hearty concurrence of the committee, and I hope it will be adopted.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. WHITE, of Indiana. In order to test a principle, I move to amend, by adding to the sixteenth section, as follows:

The business of all the roads named in this act for the construction of which lands are herein granted and an issue of bonds authorized, shall be consolidated so as to make a common dividend, profit, and expense account, and the gross annual receipts of all of said roads shall be divided between all of said companies in proportion to the length of road owned by each, whether the companies who build them shall be consolidated or not, and whether such roads lie within the limits of a State or of the territory of the United States: Provided, That the consent of the respective States within whose limits any of said roads are situated shall first be obtained: And provided further, That no lands shall be granted or bonds issued as aforesaid to any company for the construction of any such road within the limits of a State, until such State shall have given its consent to the provisions of this act.

I stated the other day, Mr. Chairman, that the provisions of this sixteenth section can never be practically carried into effect. The companies that are authorized to build the extremes of these roads within the limits of States never can consolidate with the new company now created, without merging all their present rights and privileges. This bill does not provide that those companies shall have another organization for building outside of their own States westward. The bill does not create any company that can consolidate with companies within the limits of the several States.

Now, I am satisfied that this road will never be built by a company that shall only own the line within the limits of the Territories of the United States. The same grants are provided to be given to the companies on the two extremes of California and Kansas, and, perhaps, also to the companies in Iowa. My amendment provides that the companies shall be consolidated, so as to make a common expense, dividend, and profit account, and that the gross proceeds of the whole line of road shall be divided among the companies in proportion to their lengths of road. I have so far compromised with the opinions of the select committee as to yield to its views; and all that I desire now is that these companies shall make a common stock, so far as the annual productive receipts of the road are concerned. This grant of $20,000 a mile will build a great many sections of road within the limits of States, only to tempt the interior and central company to its ruin. We want to have a road built that will be practicable and profitable. I think that those companies which take hold of the road at either extreme should have no greater profits than those which risk their capital in building the central portion. I think that that risk will never be incurred, and that the Pacific railroad will fall still-born under the present provisions of this act. I think that the amendment which I offer is nothing more than reasonable. It meets the views of that large class of gentlemen who want to have one company. It obviates all objections on the ground of State sovereignty, and makes practicable the consolidation which is intended to be provided for in the sixteenth section.

Mr. CAMPBELL. With very great respect to the gentleman from Indiana, I cannot see the force of his objection. I want to call his attention to the fact that the point which he makes here seems to me to be "point no point." All the great railroads in the country running from New York and other points westward, are but a combination of different companies, and they manage to divide the profits and to fix the rates of transportation without any difficulty whatever. So that I have, against the gentleman's theory, to set up the practice of the country.

There seems to be no difficulty whatever in the practical operation of a system of railroads running half through the continent. I think it is a little too early in the day for us to undertake to say to the Iowa branch and to the Missouri branch that they must divide their profits with the main line. I want to leave that matter to be decided by practical experience. If it be hereafter found

to be the interest of these roads to consolidate and form but one company, the section provides that they shall have the right to do so, on filing the terms with the Secretary of the Interior. But until we have a little more experience on the subject I want to leave these roads to be governed by the practice and experience of the country.

Mr. WHITE, of Indiana. I would like the gentleman to answer this question: whether he believes that, under the provisions of the sixteenth section, the Iowa and Kansas and California companies can consolidate with the Pacific Railroad Company without merging all their rights under their present charters?

Mr. CAMPBELL. I do not see that that is at all necessary. I think that the Kansas and Jowa companies can, on fair terms and conditions, unite with the main company, and preserve all their rights under their present charters. They are not obliged to unite; but they can do so on terms that are fair and mutually satisfactory.

Mr. STEVENS. Is it not a fact that by the adoption of the amendment offered by the gentleman from Iowa, [Mr. WILSON,j the Iowa railroad companies are dispensed with, and that the Union company is to build the road all the way through from Nevada to Iowa?

