Mr. CHANDER. The ComCommerce has spent months in examining and mar turing this bill. I think we have devoted more time, perhaps, to this one bill than to any other measure that has been before that committee. We have succeeded in perfecting a bill which will insure the corn letion of a telegraph line to the West India is and s. I believe that commercially it is more important than any bill which has been presented to this body during this session. I believe that to the commercia interests of this nation millions of dollars will accrue from the passage of this bill. Other nations are extending their commercial facilities. England is reaghing all over the world and has almost reached every nook and corner of the world with her telegraphic wires. Franca is extending her commercia relations and facilities all over the world. Russia is doing the ll or native. setting up telegraphic commumca the swamps and wilderness of Florida, where same.thing. The British have already, as I said yesterda. monopolized almost the entire business oft is continent outside of the U.S. They now monopolize it through their commercial facilities. The completion of this line will give us almost a monopol of the business of the West India islands. {do not believe the Parliament of GreatBritain is wiser than the Congress of the U.S., except in one respect; I do not think the members of, Parliament have any more business knowledge, any more business on acity, than the members of the Congressof the U.S.; but in GreatBritain they prepare their bills in committee; they bring before those committees the business knowledge, the financial knowledge, the aggregated business intelligence of the British empire, and then the bills are passed; and fortunately for Parliament, men who know nothing about the business relations of GreatBritain consent to take the advice of those who do know. I wish it was so here, sir. The committee have perfected a bill that will insure the completion of this tele aphic wire. We know that the wire will be lai under the bill. Do We know that it will he laid under the proposition of the Senfrom Maine? Do we know thatit will be laid under the preposition of the Senfrom Ohio? We know that it will be laid under this bill. I hope that Congress will take the bill as it has been prepared and pass it as it is, and give us this tele grgphic wire or myself, I should be willing to give this company not only the exclusive right for 14 ycars, but to pay them asubsi y of $25,000 a year for 14 years, and then I should think we were paying very cheaply for such a great advantage to the business interests of this country. But, sir, these gentlemen propose to construct the line without a subsidy of any kind. The only thing that surprised me was that they did not ask a subsidy. I should be willing to grant a subsidy if one was necessary to insure the completion of the work. We give in this bill no further advantage than is given to every patentee under this Government. When the proposition was 1st made the asked an exclusive privilege for 50 years. he ComCommerce said, “ That is too long; we will not give 50 years, ” and we reduced it to 25. I think 25 years is not too long, but it has now been reduced to 14 years; and nothing7 is asked except that they shall be protected during those 14 years. I hope the Senate will take the bill as it has been reported, for it is guarded and it will in sure the construction of the line. It is a good bill, and I ask the Senate to stand by it.