Mr. CONNESS. 1 will not undertake to discuss the question of power involved in this case, but leave that to gentlemen learned in the law who are here; but the tendency of this legislation seems to me to be as bad as anything can be. What is it? A number of gentlemen, citizens of different States, want to engage in business in a corporate capacity; an in place of making an ap lication to one of the totes in which they be ong, they come here to Congress to make their application where they are comparatively unknown. If they made their a piication at home where they were known, t ie local Legislature would be ajudge of their fitness and capacity to receive the great grant of dpowers that are always given to a corporate bo. I It is said that it enablses an association, an aggregation of wealth. The local Legislature would be competent to determine whether it was to be an aggregation of wealth or an aggregation of persons representin no wealth at all, who in a careless manner, to be provided in a congressional act, might 0 forward and go forth as being capitalists when they really had no capital, but the appearance of it merely that was given by a congressional act of incor poration. Because Congress has the right and power to legislate exclusively for the DistCol, many persons come here to call upon us to exercise that power by extending to them, not citizens of the DistCol, not residents of it at all, corporate pow ers. That seems to me to be a very dangerous practice to encourage. In every aspect of the case that I can view it, it is a class of legislation that I think should not be done. Inaugurate it once, and your tables will groan under bills induced by applications from all portions of the Union. 0 organize this company and allow them to carry on a corporate business in the State of California, for instance mining, under restrictions not such as that State imposes upon those who transact such business within its limits, seems to me to be very wrong indeed. We are very careful in that State what class of acts we pass. Indeed no special act of incor poration is allowed to be passed under the constitution of that State; but there is a General incorporation law under which a given' number of the citizens of the State may organize for the purposes allowed by that aw, and they are hed and required to pay in a iven amount of capital before they begin. hey are required by the constitution of that State to have a certain degree of responsibility for their transactions as corporators and as individuals; and the law passed in obedience to the State constitution, the general act, requires conformance to its revisions. We do not want, ccrtainlyin that tote, that Congress shall organize comanics that shall be empow ered to operate within our State and who are not subject to our control.