Mr. WILSON. Yes.

Mr. STEVENS. So I understood it. Mr. WHITE, of Indiana. Then my amendment would be referable to California and Kansas; and I ask why should not California and Kansas have the same advantages as Iowa has?

The question was taken on Mr. WHITE'S amendment; and it was rejected.

Mr. ALDRICH. I desire to offer an amendment, to come in at the end of the fourteenth section.

The CHAIRMAN. That cannot be done except by general consent.

Mr. SARGENT. I hope that consent will be given.

Mr. STEVENS. I reserve the right to object till I hear it read.

The amendment was read, as follows.

At the end of the fourteenth section, add:

And whenever there shall be a line of railroad completed through Minnesota or Iowa to Sioux City, or a point opposite the same on the Missouri river, then said corporation shall construct a branch road from Sioux City, to councel with said main line within three hundred miles of the Missouri river, and it is hereby authorized to construct the same upon the same terms and conditions as are provided in this act for the construction of the main line aforesaid : Provided, That no more than $7,500 in bonds per mile shall be issued for the construction of said branch road: And provided further, That if said corporation shall fail to construct the branches provided for in this section it shall forfeit the privileges granted by this act.

Mr. ALDRICH. I simply desire to state that this amendment was agreed upon by the special committee, and that I had intended to offer it at the end of the fourteenth section; but had my attention called elsewhere at the proper time for offering it. I trust it will meet the unanimous concurrence of the committee.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. LOVEJOY. I move to amend the seventeenth section by striking out the following proviso:

Provided, That any company not in default on their portion of said road, in any substantial or material respect, shall not be liable, for the failure to perform on other portions thereof, to any forfeiture or penalty under this section. And inserting in lieu thereof the words:

Provided, That if a road from the Missouri river to the city of Sacramento is not completed on the 1st day of January, 1876, the entire road or roads built under the provisions of this act shall be forfeited to the United States.

Mr. Chairman, I have presented my views before, and do not now wish to repeat them at length. The purpose of my amendment is to secure the building of the road. There are many who suppose that this bill, as now arranged, will not secure that purpose. I do not myself believe that it will. I do not believe that it is the purpose of the bill to do it. I do not suppose that the special committee anticipates that a road will ever be constructed under this bill; but it is anticipated that eight or ten thousand dollars a mile will be got for forty miles of the road that is already built.

Mr. SARGENT. Will the gentleman yield to me for a moment?

Mr. LOVEJOY. Yes.

Mr. SARGENT. I say distinctly as one of the committee, that I think-and I believe such is

the opinion of the committee that the road will be built under this act.

Mr.LOVEJOY. Without any further appropriation.

Mr. SARGENT. Yes, sir; without any further appropriation.

Mr. LOVEJOY. Well, sir, then the gentleman's credulity is immensely large, that is all. Mr. CAMPBELL. And the incredulity of the gentleman from Illinois is still larger.

Mr. LOVEJOY. No, sir; it will secure the building of certain portions of the road across the continent. I have no doubt about that. It will secure the building of roads now largely enjoying the lands, and the richest lands of the Government, at each end of the route which the road is to pass. I have no doubt about that. But I do not believe the road will ever be built over the more difficult portions of the route. If it is the purpose of those who have the management of the bill in the House to secure the building of the road through from point to point, which is what the nation want to accomplish, for which object alone the nation are willing to grant their money, there can be no objection to the amendment which I have offered. I hope, therefore, the amendment will be adopted. And I conceive that the vote upon it will be a test vote, so far as the sincerity of gentlemen who have the management of the bill, in their purpose to construct the road across the continent, or their intention only to construct the ends of the roads, or to get pay for the roads already built, is concerned.

Mr. CAMPBELL. I understand the terms of the gentleman's amendment to be that the company shall forfeit all its rights and privileges unless the whole main line is constructed in how long?

