Mr. ROGERS. Not now. Gentlemen talk about there being a lobby here. My expe rience, and I suppose the experience of every other gentleman here, is that no great enter prise has ever been started but that there were some men behind it to carryit on; and unless there were enterprising men, like these railroad men who are endeavoring to link the At lantic and Pacific together, enterprises of this kind would die out, and we never would have that progress and civilization which have always been developed by the railroad interests of the country, as has been demonstrated in Illinois by the Central railroad which was established there; and I feel convinced that if we only plant ourselves upon the principles that the State of Illinois planted itself upon when it authorized that company to carry out its functions, we shall advance the prosperity, the wealth. the enlightenment, and the happiness of this grand empire of ours so as to make it equal to the State of Illinois, and you will find that these lands which are not now worth more than from 12 and a half to 25 cents peracre, will readily sell for ten and 15 dollars peracre. I do not believe that one dollar will be drawn from the Treasury of the U.S. which will not be paid back again. This entire road is to be within the control of Congress, and the moment this corporation, after the road is equipped and in running order, refuses to comply wrth one of the conditions of the charter which Congress has given them, we can file a bill in the court of chancery to have that charter forfeited, and wccan stop the running of the road. Now I do not believe it possible that when capitalists have invested twice what it is proposed the Government shall indorse in the way of interest, they will ever permit to be forfeited to the Government of the U.S. all the franchises of that corporation, merely to ese ape the payment of the 40 or 50 million dollars that may come in time in the way ofinterest from the Treasury of the U.S. to help out this grand enterprise. Now, am for advancing the interests of this whole country and in this grand enter prise I see that which I believe will bind the commerce of the country together from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean and the great continent of Asia, with its 600 million inhabitants, will pour its commerce through this channel and not only the great West, but the great East, the city of newYork, and all the commercial cities of the sea board, as well as the inland towns, are interested in this measurefar beyond the pitiful sum of $57,000, 00, about which the Gentfrom Illinois [Mr. Wasnsvasn] talks so much as a depletion of the Treasury. Sir, he did not talk about the depletion of the Treasury of the U.S. when the Freedmens Bureau bill was up here; a bill which, according to the estimate of the POTUS, would have cost the country $50,000,000 a year a bill that would have required a standing army in time of peace. The Gentfrom Illinois did not hesitate to cast his vote in favor of that bill, that oh noxious, wicked, and pernicious measure, on account of any depletion of the Treasuryof the U.S. When the interest of any case happens to suit his constituents, and his own feelings and interest and ambition, especially ifa bill happens to have been reported from the committee which he represents, then he does not seem to think so much about the Treasury of the U.S.; but with all his power, and with all the zeal and venom which c has exhibited in this case, he portrays to this House, in almost ild enthusiasm, the reasons why he wants th measure carried into effect. This is no political question; it is a question that is in no way connected with politics. It is a question that recommends itself to the sound discretion of members of this Congress, representing the interests of the whole country and although my constituents, in the 4th congressional district of the State of NewJer sey, may not be directly interested in this grand enterprise, yet the countryis interested in it; a country that I expect to see united one day; whose flag I hope may float over the capitol of SCarolina as it floats today from the dome of this Capitol and I feel myself called upon, as a man who loves his country, and has its best interests at heart, to sustain this great national enter rise which is to make us glorious and power ul. If there ever was a measure that appeals to the sympathies, magnanimity, and patriotism of all who love their country, and has the best interests of his posterity and of coming generations at heart, it is this; and we should not seek to destroy it simplybecause some millions of dollars may be rawn from the Treasury of the U.S. I have more confidence in the integrity, patriotism, and love of country of the people than to believe that they will refuse to return to the Congress of the U.S. any man who shall honestly, and from high and conse i entious convictions, vote in favor of this mag nificent enterprise. They are not so narrow minded as that; they are not so puritanical as that and when this bill shall be passed, and the road shall have been completed; when trains are running on it, carrying our glorious flag to those mountains, with the grand principles of American liberty, we shall have done that for our country which will equal all that any other Government has ever done for the people underit. Mpen talk as if the Trcfiury of the U.S. were bankrupt, as ifour national finances were in the most desperately hopelcss condition, as ifthe country were 9. Why, sir, this nation can bear a burden of debt much larger than the amount now resting upon it. In view of our present national debt of $4.000,000,000, which the people are so anx ious and ready to pay, no man need undertake to make me believe that the mere addition of some $50,000,000 to that debt will deplete or destroy the ability of}the U.S. to meet its obligations. No, sir, there is no such weakness on the part of this Government. There is some disposition on the part of some gentlemen on this side of the House to doubt the constitutional power of the Congress of the U.S. to enact such legislation as is proposed in this bill. lask the attention of sue gentlemen for a few moments to a consideration of the plain provisions of the Constitution. Sir, I have no more doubt of the constitutional authority of the Congress of the U.S. to pass such legislation than I have of the existence of a Supreme Being. Sir, the 8th section of the Constitution enumerates the powers delegated to the congress of the U.S., and among those powers is one “to establish postoffices and pest roads.” If Congress has not power to provide for the construction of a railroad through the territory of the U.S., for postal and military purposes, I ask gentlemen to tell me what is the meaning of that clause l of the Constitution. If that language does not authorize Congress to aid in the construction of a railroad such as is here contemplated, then that language is utterly without meaning; it is a mere ea letter. Now, sir, I am opposed to any interference by the Congress of the U.S. with the eminent domain of a State. I am opposed to the U.S. undertaking to run railroads within the jurisdiction of a State without the consent of a State. I am opposed to an at tempt by the Government to authorize a rail probetween here and the city of NewYork without the consent of the States through which the road is to pass. I say that such legislation violates the true intention of the Constitution. But, sir, this bill provides that the 3 States through whosejurisdiction this road is to pass shall give their consent to its construction before the road shall be permitted to go through those States. The proposition, here, as I understand it, is for the construction of a railroad from a given point to a given point, the road to pass over the territory of the U.S., the bill expressly confining the corporation to the construction of the road within the eminent domain of the U.S. This company will have no right, by virtue of its charter or this bill, to enter the domain of a State and interfere with its sovereign powers. This road cannot pass through any State except with the consent of the State, and it can only pass through lands belonging to the U.S. There can be, therefore, in my view, no well founded legal or constitutional objection to this measure. If there are no iust objections of this character, then it is the duty of conse ientious legislators to support this mensurc, if they recognize it as one that will tend to advance the prosperity of the country by completing a work which cannot be accomplished exec t with the aid of the Government of the U.S. Sir, it is a most astonishing fact that when the act incorporating this company was passed it received in the Senate the vote of every member of that body.