Mr. ROGERS. It does not. I submit to gentlemen upon both sides of the House that there is no reason or necessity for this bill at all, because the education of the people will be attended to, and italways has been attended to. We have enough to do to pay our debts and to kee the affairs of this nation in the proper equi ibrium. And when you under take to establish a bureau here for the purpose of diffusing education you add just so much to the expenses of the nation. The bond holders, the men who have an interest in the perpetuity of the Union and in the payment of the debt, the men who have large amounts of money invested in Government funds, ought to be paid every dollar. The main argument made a.inst the Pacific railroad bill, the argument which induced the House to vote against the bill, for gentlemen upon both sides a ced that it was a great enterprise, and would add to the greatness and glory and grandeur of the country, was that it added to the expense; that it would lead to a depression of the finances, and that the financial condition of the country would not bear up under such a prop position. That bill would not have cost the Government a cent. Now, here is a proposition which is a mere scheme of philanthro y, got up for the purpose of educating the children of the whole country, and the result will be that in a short time this bureau will need more clerks and expenses for stationery, &c., and I will guaranty you that in the very 1st year the expense of the bureau will not fall short of $100,000; and it will run on until it costs $500,000 a year. I want you to remember that there are 35 million people in this country, located from Maine to Texas, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and all of these people are to come under the jurisdiction and control of this Edu cational Bureau. And where will it end? It will not stop until we run it a bill of expenses that will materially injure file finances of the Government. Yes, sir; and here we have also the Freedmen’s Bureau; and it up ears that this is but a twin sister of it, accoring to the argument made by the learned gentleman who preceded me. We hear talk here about educating the people of the South. You had better 1st get the people of the South back into the Union. Let us reunite the bonds which have been broken asunder; let us restore the Union before you undertake to establish an Educational Bureau. The Gentfrom Minnesota seems all at once to be inspired by a very kindly feeling toward the southern people; the ignorantmasses down there must be educated. How? This is a proposition to interfere with their internal domestic affairs with regard to the education of their own children. The only effect of this bill will be to create a prejudice in the South by undertaking to regulate their educational systems through the agency of officers in Washington. We are to have a centralized power here to tell the people of the South and the people of all the States of this Union what their system of education shall be. I do not know how the people of NewEngland will like it. The people of NewEnglandhaye iven their children a very elegante ucation. gI’hcy vote millions and millions of dollars every year for educational purposes in NewEngland and NewYork and Pennsylvania and NewJersey. But this bill proposes that this bureau shall collect statistics and give directions to the people of NewEngland and NewYork and Pennsylvania and hfewJersey, telling them in what manner they shall educate their children. Why, sir, there are to be public buildings put up here in Washington, and new bureaus to be established here, and the head of this bureau must hold a seat in the Cabinet of the POTUS: for it will not do to have a great educational bureau here, one to diffuse so much knowledge, such agrand scheme for concentratin the intelligence and enlightenment of the whole world in the U.S., without making it a part of the executive government of the country. Now, as was said yesterday most appropriately by the eloquent and learned Gentfrom Vermont [Mr. Woonumnes] in his speech against the bil in relation to the pay of the Army, to which I listened with the mostintense interest, because it was an able and eloquent speech, we should stand by principles and axioms which have been established tor‘years and years past; that old recepts and principles should not be laid aside for the purpose of establishing new and untried ones. Now, the educational system of this country will stand the test of comparison with the edu cational systems of the most favored countries. And an honorable gentleman who stands up before the Speaker of this House and under takes to make out that this country is groveling in low ignorance does not understand this country; for there are many men who have on] been educated in common schools, who have never been in a colle e, unless they went in at one door and were 'icked out at the other, have shown themselves as much fitted for their duties by their intelligence as men who come out of these colleges with their sheep skin rolls and high sounding degrees. It is a reflection and a disgrace upon the men in our Army, who were not so wel educated as the gentleman would like, but whose brawny arms drove back the hordes of the rebellion. The have shown by their acts that they were men 0' understanding and judgment and discretion. And why should we now undertake to interfere with the education of their children, and compel them to pay their share of the tax for that purpose? It is a ste toward taking away from them rights to which they alone are entitled. Sir, it is hardly necessary for me to stand here and show what are the constitutional objections to this bill. No man can find any.where in the letter or spirit of the Constitution one word that will authorize the Congress of the U.S. to establish an Educational Bureau. If Congress has the right to establish an Educational Bureau here in this city for the purpose of collecting statistics and cont rolling the schools of the country, then, by the same parity of reason, dfortt'ori, Congress has the right to establish a bureau to supervise the education of all the children that are to be found in the 30 millions of the population of this count. You will not stop at simply establishinga ureau for the purpose of pay inv officers to collect and ditiiise statistics in reference to education. The head of the bureau is to receive $5,000ayear. Whatis he to do for that large salary, which is $2,000 more than a member of congress receives? He is to sit here at his desk in ashington for the purpose of collecting statistics, and the poor men of this country are to pay him $5,000 for it. And what is the necessity for such an officer? All the States have a system of statistical accounts of their educational systems. You cannot find a State in the South or in any other part of the country that does not keep a statistical account of the operation of their schools. And no one ever before thought of attempting to interfere with the action of the States in this respect. And I hope there are enough of good men in this House to prevent ta passage of this bill. I think the House will understand that this is not apolitical question; it is a mere wild scheme of philanthropy, though it may be dictated by an honest conviction. Ifwe are to go for a system of charity, giving awa the public moneys of the country. let us take old of the matter most thoroughly, and educate all the po0r children of the country at the expense of the Government Are the people of this country prepared for the passage of an act of conss which will establish here a bureau that wi cost this government at least $100,000 a year? Why, sir, it appears as if we took no consideration or account of the expenses to which we are subjecting this Government. Why air, the SecyTreasury has stated within a few days that the financial condition of this country is in the most delicate position in which it has been during the war or since. Sir, in view of the numerous failures of large bankin houses in England, in view of the generifi financial deression and panic extending from one end of urope to the other, I implore this House to exercise a vigilant care with reference to our national finances, so that we may emerge from this conflict with our financial credit untarnished, as well as our national integrity vindicated, so that we may proclaim to the world the ability of the U.S.A., not only to put down the armies of treason, but to pay the expenses of the war. And to do this we must not be burdened by such legislation as this, founded perhaps upon charitable views, but calculated toin ict great damage upon the finances of the country. If this bureau is not to have extensive rami fieations throughout the country; if it is notto involve an expenditure of 1000s on 1,000s of dollars for the collection of statistics, then it is simply for the payment of 8 or 10 clerks to 0 nothing, 15 or 20,000 dollars annually. I think the houorable Gentfrom Ohio [ML SCHEXCK] who introduced the bill to reduce the pay of the Army will hardly vote for this bill, which will add to the expenses of the Federal Government something like 100,000 dollars a year at the lowest estimate. It can hardly be expected that anyone who would support a bill to reduce the pay of the officers of the regular Army can subscribe to the principles embodied in this bill. I hope, sir, that this bill will not be passed, at least until members have given it a all in vestigation; and I trust that their party feelings and part prejudices will notinguce them to pass a bill establishing a bureau such as was never before heard ofin the history of the country, and which is but one more step to centralization.