Mr. LOVEJOY. My amendment named 1876. I believe that is the time fixed in the bill for the completion of the road. If not, I will fix it at the time limited in the bill.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Now, Mr. Chairman, I think this is a reasonable amendment, and I for one am willing that it should be adopted; which I hope will convince the gentleman from Illinois that I am acting in good faith in desiring to provide against the failure to construct the road through from point to point.

The committee had prepared an amendment which they proposed to offer as a substitute for the seventeenth section, providing that the company should forfeit all its rights and privileges under its charter if it failed to construct the road within the time limited in the bill. The amendment was intended to accomplish the same purpose as that of the gentleman from Illinois, and is, I think, still more stringent in its provisions. I am free, however, to say, as chairman of the committee on the Pacific railroad, that if the committee prefer the amendment of the gentleman from Illinois, I have no possible objection to it, taking it for granted that Congress will always act liberally towards a company endeavoring to fulfill its obligations in good faith, if the road should have been nearly but not quite finished at the time fixed in the bill.

Mr. BINGHAM. I hope the amendment sug gested by the gentleman from Pennsylvania will be read, and that the gentleman from Illinois will accept it as a substitute for his amendment.

Mr. LOVEJOY. I should be glad to hear it read.

Mr. CAMPBELL. The amendment I was instructed to offer as a substitute to this seventeenth section is as follows:

Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That in case said corporation shail fail to comply with the terms and conditions of this act, or shall not complete said railroad and telegraph line within the time named in this act, or fail to keep the same in repair and use, or shall permit the same to remain unfinished or out of repair and unfit for use, before the repayment to the United States of all sums expended by the United States therefor, with the interest, Congress may pass any act to insure the speedy completion thereof, or to sell the same to the highest bidder to repay all such expenditures caused by the default and neglect of said corporation.

Mr. LOVEJOY. I think the amendment I have proposed will be more effective than that of the committee. I understand their amendment only to apply to "the said corporation." Now, there are some half dozen corporations. My a mendment applies to the whole road. If the armendment I have offered can be adopted, as the chairman indicates, I think it will take away many of the objections to this bill.

Mr. STEVENS. I think the amendment of

less than five or six millions.

Mr. CAMPBELL. I think it is less stringent, but I do not object to it.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. I move to amend by adding, at the end of the seventeenth section, as follows:

Provided further, That no bonds of the United States and no patents conveying any title to lands shall be issued until a practical survey shall have been made, which shall prove the practicability of some single route, nor until, in the

opinion of the President of the United States, the circumstances of the country will justify the building, completion, and running of the road by the Government.

Mr. Chairman, I have been somewhat astonished that a matter of so great importance as this bill should claim so small a share of the attention of the House. Why, sir, if it were a bill proposing to appropriate $500 to pay a private claimant, we should have a larger number of members in attendance and listening to what is going on than we have had since this bill has been under consideration in committee. Here is a measure in which the Government is about to embark, involving the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars, and yet amendments are offered and voted in, according to the will of the gentlemen having charge of the measure, without the slightest apparent interest or attention upon the part of a majority of the House as to their character or effect.

Mr. WICKLIFFE. I ask permission of the gentleman from Vermont to say that he must exempt me from that accusation. I am perfectly aware of the nature of the provisions of this bill, perfectly aware that their effect must be to draw to an enormous extent from the Treasury of the Government, already incumbered with a larger debt than it can bear. I shall vote against the bill.

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. The amendment which I have offered, if adopted, would prevent anything being done in relation to the road that would involve any liability upon the part of the Government until the circumstances of the Government and the condition of the country are such as to warrant this splendid demonstration of our

resources.

At the proper time, as I have repeatedly said, I am in favor of building this road, but I am not in favor of any sham. If this bill is to pass, it proposes on its face that the road is to be built by some corporation. Sir, there is no man in this House who does not know that if this road is ever to be built, completed, and run, it is to be done by the Government of the United States. Under this bill we shall possibly induce somebody to take a vast quantity of public lands by giving away a vast quantity of public bonds, but we shall not get a road to the Pacific. And now see what a gigantic scheme we are about to embark in. If this bill is to pass, and the road shall be built under it, and run, it will require an army of not less than twenty thousand men to man it. That will be the number of men who will have to be employed.

