Mr. WILLEY. I move to amend the bill by striking out in line 32 of section 12, on page 85, “50 cents” and inserting “five dollars; ” and I desire to attract the attention of the Senate to a paper which has been laid on the desk of every Senator, I believe, this morning, containing a fair statement of the facts upon which I predicate this motion. According to the tariff of 1862–63, the duty upon chap a po te, asphaltum, and albertite was 3 cents per pound, or $67 20 per ton. Under the existing tariff law the duty is 25%. advalorem. Why it is now proposed to be reduced to 50 cents a ton I am not able to understand. If Senators will turn to this paper they will see that “Chap a po the and Albertite are both a species of asphaltum. Chap a po the is ofrom Cuba. Extensive arrangements are now being, made by companies recently formed in Cuba for the express purpose of shipping large quantities, of the mineral to the U.S., to be expense converted into oil. The of conversion is about 6 dollars per ton, and the yield of oil per ton is about 120 gallons.” There is also Albertite in Nova Scotia. I understand that a company; consisting chiefly of foreigners, is organized there, who own the mine and are making arrangements to transport the material when mined from Nova Sco tia to within the jurisdiction of the U.S., and erect their retorts here for manufacturing oil. The product of oil from one ton of Albertite amounts to 70 dollars, less waste and the cost of refining. This mineral is mined where labor is one dollar a day in gold, and it can be brought to Portland for $250 a ton. It is to this statement in the paper on Senators' desks that I especially invite attention: “Qne special advantage which the manufacturers of oil from Albertite and other imported asphaltums have in internal rtehveenmuaerkleatw, awrisitehs tfhroemviethwe fact that the to protect the manufacturers of oil retorted from, coal and other bitumine us substances, (mostly yielding only 20 to 40 gallons per fton,)discriminates in favor of oil so manufactured by imposing a tax upon it when refined of only 15 cents per gallon, while petro leum oil refined is subjected to a tax Of 20 cents per gallon, Albertite and other asphaltum oils being madefrom bitumine us substances, when refined, come in under the minimum rate of 15 cents per gallon; that is to say, 100 gallons of oil madefrom Albertite asphaltum (being the product of one ton of tax, the mineral) pays an internalrevenue when refined, of 15 dollars, while 100gallonsof petroleum refinedpays atax of 20 dollars. Crude petroleum at the wells is only worth at distchriismtiinmaetioanbmouatd, eeibgyhtthceenitnsteprenralgarellvoenn, utehus tax the in favor of the Albertite and against petroleum of centspergallon 5 is equal to 75%. On the valua of the petroleum at the wells.’ Now, sir, it is perhaps not known that we have asphaltum within the U.S. One deposit is in WestVirginia: it is the most remarkable deposit, perhaps, in the world: it is vertical. As I said a while ago it has been explored from the face of the hill, where it makes its appearance, to its summit; it has been explored 200 feet in depth; it is 5 feet in width. It is almost equal to resin in the production of oil. If Senators have any curiosity I have some small specimens of it here, so that they will see that it is almost like resin, it is so rich in the production of oil. I also have specimens of the article from Nova Scotia which Senators will see are identical in appearance, and I understand identical in quality, the same thing precisely. What the extent of this extraordinary deposit in WestVirginia may be laterally we do not know. Already the cities of the Union in various quarters are interested in the development of this extraordinary deposit. A small%. of it added to ordinary gas coal brings it up to a very good standard; and there is a desire in various cities and various parts of the Union that this extraordinary mine may be developed for the single purpose, if for no other, of getting a%. of it to mix with their ordinary coal for the purpose of manufacturing gas. It has Aoattention of capital ists; it is now owned by men in NewYork largely, by men also in Baltimore and from various sections of the country, who are at this moment constructing 14 miles of railroad from the northwestern branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to this deposit. They are investing a large amount of capital in it. It runs out also into the region of our cannel coal. It is approaching in direction also the oil wells in our State; and other companies and other capitalists are already projecting improvements to connect with these, so that if there be any encouragement by protection of the development of this article in WestVirginia it will bring into requisition a vast amount of most valuable minerals in which the country at large is greatly interested. Unless there be some protection to these men who have invested their capital, as I have stated, this development cannot take place. They are placed at a disadvantage growing out of the distinction betweenthe duty imposed upon refined petroleum oil and oil expressed out of this stone, so that they may transport it across the narrow chan nel, and thus avoid the duty. We get the advantage of this discrimination in the duty. Now, sir, the cannel coal interests in our section of the country are largely interested in protection. Since we are disposed to protect our domestic industry, disposed to protect our domestic manufactures, and thus adopt a policy which would lead to the development of the country, and ultimately, as in the instance mentioned by the Senfrom Connecticut just now, result in reducing the price of this article, which must necessarily enter very largely into the consumption of the country in gas and otherwise, I should be sorry to see protection refused in this direction in favor of the foreign manufacturer. We have the article within our own limits; and certainly if in 1862–63 Congress thought it was proper to extend such extraordinary protection as 67 dollars a ton to this article, the prayer of those whom I represent here in asking for a moderate protection of 5 dollars per ton now ought not to be deemed extravagant. I trust the Senate and especially do I trust that the chairman of the ComFinance will receive this proposition favor. ably. I think there is merit in it; our own domestic industries, our own capitalists here at home, and our own minerals should have the benefit of this protection against the foreign manufacturers.