Mr. HENDERSON. I am aware that we have fires all over the countrv; there have been a great many this summer; at no such extensive fire as this has occurred in our country recently, perhaps not since the great fire in NewYork in 1835. This is a dreadful visitation, one that perhaps will not occur again in half a centur. From 12 to 15,000 people have been turned out of doors. Not only have their houses been burned, but I presume that they found it utterly impossible to remove their household and kitchen furni ture, and it was all entirely destroyed; and these peoploare now placed in tents where‘fhcy are without the necessaries of life. The men are kept employed from day to day in endeavoring to provide their families with the necessaries of life, instead of running around after broken insurance companies to get the little that they will get from those companies. This is a proposition to appropriate the small sum of $50,000. If there is a case that upon the face of it appeals to the charity of the members of the Senate, I think this is the case. I am not very particular in hunting up a provision of the Constitution to authonzeme to vote for an appropriation of this character. If I can find that past Congresses have exercised the power an that the present congress has exercised a similar power, I shall not csi into, when these poor people are calling upon the charities of the whole country, to go to the extent that I am permitted to go under the Constitution. I thin c that there are numbers of recedents for this bill. I believe that in addition to the precedents cited by the Senfrom Maryland, a few years ago, at the time of the Irish famine,wc appropriated money for the relief of the Irish people; at least we furnished vessels at the Government’s expense to transport from this country provisions necessary to save those people from starvation. I have not turned to the legislation on that subject, and perhaps there was no actual appropriation 0 money made by Congress, but re icf was afforded in the way I have described; and it is certainly strange, if we can at government expense relieve the suffering: of the cple of another nation, that we cannot re 'eve the sufferings of our own peOple. I hope this bill will not be referred to any committee, and that a jest be not made of it, but that it be passed at once. I can see no objection to it. There are numerous prece dents for it. Although, as was very properly said by the Senfrom Kentucky, tiisis not a Government of precedents, yet recedents are much in legislation. They at least show that gentlemen whom we must take to be as wise, as capable, and as patriotic as ourselves have done these things heretofore. Of course we necessarily rely much upon precedents. It will not do to say to any lawyer that he must not rely upon precedents. l apprehend that we all rely upon them to a very great extent; and the interpretations of the Constitution given by past Congresses add much force to the argu ments that may be made in favor of the proposition before us. Mr. President, I, for one, would be willing, in consideration of the fact. that private charity has done so little for these people, to exten the amount proposed to be appropriated. We desire to put these people as soouas we can in a position to pay their taxes to the Government, and ifi the comes necessary to make this appropriation in order to accomplish that object, I apprehend we have the power to do it, and it is good policy to do it. nder these considerations, I be e the Senate will proceed at once to pass the ill.Mr. WILSON. The unfinished business of yesterday, which is of course the special order for one o’clock, I hope is not to be displaced by this debate, but I will consent to let it go Over informally for a few minutes to allow this bill to be disposed of.