But before work on the road is to commence I desire to have a practical survey. Never yet have we had anything more than mere picture books, mere barometrical surveys. Those surveys show that there are extreme difficulties to be overcome. I want to see those difficulties cleared up before we commence so enormous an expenditure. Whatever they may be, I have no question that this Government can overcome them. But I think, as a gentleman once said when he called on a lawyer to ascertain how to obtain redress in a certain matter-the lawyer finding no adequate remedy within the rules of the law, asked him if he could not flog his adversary. "Yes," said he, " I think I could, but it would strain me. "[Laughter.] I have no doubt in time we can overcome all the obstacles that may present themselves to the construction of a Pacific railroad; but at this period I think it would strain us. When we shall have passed the bills now pending before this committee, appropriating more than $200,000,000 for the support of your Army, and when we shall have passed all the other bills that will be required to meet the exigencies of the country, I think we will have quite enough to do without entering upon the ornamental; and I regard this bill as purely of that character. At this time I am opposed to in

[Here the hammer fell.]

Mr. SARGENT. The gentleman from Vermont is not in favor of legislating upon so important a measure as this when there is a thin attendance of the House, yet but a few weeks ago he was engaged in passing through the House a tax bill of certainly quite as important a character, when the attendance was so meager that he found it necessary, time and again, to resort to a call of the House to secure the attendance of a bare quorum. But, sir, the gentleman could not count me among the absent or inattentive members on that occasion. We are sent here to attend to the legislation of the country, and we cannot excuse ourselves from the performance of that duty because other members are remiss in attending to their duties. He did not then ask that that important work should stop because members were absent or inattentive. Why not, sir? Because he was in favor of that bill; and he now urges this excuse because, say what he will, he is opposed to this

one.

But the gentleman would not go on with this work until we have good surveys. The gentleman wants more picture books to send to his constituents, I suppose.

Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont. I voted against the picture books.

Mr. SARGENT. Very well; the result of the plan the gentleman proposes would simply be the production of more picture books. I can give the gentleman a good deal of information on that subject. There is more in these "picture books" than he seems to be aware of, by the remarks which he has made about them. If the gentleman from Vermont will again look over them he will find the statements by the engineers in the employ of the United States of the grades and the exact practicability of a route to California. I can show by an abstract of the tables of grades, that upon the route to California they are lighter than those upon the roads in the gentleman's own State. I have here an abstract of the grades upon the route to California, from Fort Bridger to Lassen's Meadows, to which I will call atten tion. The surveys were made by an accomplished engineer, under the direction of the Government, with an ample appropriation, and are entirely satisfactory.

The highest grade is eighty-nine feet per mile, there being but

8 miles of such grade of 89 feet per mile.
miles of a grade of

10

84

The balance of nearly fifteen hundred miles is under twenty feet per mile.

The California company, to which reference has been made, expended from twenty-five to fifty thousand dollars in exploration of routes over the Sierra Nevada to Lassen's Meadows, and this and all the other explorations that have been made, by instruments, and in every other way, have determined the fact very distinctly that there is nothing difficult in grades or curves, nothing except the heavy capital required, which creates the necessity for Government aid, in the way of the construction of this road. I thought the question of the practicability of this road had long since been demonstrated, and that we would not be called into a discussion of the matter at this late day.

The gentleman sneers at barometrical reconnoissances. Does he understand what they are? They are the first test applied to determine the practicability of a railroad, and are fully sufficient to that end, and hence were adopted by the Government. Let me illustrate by a fact in my own knowledge. A barometrical reconnoissance was made of that part of this route over the Sierra Nevada, and a report of the engineers showed that grades not exceeding one hundred and five feet to the mile were attainable over a certain route-an easy grade for a mountain country. Encouraged by this, the company organizing the survey caused a regular railroad survey to be made, and all the tests employed by engineers to be used, and the result exactly verified the altitudes and grades indicated by the reconnoissance.

