Mr. FTHOMAS.R. Chairman, I desire to say that I shall vote very cheerfully for the proposition submitted by the chairman of the ComAppropriat, [Mr. SrBvENs] because it does not conflict in the slightest de gree with the purpose which 1 have in view. accord very fully with all the arguments of that gentleman. I am willing to vote to amend the section, and shall then vote to strike out the section thus amended. The principal purpose which I had in view in rising was to respond to the remarks of the Gentfrom Ohio, [Mr. G. ttrtnt.n.] We have heard calculations about the amount of income derived from the tax upon the coal interests of the countr; and it has been asserted by the Gentfrom Ohio that with the amount of revenue thus derived we might purchase nearly the whole of the coal imported from the British Provinces. Sir, is thatafair, a legitimate mode of treating this question. What we are to consider, in legislating ll)OX1 apestions of this sort, is not the present, at e future, of the country. Was not a similar argument used with great effect when the cot ton interest of the South was in its infancy; when 1,00opounds of cotton was the sole product of a section of country which in recent years, prior to the mad infatuation of the occu Eaptsrof that section, yielded 3 million a es I need not dwell upon this theme. It is the mere a by c of all the learning on this subject of tariff and protection. Interests of this character deman in their ineipiency the fostering care of the Government, not with a view to the present, but with reference to their future bearings upon the destiny of the country. and, sir, I hesitate not to affirm that no interest in this country has so vital and momentous a bearing on our future population. our future wealth, our national independence, as this very coal interest to which I have adverted. Why, air, to what can GreatBritain trace her present commanding position among the nations of the world? To what can she trace her vast dominions embracing so large:1. art of the habitable globe? To her manufacturing interestat home, based upon the coal mines of Cornwall and other sections. If GreatBritain had heeded such arguments as have been urged here today, and he. failed to extend a fostering and cher ishing care to her coal interests as the foundation of her navy, as the foundation of her man. ufactures, and those manufactures the foundation of an immense commerce, we should not have witnessed today that overpowering empire which has so long been the admiration of the mouth of the Mississippi. Hie civilized world. What has been do, e within the compass of the coal regions of England can be done here. What has been done there under her institutions would be more than accomplished under our benelieial institutions. There are in Manches ter, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, millions of people, every one of whom would be thrown out of employment tomorrow if her coal beds were exhausted. But. I will not go further into that subject. It is only necessary to take the position so well fortified by the Gentfrom Pennsylvania, [Mr. Kama m]