The Government was directed to cause certain surveys to be made, and it appointed an experienced engineer, who has reported his profiles, &c., and the gentleman will find them in his "picture books," and find them as I have stated.

It is a mere pretext that it is necessary to postpone the passage of this bill until the Government has expended four or five millions of dollars more in surveys and in getting up what the gentleman calls "picture books." Even if we should consent to the postponement, this work would not be any further advanced than it is now, because just such surveys would be made over again; and I have no doubt similar objections would then be offered, if not by the gentleman from Vermont, at least by others, who are, like him, in favor of a railroad at any time except when there is a hope of its passage.

The gentleman says he is in favor of the construction of a Pacific railroad, with aid by the Government. When, I ask? When it has paid off the debt which has accumulated by this war? Why, sir, if we continue to put off this Pacific railroad until everything else is taken care of, or until we are out of debt, it never will be built. I hope we will have no more talk like that of the gentleman about the road costing the Government one or two hundred millions of dollars; but that gentlemen will read the bill before they make such remarks, and correct the misapprehensions under which they seem to be laboring.

The bill ought to be passed at once; it ought not to be delayed until we have paid off the expenses of this war. That may not be done for thirty or forty years, and, in the meanwhile, the generation that has gone to California from the eastern and western States, myself and others, who implore Congress to build this road as a matter not only of military necessity, as against foreign invasion, but of political and domestic policy, looking to the integrity of this Union, will have passed away, and our children and another generation will have taken its place. The long isolation to which they will have been condemned, by a failure to construct a Pacific railroad on the part of the Government, may entirely banish from their hearts all sympathy with this side of the continent. They may say, "why should we pay taxes and duties on imports for the benefit of a distant Government-why should we go there for our legislation, when a mountain chain and vast deserts divide us; we, who are an empire in ourselves, capable of self-government?" This generation will not say so. We cling to the Union; but a generation will grow up there who know you not. You must break down this barrier and assimilate the different portions of the country. And it will take half a generation to do that by building this road. If we wait, as the gentleman from Vermont suggests, it may be that we will delay to a day when it will be impossible to retrieve the injustice and the impolicy of that course. The gentleman, in order to keep the cotton States within the Union, is willing to spend six hundred or a thousand millions of dollars, and I go with him there, and yet he opposes the passage of this bill, that would link the Pacific States to the Atlantic States by indissoluble bonds, and which would make the Union more illustrious and more powerful than it ever has been before. I ask him to expend a few millions to keep that magnificent Pacific empire. Let us legislate for the future as well as the present, and guard our future security. The argument that is good in one case is certainly good in the other; and therefore, as a matter of military necessity and of domestic policy, I trust that the bill we have now so nearly completed will be sent to its final vote without insidious amendments destructive of its object.

[Here the hammer fell.]

Mr. LOVEJOY. Does the gentleman from California say that, unless this Pacific railroad bill is passed, the Pacific States will revolt?

Mr. SARGENT. I do not; and the gentleman could not so understand me. But I do say that it is the part of wisdom to legislate, in view of the fact shown by all history that people divided by mountain ranges separate into distinct communities; and that although this generation in California, born upon this side of the continent, love the Union too well to leave it, yet a people may grow up there in the course of years who may not have feelings of that nature sufficiently strong to keep them united to the Atlantic States, unless we con

The amendment was disagreed to.

Mr. CAMPBELL moved to insert the words or repeal" after the word "amend" in the fifteenth line, so as to provide that Congress may at any time amend or repeal this act.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. WHITE, of Indiana. I move to strike out the words "if unreasonable in amount." It is an unnecessary restriction, I think, upon the power of Congress.

The amendment was disagreed to.

Mr. ALDRICH. I offer the following amendment to come in as an additional section:

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That to insure the safe, certain, and speedy transportation of mails, troops, and public stores, any legal and duly organized company incorporated by any of the States or Territories through which the same shall pass shall have power to lay out, locate, construct, furnish, maintain, and enjoy a continuous railroad from Superior, in the State of Wisconsin, to the western border of Minnesota, at or near Breckinridge, on the Red River of the North; thence westerly, crossing the Rocky mountains north of the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, on the most eligible route, to some point on Puget's Sound, to be called the Northern Pacific railroad; and said company undertaking to build said road shall consolidate, confederate, and associate with any other legal and duly organized companies, incorporated by any of the States or Territories for the purpose, which may wish to aid in the construction of the road upon joint and equitable terms; and there is granted to said company undertaking to build said road six alternate sections of land per mile on each side of such railroad line as said company may adopt, from Lake Superior to the western border of Minnesota, and from thence to the amount of ten alternate sections per mile on each side of such railway line, as said company may adopt, to the western termini of said route. And said company shall also construct a telegraph line along said line of railway in the most approved and workmanlike manner.

SEC.. And be it further enacted, That whenever said company undertaking to construct said railway from Lake Superior to Puget's Sound and Portland, Oregon, shall have fifty miles of said railroad and telegraph line ready for the service contemplated, commencing on Lake Superior, Charles D. Gilfilien, of Minnesota, Nathaniel P. Banks, of Illinois, and Gilmore Hays, of Washington Territory, are hereby constituted a board of commissioners to examine the same, and report to the President of the United States; and if it shall appear by said report that fifty miles of said railroad and telegraph line have been completed in a good, substantial, and workmanlike manner, and in all respects as required by this act, and supplied with all necessary rolling stock, buildings, and depots for the use of said road, as a first-class railway, and that the same are in good working order, then it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treas ury, under the direction of the President, to issue to said company the bonds of the United States for the sum of $10,000 per mile on said fifty miles, for the use of said coinpany, as an advanced payment upon the contract authorized by this act. And for each and every fifty miles of said railroad and telegraph line ready for service, in running order, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue to said company the like sum of $10,000 per mile, in bonds of the United States, until said road shall reach the western border of Minnesota; and after that the sum of $15,000 per mile for every fifty miles completed on any part of said road to Puget's Sound, until bonds shall have been issued to the amount of $25,000,000, when no more bonds shall be issued by the United States; but said company shall have the right to contract with the British Government for a loan of money or bends, giving a mortgage lien to said British Government for security, subject to the mortgage lien to the United States; but with the exception to the United States and the British Government, no mortgage or construction bonds shall ever in any way be put upon said road. Any vacancies in said board of commissioners, caused by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled by the President of the

United States.

SEC. And be it further enacted, That said company shall commence the work on said road within three years from the approval of this act by the President of the United States, and complete one hundred miles per year after the fourth year; and every provision, condition, limitation, or restriction in this act contained shall be, and the same are hereby, applied to and imposed on the company undertaking to build the Northern Pacific railroad from Lake Superior to Puget's Sound.

SEC.. And be it further enacted, That whenever any railroad company embraced in this aet shall, under the provisions thereof, be entitled to demand any installment of the bonds hereinbefore mentioned to be issued and delivered in aid of the construction of any or either of the lines of railway contemplated by this act, such railroad company, its associates, successors, or assigns, shall, at the same time, as a security for the amount of such bonds, and interest to accrue thereon, execute to the United States a mortgage on such portion of railway as shall, from time to time, be completed, on the completion of which all installments of bonds shail be due and demandable, covering the appurtenances, fixtures, rolling stock, motive power, and machinery, and telegraph line, which imortgage shall remain and continue a lien and charge thereon till the whole amount of bonds that shall be issued in aid of the construction of the entire line of such railroad shall be repaid, pursuant to the provisions of this act; and in case of the failure of any such railroad company, its associates, successors, or assigns, to complete

the entire line of railroad and telegraph, the said mortgage shall contain a clause of forfeiture, right of foreclosure, or appropriation by the United States, of the said property, which clause or condition, as to form and sufficiency, shall be approved by the Attorney General of the United States. SEC.. And be it further enacted, That no donation of public lands nor appropriation or loan of bonds, for the objects and purposes specified in this act shall be granted to any railroad corporation, its associates, successors, or assigns, for or on account of any railroad or line of telegraph that has been or may hereafter be constructed, or in course of construction by any other corporation or parties, in any State or Territory, which shall form a portion of either line of railway or telegraph contemplated in this act.

SEC.. And be it further enacted, That the acceptance of the terms, conditions, and impositions of this act by any railroad corporation, shall be signified in writing under the corporate seal of such corporation, duly executed pursuant to the direction of its board of directors, first had and ob tained; which acceptance shall be made within eighteen months after the passage of this act, and not afterwards, and shall be served on the President of the United States, and all acts of incorporation or other acts from any State or Territorial Legislature, to carry out the provisions of this act, shall be submitted to Congress for approval before any lands or bonds shall be received by any of the companies undertaking to build the several lines of railway contemplated by this act.

SEC.. And be it further enacted, That the grant of lands and bonds herein made shall be, and is, upon the express condition that Congress shall have the power at any time hereafter to amend the provisions of this act for the purpose of restraining abuses and protecting the public interests: Provided, however, Congress shall not be empowered to pass any law diminishing the specified amount of contribution in lands and bonds of the United States, if the conditions berein imposed, and the provisions that may hereafter be made, shall be complied with.

Mr. Chairman, I offer that amendment in good faith. It appropriates $25,000,000 for the construction of a railroad upon the northern route. It is the shortest line of railroad between the water lines that can be indicated. It is also a route of the easiest grade upon the continent. I do not say that the commerce of the Indies will hereafter cross this continent; but if it ever does, in my judgment, it will be transported over that northern route, and none other. It has been completely surveyed, and it is known to pass through a country where can be found all the materials for the construction of a railroad. If Congress appropriates this $25,000,000, I will guaranty that this road will be constructed and in running order before any other upon the continent.

Mr. WATTS. Mr. Chairman, I am in favor of the proposition of the gentleman from Minnesota at the proper time, and, as my friend from Vermont has said, I think at present he had better postpone the construction of this northern route. I have a pet of my own similar to the pet of the gentleman from Minnesota. I would like to have a railroad constructed upon the thirtysecond parallel of latitude, which would cost only $93,000,000, whereas Governor Stevens has reported that a railroad on the northern route would cost $125,000,000. But the gentleman and myself will have to postpone the accomplishment of our pet projects for ten or fifteen years. If we get through one Pacific railroad at this time, we ought to be very thankful. It looks just now as though we were going to have some trouble in doing so. There have been too many sham friends of the Pacific railroad. We have seen how very cautious those men have grown on this subject who, a year or two ago, were the most violent partisans of a Pacific railroad proposition. Their sympathy for such a measure has grown "fine by degrees and beautifully less," until now, when they are called upon to vote for this bill, their courage, like that of Bob Acres, "oozes out of the palms of their hands." They will object to every measure because it does not run in a particular line, or go through a certain neighborhood, I or for some other equally fastidious reason. think that the amendment of my friend from Minnesota ought not to prevail, and I hope that it will be voted down.

The amendment was rejected.

Mr. KELLOGG, of Illinois. I offer the following amendment, to come in as an additional section:

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That until forty miles of the main line of the Union Pacific Railroad Company shall be constructed, not more than $10,000 in United States bonds per mile shall be advanced to any company that may construct a road under the provisions of sections nine and ten of this act.

Mr. Chairman, I will only say that this is another effort on my part to secure some guarantee for the construction of the main line of this road. I know that it has become the habit of the particular friends of this particular measure to talk